The series premiered in 1954. Stopped in 1957 after 17 issues*.

The title character is a German Shepherd dog (also known as an Alsatian) often called Rinty for short. In the first issues* the dog most often teamed up with Red Johnson and they roamed the USA and Canada in search of villains. Later on Rin Tin Tin was based in Fort Apache in Arizona, where it teamed up with Rusty, an orphaned boy, to help establish law and order in the prairie district.

The series developed from two dozen films starting in 1922, but it is especially a spinoff from a TV series titled The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin that ran from 1954 to 1959.

* In continuation the series was published until 1961 with an additional 18 issues under the title Rin Tin Tin and Rusty.