In this western in Ralph Compton's USA Today bestselling series, the deepest scars are the ones on a man’s soul… When Lieutenant Steve Stryker learns Rake Pierce is running guns to the Apaches, he sees his chance for vengeance. Pierce disfigured Stryker’s face while escaping from custody, which led to the loss of all Stryker held dear, including his fiancée. Now all Stryker has is his Army command, and his only purpose is to hunt Apaches. But living for vengeance is no way to live, and despite scars that will never heal, Stryker finds himself starting to care again—for the scout who saved his life, and the woman and child he rescues from the Indians. Steve Stryker may find a reason to go on living after all—but not until he puts Pierce in the cold, hard ground… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

Lieutenant Steve Stryker has a chance to exact vengeance on Rake Pierce, the man who disfigured his face, when Pierce is found running guns to the Apaches.

Saddle up with legendary gunfighter Doc Holliday in this Ralph Compton western. Buck Fletcher plans to race his horse for a $10,000 prize—money he needs to send his sick daughter to a faraway clinic. Then some outlaws steal his steed, and his daughter’s last hope with it. Though it’s been ten years since Buck slapped leather and traded lead with the badmen of the frontier, he’s quick to fasten on his gun belt again for the chase. The thieves are led by Port Austin, a man who fears no retribution for the lives he takes—not with a ruthless band of brothers guarding his back. But Buck is not alone either. Doc Holliday, a legend of loyalty and ferocity, rides beside him, eager to help on a mission of vengeance—and a quest to save a little girl’s life.... More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books in Print!

When Deborah Bledsoe's father hears that his daughter may still be alive after being abducted by Cherokee raiders, he hires Crawford Flynn to find her, not knowing that Flynn's tracking skills have been exaggerated. The better bet is Flynn's son Simeon, who actually has the ability to track Deborah through the wilds of the vast, untamed West...

Contributions by Thomas Andrae, Martin Barker, Bart Beaty, John Benson, David Carrier, Hillary Chute, Peter Coogan, Annalisa Di Liddo, Ariel Dorfman, Thierry Groensteen, Robert C. Harvey, Charles Hatfield, M. Thomas Inge, Gene Kannenberg Jr., David Kasakove, Adam L. Kern, David Kunzle, Pascal Lefèvre, John A. Lent, W. J. T. Mitchell, Amy Kiste Nyberg, Fusami Ogi, Robert S. Petersen, Anne Rubenstein, Roger Sabin, Gilbert Seldes, Art Spiegelman, Fredric Wertham, and Joseph Witek A Comics Studies Reader offers the best of the new comics scholarship in nearly thirty essays on a wide variety of such comics forms as gag cartoons, editorial cartoons, comic strips, comic books, manga, and graphic novels. The anthology covers the pioneering work of Rodolphe Töpffer, the Disney comics of Carl Barks, and the graphic novels of Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware, as well as Peanuts, romance comics, and superheroes. It explores the stylistic achievements of manga, the international anti-comics campaign, and power and class in Mexican comic books and English illustrated stories. A Comics Studies Reader introduces readers to the major debates and points of reference that continue to shape the field. It will interest anyone who wants to delve deeper into the world of comics and is ideal for classroom use.

As operative Daniel Stryker impresses CIA with his efficiency yet again, he's roped into the most top-secret mission of all time-The Orion Protocol. Despite his painful past and desire to retire, he's bound by duty, flag, and honor to see his assignment to the end, but little does he know the strings of that assignment are being pulled by another. FBI Director Charles Landon is intimidating at best and threatening at worst, but then again, everything he's worked for rides on the success of The Orion Protocol. The question is, will it actually succeed this time? If Landon's asset follows his orders, it will. Adam Sinyard doesn't exist-at least not to the highest intelligence agencies in the world-and if they don't know you're alive, who does? This ex-CIA operative knows the benefit of invisibility. It's opened more doors for him than CIA ever could have, but when he unwittingly uncovers an insidious plot of world dominion, he must re-evaluate his motives and choose a side. The lives of these three men are intricately woven and have been for years. They just don't know it yet. Now they knot together in The Orion Protocol-a clandestine society plotting a coup to establish world peace. But when the wrong man is given too much power, what begins as a noble cause quickly turns into a diabolical mission littered with deception and death-a collision course that will shake the foundations of the Judeo-Christian world.

In this Ralph Compton western, a man with the courage to take a stand goes up against an outlaw cavalry that can't be stopped.... In Mexico, Wes Stone picked up his father’s gun, rode his father’s horse, and took on his father’s enemies. In California, he planted a band of savage criminals in the ground. Now Stone is heading up to the plains of Colorado, where a new kind of war has begun. A dangerous band of mercenaries is going for the gold—enough to bankrupt the entire country. Their scheme: to raid four U.S. mints. Their weapon: an armored train tearing through the West like a fire-powered battle-ax on wheels. From Durango to Dodge City, across a rugged land stained with blood, gold, and treachery, Stone follows a violent trail of honor. All that stands between victory and death is a quick-draw reflex—and the kind of .44-caliber justice that could tame the West and turn Stone into a legend. More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books in Print!

Two young gunslingers ride into the heart of evil in this Ralph Compton western. Nathan Stone was a legendary gunfighter who did everything he could to be a father—while still following his own violent trail of honor. Now Wes Stone, barely eighteen, but full of the hard wisdom of the West, is being drawn into the kind of fight that cost his father his life. A secret organization of criminals is replacing freshly minted gold with counterfeit coins, threatening to plunge the growing nation into crisis. Called upon to penetrate this conspiracy that reaches from New Orleans to California, Wes and his fellow warrior, El Lobo, find themselves targeted by hired killers with a deadly plan of their own... More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!