Dakota Kid the Second

 

cover art by Larry Lieber

Last week, we looked at the one and only appearance of a character called The Dakota Kid. And that was indeed his only appearance. But in 1973--16 years later--ANOTHER Dakota Kid made his one and only appearance.

Western Team-Up #1 (November 1973) was also the one and only issue of that particular comic. It teams up the Rawhide Kid with the new Dakota Kid.

By the way, as I speculated last week, I think the repeat of the name was a coincidence, not a deliberate attempt to create a new version of an obscure character. If I'm wrong and if anyone out there in Comic Book Land has better information, please comment and correct me.

Written and drawn by Larry Lieber, the tale picks up with Cliff Morgan (who goes by Dakota Kid) running into the Rawhide Kid. He challenges Rawhide to a fast-draw, but Rawhide declines. R.K. is just looking for a job.

Dakota, impressed by Rawhide's cool courage, takes him home to meet his dad. This is Colonel Morgan, who disapproves of Dakota's wild ways and openly shows a preference towards his other son, Wayne.

After Rawhide is given a job, Dakota rides into town to meet his gal. This is despite the fact that he's supposed to be riding herd. Wayne volunteers to take Cliff's turn out on the range. Dakota, in the meantime, is forced to kill a man in self-defence. He's arrested, but even the sherriff knows he'll beat the rap. The witnesses all support the self-defence claim.

Back on the ranch, though, rustlers strike, with the Morgan's foreman acting as an inside man. They kill Wayne, take a bunch of cattle and leave the foreman behind to accuse Rawhide of the crime.

So Rawhide has to go on the run. Back in town, Cliff hears of his brother's death. He breaks jail to track down Rawhide. But when the two meet, Rawhide has tracked down the real rustlers. 

Rawhide and Dakota team up to take them down. But, because he broke jail, Dakota is now a fugitive. He rides off---like Rawhide Kid, he's now a man with no home and a reputation as a bad guy.

Like the first Dakota Kid story, it's a well-told Western, though there's nothing inherently special or exceptional about it. And, like the first Dakota Kid, Dakota the Second will also be galloping off into Comic Book Limbo. Westerns, by then, were fading from the comic book landscape. And besides, his origin story made him essentially a clone of Rawhide Kid. Perhaps there simply wasn't room for another "Kid" in the Marvel Wild West.

But he did exist and was at the center of a good story. Characters like that should never be completely forgotten.

Next week, we'll stay in the Marvel Universe and visit with the Avengers.

Dakota Kid #1

 

cover art by Joe Maneely

Last week, I said I would cover the only issue of Marvel's Western Team-Up, from 1973. But that book features the only appearance of The Dakota Kid. But he isn't the first Dakota Kid. Another gunfighter with that name appeared in Quick-Trigger Western #15 (December 1956), in a story written by Stan Lee and drawn by Joe Maneely.

I wonder if Larry Lieber, who would write and draw the second version of Dakota Kid, knew the name had been used before. Or was it just a coincidence? My guess is that it is indeed a coincidence, but who knows?

(If anyone does know, please comment and educate me.)

Anyway, Dakota Kid #1 was the nickname of Frank Yarrow, who is kind of a jerk. He's not an outlaw and doesn't kill or hurt anyone, but he does tend to tear up the town quite a bit whenever he does come to town.

This time, though, he only gets a little property damage in before the sheriff gets the drop on him. The Kid goes to trial, where he's sentenced to five years. The judge tells him, though, that he might get an early parole if he can straighten himself out.

He takes this to heart and becomes a model prisoner. When he's released on probation after just three years, he agrees not to carry a gun during his two years of probation.

He keeps this promise. Returning to his home town, he refuses an offer to join a gang. That gang, though, commits does some robbin' and rustlin' anyways, leaving the Kid as a suspect.  When the sheriff offers him a deputy's badge and a chance to clear himself, the Kid reluctantly declines because if he were a deputy, he'd have to carry a gun. Why he didn't explain this to the sheriff is a plot hole--he hadn't been sworn to secrecy. But there you have it.

When the gang hears that the Kid turned down a badge, they assume he's ready to turn outlaw. They try to recruit him to murder the sheriff. This leaves the Dakota Kid with no choice--he's got to use a gun to stop a murder.

He rounds up the outlaws, then finally explains his legal restrictions to the sheriff. The sheriff, in turn, gives the Kid (who has now dropped that name and goes simply by Frank Yarrow) a deputy's badge, giving him retroactive permission to carry a gun. Yarrow agrees to stay on as deputy.

The story does have that plot hole in it in that Yarrow was keeping the "no gun" restriction a secret for no good reason. But otherwise, its a good (if predictable) story with solid art work. 

Next week, we'll take a look at the second Dakota Kid.