Tales of the Pony Express, Part 2

cover art by Sam Savitt

 Gee whiz, A Dell Comic makes an historical error in one of their Westerns? Say it ain't so, Joe! Say it ain't so!

But there is a slight historical glitch in the second story featuring Pony Express rider Craig Garrett. The story is set in the winter of 1861, so would be taking place a short time after the Pony Express had disbanded.

Oh, well. Not even the greatest comic book company that ever existed is perfect.

This is the second of the two Pony Express stories that appeared in Dell's Four Color #829 (August 1957). As with the first tale, the writer is uncredited and the art is by Dan Spiegle.

Titled "Storm Rider," it opens in the remote Nevada mining town of Drewsville , which is currently snowed in and running out of supplies. There is supposed to be a trainload of supplies coming, but the snow keeps any word of this from reaching them. The people are losing hope.

At a Pony Express station 90 miles away, Craig Garrett has decided to carry word to Drewsville that the train is on its way. But an old back injury acts up and sidelines him. So Drew's 11-year-old brother Davy volunteers to take on the job.

The station's manager refuses to allow Davy to go, but Craig insists the boy should be allowed to take on the dangerous job. I like this part of the story a lot, with Craig defending Davy's capabilities and taking note of the fact that in the West, a boy grows up fast. Craig doesn't see it has risking the life of a child. He sees it has allowing a boy who is growing into a man to be a man. It would be a fair counter-argument to make that, even in that time and place, 11 is too young an age for a dangerous job. But there's simply no one else around who can do it.

I do wish, though, that Davy's mission was something meatier that simply a message that someone else will eventually save the townspeople. I don't mean to downplay the idea that hope is important and the story handles this theme quite well by shifting back to the despairing townspeople during Davy's ride. But, on the other hand, it wasn't as if the townspeople were ready to commit mass suicide. The supply train would have eventually saved them whether Davy brought word or not.

But there's no denying that Davy's ride is an epic one, with Spiegle's strong art work allowing us to feel the biting cold and growing exhaustion along with the young rider. He gallops through a blizzard, crosses an iced-over river that may or may not hold his horse's weight, and tangles with a mountain lion.

He gets to Drewsville half-frozen and alive, bringing a message of hope to its citizens. I do believe the story would have worked better with a stronger motivation for the ride, but "Storm Rider" is still an exciting yarn.

You can read this issue online HERE.

That's it for now. There are still two more Craig Garrett stories to look at and we'll be doing that soon. But next week... well, I don't think I've ever reviewed a solo Green Lantern story. So what has inspired be to do so? A G.L. story with dinosaurs in it, of course!