solid history. "Ghost Towns," for example, in 1958's Buffalo Bill Wild West Annual number ten provides a poignant comment on the passing of the American West with a level of understanding unique for the time and seldom seen in comic book westerns of any period. Adventure Annuals Series Denis McLoughlin had the same creative control over the "adventure" annual series. Unlike the Buffalo Bill annuals, the Adventure series was not numbered. It also tended to contain a much higher percentage of reprinted American material and shows evidence of much less research. The first of these publications was Ajax Adventure Annual which appeared in 1952. The order of the adventure series is probably Ajax Adventure Annual in 1952; Adventure Annual, 1953; New Spaceways Comic Annual No. 1, 1954; Okay Adventure Annual, 1955–1957; Okay Annual of Adventure Stories, 1958–1959; and the First Book of Heroes, c. 1959/60. Both Adventure Annual and New Spaceways Comic Annual feature Roy Carson and Swift Morgan stories. New Spaceways also features a variety of Quality super-hero reprints including Plastic Man and Doll Man and has art by Reed Crandall and Matt Baker, making it, of all the Boardman annuals, the most desirable to collectors in the United States. The First Book of Heroes was designed by McLoughlin but only has one page of his art. Decline of Boardman Books With the single exception of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Annual, by the mid to late-1950s, Boardman comics were no more and, after the 1961 issue, Buffalo Bill folded as well. Denis McLoughlin continued to illustrate book covers for Boardman Books until 1967, when the company folded. Even prior to Boardman's demise, McLoughlin turned to other publishers for work. Even though Boardman retained the copyright, the last four Buffalo Bill annuals were prepared for Dean & Son Publishing, Ltd., and printed by Purnell & Sons, Ltd., both London firms. After Boardman folded, McLoughlin helped produce several western annuals for Purnell all based on American Western TV shows: The Dakotas Annual for 1963 and 1964, Gunsmoke Annual for 1965–1967, and Bonanza Annual for 1969. McLoughlin after Boardman In 1967, McLoughlin went to work for IPC, then the largest comic publisher in the United Kingdom. He took over the art chores on "Saber" (kind of a blonde Tarzan) and also drew "Big Hit Swift" (a cricket strip which McLoughlin detested) for the pages of Tiger. From 20 March to 21