Heroic Comics #36

When the Contoocook River floods in March 1936, three men find themselves stranded and in grave danger—but lineman Michael J. O'Connor refuses to let the raging current claim them. With boats proving useless against the violent waters, O'Connor devises his own daring rescue, relying on rope, cable, and sheer determination to reach each man and guide them to safety. This true story of courage earned him the Vail Medal for Public Service, a testament to one man's refusal to stand idle when lives hang in the balance.

Jack Abernathy, a young cow-puncher taking his first job on the J-A Ranch, stumbles into an unexpected trial when two loafer wolves attack his greyhounds during a cattle drive across the South Plains. Forced to rely on his wits and bare hands after an earlier injury leaves him without his guns, Jack discovers an unconventional technique for subduing the fierce predators—a discovery that would reshape his entire life. This story captures the raw, desperate ingenuity that launched "Catch-'em-Alive Jack" toward international renown as one of the Old West's most fearless wolf catchers.

A young Abe Lincoln arrives in New Salem to work at a general store, quickly earning a reputation for remarkable strength—until local bullies force him into a wrestling match against Jack Armstrong, the toughest fighter in Sangamon County. What starts as a wager becomes a test of character when Armstrong and his gang resort to dirty tactics, leaving Lincoln to prove that true strength means standing up fairly against any odds.

Fred M. Tate earned his stripes as a Secret Service agent chasing counterfeiters across America, from the spurious silver dollars flooding Buffalo in 1904 to a dangerous scheme involving forged government paychecks and escaped prisoners in 1919. This profile follows Tate's career as he worked his way from undercover operative to presidential guard, eventually trading federal service for private investigation in Missouri.

Mazzoli, a section laborer in Canastota, witnesses a desperate woman dart onto railroad tracks directly into the path of an onrushing New York Central freight train on April 3, 1945. Without hesitation, he races onto the tracks to pull her to safety—but she fights him violently, determined not to be saved. In a harrowing moment, Mazzoli must hold firm as the engine thunders past, ultimately carrying the woman away from the tracks and to safety.

Clyde Eddy’s daring journey down the wild Colorado River remains one of the most remarkable feats of survival in the American West. This gripping non-fiction account from Heroic Comics #36 captures the raw danger and relentless power of the Grand Canyon’s untamed waters through the eyes of the man who lived to tell the tale.

In January 1945, railroad employee John H. Crane witnesses a distraught woman attempting to take her own life near the tracks at a Washington Street crossing in Utica, New York. Racing through deep snow and across moving trains, Crane pursues the woman in a desperate bid to stop her before tragedy strikes. This true account captures one man's extraordinary courage in a harrowing race against death.