Race with Doom

 

The Roy Rogers Show ran on NBC from 1951 through 1957, so the Roy Rogers comics from that time was keyed off of that.  When Roy was appearing in B-movies, the plots would sometimes be set in the Old West and sometimes in then-contemporary times. The B-movie version of the modern American West still involved horses and six shooters, but were mixed together with cars, planes and telephones.

Roy's TV show was placed in that modern west, so the comics of the time also often featured cars and planes and the occasional submachine gun. But sometimes, a particular comic book story could have easily been set in the Old West without changing a thing about it.

"Race with Doom," for instance, appeared in Roy Rogers Comics #90 (1955) and had an Old West vibe to it. Written by the mind-numbingly prolific Gaylord Du Bois, it's a simple but fun tale greatly enhanced by John Buscema's great artwork.

Roy spots a young lady being pursued by men on horseback. Roy uses a rope strung across the path they are riding along to get the drop on the men, allowing the girl to get away. But Roy doesn't yet know what's going on, so he's got no cause to arrest the men.

He catches up with the girl, learning that her name is Nan and she's the niece of a bank manager. When a teller ran off with some funds, there were rumors the bank was going to go under. Nan is bringing 80 grand in cash to the bank to prevent a run. The guys chasing her want the money.

And, boy, do they ever want the money. When Roy and Nan take a break in a canyon, they stampede a herd of cattle into that canyon. There seems to be no way out.

But Roy can rivel Batman in his ability to think his way out of impossible situations. Since the only way out is off a cliff, he does indeed take Nan off that cliff, making a dangerous climb down to a ledge.

The poor cattle are doomed, but Roy and Nan are safe. The bad guys make the mistake of thinking they are dead before checking for their bodies, which allows Roy to get the drop on them.

The story is indeed simple, but well-told in a very straightforward manner. As I mentioned, Buscema's art (especially the grim sequence in which the cattle are going off the cliff) really elevates it, but Du Bois' script is still strong on its own. Roy's success as a Cowboy Hero was due to his likeable and easy-going personality, something Dell Comics managed to emulate quite nicely as it skillfully dropped him into entertaining adventures.

That's it for now. Next week, we'll return again to Animal Comics.