Poisoned Waterholes and Desert Heat

 

cover art by Luis Dominguez

A man escapes from prison after poisoning a guard, then poisons waterholes as he escapes across the desert, at one point leaving two people, including a child, to die after taking their canteen. 

So what we have is the typical sort of ruthless killer that Jonah Hex normally tracks down. But two things make Teddy "The Gentleman Killer" Chandler a particularly interesting villain. First, he has a companion who shows compassion and regret towards the victims, but still remains inexplicably loyal to Chandler.

Second, late in the story, we learn Chandler's interesting backstory. He wasn't always an animal. In fact, he was in prison because he killed a man when his companion, a black man named Orion, was about to be lynched. Chandler saved Orion's life. That's why Orion, a God-fearing man, remains loyal to him.

It all gives Chandler a dimensionality that the bad guys in Hex's stories often lack. That, combined with John Albano's tightly-written script and Tony DeZuniga's atmospheric art, make this a particularly notable issue.

The story (from Weird Western Tales #19--September/October 1973) begins with the prison breakout. Orion is waiting nearby with horses, but is shocked to learn that the poison he smuggled to Chandler was used to kill a human being rather than rats. Chandler begins poisoning waterholes while they make a getaway to discourage pursuit. 

 

Jonah finds them by chance, but recognizes the prison uniform that Chandler is wearing. He wounds Chandler, taking him and Orion prisoner. But when they find a wagon that had been attacked by Comanches. The two adults are dead, but a young boy is still alive. Unfortunately for Jonah and the boy, Chandler gets hold of a gun. He gets the drop on Jonah, leaving him (and the boy) with no weapons, horses or water. Orion, though, drops a canteen as he and Chandler ride off.

It's here that we get a reminder of a usually hidden aspect of Jonah Hex's personality. He manages to bring the boy to a ranch, but does so by saving all the water in the canteen for that boy, leaving him nearly dead before the journey is over. Later, when he rides off after Chandler, the lady of the ranch remarks how kind and gentle he is. And she's right, though Jonah would have been angered if he heard her say it. He does have moments where his better nature takes hold. The ruthless bounty hunter does indeed have his kind and gentle moments.

In the meantime, Chandler shoots Orion in order to save on water consumption. When Jonah finds Orion, the black man explains Chandler's backstory and forgives his killer before he dies. 

The story ends with Jonah relentlessly pursuing Chandler, only for the escaped killer to die when he runs out of water and desperately drinks from a waterhole he had earlier poisoned. He dies laughing at the irony of it.

It's a stand-out story from an excellent series. It's not a criticism to say that most of the outlaws that Jonah runs down are ruthless killers. So is Chandler, but his background--possibly a good man stripped of his humanity while in prison--and the counterpoint of Orion's gentle nature, make this tale particularly notable.

Next week, we'll visit with the Cartwright family to see how well Bonanza translates into comic book form. 

Mr. Young of the Boothill Gazette

 

Cover art by Jose Delbo

From 1971 until 1974 (issues 88 through 110, with a few issues being skipped within that run), Charlton's Billy the Kid included a back-up feature titled "Mr. Young of the Boothill Gazette," with art and scripts by Pat Boyette. The premise is a fun one--in 1875, a young greenhorn from back East comes to the town of Boothill, Texas to work as a reporter. His editor mostly puts him to work sweeping the floor, while printing innocuous articles about Ladies' Aid Society. There's a lot of lawlessness in Boothill, but the editor (Maxwell Cosswell) doesn't want to rock the boat. Or get shot.

But his new reporter, Abel Young, is full of ambition and a firm sense of right and wrong. By golly, he'll confront evil whereever he finds it--despite the fact that he's completely hopeless in a fight. 

In Billy the Kid #89 (February 1972), Abel learns that a gunman named Fife Anson is planning on killed a gambler named Burley Meade. When Abel objects to this, Anson throws him into an open grave. Though terrified, Abel still wants to stop the murder.

He confronts Anson again in a saloon, but that simply gets him punched and thrown out the back door. Meade is coming in that way with the intent of back-shooting Anson. Desperate, Abel conks Meade over the head with a bucket. Then, when it looks like Anson is going to shoot HIM, Abel even more desperately attacks him and manages to knock him out. 

When Meades starts to regain consciousness, Abel knocks him out again as well, saving himself with a pair of last-resort lucky punches. The two gunmen are arrested by the sheriff and peace is temporarily restored to Boothill.

Boyette does some fun panel design during Abel's two-page confrontation with the bad guys, laying them out in a diagnal pattern that emphasizes the action quite nicely. Abel comes across as a bit self-righteous at times, but he is of course correct in objecting to murder and the self-righteousness can be an aspect of his naivety. He's an interesting character and we might return to Boothill again to see what he's been up to.

Next week, we'll discover that even dead Nazis will continue to follow orders..

Snipers, Tattoos and Secret Caves

Dell Comics' Roy Rogers #3 (March 1948) was drawn by Al Micale and written by prolific scribe Gaylord Du Bois. Du Bois not only wrote around 3000 comic book and comic strip scripts over the years--I've only read a small fraction of them, but I have yet to run across a bad script. The man was amazing.

This time, he adds to the adventure canon of Roy Rogers. Roy is riding through Montana when he meets Nancy Kirkland and Andy Johnson, whose uncles both own nearby ranches. Roy soon gets a chance to.., well, to be Roy Rogers when he catches Nancy after she's knocked off her horse by several of the mean-spirited Roulette brothers. 

Andy gets to show his backbone as well when he slugs one of the brothers. Later, the three friends find evidence that the Roulettes are doing some rustling.

That's bad enough, but when they ride back to one of the ranches, three of the four local ranch owners (including Nancy's dad and Andy's dad) are shot by a sniper.

That means the only ranch owner left--and the one who will now inherent the surrounding land--is Pa Roulette. That seems suspicious, until it turns out Pa Roulette is also dead. He was killed in what his son's claim was an accident. 

But nothing can be proved about anything. One of the men shot along with Nancy's dad was the owner and his will left the land to the children of the other three now-dead men. Neither Nancy nor Andy had any siblings, so Pa Roulette's ten sons will now inherent most of the land.

But there's a hint of another later will. No one can find this, though Roy helps the sheriff find the rifle used in the triple murder stashed in a small cave. 

Remembering a tattoo needle found on one of the victims, Roy plays a hunch and gets a court order to dig up Pa Roulette. His sons show up to put a stop to this, but all but one of them are killed in the ensuing gun fight. Roy's hunch proves to be a good one--the new will (leaving the land to Nancy and Andy) is tattooed on Pay's back. 

That doesn't quite bring the story to a close. Roy still needs to rescue Nancy from the lone surviving Roulette brother. But Roy does stuff like this three times before breakfast and soon has the situation in hand.

It is a typically strong Du Bois script. The mystery is good, the action scenes help keep the pacing fast and everything flows along logically. And its all given visual backbone by Micale's strong art. 

Gee whiz, that Gaylord Du Bois guy knew how to WRITE!

You can read this comic yourself HERE.

Next week, we'll return to the Avengers and see how they are doing. 

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.

Cover Cavalcade

 August is Trains and Railroads Month!!!

A 1965 cover by Jack Kirby.

How to Fix a Broken Leg

 

cover art by Sam Savitt

Indian Chief was a great comic--an anthology in which you can pick pretty much any issue at random and not find a clunker amidst the two or three stories in that issue. Strong storytelling; engaging art; and historical accuracy shine out from every tale. (Caveat: The stories seem historically accurate to me, but I'm hardly an expert on Native American cultures. There could be any number of mistakes that I don't have the knowledge to catch. It's also possible that some of the stories were considered accurate at the time, but research done in the 70 years since their publication has changed what we know. But in any case, the stories obviously make an honest effort to treat various Native American cultures with respect.)

I picked Indian Chief #8 (Oct.-Dec. 1952) at random and--sure enough--both stories were great. Today, we'll look at the first story in this issue: "Bear Medicine"--author and artist unknown.

Our hero in this one is a Sioux named Crooked Knife, who has a bum leg which never healed properly after an accident. When the tribe is out hunting buffalo, someone spots signs of the Blackfeet (enemies of the Sioux) nearby. A trio of Dog Soldiers (the Sioux Special Forces guys) are sent ahead to scout. Crooked Knife wants to go. He wants to prove himself and get permission to mary the chief's daughter (who is awful cute). But his bad leg prevents this.

When the Dog Soldiers don't return, Crooked Knife does get permission to climb a nearby hill and keep watch. But partway up the hill, he's knocked off the path by a bear.

He lands on a tree limb sticking out of the side of the hill. The fall snaps his leg back into proper place--FINALLY, he can walk and move properly. 

Well, except he's stuck on a tree branch. But he sees a bear walking past on a narrow path he hadn't noticed and is able to climb down.

That plus a dream he had convinces him the bear is his spirit animal. But Crooked Knife doesn't have time to dwell on that. He finds one of the badly wounded Dog Soldiers, who tells him before dying that the other two were captured by Blackfeet.

He spots the prisoners, starts a buffalo stampede as a distraction, rescues the two prisoners and makes a run for it. But the three get cornered in the cleft of a cliff, with only one bow and a few arrows between them.

Things look grim for the Sioux, until Crooked Knife spots his spirit animal atop the cliff over the Blackfeet position. Crooked Knife saves the day by shooting his spirit animal in the butt, enraging it enough to attack the nearby Blackfeet. This allows the three Sioux to get away.

Back at their camp, Crooked Knife is formally made a Dog Soldier, gets a new name ("Fighting Bear") and gets to marry the cute Indian gal.

This is a fast-paced story with clear, straightforward art that tells its tale in an exciting manner. It is indeed a great example of what made Indian Chief one of the best comics ever.

You can read it online HERE. 

Next week, we'll return to the Hulk one more time.

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.

Ringing the Bell

 

Annie Oakley ran for 81 syndicated episodes from 1954 through 1957, giving us a fictionalized version of the young sharpshooter as she lived in the equally fictionalized town of Diablo, Arizona. Dell Comics ran a 15-issue tie-in series featuring photo covers of the pretty actress (Gail Davis) who played Annie.

The 8th issue of the series (July-September 1956) features a story titled "The Ambushers." The writer is unknown and the strong artwork is by Dan Spiegle. Annie, her younger brother Tagg and deputy sheriff Lofty Craig stop at an abandoned mission for some water while returning to town. 

While they are resting, Annie sees someone pointing a rifle at them. She objects strongly, which means she shoots the rifle out of the guy's hands. He claims to be a prospecter who was simply being cautious, since there's a lot of outlaws in the area right now. This is a reasonable claim, since there's been a nearby gold strike. They let the guy go.

But soon after, they stumble across a wounded prospecter who was shot and robbed by two men. From the descriptions he gives, its obvious one of them was the guy from the mission.

A posse loses the trail, so Annie and Tagg take a look. They find indications that the guy backtracked and find him at the mission, frantically searching for something. He draws on Annie, who strongly objects once again.

That puts one outlaw in jail, but another still on the loose. But Annie figures he'll have to come to town to kill the two men who can identify him--the wounded prospecter and the his captured partner. 

She's right, of course.  The second outlaw does come to town, where's he's subsequently chased to the old mission and forts up in the bell tower. Annie shoots at the bell, scaring him into surrendering. Annie also notices that the bell made a THUD sound rather than a ring. It turns out that the stolen gold dust was hidden there.

It's a fun story. Spiegle's art is great from start to finish, with two panels that stand out. When the first outlaw has his pistol shot out of his hand, Spiegle shows it literally flying out of the panel. The panel looking down at Annie from the level of the tower as she shoots the bell is also exceptional.

The story itself unfolds in a logical fashion, though Annie having to think of EVERYTHING makes the actually (and supposedly experienced) lawmen look a bit helpless. But what the heck. It is Annie's comic.

You can read this story online HERE. 

Next week, we'll return to Captain Willy Schultz.