Hoot Gibson

(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Hoot Gibson - probably at Universal, circa 1927-28. This horse has a small white spot between the eyes. Is this "Mutt" or "Midnight"?

(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Above is Hoot riding "Mutt" or "Midnight". It's difficult to see in this image, but this horse has a long white streak/face blaze.

(Courtesy of Boyd Magers)

Above are Hoot and his palomino "Goldie" in a scene from CONCENTRATIN' KID (1930). Goldie can be identified by the white mark above/between the eyes. The story goes that the Goldie was killed during the filming of a chase scene ... or was injured during the filming of a movie, and had to be put away.

(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Above from L-to-R are William Gould, Wally Wales (back to camera), Bob Kortman (on horse), Hoot Gibson on Jack Perrin's white horse "Starlight", George Hayes, and Lafe McKee in a still from Hoot's SWIFTY (Diversion, 1935). There's a bunch of images of Perrin's Starlight in the Trusty Steeds section of the Old Corral.

Above, the Monogram Trail Blazers, circa 1943-44. From L-to-R are Ken Maynard (now riding the white Tarzan II), Bob Steele, and Hoot Gibson. The original Tarzan died about 1940. Gibson is riding "Rusty, the Wonder Horse" which had been used by Jack Randall and Tom Keene in their series at Monogram.

(From Old Corral image collection)

After Ken Maynard exited the Trail Blazers, the new trio consisted of from L-to-R, Chief Thunder Cloud (Victor Daniels), Bob Steele and Gibson. In this still, Thunder Cloud is riding "Rusty the Wonder Horse".

(Courtesy of Les Adams)
Above, Issue #6 (#2)

Above, issue #3

(Courtesy of Boyd Magers)

Hoot Gibson Comics

Boyd Magers provides the following info on Hoot's comic book career:

By the time comic books based on movie and TV cowboys were extremely popular in the late '40s and '50s, Hoot Gibson's star had long faded at the box office so the big two of western-movie/TV related comic publishers, Dell and Fawcett, were simply not interested in old Hooter who wound up at Fox Features Syndicate in 1950. By that time, Hoot hadn't starred in a western since 1944. No wonder his comics didn't sell well up against Roy, Tex, Gene and Durango.

The British born Victor Fox had spent 20 years on Wall St. With a less than spotless reputation when he spotted the success of Superman and started his own company, Fox Features Syndicate, in 1939. His earliest success was with The Blue Beetle. In the late '40s when the three hottest trends were crime, love and cowboys, never one to miss an exploitable trend, the ever enterprising Victor Fox (whose comics would be equivalent to the movies of Harry Fraser or Robert Tansey) jumped on all three, publishing lurid crime (Inside Crime, Murder Inc. etc.) and sexy romance (My Desire, Romantic Thrills etc.) comics.

However, by the time he got around to licensing a cowboy, he had to settle for Hoot Gibson. For postal regulation reasons, Hoot Gibson picked up its numbering with #5 (May '50), continuing the numbering from the discontinued My Love Story. Number 6 (actually #2) followed in July '50, then the confusing numbering reverted to #3 (Sept. '50). #5 and 6 featured very poor front and back cover photos and an artist's rendition of Hoot that looked nothing like the cowboy star, except for the second story in #6, Hunchback of the Double-X, which managed to get Hoot's looks correct. #3 had a painted cover and interior art that, in two out of four stories, managed a reasonable resemblance to Hoot.

Never one to overlook a secondary sale, Fox often repackaged four remaindered (unsold) comics into a 25¢ Giant with a new cover, hence Hoot Gibson's Western Roundup, 132 pages dated 1950. However, since Fox always started their stories on the inside front cover (where other publishers ran an ad), these repackaged comics are always missing the first page of story content. Also, since Fox used remaindered issues, contents will vary from copy to copy of Hoot Gibson's Western Roundup. The copy I have contains Hoot Gibson #3 along with issues of Fox's Spectacular Features, Blue Beetle and My Intimate Affair.