#sheriff sal

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Sheriff Sal

“Here’s Curly and his bunch right where they belong! … And mindja, a GIRL SHERIFF did the job!”

“(GULP!) Well - - - bust my britches!”

Three owlhoots jailed by the unbeatable Sheriff Sal! Bust your britches indeed, Flash!

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Sheriff Sal may be one of the most feminist comic book heroines of the Golden Age (almost). When offered the post of sheriff by the condescending leading male citizens of the town of Red Dog, on the grounds that the sleepy settlement was so peaceful none of the men would take the job, Sally Starr leaps at the chance. Soon dubbed “Sheriff Sal” by the amused townsfolk, Sal very quickly has to ignore the macho insults and casual misogyny that surrounds her appointment when Red Dog suddenly becomes a magnet for bad guys who don’t believe a “gal sheriff” will be able to prevent them robbing the town’s banks, rustling its cattle or trying to extort protection money from its citizens. Sal, through a combination of sharpshooting, female guile, quick fists and dedication to the law, is able to thwart all the arrogant criminals she comes across and soon earns the admiration and respect of her erstwhile detractors.

Sal thoroughly enjoys being the only lady sheriff in the territory, much to the chagrin of boyfriend Flash Gannon, who spends most of Sal’s stories trying to persuade the sheriff to give up her job and marry him. Sal steadfastly refuses and as if in order to prove her dedication to the law, in one episode she even arrests Flash and locks him in the town jail after he technically commits a crime (real girl power!). The self-reliance and toughness of a Golden Age heroine whose adventures were set in the Old West, is unusual and marks the determined Sal out as something of a comic book feminist icon. Unfortunately, despite all her triumphs, Sal is eventually worn down by Flash and she agrees to give up being sheriff and marry the persistent sexist, naturally handing her role over to her new husband, thus safely restoring herself to a more typical late 1940s gender role. Sheriff Sal may have ended up being housewife to a fiancée who just couldn’t cope with her wilful independence, but before she succumbed, what an empowered trail this gun-toting law-woman blazed…

Sal appeared in all six issues of Western Adventures (October 1948-August 1949) and transferred to a single issue of Western Love Trails after the previous title closed, which was her final outing. The pages featured above are from the Sheriff Sal stories, The Gila Monster Murders, which was featured in Western Adventures #6 (August 1949) and the poignantly-titled Sheriff Sal’s Last Stand, which was published in Western Love Trails #7 (November 1949). The artist and probable author of Sal’s stories was King Ward.

Sources: Pappy’s Golden Age Comics Blogzine for some of the detail and comicbookplus for the pages.

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(via Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine: Number 2388: Sheriff Sal, one helluva gal)