Saddle Tramp (comic strip)

"Saddle Tramp" was a fictional photographic comic strip published in the British comic book "Eagle", from issue 14 (dated June 26 1982) until issue 26 (dated September 18 1982). It was written by Gerry Finley-Day with photography by Howard Payton.

The strip, a western, tried to push the boundaries of Eagle's early photographic action strips. It featured Trampas, a half-Indian bounty hunter, tracking down wanted criminals near the Mexican border in the 1870s.

Unfortunately, the strip could not achieve a convincing visual effect --- seemingly filmed inside a theme park beside a gravel pit, hence many frames being in closeup. Amerindians were clearly portrayed by schoolboys, and Trampas himself more resembled an overweight Ian Botham than a half-Mexican who had spent his adult life in the desert. In addition, gunfights proved hard to capture in staged photography. As a result, the strip only ran for 12 issues.