Fighting an Unnecessary Duel

 

A lot of good Westerns were re-run on TV while I was growing up, but Colt. 45 wasn't one of them. I've also never happened to see it as an adult. So I'm going into today's issue cold--without any idea how well or how poorly it might represent the show on which it's based.

Colt. 45 ran from 1957 to 1960 and is loosely based on a 1950 Randolph Scott movie of the same name. The protagonist is Christopher Colt (played by Wayde Preston), a government agent who maintains an undercover role as a gun salesman.

After three appearances in Dell's anthology book Four Color, Colt got his own series. As was usual for Dell, the Four Color appearances were taken into account and the first issue was #4. Cover-dated February-April 1960, it would be the first of six before the series ended. The writer of Colt. 45 #4  is unknown. The artist is John Ushler.

The first story in that issue has Colt visiting the home of Col. Armstead, a retired army officer and war hero. Armstead has an awesome (and valuable) gun collection. Colt is there to present a couple of pistols to Armstead in appreciation of his service.

He's also very proud of his mansion and the land he owns. His daughter and oldest son, though, are worried about something and are up to some shenanigans involving the gun collection.

The two sibling turn out to be involves in a plan to steal and sell the gun collection. At first, the plan seems to work. But Colt looks around, finding little clues to indicate that the theft was indeed an inside job.

Finally, David (the oldest son) confesses to Colt. His father thinks they are rich, but bad investments have drained their bank account. Even the insurance on the gun collection has lapsed. David and his sister Helen have engineered the robbery to help pay the bills. They are afraid that if their father finds out the family is broke, the shame will kill him.

Colt disagrees. First, what they are doing is a crime regardless of their motive. Second, Colt thinks the siblings are underestimating their dad. He's proved himself to be a strong man again and again throughout his life and he will know there's no shame in being poor.

David's younger brother John overhears only part of this conversation and believes Colt is falsely accusing his brother of something. Egged on by John, David challenges Colt to a duel.

Colt has no desire to kill or be killed in a senseless duel. He tells the Colonel what's going on, but the Colonel refuses to believe his son would do anthing dishonorable. Colt makes a last-ditch effort to call off the duel by appealing to Helen's sense of right and wrong.

This works, though only (of course) in the nick of time. Helen tells the Colonel the truth, who rides out just in time to stop the duel and give David some well-deserved what-for.

As Colt predicted, the Colonel takes the financial news in stride. The family will survive--and they'll survive with honor.

The story has a lot of dialogue and only a few smatterings of action. Often, this is bad thing in the visual medium of a comic book. But in this case, the dialogue is well-written and the characters are compelling enough to hold our interest. It's a good story, depending effectively on human nature rather than gun play to bring about a satisfying resolution. 

You can read this story online HERE.

Next week, We'll return to The Great Darkness Saga for a look at Part 4.