IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 54

Although there were EAGLE Annuals every year, several character annuals and several novels about EAGLE characters, 1954 brought a unique book. This was a 'Riders of the Range' strip book, Jeff Arnold and the Bozeman Trail which today would be called a graphic novel. Written by the strip's creator and regular writer Charles Chilton and illustrated by Pat Williams, the book featured the war with the Sioux and Cheyenne in the 1870s and the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It was published by Juvenile Publications, who also published the early Riders of the Range Annuals. Just three and a half years later, the same events would be covered in the weekly EAGLE in the 'Riders' serial 'The War with the Sioux', but there were significant differences between the two stories. The later version was much longer than the strip book and featured many more historical characters and exciting action. The biggest difference was Jeff Arnold's involvement in the battle itself. In The Bozeman Trail , Jeff was not with Colonel Custer's group who were massacred, but with Major Reno's group, who were forced to take up a defensive position away from the fight with Custer and survived. In 'The War with the Sioux', he was with Custer to the end and escaped the massacre by being knocked unconscious and saved from death by Running Bear, a Sioux warrior who he had beaten in single combat some months earlier and spared his life. While these events were more exciting for readers, the Bozeman version is more credible. Both versions contain historical inaccuracies, but both are more accurate than Hollywood film versions of the events. The weekly serial was illustrated by Frank Humphris, who researched and captured accurate likenesses of General Crook, Major Reno, Custer, Sitting Bull and others. In a previous post on this blog, Steve Winders wrote about the different studies that Humphris illustrated in different media of the battle, after he visited the battlefield and saw an original painting of it by Humphris, in the Trading Post next to the site. David Britton also examined the weekly strip in his detailed series for EAGLE Times. 

Despite the differences, Charles Chilton wrote both versions of the story. Pat Williams' artwork is much more stylised than Humphris' and some of his backgrounds are sketchy. While he produced accurate likenesses of General Crook and Custer and a reasonable likeness of Sitting Bull, other historical characters were not accurately portrayed. His work is nevertheless appealing. He captured movement well in many frames and he created vivid images which captured the epic scale of the events in his large frames. The book is entirely in colour and contains several full page and double page images. Juvenile Publications also produced another strip book, illustrated by Williams the same year. This was not EAGLE related, but an adaptation of the 'Biggles' novel, Biggles and the Cruise of the Condor. 

Below is a frame by Williams from The Bozeman Trail, showing the Sioux and Cheyenne attack on Custer's Seventh Cavalry. It is taken from the original artwork.

(The owner of this artwork is willing to sell it for an offer in the region of £400. He also has the original of the wrap around front cover which he is willing to sell for around £600. If you are interested then message me on Facebook or in the comments section here and I will put you in touch with him.)