Number 2117: Enter Calamity Kate

This story is for reader Darci, who asked  in a comment to a previous posting for another Calamity Kate episode from The Westerner Comics. So I am showing the first Calamity Kate, from The Westerner #26 (1950).

Calamity Kate is the masked identity of Miss Patricia Layne, the daughter of a deceased sheriff. She fakes being a stage robber, but in conjunction with Wild Bill Pecos goes in pursuit of the real bad guys. Something I noticed: Wild Bill knows who Miss Layne is, behind her disguise. In that way he is different than the hundreds of other comic book characters who don’t recognize the face under a domino mask.

Another thing about Wild Bill: his clothing style is...well, wild. He is color coordinated in purple pants with a matching neckerchief (which looks more like a shorty necktie), green shirt, cowboy hat and boots. No one else would look to see who Calamity Kate is, because their eyeballs would be too busy bouncing off Bill’s colorful outfit.

The story is drawn by Mort Lawrence.

Posted in: Pappy Comics