The Shield of White Eagle

 

cover art by Everett Raymond Kinstler

If you made a name for yourself in the Old West, then your real-life adventures would eventually pale before your fictional ones. 

Wild Bill Hickok is a prime example of this. After making a name for himself as a lawman, he did briefly appear on stage with Buffalo Bill Cody, but disliked this. He would hide behind scenery and once shot out a stagelight that was shining on him. But his real-life adventures were still exagerated over the decades by dime novels, movies, a radio show and a televisions show. 

And, of course, there were comic books. Avon Publications' Wild Bill Hickok comic ran for 28 issues from 1949 to 1956. Today, we'll be looking at a story from the 7th issue, cover-dated May 1951. "The Shield of White Eagle" was drawn by Howard Larsen. The writer is unknown.

And, gee whiz, that writer certainly liked to write. Captions and large word balloons take up large portions of every panel. It's well-written narration and dialogue, moving the story along in a logical manner. But this is a comic book, not an illustrated short story. Since I liked this story and the word balloon placement never obscures the art, I suppose I'm being a little nit-picky. But I can't help thinking the story would have flowed better if the word count had been toned down a bit.

Anyway, a Nez Perce Indian named White Eagle is meditating and fasting in hopes of having a vision to identify his spirit animal. Nearby, two outlaws are murdering a man so they can jump his gold claim. They try to get White Eagle as well, since he's a witness to their crime.

Wild Bill shows up and wounds both the outlaws, though they escape. The two then fight off an attack by some Crow Indians. 

By now, both men are wounded. But they get to the Nez Perce camp and take time to heal up.

This, though, gives the outlaws time to heal up as well. When they learn their murder victim's sister has arrived in town, they contrive to lure her out into the wilderness and kill her as well.

It's not a surprise to any reader that Wild Bill and White Eagle happen by in time to save her. 

So far, this has been a strong story, despite the reliance on too much dialogue. Here, we come to a bit of poor plotting. We've seen no evidence that the outlaws have a gang. So far, they've been working entirely on their own. But suddenly, they DO have a gang, lurking near enough to come to their aid in killing the woman and her two rescuers.

So we get Wild Bill's second Last Stand in this seven-page story, as he and White Eagle desperately try to fight off the outlaws. Ironically, it's General Custer, who has not yet ridden off to his own rather famous Last Stand, who arrives with some army troops to stop the fight.

Well, after committing murder and kidnapping, it's not surprising that the outlaws are willing to tell a fib. They try to claim that Hickok is a "dirty renegade" who tried to steal a white woman along with his Indian friend. Fortunately, White Eagle has painted the scene of the outlaws commiting their original murder on his shield. Custer immediately accepts this as proof that the outlaws are guilty because.... well, just because.

The story does have a few weak spots in it, but it's largely enjoyable and is certainly action-packed. Wild Bill, like Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill, Kit Carson, Davy Crockett and Wyatt Earp (to name just a few) had very busy fictional career. 

You can read this issue online HERE. 

Next Week, Spider Man will team up with Captain Marvel. The original Captain Marvel, I mean. Well, not the original original Captain Marvel, but Marvel Comics' original Captain Marvel. At what point did that become so hard to explain?