In Remember to Forget, we spotlight comic book stories that I wish I could forget, but I can’t, so I instead share them with you all!

Today, we look at the bizarre Del adaptation of John Ford's The Searchers, one of the darkest (and best) roles in John Wayne's career.

Dell famously was not part of the Comics Code Authority, but they had their own pledge where they basically felt that they didn't HAVE to join the Code because they were, in effect, above reproach.

So this time they took a mature, dark film like the Searchers and essentially cut the legs out from under it. Leo Dorfman, Mike Roy and Mike Peppe were all talented comic book creators (okay, I'll admit, I'm not too familiar with Peppe's inking, but it was good here), but it was just like, "Why?" to a certain extent.

The Searchers is about a former soldier named Ethan Edwards who finally visits his brother and his brother's family for the fist time in years. Soon after, while he is out helping the Texas Rangers, a Comanche attack party wipes out the home of Ethan's brother and kidnap Ethan's two nieces (the youngest one is quite possibly Ethan's biological daughter). Ethan then spends the next five years hunting them down, along with Martin, the adopted part-Cherokee older brother of the girls. The big tension throughout the film is that Ethan HATES Native-Americans, but over the time, he begins to feel like Martin's a surrogate son. However, Ethan also believes that his youngest niece (daughter?) has now essentially become a Comanche, so Ethan plans to kill her.

The movie is also known for its stunning cinematography and its Monument Valley backdrop...

The comic, however, has barely ANY notable backgrounds (which sort of defeats the purpose of the film)...

And there's a scene where Ethan plans to kill his own niece, but Martin stops him. In the comic, it's not clear at all what's going on...

Therefore, at the end of the film, when Ethan has another chance and decides to SAVE his niece rather than kill her, it's a huge moment in the film and it's not in the comic at all...

Plus, perhaps the most famous part of the movie is the closing shot...

Ethan, having returned his niece, heads off on his own again, just as alone as he was when he arrived in the beginning of the film (the doorway shots are bookends) and the comic just omits it!

Yeesh.

If anyone has suggestion for a future Remember to Forget, feel free to drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!