The first of Howard's most commercially successful series (within his own lifetime) was started in July 1933. "Mountain Man" was the first of the Breckinridge Elkins stories, humorous westerns in a similar style to his earlier Sailor Steve Costigan stories and again featuring an exaggerated, cartoonish version of Howard himself as the main character. Written as tall tales in the vein of Texas "Tall Lying" stories, the story first appeared in the March–April 1934 issue of "Action Stories" and was so successful that other magazines asked Howard for similar characters. Howard created Pike Bearfield for "Argosy" and Buckner J. Grimes for "Cowboy Stories". "Action Stories" published a new Elkins story every issue without fail until well after Howard's death. At Kline's suggestion, he also created "A Gent from Bear Creek", a Breckinridge Elkins novel comprising existing short stories and new material.