January 1, 2015

In this issue, we take you to the places in Oklahoma where crime and cartoon intersect. Here’s a preview:

WE EXTEND OUR CONDOLENCES: Brian Ted Jones explains the bizarre logic of the Crime Victims Compensation Board, and how in Oklahoma you can be responsible for your own murder.

A LIFE ILLUSTRATED: Molly Evans revisits her favorite children’s book, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Tulsa-born illustrator Lane Smith, who was inspired by his art teacher, the magazine industry, and, most of all, Route 66.

MURDER AT TURKEY CREEK: In November 1876, two men met in Medicine Lodge, Kansas, and discussed their desires to cross the Indian Territory into Texas. The violent events that followed remain shrouded in mystery.

POETRY: “Today I Covet the Light” by Walt Kosty.

DOWSING FOR CARTOONISTS: Jonathan Gaboury visits the Dick Tracy Museum in Pawnee to learn more about the comic-strip hero’s Okie roots.

BASS REEVES IN PICTURES: An illustrated look into the times and travails of Bass Reeves, the first black Deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi.

ORIGINAL OKIE: Lee Lyles of Sulphur, Oklahoma, forged a love for heavy metal as a kid and blazed a farrier career that earned him an induction into the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame.