A Horse to Rival Silver?

 

cover art by Ogden Whitney

This is Lone Ranger month and the Ranger, of course, wouldn't be the Ranger without his horse Silver. But many Western heroes had cool horses. The cover story for Two-Gun Kid #87 (May 1967) highlights just how cool HIS horse could be.

"The Sidewinders and the Stallion," written by Ron Whyte and drawn by Ogden Whitney, starts with a full page panel that effectively introduces us to Luke Wilson, a ruthless rustler who just killed a man to steal his cattle.

Matt Hawk is riding to visit the rancher and spots the outlaws. He charges forward, but Luke is a talented gunslinger as well as a rustler. Matt falls wounded. The outlaws capture his horse Thunder and ride off.

Despite his wounds, Matt (now in his Two-Gun Kid identity) trails them. He'd had the foresight of giving Thunder horseshoes with a distinctive pattern cut into them, making Thunder's prints easier to find.

The story is well-constructed, reminding us a couple of times (without ramming the information down our throats too overtly) that Two-Gun is in pain and not up to his usual strength. But, as he catches up with the outlaws, he limits his rest periods and pushes on.

He finds the outlaws forted up in a cannon, with Luke unsuccessfully trying to break Thunder. But Thunder only listens to one human. Two-Gun signals him with a sound that SOUNDS like a bird call. While the horse then stampedes the outlaws' own mounts, Two-Gun sets off some cartridges like firecrackers to give the impression he has help. He open fires on the bad guys, blasting pistols out of their hands.

Luke, though, manages to catch one of the stampeding horses and attempts a getaway. Two-Gun, mounted on Thunder, pursues. The two men end up in a fist fight, but Two-Gun's weakened condition allows Luke to get the drop on him. But Luke has forgotten about Thunder. And you don't want to be on Thunder's bad side.

The story is fun--a mostly by-the-numbers Western with a clever use of Thunder as an ally to Two-Gun rather than simply his mount. There is one break in story logic. Two-Gun shoots the pistols out of the other outlaws' hands before pursuing Luke. At the story's end, these outlaws are tied up along with Luke. After being disarmed, did they just wait quietly while Two-Gun fought Luke? Not one of them picked up his pistol again?

Oh, well. I still like it. In the final analysis, Silver is the coolest horse ever. But Thunder, along with Topper, Trigger, and Champion, were also pretty cool. 

Next week, we return to the Lonely War of Willy Schultz.