Ohiyesa "Pow Wow" Smith is a fictional

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

hero published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. Created by writer Don Cameron and

penciler A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

Carmine Infantino Carmine Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creations are ...

, he is a

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

who is the

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

of the small Western town of Elkhorn, where he is known as a master detective. He prefers to be addressed by his proper name, Ohiyesa, but people called him "Pow Wow" so stubbornly that he eventually gives up and accepts the nickname among them. Originally, the Pow Wow Smith character was located in the modern West. Later stories were set in the 19th century. It was eventually

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...

ned that the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

character was the ancestor of the modern-day character. Since then, Smith has remained a generation legacy, and a historical figure in the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

, meeting other heroes in their occasional time travel stories.

Publication history

Smith first appeared in ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'' #151, the only Western feature in the book. After four years as a regular feature in ''Detective Comics'', his strip became the lead feature of ''

Western Comics Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic bo ...

'', which ran until 1961. Much of the art during the ''Detective'' period was by

Leonard Starr Leonard Starr (October 28, 1925 – June 30, 2015) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist, and advertising artist, best known for creating the newspaper comic strip ''Mary Perkins, On Stage, On Stage'' and reviving ''Little Orphan Annie'' ...

, and when Smith found a home in ''Western Comics'', his original illustrator Infantino returned. Stories were by

France Herron Francis Edward Herron (July 23, 1917 – September 2, 1966) was an American comic book writer and editor active in the 1940s–1960s, mainly for DC Comics. He is credited with co-creating Captain Marvel Jr. and the Red Skull, as well as such c ...

and later

Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...

. Smith also starred in the premiere issue of ''

All-Star Western ''All-Star Western'' is the name of three American comic book series published by DC Comics, each a Western fiction omnibus featuring both continuing characters and anthological stories. The first ran from 1951 to 1961, the second from 1970 t ...

's'' second volume.

Fictional character biography

Ohiyesa Smith is a Sioux Native American who leaves his native Red Deer Valley to learn about foreign culture, eventually becoming the sheriff of Elkhorn. For most of his adventures, Pow Wow's girlfriend (and later fiancée) is the Native American maiden Fleetfoot, daughter of Chief Thundercloud. Fleetfloot aids Pow Wow in a number of adventures.

U.S. Marshal Pow Wow Smith

U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the U.S. federal judiciary. It is an agency of the U.S. Department of Jus ...

Ohiyesa Smith, a present-day descendant of the original Pow Wow Smith, appears in ''

Robin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), inclu ...

'' (vol. 2) Annual #6, a Western

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

that also featured a modern-day version of

Nighthawk The nighthawk is a nocturnal bird of the subfamily Chordeilinae, within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, which is a grouping of 92 species of medium-sized birds with long wings and short bills specialized for eating insects. The nighthawk's ...

. This Ohiyesa attended college in the East, then returned to Red Deer Valley, seeking to modernize his tribe. As a U.S. Marshall, he too takes the name Pow Wow Smith, but continues to live in Red Deer Valley. The modern-day Pow Wow Smith works with

and other heroes to take down the modern-day

Trigger Twins The Trigger Twins are the names of two sets of fictional Western themed comic book characters published by DC Comics. Fictional character biography Walter and Wayne Trigger The first Trigger Twins debuted in ''All-Star Western'' #58 (May 1951), an ...

, who unlike their 19th-century antecedents are homicidal criminals.''Robin'' (vol. 2) Annual #6 (1997)

In other media

Ohiyesa Smith appears in the ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American superhero animated series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and ...

'' episode "The Once and Future Thing Part One: Weird Western Tales", voiced by

Jonathan Joss Jonathan Joss (December 22, 1965 – June 1, 2025) was an American actor and musician of Native American ancestry. He was best known for his roles as John Redcorn in ''King of the Hill'' and as Chief Ken Hotate in '' Parks and Recreation''. ...

. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.

References

External links

Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Pow-Wow Smith

DCU Guide: Pow-Wow Smith I

DCU Guide: Pow-Wow Smith II

DCU Guide: Pow-Wow Smith III
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Pow Wow 1949 comics debuts Characters created by Carmine Infantino Comics characters introduced in 1949 DC Comics male characters DC Comics Western (genre) characters Fictional American police detectives Fictional characters from Oklahoma Fictional Native American people in comics Fictional Sioux people Golden Age adventure heroes Western (genre) gunfighters Western (genre) peace officers