TOMAHAWK #54; February 1958; DC Comics (National Comics Publications); Jack Schiff, actual editor, with Murray Boltinoff and George Kashdan as assistants (Whitney Ellsworth still credited as editor in the indicia at this point); cover-featuring "The Lost Tribe of Tiny Warriors!" The cover drawn by Bob Brown (best remembered for his long run drawing CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN and later Batman) depicts Tomahawk playing the role of Gulliver, as he is tied down to the ground and threatened with arrows and spears by a swarm of miniature Native Americans. Youthful sidekick Dan Hunter, hiding in the tall grass nearby, looks on with amazemant and alarm.
Review by Bill Henley
A recent discussion on the SAR list has gone into how some science fiction stories in various media have resembled Westerns, with ray-guns substituting for six-shooters, marauding aliens in place of hostile Indians, etc. But the influence also ran the other way-- especially at DC comics in the late 50's and early 60's. Julius Schwartz, handed a couple of fading Western titles to edit along with his beloved science-fiction books and resurgent superheroes, sometimes snuck sci-fi elements into them, especially in the Pow-Wow Smith series in WESTERN COMICS. And then there was editor Jack Schiff, who notoriously inserted fanciful sci-fi elements into virtually everything he edited during this period, including Batman, Blackhawk-- and TOMAHAWK, the once-popular quasi-Western series about a Daniel Boone-like frontiersman during the Revolutionary War era. (Schiff later claimed that he was pressured by DC higher management into including the sci-fi stuff in his books.) I was looking recently at an online DC history/timeline (google DC HISTORY-1 to take a look at it-- it's a neat site) which cited this issue of TOMAHAWK as the first example of the title's turn to the weird and wonderful. I happen to own the issue, so here's a review.
"Lost Tribe of Tiny Warriors" is actually the last story in the issue (Schiff often placed the cover-featured story in that position) but I'll review it first since it is the main item of interest. The Grand Comic-Book Database has no record of the writer of this or the other stories in this issue, but identifies the artist on "Tiny Warriors" as Bob Brown. The splash panel shows an astonished Tomahawk holding a miniature Indian chief literally in the palm of his hand. The chief (who is wearing a Plains Indian type headdress and carrying a shield, accoutrements that were anachronistic even for the full-sized Eastern Woodland Indians Tomahawk normally hung out with) proclaims, "O mighty giant, I am Chief TALL OAK! I fear you not-- and challenge you to battle!" As the story begins, Tomahawk and sidekick Dan Hunter are somewhere on the American coastline scouting out a "secret fort" being built by the British Redcoats to launch "surprise attacks on the colonists" But the dynamic duo of the 1700's (early DC house ads sometimes referred to them as "Batman and Robin in buckskins"-- later, after the Rangers were introduced in 1962, they were more like the Blackhawks or Easy Company in buckskins) are ambushed and outnumbered by a squad of British soldiers. The typically arrogant Redcoat officer in charge orders them to be taken alive and placed on a British ship. His plan is to haul Tomahawk and Dan back to England, where the capture of the "once-great Tomahawk" will eliminate "a thorn in the side of the Crown" and boost British home-front morale. Far out to sea, however, the ship is buffeted by a violent storm. The mainmast falls and a hole is knocked in the side of the ship, enabling Tomahawk and Dan to escape and leap into a handy lifeboat. Unfortunately for them, the boat is already occupied by an armed Brit who makes them again prisoners in the small boat.
Eventually, the boat smashes into the rocks of an unknown shore and Tomahawk is knocked unconscious. He is washed ashore and awakens lying on the ground, wondering what has become of Dan and the "enemy agent". Dan is in fact nearby but is astonished, as is Tomahawk himself, to discover the position the senior frontiersman is in. Like Gulliver (whose travels written by Jonathan Swift, Tomahawk and Dan might well have read, since the book was published back in 1726), has been tied down to the ground by miniature men. But instead of Lilliputians, these are mini-Indians. Tomahawk gets loose with Dan's help, and most of the Indians flee. But one of them still confronts the giants whom he takes for enemies; "You are large, I am small... but I, chief TALL OAK (a name presumably chosen for irony) challenge you to a fair battle!" Since Tall Oak and his tribe speak an Indian dialect that Tomahawk knows, he is able to explain that he and Dan have no wish to be the enemies of Tall Oak's tribe. But Tall Oak replies that the other "giant" who has appeared from the sea-- the Redcoat-- is indeed an enemy, having made common cause with Running Dog, an evil medicine man who is leading a portion of the tribe in rebellion against the true chief. Tomahawk agrees that he and Dan must help the tiny tribe, but "Somehow we must let Tall Oak win his OWN fight! That's the way he can bring his tribe together!"
When Tall Oak mentions that his people are sometimes threatened by giant waves that threatened to inundate their coastal habitat (it's not clear if it's supposed to be an island or just a remote stretch of shoreline), Tomahawk wonders why the tiny tribe doesn't move somewhere safer. Tall Oak explains that the "outside world" is even more dangerous for them. for the animal and plant life in their homeland is built on the same scale they are, but outside of it, every other form of life, even small rabbits, are bigger than they are. "Instead of chancing life among such great giants, our people chose to return here and take our risks against the sea alone!" Meanwhile, the rascally Redcoat, declaring that he has "feasted nicely," (apparently he's eaten most of the dissdent band's food supply), he is now prepared to help Running Dog defeat Tall Oak's loyalists. Towering over the miniature trees of this freak landscape, he can see everything that happens and warn his allies of danger. But Tall Oak also has outsized allies. When Running Dog's warriors attack by canoe, Tomahwak and Dan reach down to scoop out the bottom of the small, shallow stream and create currents to overturn the canoes. When the Redcoat pushes down pebbles to create a "landslide" to bury Tall Oak's band, our heroes respond by pulling up trees to form a protective barrier.
When the good Indians are frightened by "thunder from a clear sky," which is actually the Redcoat firing off his pistols (which he somehow kept dry and functional when the boat capsized), Tomahawk takes the Brit on directly and puts him out of action with a mighty punch; "I reckon these tiny people can fight their own battles!" And indeed, with the British "giant" out of the picture, Tall Oak is able to rally his tribesmen to defeat Running Dog's faction and reuinite the tribe. The Indians help Tomahawk and Dan construct a new boat in which they and the captive Brit can return to the outside world, in time to warn the Colonial leaders about the secret British fort. As they sail away, Dan Hunter looks back and wonders where the tiny Indians came from. Tomahawk replies, "Who knows? It's simply one of nature's strange quirks! Maybe one day science may explain their existence-- unless a tidal wave wipes out all sign of them!" (Actually, science says you're wrong if you believe that there could be tiny humans with the shape and all the abilities of full-sized people. If nothing else, they couldn't have enough brain mass to maintain human mental functions. There's a reason why talking, sentient mice appear only in cartoons. As for the business about the tidal wave, presumably the writer put that in there as a pre-emptive explanation of why the tiny Indians weren't in fact discovered and explained by science at a later date. Though the knowledge that Tall Oak and his people are ultimately doomed to vanish without a trace, kind of puts a damper on Tomahawk's victory.)
Though the tiny Indians weren't seen again, there were certainly plenty of other incredible Indians and off-trail phenomena to be found in future TOMAHAWK stories. Just looking at the GCD cover gallery for Tomahawk, I see that a giant Indian appeared in #64 and another one in #75. Dinosaurs appeared on the cover of TOMAHAWK #58 and again on #67, 74, 82 and others. A kind of giant robot Indian appeared in #67, and a tribe of green-skinned "alien Indians" in #79. And of course, TOMAHAWK had to have its share of gorilla covers, on #86, 93 and probably others.
This issue contains two other stories which are more mundane frontier adventures. (This seems to have been the usual pattern for future issues of TOMAHAWK. The cover story contained the far-out elements, while the backup stories were somewhat closer to reality-- though almost no Tomahawk stories really closely reflected real history.) I'll cover the other stories briefly. The issue leads off with "The Mystery of the 13 Arrows!" As noted the writer is unknown (at least to me and the GCD) but the art is by regular Tomahawk artist Fred Ray. (I wonder if Ray, who did serious historical artwork in addition to drawing TOMAHAWK, balked at drawing the weird sci-fi stuff, so Schiff assigned it to other artists like Bob Brown?) Tomahawk and Dan encounter an old prospector friend of theirs who has been attacked and left for dead by Cherokee Indians (normal-sized ones). In typical fashion, the trapper urges Tomahawk to "stop the 13 arrows!", but expires before he can explain exactly what the "13 arrows" are. (When I see a scene like this in a comic book, I'm always reminded of the scene in Harvey Kurtzman's Blackhawk parody for MAD comics where the dying man mutters, "The secret is..is... is... is... and so on for about 20 more "is"s and then dies before actually revealing the secret.) Another convenient comic-book cliches comes along later in the story when the hostile Cherokees capture Tomahawk and Dan, but instead of killing them the Indians tie our heroes up and leave them unattended in a cave from which they are able to contrive an escape. Eventually Tomahawk learns that the "13 arrows" are a code reference to a planned simultaneous attack on 13 frontier forts, but of course Tomahawk and Dan are able to disrupt and forestall the attack.
The remaining story is "The League of Tomahawk Haters!", also by an unknown writer and Fred Ray. The idea of a group of villains who band together for the specific purpose of defeating the series hero was fairly common in comics. There was the Superman Revenge Squad, the "League Against Batman" in a 50's story, and then there was that Charlton Gunmaster story I reviewed a while ago where part of the plot involved a bunch of Gunmaster's old foes being sent to the same prison and escaping to team up against him. Here, the Tomahawk Haters include a trapper who "had a settlement at (his) mercy" until Tomahawk defeated and jailed him; a renegade Indian named Lightfoot who was thwarted by Tomahawk from taking control of his tribe from the rightful chief (there was a lot of that going around); and a highwayman who terroized the roadways untl Tomahawk smashed his gang. Now the three of them meet and join hands in a pledge that one of them will eliminate their buckskin-clad nemesis.
But the revenge plot doesn't go as planned. The trapper catches Tomahawk in a trap, but Tomahawk cuts himself free, and then the foes find themselves battling together against a sudden attack by hostile Indians who want to kill both white men. Then, instead of spying on the Americans as Tomahawk suspected, the trapper helps lead British soldiers into a trap. Lightfoot the renegade Indian warrior also finds himself fighting on the same side as Tomahawk when the Redcoats attack his former tribe, who are allies of the Americans. Lightfoot promises to "abandon this renegade life" when Tomahawk intercedes to get him accepted back into his tribe. Finally the highwayman takes his turn at Tomahawk, but when the robber collapses suddenly while they are wrestling, Tomahawk diagnoses a case of "swamp fever" and provides an Indian herbal remedy which saves his life. Later, the three men meet together, along with Tomahawk himself, and join hands in a new pledge to become the "League of Tomahawk Brothers" rather than the "League of Tomahawk Haters". (If this story sounds familiar, it may be because it was reprinted in a much later issue of TOMAHAWK, #113.)
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Showing posts with label Tomahawk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tomahawk. Show all posts
(Son of) Tomahawk #131
TOMAHAWK #131; (official indicia title; the cover logo reads SON OF
TOMAHAWK); Nov.-Dec. 1971; DC Comics; Joe Kubert, editor; cover-featuring Hawk, Son
of Tomahawk in "Hang Him High!", written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Frank
Thorne. On the cover by Kubert, a young man with dark hair streaked with
blond sits on a horse with a noose around his neck, and a white-bearded
gentleman is about to wield a whip to spur the horse out from under him and carry out
an impromptu hanging. But in the foreground, two aged but steady hands are
pointed toward the would-be executioner; one of them holds an old-style
flintlock pistol, and its holder demands, "What's it going to be, Judge.... my
SON'S life.... or YOURS?"
Review by Bill Henley
By my reckoning this review is slightly off-topic since I would regard this
issue published in late 1971 as post-Silver Age (which, of course, by no
means automatically translates to "bad comics"). But there seemed to be some
interest on the list, so here's my review of the launch of a fnal effort to
revamp and revitalize a venerable DC feature. Starting in 1947 in STAR-SPANGLED
COMICS and moving into his own title in the 1950's, Tomahawk was a
fictional frontiersman in the mold of the real-life Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett.
He spent most of his career fighting British redcoats and hostile Indians (and
befriending friendly Indians) during the Revolutionary War, at first with
only his kid sidekick Dan Hunter at his side, then (starting in 1963) as leader
of Tomahawk's Rangers, a kind of Revolutionary-era Easy Company or
Blackhawks. During the 1960's editor Jack Schiff kept the series going (while other,
more traditional DC westerns reached the end of the trail) by introducing
sci-fi and fantasy elements which mixed uneasily, to say the least, with the
historical setting. Then for a couple of years 1969-71 Murray Bolftinoff
brought in the creative team of Robert Kanigher and Frank Thorne and involved
Tomahawk and his Rangers in somewhat more believable frontier adventures.
Finally, with this issue, Joe Kubert took over the editorship, keeping the
Kanigher/Thorne team but trying to take adventage of a resurgence of interest in the
traditional Western by jumping ahead a generation (or more) to a more familar
vision of the wild frontier.
The splash page, split into three long vertical panels, depicts a young
woman (in a ragged dress showing rather more skin at bosom and leg than a real
young lady of the era would have considered decent) fleeing in terror on foot.
Behind her on horseback is a grim black-clad figure with a pistol. The
final panel is a closeup of his scarred face (which incidentally looks nothing
like the bad guy drawn by Kubert on the cover). The symbolic second splash
page shows a long shot of the unequal chase (with two more horsemen behind the
black-clad man) passing through a canyon whose sides are emblazoned
Eisner-style with the story title, "Hang Him High1" while above the eyes of the
protagonist, Hawk gaze on the scene. Appearing on the scene suddenly, the young
rider with blond-streaked brown hair seizes the young woman by the arm, pulls
her up into his saddle, and spurs his horse. The pursuing rider fires his
pistol at them, shouting "GIT THEM BOTH!" As Hawk rides through a creek, his
horse stumbles and he and the girl fall into the water where the pursuers catch
up with them. seizing the girl and clubbing Hawk from behind with a pistal
butt. Holding a thick rope in his hand, the top-hatted leader orders, "Bring
them both to the clearing! We're gonna hold court threre!" One of his
followers chortles, "No one's gonna say 'The Judge' ain't fair! Haw, haw!" And so,
we find Hawk on that horse about to be hanged. "THE 'COURT' IS NOW IN
SESSION! Defendant Angela Addams, your brother already suffered the death penalty
because he wouldn't tell me the location of his secret gold mine! Unless
YOU tell me where it is, I'm gonna stretch your boyfriend's neck!" The
"defendant" insists that there is no goldand that she never saw her would-be rescuer
before, but her defense is overruled by the "Judge".
But as "sentence" is about to be carried out on Hawk, a dfferent kind of
appeal is filed, as a bullet knocks the whip from the hand of the executioner
and another well-aimed shot severs the hangman's noose around Hawk's neck. The
shots are fired from an ancient long rifle in the hands of a buckskin-clad
figure, and they are followed by a hurled Indian hatchet that knocks the
pistol from the "judge's" grip. "Hurry, untie me!", Hawk urges Angela. "I have a
notion who's bustin' up this party!" It is, of course, "like a legendary
patriarch out of the past.... TOMAHAWK!" Though gaunt, wrinkled and
white-haired, the old frontiersman is clearly not ready for the rocking chair yet.
Seemingly not long on either gratitude or respect for his elders, young Hawk
jibes his father, "Dad! What kept you? Waitin' for your Rangers?" Tomahawk's
reply is, "For a son of mine, you sure looked like you got your wings clipped
pretty good1" But they both may yet get their wings clipped, for the Judge
and his two henchmen are now disarmed but still ready for action, and
Tomahawk is now out of ammo for his rifle. The "Judge" recognizes Tomahawk but has
no respect for his historic service to his country; "Tomahawk! Youll be
joinin' your whelp on the hangin' tree!" Father and son prevail in a
three-to-two hand to hand fight, with Tomahawk putting an assailant out with a swung
rifle butt while Hawk punches out a club-wielding foe. Now outnumbered, the
"Judge" declares a sudden recess, leaping on his horse to flee, but flinging a
parting ruling; "This 'case' ain't over yet! I'LL BE BACK! I'll hold a NEW
trial! With a 'hangin' jury'!"
Tomahawk invites Angela to his homestead rather than her returning to her
home to face attack by the "Judge", and as the threesome arrive at Tomahawk's
cabin they are met by a middle-aged Indian woman who chides her husband and
son for coming in late for dinner. Angela is introduced to Moon Fawn, Hawk's
mother, and to their other son, Young Eagle, a much younger boy who looks
entirely Indian and is clad only in a loincloth (though clearly the two
dissimilar brothers are devoted to each other). Angela also "meets", via a group
portrait hanging on the wall, her host's old associates, the Rangers. "BIG ANVIL!
STOVEPIPE! BRASS BUTTONS! LONG RIFLE! KAINTUCK! CANNONBALL! I wonder
where they are now!", Tomahawk muses. (He found out about some of them in
later issues, as they appeared as guest stars.) Though she seems concened only
about overcooked venison, Moon Fawn knows her son is in danger, and the next
morning she confronts Hawk, telling him she knows what he plans to do, not
stopping him, but warning him to be careful and use the Indian wiles she
bequeathed to him. Hawk rides off alone to catch and defeat the "Judge" and his
gang before they can further threaten his family and Angela. Or so he
intends, but Angela insists on going with him. "If you want to decoy the Judge,
you've got to have ME there with you!" "All you women got a mind of your
own... just like my Ma's!"
Hawk and Angela lure the Judge and his men to the site of the secret mine
(which does exist, whether or not it has any gold). Creeping up by night, the
Judge's men blast a figure wearing Hawk's fancy frilled shirt-- only to find
it is a straw dummy. Hawk takes some of the Judge's gang out of action by
firing shots to topple the mine sluice down on them. But the Judge himself
hurls a stick of dynamite at the Addams cabin, then leads his remaining men to
"pronounce sentence" on Hawk and Angela "with lead!" But Hawk is playing
possum in the ruins of the cabin, and he meets gunfire with gunfire. As he
shoots, the Judge shouts, "WHELP OF THE DEVIL! JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL!" But the
Judge's shot misses while Hawk's strikes home, and so, according to the
caption, "The Judge gave the correct verdct-- with his LAST WORDS!" And somewhere
off in the background, an aged, pipe-puffing figure watches the scene with a
look of satisfaction; "Looks like my son, Hawk, rushes in where angels fear
to tread! Figured he'd need my help, but.... he did ALL RIGHT for himself!"
The SON OF TOMAHAWK series continued for nine more issues until the title
finally gave up the ghost wth issue #140, Apr.-May 1972. (It could be said
that Tarzan killed Tomahawk, as Joe Kubert dropped the title in order to take on
editing, writing and drawing DC's version of the jungle lord, and Kanigher
and Thorne also moved on to work on DC's KORAK.) The series might better have
been called TOMAHAWK AND SON, as the aged but hale frontiersman continued to
share the action roughly equally with young Hawk in succeeding issues. The
big anomaly about the series had to do with the time period. No specific
date was ever mentioned of when the "Son" stories took place, but given that
Tomahawk was a young man during the Revolution from 1776-83, Tomahawk's apparent
age in these stories would have put the time no later than 1820 or so, at
which time the "frontier" was still in what is now the Midwest, and only a few
explorers and trappers had ventured into the Great Plains west of the
Mississippi. Yet, the visual look of these stories is that of the post-Civil War
West of the standard Western. I guess we'll have to ascribe this to a heavy
dose of artistic/historical license. The stories are entertaining and well
crafted, if (as always with Kanigher) melodramatic.
This issue has several backup features in addition to the 14-page Tomahawk &
Son lead. The first is a reprint of Strong Bow, "The Moccasins That Won A
War!" Strong Bow was featured (and sometimes cover-featured) in early issues
of ALL-STAR WESTERN, the '50s Western title that took over the JSA's old
home. He was an Indian hero who operated "in the days before the white men
came", wandering among the Indian tribes keeping the peace and solving mysteries.
In this story, Strong Bow gets involved in defending a peaceful tribe led by
aged Chief Kyana against the machinations of Running Buffalo, a warlike and
greedy chief. Attempting to get past Running Buffalo's warriors to enlist
aid from another friendly tribe, Strong Bow decoys the enemy by firing an arrow
with his moccasin attached to it to leave a footprint on a hillside where he
really isn't. Despite the ploy, SB is surrounded by the enemy, but he
enlists his other moccasin to float a message (presumably in pictographic Indian
sign language) down the river past the enemy to the friendly Indians.
A two page text feature deals with the origin of "Arapaho Names", and
another reprint, a three page featurette on "Botalye, Immortal Indian Warrior",
features the art of Frank Frazetta. Botalye was a Kiowa who won his fame by
riding three times in succession to "count coup" against a troop of U.S.
cavalry, somehow returning uninjured each time. Later, we're told, Botalye becane a
"famous medicine man" and made peace with the whites. (1950's DC liked
Indian heroes, but they avoided as much as possible putting the "good" Native
Americans in conflict with white people. Strong Bow, as noted, had his
adventures before whites arrived on the scene-- as did the short-lived, super-powered
Super-Chief. Pow-Wow Smith, a long-running feature, was an Indian who
assimilated to white life and served as sheriff of a white town. The Tomahawk
feature, though it's protagonist was white, featured many Indians portrayed
positively-- but the series simplistically depicted "good" Indians as those who
kept the peace with whites and raised no objections to the incursion of white
settlers. And this featurette singled out for positive treatment an Indian
warrior who fought whites-- but in such a way as to not actually kill any of
them!) Finally, speaing of Indian heroes, we have a two-page preview drawn
and scripted by Joe Kubert of his "Fireheair" feature, which had previously
debuted in SHOWCASE issues #85-87. Firehair (no relation to the 50's Western
heroine published by Fictin House) was a white, redhaired boy who is orphaned
and adopted by Indians, only to find himself an outsider to both Indians and
whites. Sales of the SHOWCASE issues and/or Kubert's work schedule didn't
allow Firehair to get his own title, but Kubert did shoehorn short backup tales
of this beautifully drawn feature into three future issues of TOMAHAWK.
TOMAHAWK); Nov.-Dec. 1971; DC Comics; Joe Kubert, editor; cover-featuring Hawk, Son
of Tomahawk in "Hang Him High!", written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Frank
Thorne. On the cover by Kubert, a young man with dark hair streaked with
blond sits on a horse with a noose around his neck, and a white-bearded
gentleman is about to wield a whip to spur the horse out from under him and carry out
an impromptu hanging. But in the foreground, two aged but steady hands are
pointed toward the would-be executioner; one of them holds an old-style
flintlock pistol, and its holder demands, "What's it going to be, Judge.... my
SON'S life.... or YOURS?"
Review by Bill Henley
By my reckoning this review is slightly off-topic since I would regard this
issue published in late 1971 as post-Silver Age (which, of course, by no
means automatically translates to "bad comics"). But there seemed to be some
interest on the list, so here's my review of the launch of a fnal effort to
revamp and revitalize a venerable DC feature. Starting in 1947 in STAR-SPANGLED
COMICS and moving into his own title in the 1950's, Tomahawk was a
fictional frontiersman in the mold of the real-life Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett.
He spent most of his career fighting British redcoats and hostile Indians (and
befriending friendly Indians) during the Revolutionary War, at first with
only his kid sidekick Dan Hunter at his side, then (starting in 1963) as leader
of Tomahawk's Rangers, a kind of Revolutionary-era Easy Company or
Blackhawks. During the 1960's editor Jack Schiff kept the series going (while other,
more traditional DC westerns reached the end of the trail) by introducing
sci-fi and fantasy elements which mixed uneasily, to say the least, with the
historical setting. Then for a couple of years 1969-71 Murray Bolftinoff
brought in the creative team of Robert Kanigher and Frank Thorne and involved
Tomahawk and his Rangers in somewhat more believable frontier adventures.
Finally, with this issue, Joe Kubert took over the editorship, keeping the
Kanigher/Thorne team but trying to take adventage of a resurgence of interest in the
traditional Western by jumping ahead a generation (or more) to a more familar
vision of the wild frontier.
The splash page, split into three long vertical panels, depicts a young
woman (in a ragged dress showing rather more skin at bosom and leg than a real
young lady of the era would have considered decent) fleeing in terror on foot.
Behind her on horseback is a grim black-clad figure with a pistol. The
final panel is a closeup of his scarred face (which incidentally looks nothing
like the bad guy drawn by Kubert on the cover). The symbolic second splash
page shows a long shot of the unequal chase (with two more horsemen behind the
black-clad man) passing through a canyon whose sides are emblazoned
Eisner-style with the story title, "Hang Him High1" while above the eyes of the
protagonist, Hawk gaze on the scene. Appearing on the scene suddenly, the young
rider with blond-streaked brown hair seizes the young woman by the arm, pulls
her up into his saddle, and spurs his horse. The pursuing rider fires his
pistol at them, shouting "GIT THEM BOTH!" As Hawk rides through a creek, his
horse stumbles and he and the girl fall into the water where the pursuers catch
up with them. seizing the girl and clubbing Hawk from behind with a pistal
butt. Holding a thick rope in his hand, the top-hatted leader orders, "Bring
them both to the clearing! We're gonna hold court threre!" One of his
followers chortles, "No one's gonna say 'The Judge' ain't fair! Haw, haw!" And so,
we find Hawk on that horse about to be hanged. "THE 'COURT' IS NOW IN
SESSION! Defendant Angela Addams, your brother already suffered the death penalty
because he wouldn't tell me the location of his secret gold mine! Unless
YOU tell me where it is, I'm gonna stretch your boyfriend's neck!" The
"defendant" insists that there is no goldand that she never saw her would-be rescuer
before, but her defense is overruled by the "Judge".
But as "sentence" is about to be carried out on Hawk, a dfferent kind of
appeal is filed, as a bullet knocks the whip from the hand of the executioner
and another well-aimed shot severs the hangman's noose around Hawk's neck. The
shots are fired from an ancient long rifle in the hands of a buckskin-clad
figure, and they are followed by a hurled Indian hatchet that knocks the
pistol from the "judge's" grip. "Hurry, untie me!", Hawk urges Angela. "I have a
notion who's bustin' up this party!" It is, of course, "like a legendary
patriarch out of the past.... TOMAHAWK!" Though gaunt, wrinkled and
white-haired, the old frontiersman is clearly not ready for the rocking chair yet.
Seemingly not long on either gratitude or respect for his elders, young Hawk
jibes his father, "Dad! What kept you? Waitin' for your Rangers?" Tomahawk's
reply is, "For a son of mine, you sure looked like you got your wings clipped
pretty good1" But they both may yet get their wings clipped, for the Judge
and his two henchmen are now disarmed but still ready for action, and
Tomahawk is now out of ammo for his rifle. The "Judge" recognizes Tomahawk but has
no respect for his historic service to his country; "Tomahawk! Youll be
joinin' your whelp on the hangin' tree!" Father and son prevail in a
three-to-two hand to hand fight, with Tomahawk putting an assailant out with a swung
rifle butt while Hawk punches out a club-wielding foe. Now outnumbered, the
"Judge" declares a sudden recess, leaping on his horse to flee, but flinging a
parting ruling; "This 'case' ain't over yet! I'LL BE BACK! I'll hold a NEW
trial! With a 'hangin' jury'!"
Tomahawk invites Angela to his homestead rather than her returning to her
home to face attack by the "Judge", and as the threesome arrive at Tomahawk's
cabin they are met by a middle-aged Indian woman who chides her husband and
son for coming in late for dinner. Angela is introduced to Moon Fawn, Hawk's
mother, and to their other son, Young Eagle, a much younger boy who looks
entirely Indian and is clad only in a loincloth (though clearly the two
dissimilar brothers are devoted to each other). Angela also "meets", via a group
portrait hanging on the wall, her host's old associates, the Rangers. "BIG ANVIL!
STOVEPIPE! BRASS BUTTONS! LONG RIFLE! KAINTUCK! CANNONBALL! I wonder
where they are now!", Tomahawk muses. (He found out about some of them in
later issues, as they appeared as guest stars.) Though she seems concened only
about overcooked venison, Moon Fawn knows her son is in danger, and the next
morning she confronts Hawk, telling him she knows what he plans to do, not
stopping him, but warning him to be careful and use the Indian wiles she
bequeathed to him. Hawk rides off alone to catch and defeat the "Judge" and his
gang before they can further threaten his family and Angela. Or so he
intends, but Angela insists on going with him. "If you want to decoy the Judge,
you've got to have ME there with you!" "All you women got a mind of your
own... just like my Ma's!"
Hawk and Angela lure the Judge and his men to the site of the secret mine
(which does exist, whether or not it has any gold). Creeping up by night, the
Judge's men blast a figure wearing Hawk's fancy frilled shirt-- only to find
it is a straw dummy. Hawk takes some of the Judge's gang out of action by
firing shots to topple the mine sluice down on them. But the Judge himself
hurls a stick of dynamite at the Addams cabin, then leads his remaining men to
"pronounce sentence" on Hawk and Angela "with lead!" But Hawk is playing
possum in the ruins of the cabin, and he meets gunfire with gunfire. As he
shoots, the Judge shouts, "WHELP OF THE DEVIL! JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL!" But the
Judge's shot misses while Hawk's strikes home, and so, according to the
caption, "The Judge gave the correct verdct-- with his LAST WORDS!" And somewhere
off in the background, an aged, pipe-puffing figure watches the scene with a
look of satisfaction; "Looks like my son, Hawk, rushes in where angels fear
to tread! Figured he'd need my help, but.... he did ALL RIGHT for himself!"
The SON OF TOMAHAWK series continued for nine more issues until the title
finally gave up the ghost wth issue #140, Apr.-May 1972. (It could be said
that Tarzan killed Tomahawk, as Joe Kubert dropped the title in order to take on
editing, writing and drawing DC's version of the jungle lord, and Kanigher
and Thorne also moved on to work on DC's KORAK.) The series might better have
been called TOMAHAWK AND SON, as the aged but hale frontiersman continued to
share the action roughly equally with young Hawk in succeeding issues. The
big anomaly about the series had to do with the time period. No specific
date was ever mentioned of when the "Son" stories took place, but given that
Tomahawk was a young man during the Revolution from 1776-83, Tomahawk's apparent
age in these stories would have put the time no later than 1820 or so, at
which time the "frontier" was still in what is now the Midwest, and only a few
explorers and trappers had ventured into the Great Plains west of the
Mississippi. Yet, the visual look of these stories is that of the post-Civil War
West of the standard Western. I guess we'll have to ascribe this to a heavy
dose of artistic/historical license. The stories are entertaining and well
crafted, if (as always with Kanigher) melodramatic.
This issue has several backup features in addition to the 14-page Tomahawk &
Son lead. The first is a reprint of Strong Bow, "The Moccasins That Won A
War!" Strong Bow was featured (and sometimes cover-featured) in early issues
of ALL-STAR WESTERN, the '50s Western title that took over the JSA's old
home. He was an Indian hero who operated "in the days before the white men
came", wandering among the Indian tribes keeping the peace and solving mysteries.
In this story, Strong Bow gets involved in defending a peaceful tribe led by
aged Chief Kyana against the machinations of Running Buffalo, a warlike and
greedy chief. Attempting to get past Running Buffalo's warriors to enlist
aid from another friendly tribe, Strong Bow decoys the enemy by firing an arrow
with his moccasin attached to it to leave a footprint on a hillside where he
really isn't. Despite the ploy, SB is surrounded by the enemy, but he
enlists his other moccasin to float a message (presumably in pictographic Indian
sign language) down the river past the enemy to the friendly Indians.
A two page text feature deals with the origin of "Arapaho Names", and
another reprint, a three page featurette on "Botalye, Immortal Indian Warrior",
features the art of Frank Frazetta. Botalye was a Kiowa who won his fame by
riding three times in succession to "count coup" against a troop of U.S.
cavalry, somehow returning uninjured each time. Later, we're told, Botalye becane a
"famous medicine man" and made peace with the whites. (1950's DC liked
Indian heroes, but they avoided as much as possible putting the "good" Native
Americans in conflict with white people. Strong Bow, as noted, had his
adventures before whites arrived on the scene-- as did the short-lived, super-powered
Super-Chief. Pow-Wow Smith, a long-running feature, was an Indian who
assimilated to white life and served as sheriff of a white town. The Tomahawk
feature, though it's protagonist was white, featured many Indians portrayed
positively-- but the series simplistically depicted "good" Indians as those who
kept the peace with whites and raised no objections to the incursion of white
settlers. And this featurette singled out for positive treatment an Indian
warrior who fought whites-- but in such a way as to not actually kill any of
them!) Finally, speaing of Indian heroes, we have a two-page preview drawn
and scripted by Joe Kubert of his "Fireheair" feature, which had previously
debuted in SHOWCASE issues #85-87. Firehair (no relation to the 50's Western
heroine published by Fictin House) was a white, redhaired boy who is orphaned
and adopted by Indians, only to find himself an outsider to both Indians and
whites. Sales of the SHOWCASE issues and/or Kubert's work schedule didn't
allow Firehair to get his own title, but Kubert did shoehorn short backup tales
of this beautifully drawn feature into three future issues of TOMAHAWK.
Tomahawk #45, "Battle of the Master Woodsmen!"
TOMAHAWK #45, January 1957; DC Comics; Whitney Ellsworth, editor of record
(though I surmise Jack Schiff did the actual editing) cover-featuring DC's
Daniel Boone-like hero of the Revolutionary War frontier in "Battle of the Master
Woodsmen!" On the cover (possibly by regular Tomahawk artist Fred Ray, though
I'm not sure), Tomahawk and sidekick Dan Hunter cling to the sides of two
buffalo in a stampeding herd, but their adversary, another buckskin-clad figure
leading a band of hostile Indians, is on to them: "Loose your arrows into that
herd! f I know Tomahawk and his tricks, he and his young pardner are trying
to slip past us, hanging on to the sides of them buffaloes!"
Review by Bill Henley
Tomahawk was one of the more obscure DC features during the Silver Age. His
moment in the sun had been earlier, during the interregnum between the first
and second Superheroic Ages, when he starred in his own title in addition to
STAR-SPANGLED COMICS and later a backup feature in WORLD'S FINEST. He was
considered popular enough in the late 40's/early 50's to appear alongside Superman
and Batman as a headliner in DC house ads. During the late 50's and through
the 60's, Tomahawk managed to avoid being cancelled as DC's more conventional
Western titles were (see my recent review of ALL-STAR WESTERN #119) but he
didn't seem to get much attention. I know that as a young comics fan in the 60's
I can only remember seeing a TOMAHAWK issue once, in a barbershop. I'm not
sure if the title was actually less widely distributed to newsstands than other
higher-profile DC books, or if I just didn't notice it because my main
interest was in superheroes. Anyway, I didn't start following the series until
around the start of 1969, when some striking covers by Neal Adams and interior
stories by Robert Kanigher and Frank Thorne attracted my attention. In the years
since, though, I've picked up a scattering of earlier issues of TOMAHAWK, and
here's a review of one of them
The lead story is "The Last Days of Chief Tory!", and the splash panel shows
Tomahawk and Dan riding a hurtling wagon and throwing fireworks to frighten
the horses of pro-British raiders. The opening caption tells us, "There were
COWBOYS in those days...yes, back in 1776! But those early cowboys were Tory
guerrrilas, who sprang from hiding to launch raids against the British and
Americans alike!" While riding along the New York state shoreline on "a summer
evening in 1776", Tomahawk and Dan Hunter observe an American schooner being
raided by pirates. The raiders' leader, called Chief Tory, is a scruffy-looking
fellow with a white-feather cockade in his tricon hat. Our heroes make plans
to try to cut off the raiders, while noting that they "don't look like British
troops", but before they can act they are arrested and taken in tow by a squad
of blue-coated American soldiers. "You fools!", the commander informs his
troops. "You've brought in Tomahawk and Dan Hunter!" The commander explains
that his men mistook the frontier fighters for members of Chief Tory's band.
The raiders are known as "cowboys" because despite their British sympathies they
steal cattle from both sides, and their leader calls himself "Chief Tory"
because he has adopted an Indian fighting style for his band. The ship they
attacked was just back from the Orient carrying valuable supplies for the American
troops, which are now lost. Tomahawk resolves to help capture Chief Tory and
company, and in the woods he finds the trail of his band, moving single file
in Indian fashion. Dan wants to follow the trail directly, but Tomahawk warns
that they will leave scouts behind to watch the trail as Indians do, and our
heroes move forward parallel to the trail, watching for signs of the
"cowboys", rather than directly on the path. They get close enough to overhear Chief
Tory laying his plans to attack an American outpost, Fort Lonely. But one of
the Chief's scouts spots Tomahawk and Dan in turn and blows a horn to raise the
alarm, and the pair are overwhelmed by Tory's men. The delighted Chief
informs Tomahawk that he will use them as their means of getting access to Fort
Lonely. forcing them to approach the fort with unloaded rifles and ask for entry
But the Chief failed to take their gunpowder and flints along with their
rifle balls, and Tomahawk manages to set off an explosion which scatters the
raiders' horses (two of which our heroes seize) and warns the fort. Riding back
to the raiders' hideout, Tomahawk and Dan find a store of fireworks from the
raided ship's cargo, and use them to stampede the Tories' horses again (these
guys need to train their mounts better, apparently). Catching up to the fleeing
Chief Tory, Tomahawk delivers a mighty punch to his jaw and then delivers him
to the American commander, who exults, "With Tory out of action, all his
cowboy raiders will soon be caught. Higher headquarters will be happy to hear
this Tomahawk!" (Historical note: Page Smith's Revolutionary War history A NEW
AGE NOW BEGINS confirms that there actually were Tory "irregulars" or guerrilla
fighters during the Revolution who were known as "cowboys". On the other
hand, I'm not sure American ships were trading with the Orient that early.) I'm
not certain of the artist of this story-- it doesn't quite look like Fred Ray's
work-- and have no idea of the writer.
The second story in the issue is "The First Sub!" and this one, I'm pretty
sure, is drawn by Ray. On the splash panel (aptly named in this case), Tomahawk
and Dan are in an odd underwater vehicle being hauled up in a net by the crew
of a British warship. "It was the most bizarre adventure ever ventured on by
Tomahawk and Dan Hunter, when the famed team took to the depths of the Hudson
River, in an incredible craft to rescue a chieftain and strike a blow for
liberty!" Our story begins with an American officer leading Tomahawk and Dan
through the nightttime streets of New York, while warning, "We must move with
caution, Tomahawk....this town is infested with British spies!" (Hmmm.... hey,
guys, if you really don't want to be spotted, it might help to put on some
different clothes than your regular buckskin outfits, which would kind of stand
out on the citified sidewalks of New York.) Our heroes are introduced to
inventor David Bushnell, who has developed an early-model submarine, the "Turtle",
which he intends to use to attack the British fleet in New York harbor.
However, another mission for the submersible device has come up first.... it seems
that Choctaw, a pro-American Indian chief, has been captured by the pro-British
Mohawks and is being held prisoner in a village up the Hudson River. Only
the "Turtle" has a chance of getting past the Mohawk guards to rescue the chief.
But two "able pilots" familiar with the terrain are needed. "Say no more!
Dan and I would sail anywhere for the American cause!" though later, at the
controls of the sub, Tomahawk notes, "Piloting this craft is a hoop and a holler
from frontiering, Dan!" It's a long way from New York City up the Hudson,
but the Yankees have come up with a clever plan to get the "Turtle" where it
needs to go; Tomahawk surreptitiously attaches the sub to the stern of a British
warship, and rides along as it sails upriver to meet with the Brits' Mohawk
allies. "It sure is nice of the British to lend a hand for the Continental
cause!" But the British look less helpful as our heroes realize their plan is to
take Chief Choctaw aboard ship and sail him completely away. As Choctaw is
brought out to the ship in a canoe, Tomahawk and Dan surface the "Turtle",
panicking the Mohawks who think it is a "water demon", though Choctaw is scarcely
less freaked out by the means of his rescue. The British sailors recognize the
"Turtle"as an undersea craft and try to hit it with cannon fire. Then the
sub's propeller crank breaks, making it impossible to move the craft. The
British seize the sub in a net and try to lever it upwards, but while Dan repairs
the crank, Tomahawk emerges and cuts the ropes of the net. Then Mohawk
warriors, overcoming their fear of the "water demon", swim underwater to hack at the
wooden vessel with their tomahawks, but our heroes repair the propeller and
rout the Indians by using the propeller to kick up mud from the river bottom,
Carried downstream by the river current, the "Turtle" brings Tomahawk, Dan and
Chief Choctaw to safety. "Yessir, I expect big things for the future of the
submarine!" (But it would take a while for those "big things" to occur, at
least in real history. Again according to Smith's history, inventor David
Bushnell and the "Turtle" really existed, but his attempts to use the sub to sink
British ships by attaching torpedoes to them mostly failed; the only success
occurred when curious British sailors spotted one of the torpedoes attached to
their ship by a line and hauled it in to see what it was. At least Bushnell got
off better than the crew of the "Hunley", the next famous submarine in
American history, the Civil War Confederate craft that sank for good with all hands
aboard.) As for Chief Choctaw, there was no such person -- there was a whole
tribe by that name, but they were far south of New York, and weren't
particularly pro-American.)
Finally, following a Henry Boltinoff gag strip about "Little Pocahontas" and
a house ad for the first appearance in SHOWCASE #6 of the "League of
Death-Cheaters", aka the Challengers of the Unknown by Jack Kirby, we have the
cover-featured "Battle of the Master Woodsmen!" This looks like another Fred Ray art
job. On the splash, Tomahawk and his comrades are trying to remain unseen by
crawling under buffalo skins amidst a herd of real buffalo, but the enemy
Indians suspect their presence and stampede the herd; "They're on to our strategy
again, thanks to the REDCOAT BACKWOODSMAN!" As our story begins, Tomahawk and
Dan Hunter ride for their annual rendezvous with an old friend, a grizzled
pioneer named Thacker who taught Tomahawk much of what he knows about frontier
life and fighting. But the happy reunion is disrupted this time when a passing
horseman announces that the long-expected war between the British and their
American colonists has finally broken out. Thacker announces, "It was bound to
be, boys! Let's saddle up and make tracks... we've got ourselves a war to
fight!" But Tomahawk is shocked when he realizes that the army Thacker intends
to enlist in is the British one. The grim-faced Thacker explains, "My kinfolk
are fightin' under the Union Jack, Tomahawk, and I reckon that's where MY
heart has to be! I can't take upon myself to fight agin' em!" Regretfully, the
former friends wish each other good luck and ride off in opposite directions;
"That's the meanness of war, Dan! Sometimes it splits families-- other times
friends! Thacker is doing what he thinks proper-- and so are we!" Some time
later, Tomahawk and Dan get an assignment from the Continental Army to escort
a friendly Indian chief named Fleetfoot back to his home village through a
cordon of hostile Mohawk warriors. In order to decoy the Mohawks, Tomahawk uses
a "paleface" trick-- he sets a piece of burning glass atop a pile of firewood,
expecting that after our heroes and Fleetfoot have left their camp the glass
will start a fire and the smoke will make the Mohawks think they are still in
camp. The trick fails, though, because the Mohawks have their own adviser--
Thacker, who realizes that "Tomahawk wouldn't be so loco as to show us his
position" and recognizes the burning glass trick which he himself taught Tomahawk.
Since his decoy trick failed, Tomahawk is closely pursued by the Mohawks,
but he has another plan-- to ride out along the prairie trail, where he would
normally be in plain sight, but he has a scheme to remain hidden. The Indians
spot the trail of Tomahawk and friends' horses leading up into the mountains,
but master tracker Thacker realizes that the horses are riderless and our
heroes are out on the plain using another of his old tricks-- hiding under buffalo
skins to blend in with the herd. He orders the Indians to stampede the herd,
and Tomahawk in turn tries another trick by ordering Dan and Fleetfoot to grab
the side of a buffalo and cling to its side as he does. This allows a
momentary escape for our heroes, but with the enemy close behind them and knowing
their every move, how can they reach their goal? But Tomahawk has realized his
old mentor leads the foe, and "Once you know WHO your foe is, half your
problems are over, lads! I reckon it's time to turn the tables on Thacker Young!"
Shortly afterward, Thacker and his braves spot a freshly felled tree drifting
downriver, and suspect that Tomahawk and his friends may be using it to get
past them underwater. Thacker suspects another frontier trick and wades out
into the stream to make sure-- and sure enough, the buckskin-clad figures
clinging to the tree are dummies. It appears Thacker has caught another of
Tomahawk's tricks, but in fact this is a trick within a trick, for Thacker has been
lured into a part of the river with a sticky mud bottom, and he cannot get back
to shore. Tomahawk saves him from drowning, but hauls Thacker, who admits he
has been caught "fair and square", off to "sit out the war in a Colonial
stockade! Maybe, in time, he'll even take to our way of thinking against the
British!" (This yarn doesn't directly reflect any real-life events that I know of,
but it was true that the Revolution was as much a civil war among Americans as
anything else, with a lot of friends and family members ending up on opposite
sides.)
Increasingly, as the Silver Age moved on, TOMAHAWK would get away from the
kind of relatively believable frontier adventures seen in this issue, and
introduce outright fantasy and sci-fi elements into the stories, with midget
Indians, alien Indians, giant monsters and the like. It's unclear whether this was a
choice of editor Jack Schiff, or whether (as Schiff later claimed) the word
to introduce sci-fi elements into all DC's adventure titles came from higher
up. But whatever the reason, the result here was even more bizarre and
inappropriate than in Schiff's other titles BATMAN and BLACKHAWK. (Maybe I'll review
one of those far-out frontier sagas another time.)
Daniel Boone-like hero of the Revolutionary War frontier in "Battle of the Master
Woodsmen!" On the cover (possibly by regular Tomahawk artist Fred Ray, though
I'm not sure), Tomahawk and sidekick Dan Hunter cling to the sides of two
buffalo in a stampeding herd, but their adversary, another buckskin-clad figure
leading a band of hostile Indians, is on to them: "Loose your arrows into that
herd! f I know Tomahawk and his tricks, he and his young pardner are trying
to slip past us, hanging on to the sides of them buffaloes!"
Review by Bill Henley
Tomahawk was one of the more obscure DC features during the Silver Age. His
moment in the sun had been earlier, during the interregnum between the first
and second Superheroic Ages, when he starred in his own title in addition to
STAR-SPANGLED COMICS and later a backup feature in WORLD'S FINEST. He was
considered popular enough in the late 40's/early 50's to appear alongside Superman
and Batman as a headliner in DC house ads. During the late 50's and through
the 60's, Tomahawk managed to avoid being cancelled as DC's more conventional
Western titles were (see my recent review of ALL-STAR WESTERN #119) but he
didn't seem to get much attention. I know that as a young comics fan in the 60's
I can only remember seeing a TOMAHAWK issue once, in a barbershop. I'm not
sure if the title was actually less widely distributed to newsstands than other
higher-profile DC books, or if I just didn't notice it because my main
interest was in superheroes. Anyway, I didn't start following the series until
around the start of 1969, when some striking covers by Neal Adams and interior
stories by Robert Kanigher and Frank Thorne attracted my attention. In the years
since, though, I've picked up a scattering of earlier issues of TOMAHAWK, and
here's a review of one of them
The lead story is "The Last Days of Chief Tory!", and the splash panel shows
Tomahawk and Dan riding a hurtling wagon and throwing fireworks to frighten
the horses of pro-British raiders. The opening caption tells us, "There were
COWBOYS in those days...yes, back in 1776! But those early cowboys were Tory
guerrrilas, who sprang from hiding to launch raids against the British and
Americans alike!" While riding along the New York state shoreline on "a summer
evening in 1776", Tomahawk and Dan Hunter observe an American schooner being
raided by pirates. The raiders' leader, called Chief Tory, is a scruffy-looking
fellow with a white-feather cockade in his tricon hat. Our heroes make plans
to try to cut off the raiders, while noting that they "don't look like British
troops", but before they can act they are arrested and taken in tow by a squad
of blue-coated American soldiers. "You fools!", the commander informs his
troops. "You've brought in Tomahawk and Dan Hunter!" The commander explains
that his men mistook the frontier fighters for members of Chief Tory's band.
The raiders are known as "cowboys" because despite their British sympathies they
steal cattle from both sides, and their leader calls himself "Chief Tory"
because he has adopted an Indian fighting style for his band. The ship they
attacked was just back from the Orient carrying valuable supplies for the American
troops, which are now lost. Tomahawk resolves to help capture Chief Tory and
company, and in the woods he finds the trail of his band, moving single file
in Indian fashion. Dan wants to follow the trail directly, but Tomahawk warns
that they will leave scouts behind to watch the trail as Indians do, and our
heroes move forward parallel to the trail, watching for signs of the
"cowboys", rather than directly on the path. They get close enough to overhear Chief
Tory laying his plans to attack an American outpost, Fort Lonely. But one of
the Chief's scouts spots Tomahawk and Dan in turn and blows a horn to raise the
alarm, and the pair are overwhelmed by Tory's men. The delighted Chief
informs Tomahawk that he will use them as their means of getting access to Fort
Lonely. forcing them to approach the fort with unloaded rifles and ask for entry
But the Chief failed to take their gunpowder and flints along with their
rifle balls, and Tomahawk manages to set off an explosion which scatters the
raiders' horses (two of which our heroes seize) and warns the fort. Riding back
to the raiders' hideout, Tomahawk and Dan find a store of fireworks from the
raided ship's cargo, and use them to stampede the Tories' horses again (these
guys need to train their mounts better, apparently). Catching up to the fleeing
Chief Tory, Tomahawk delivers a mighty punch to his jaw and then delivers him
to the American commander, who exults, "With Tory out of action, all his
cowboy raiders will soon be caught. Higher headquarters will be happy to hear
this Tomahawk!" (Historical note: Page Smith's Revolutionary War history A NEW
AGE NOW BEGINS confirms that there actually were Tory "irregulars" or guerrilla
fighters during the Revolution who were known as "cowboys". On the other
hand, I'm not sure American ships were trading with the Orient that early.) I'm
not certain of the artist of this story-- it doesn't quite look like Fred Ray's
work-- and have no idea of the writer.
The second story in the issue is "The First Sub!" and this one, I'm pretty
sure, is drawn by Ray. On the splash panel (aptly named in this case), Tomahawk
and Dan are in an odd underwater vehicle being hauled up in a net by the crew
of a British warship. "It was the most bizarre adventure ever ventured on by
Tomahawk and Dan Hunter, when the famed team took to the depths of the Hudson
River, in an incredible craft to rescue a chieftain and strike a blow for
liberty!" Our story begins with an American officer leading Tomahawk and Dan
through the nightttime streets of New York, while warning, "We must move with
caution, Tomahawk....this town is infested with British spies!" (Hmmm.... hey,
guys, if you really don't want to be spotted, it might help to put on some
different clothes than your regular buckskin outfits, which would kind of stand
out on the citified sidewalks of New York.) Our heroes are introduced to
inventor David Bushnell, who has developed an early-model submarine, the "Turtle",
which he intends to use to attack the British fleet in New York harbor.
However, another mission for the submersible device has come up first.... it seems
that Choctaw, a pro-American Indian chief, has been captured by the pro-British
Mohawks and is being held prisoner in a village up the Hudson River. Only
the "Turtle" has a chance of getting past the Mohawk guards to rescue the chief.
But two "able pilots" familiar with the terrain are needed. "Say no more!
Dan and I would sail anywhere for the American cause!" though later, at the
controls of the sub, Tomahawk notes, "Piloting this craft is a hoop and a holler
from frontiering, Dan!" It's a long way from New York City up the Hudson,
but the Yankees have come up with a clever plan to get the "Turtle" where it
needs to go; Tomahawk surreptitiously attaches the sub to the stern of a British
warship, and rides along as it sails upriver to meet with the Brits' Mohawk
allies. "It sure is nice of the British to lend a hand for the Continental
cause!" But the British look less helpful as our heroes realize their plan is to
take Chief Choctaw aboard ship and sail him completely away. As Choctaw is
brought out to the ship in a canoe, Tomahawk and Dan surface the "Turtle",
panicking the Mohawks who think it is a "water demon", though Choctaw is scarcely
less freaked out by the means of his rescue. The British sailors recognize the
"Turtle"as an undersea craft and try to hit it with cannon fire. Then the
sub's propeller crank breaks, making it impossible to move the craft. The
British seize the sub in a net and try to lever it upwards, but while Dan repairs
the crank, Tomahawk emerges and cuts the ropes of the net. Then Mohawk
warriors, overcoming their fear of the "water demon", swim underwater to hack at the
wooden vessel with their tomahawks, but our heroes repair the propeller and
rout the Indians by using the propeller to kick up mud from the river bottom,
Carried downstream by the river current, the "Turtle" brings Tomahawk, Dan and
Chief Choctaw to safety. "Yessir, I expect big things for the future of the
submarine!" (But it would take a while for those "big things" to occur, at
least in real history. Again according to Smith's history, inventor David
Bushnell and the "Turtle" really existed, but his attempts to use the sub to sink
British ships by attaching torpedoes to them mostly failed; the only success
occurred when curious British sailors spotted one of the torpedoes attached to
their ship by a line and hauled it in to see what it was. At least Bushnell got
off better than the crew of the "Hunley", the next famous submarine in
American history, the Civil War Confederate craft that sank for good with all hands
aboard.) As for Chief Choctaw, there was no such person -- there was a whole
tribe by that name, but they were far south of New York, and weren't
particularly pro-American.)
Finally, following a Henry Boltinoff gag strip about "Little Pocahontas" and
a house ad for the first appearance in SHOWCASE #6 of the "League of
Death-Cheaters", aka the Challengers of the Unknown by Jack Kirby, we have the
cover-featured "Battle of the Master Woodsmen!" This looks like another Fred Ray art
job. On the splash, Tomahawk and his comrades are trying to remain unseen by
crawling under buffalo skins amidst a herd of real buffalo, but the enemy
Indians suspect their presence and stampede the herd; "They're on to our strategy
again, thanks to the REDCOAT BACKWOODSMAN!" As our story begins, Tomahawk and
Dan Hunter ride for their annual rendezvous with an old friend, a grizzled
pioneer named Thacker who taught Tomahawk much of what he knows about frontier
life and fighting. But the happy reunion is disrupted this time when a passing
horseman announces that the long-expected war between the British and their
American colonists has finally broken out. Thacker announces, "It was bound to
be, boys! Let's saddle up and make tracks... we've got ourselves a war to
fight!" But Tomahawk is shocked when he realizes that the army Thacker intends
to enlist in is the British one. The grim-faced Thacker explains, "My kinfolk
are fightin' under the Union Jack, Tomahawk, and I reckon that's where MY
heart has to be! I can't take upon myself to fight agin' em!" Regretfully, the
former friends wish each other good luck and ride off in opposite directions;
"That's the meanness of war, Dan! Sometimes it splits families-- other times
friends! Thacker is doing what he thinks proper-- and so are we!" Some time
later, Tomahawk and Dan get an assignment from the Continental Army to escort
a friendly Indian chief named Fleetfoot back to his home village through a
cordon of hostile Mohawk warriors. In order to decoy the Mohawks, Tomahawk uses
a "paleface" trick-- he sets a piece of burning glass atop a pile of firewood,
expecting that after our heroes and Fleetfoot have left their camp the glass
will start a fire and the smoke will make the Mohawks think they are still in
camp. The trick fails, though, because the Mohawks have their own adviser--
Thacker, who realizes that "Tomahawk wouldn't be so loco as to show us his
position" and recognizes the burning glass trick which he himself taught Tomahawk.
Since his decoy trick failed, Tomahawk is closely pursued by the Mohawks,
but he has another plan-- to ride out along the prairie trail, where he would
normally be in plain sight, but he has a scheme to remain hidden. The Indians
spot the trail of Tomahawk and friends' horses leading up into the mountains,
but master tracker Thacker realizes that the horses are riderless and our
heroes are out on the plain using another of his old tricks-- hiding under buffalo
skins to blend in with the herd. He orders the Indians to stampede the herd,
and Tomahawk in turn tries another trick by ordering Dan and Fleetfoot to grab
the side of a buffalo and cling to its side as he does. This allows a
momentary escape for our heroes, but with the enemy close behind them and knowing
their every move, how can they reach their goal? But Tomahawk has realized his
old mentor leads the foe, and "Once you know WHO your foe is, half your
problems are over, lads! I reckon it's time to turn the tables on Thacker Young!"
Shortly afterward, Thacker and his braves spot a freshly felled tree drifting
downriver, and suspect that Tomahawk and his friends may be using it to get
past them underwater. Thacker suspects another frontier trick and wades out
into the stream to make sure-- and sure enough, the buckskin-clad figures
clinging to the tree are dummies. It appears Thacker has caught another of
Tomahawk's tricks, but in fact this is a trick within a trick, for Thacker has been
lured into a part of the river with a sticky mud bottom, and he cannot get back
to shore. Tomahawk saves him from drowning, but hauls Thacker, who admits he
has been caught "fair and square", off to "sit out the war in a Colonial
stockade! Maybe, in time, he'll even take to our way of thinking against the
British!" (This yarn doesn't directly reflect any real-life events that I know of,
but it was true that the Revolution was as much a civil war among Americans as
anything else, with a lot of friends and family members ending up on opposite
sides.)
Increasingly, as the Silver Age moved on, TOMAHAWK would get away from the
kind of relatively believable frontier adventures seen in this issue, and
introduce outright fantasy and sci-fi elements into the stories, with midget
Indians, alien Indians, giant monsters and the like. It's unclear whether this was a
choice of editor Jack Schiff, or whether (as Schiff later claimed) the word
to introduce sci-fi elements into all DC's adventure titles came from higher
up. But whatever the reason, the result here was even more bizarre and
inappropriate than in Schiff's other titles BATMAN and BLACKHAWK. (Maybe I'll review
one of those far-out frontier sagas another time.)
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