Dale Evans

Dale Evans was the stage name of Lucille Wood Smith (October 31, 1912 – February 7, 2001)

While her screen career is tied inexorably to Roy Rogers this was not the case in comics where surprisingly they never appeared together as characters in the same story.

The closest they ever came being when separate stories about them appeared in Dell’s Western Roundup Giant.

In fact Dale did better in the comics than her husband did, while he was featured in only one comic from Dell (and co-starred from time to time in Trigger’s comic) she had two comics based on her.

The first one starting in 1948 from DC Comics which was set in a quasi fantasy West that only the writers at DC could have come up with where she, and her sometimes Indian side-kick Laughing Deer, aided her motor-powered (sometimes rocket powered) wheelchair bound Uncle Six (yes, Six that was his name) on his ranch where he, along with dealing with the required number of bandits, desperadoes and in one story at least “oil rustlers,” he also from time to time did such things as trying to introduce elephants, kangaroos and ostriches to the West as work and even riding animals.

Then starting in 1954 after the end of its 24 issue run at DC, a 20 issue comic came from Dell, which was set in modern times and Dale was portrayed as a Hollywood star who owned a restaurant in Wyoming from which she set out from time to time to help the local townspeople.