Salinas, José Luis - Cisco Kid 1952-01-05

When I began collecting Cisco Kid strips 25 years ago, my own self-imposed mission was to collect only the Cisco dailies which met my personal set of parameters for "cream of the crop" examples. So what constitutes "Cream of the Crop" in Cisco Kid dailies?

1. As many Cisco Kid images with as clear a view of the flower pattern embroidery on his shirt as possible. The embroidery pattern is EVERYTHING. Not only does it stand out because it is intricate and beautiful as set against his black shirt, but Salinas illustrated the strip for 19 years and hand drew the embroidery pattern, the exact same way, every time. Again, the embroidery pattern on the shirt is EVERYTHING. This is THE most desired element in Cisco dailies and sales results bear this out. Dailies showing Cisco in fighting action also make for top examples, assuming you get good views of him.

2. Appearances by Native American characters. After all, what did we all play as kids? Cowboys and Indians! The really fascinating thing about Cisco Kid stories, however, is that in spite of it being a cowboy strip set in the Old West, they didn't often feature Native Americans! Dailies with nicely "embroidered" Cisco images AND Native Americans? That is gold!

These are THE two key elements. Everything else is  very distant 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. Here are a few other elements that add visual interest at times, but with few exceptions, don't typically get paid up for....

3. Nice shots of horses. This element is a distant third after the first two, but they make a difference if they are being ridden or otherwise taken care of by either Cisco or Native Americans. In those cases, they make already strong examples even stronger. Strips with little to no Cisco images and some horses in them can still be attractive, but all by themselves don't generally carry any premium.

4. Appearances by Pancho, Cisco's sidekick. He doesn't automatically add monetary value, but if you have dailies with nice shots of Cisco and/or Native Americans, and Pancho is also in there somewhere, it's a nice, fun bonus, as he's the strip's comedy relief.

5. Female characters. They can add some visual interest for a change of pace, but because with extremely few exceptions they were almost never shown in tight, body hugging attire from shoulders to toes, the "Good Girl Art" factor doesn't really come into play. Salinas drew a fair few ladies with period dresses on and they're lovely to look at due to the intricate details on some of those dresses, but the lack that sex appeal that makes collectors pay up for them. They're nice enough to own, especially when Salinas drew a very pretty closeup/portrait, but having ladies in the strips doesn't automatically add monetary value in most cases. There's a world of difference between "pretty ladies in intricately drawn dresses" and "Good Girl Art". One is NOT the same as the other, and true Cisco Kid aficionados understand this very important difference.

The first two content elements above are what I and other Cisco collectors pay up for. It's where the majority of the value of the strips lie. The other elements can be fun to have, but having them doesn't make for a "cream of the crop" example. 

In the 25 years since I bought my first Cisco, this is the very first time I've ever offered one for sale. This daily features Cisco going up against the villain, with all 3 panels showing wonderful examples of the incredibly intricate embroidery on Cisco's shirt, including the outstanding "Gun to his head" moment depicted in the center panel! A nice drawing of Pancho, Cisco's funny sidekick is a nice bonus. It's also always such a pleasure to be able to study all the beautiful line weight variation Salinas used in his feathering.