Western Comics #43 for Sale - First Appearance of The Nighthawk - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Western Comics (DC, 1948 series)
Issue: #43
Publication date: January-February 1954
Key date: 1954-01-00
On-sale date: 1953-11-09
Indicia publisher: National Comics Publications Inc.
Price: $0.10
Pages: 36

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of The Nighthawk - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Hannibal Hawkes - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	pencils: Carmine Infantino; inks: Joe Giella; letters: Ira Schnapp	Pow-Wow Smith
1	Home, Sweet Home!	public service announcement	1	script: Jack Schiff; pencils: Sheldon Mayer; inks: Sheldon Mayer; letters: Ira Schnapp	Bertram Biggs, Alice Biggs, Allergy Biggs, Binky Biggs, Lucy Biggs
2	Manhunt in Rainbow Canyon!	comic story	6	script: Ed Herron; pencils: Carmine Infantino; inks: Carmine Infantino; letters: Gaspar Saladino	Pow-Wow Smith
5	Editorial Advisory Board	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.5	letters: typeset
6	Black Star Gang!	comic story	5.67	script: Gardner Fox; pencils: Ruben Moreira; inks: Ruben Moreira	Hannibal Hawkes First, The Nighthawk First
8	Western Arms	cartoon	0.5	script: Julius Schwartz; pencils: Morris Waldinger; inks: Tommy Nicolosi; letters: Milt Snapinn
10	Cattle Crossing	comic story	1	script: Julius Schwartz; pencils: Morris Waldinger; inks: Tommy Nicolosi; letters: Milt Snapinn
11	The Ten Trails to Tomahawk City!	comic story	6	script: Ed Herron; pencils: Ed Smalle Jr.; inks: Ed Smalle Jr.; letters: Milt Snapinn	Rodeo Rick
12	The Owner of Arizona City	text article	2	script: Jack Miller; pencils: Raymond Perry; inks: Raymond Perry
13	Three Smashing Adventures of Superman	promo (ad from the publisher)	1		Clark Kent, Superman
14	The Case of the Lucky Bandits	comic story	5.67	script: Gardner Fox; pencils: Howard Sherman; inks: Howard Sherman	Bill Polk, The Wyoming Kid

Plus 5.58 pages of advertisements and other matter across 8 sequences, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Western Comics #66	1957	On eBay ›
Hopalong Cassidy #131	1958	On eBay ›
Western Comics #82	1960	On eBay ›
Super DC Giant #S-14	1970	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Golden-age paper is brittle. Ask about page suppleness and check edges for chips in the photos.
Check for trimmed edges, married covers, and clipped coupons - all common on books this old.
Confirm the indicia matches this plate; many golden-age titles changed names mid-run.

Series context

‹ #4243 of 85#44 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com