Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Charlton Comics
The Cold War Mayhem of Space Western Comics #44, at Auction
For a shining six-issue moment in 1952/1953, Charlton converted Cowboy Western Comics into a weird, wild artifact of the Cold War
Published Fri, 10 Jul 2026 14:03:09 -0500
by Mark Seifert
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Article Summary
- Space Western Comics #44 captures Charlton’s 1952/1953 Cold War experiment, fusing cowboy action with atomic age sci-fi.
- Stan Campbell’s “The Madman of Mars” sends Spurs Jackson to a secret Nazi base on Mars amid H-bomb panic.
- A second story taps 1952 UFO fears, with Spurs Jackson facing a Soviet flying saucer plot near White Sands.
- With just 48 universal CGC copies on census and only one higher, Space Western Comics #44 is a standout rarity.
The very concept of the short-lived Charlton comic book series Space Western Comics brings to mind Cowboys and Aliens — and then some. For a shining six-issue moment in 1952/1953, Charlton converted Cowboy Western Comics into a western/science fiction hybrid to take advantage of the Cold War hysteria of the moment. Space Western Comics #44 is the best of the bunch, even going beyond that wild cover: a cowboy fighting fascists in a secret Nazi installation on Mars leaves no doubt about the weird elements at play here. Perhaps one of the iconic Cold War covers of the era, there’s a high grade Space Western #44 (Charlton, 1953) CGC VF 8.0 White pages copy up for auction in the up for auction in the July 9 – 11 Comic Books Signature Auction #7467 at Heritage Auctions.
Stan Campbell’s feature story “The Madman of Mars,” is every bit the equal to that insane cover: rockets from Mars produce hydrogen bomb explosions in Paris and Moscow, and General Carpenter calls our hero Spurs Jackson into the Pentagon. The there since 1935. Fortunately, Spurs and his friends have their own rocket and a camouflage-ray countermeasure
The influences of the 1950s era shape this story in a number of ways, with the issue’s June 1953 date and bi-monthly schedule pointing the way towards the most obvious inspiration of the lead story: there can be no doubt that this story was being created in the wake of the United States’ November 1952 thermonuclear “Ivy Mike” hydrogen bomb test
As if the Nazis weren’t enough, later in the issue, a radar operator at an installation clearly meant to be New Mexico’s White Sands missile range, has tracked a flying saucer nearby. Spurs learns that the craft is a Soviet design meant to create fear of an alien invasion. The story’s influences are also obvious in this one: the July 1952 Washington, DC UFO incidents and the founding of Project Blue Book loom large as general inspirations
Space Western Comics #44 is atomic age comics at their peak, with a cover that stands out as one of the strangest symbols of the era. There are 48 universal copies on the CGC Census and only one higher than the CGC VF 8.0 White pages copy up for auction in the up for auction in the July 9 – 11 Comic Books Signature Auction #7467 at Heritage Auctions
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