Marvel Database
Register
Advertisement

Quote1 Thees very fine hoss, amigo! There ees notheeng more pretty than fine hoss... except pretty señorita I theenk! Quote2
Emilio Diaz (Earth-616)

Appearing in "The Smiler Strikes!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Smiler Fenton

Other Characters:

Locations:


Items:


Vehicles:


Synopsis for "The Smiler Strikes!"

Smiler Fenton is spending the night in a Mexican saloon when his friend Barb comes and tells him that he has learned that Zane Temple is living in Caliber City, Texas. He also tells Smiler that Temple is now blind and no longer carries guns and that he has a son who has been sworn never to fight. Smiler, whose face was disfigured battling Zane during his days as a Texas Ranger is intent on getting revenge against Temple for what he has done.

Over at the Temple ranch, Zane and Lance are visited by their friends Emilio and Red Hawk. Lance shows off the new blooded cattle they have recently purchased, leaving Zane alone at the ranch house. While they are gone, the Smiler and his posse arrive at the ranch. Fenton pays a visit and when he confirms that Temple is indeed blind, he easily subdues the old man and takes him prisoner. Smiler tells Zane that he intends to torture and kill everyone in Caliber City, starting with his son Lance, as revenge for what Zane did to his face years ago.

Later, Lance, Emilio and Red Hawk return to the ranch and find Zane missing. Red Hawk spots hoof tracks and they realize that Zane has been kidnapped. They all ride out to Hidden Valley so that Lance can change into the Texas Kid and recover his horse Thunder before going after his father's captors. They follow the trail to Massapa Hills a former outlaw hideout. After silently dealing with the sentries put on duty, Texas Kid and his friends close in on the cabin where his father is being held prisoner. They watch as Smiler takes Zane outside to beat on him a bit before dragging him back into the cabin. In order to get past the guard, Texas Kid and his friends cause the horses to stampede, catching them off guard and gun the guards down.

However, when Texas Kid runs inside to rescue his father he finds his guns are empty. When Smiler draws a gun on the Kid, Zane leaps at him and takes his other gun, but is shoved onto the ground. Unable to hear the Smiler, Zane cannot shoot, so the Kid throws his empty gun at Smiler, striking him in the face. When Smiler shouts out in pain, Zane targets him and shoots him dead. With Zane safe the Texas Kid rides off to change back into his alter-ego. Later as the three friends ride through town, Emilio decides to stop and visit to a girl named Maria, Lance and Red Hawk give bid their friend a good night.

Appearing in "Ranny...Get Your Gun!"

  • Appearances not yet listed

Synopsis for "Ranny...Get Your Gun!"

Western text story

Appearing in "Killer's Gold!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Brad Caplan

Other Characters:

Locations:


Items:


Vehicles:


Synopsis for "Killer's Gold!"

Lance and Zane Temple ride into town and find that there is some excitement and are told by Muely Coates that Brad Kaplan claims that he has found a rich vein of gold in the abandoned Golden Girl mine and has been busy selling shares. However, Hardpan Hart, an old rival of Coates says that there is no gold in the Golden Girl mine to speak of. This leads to an argument between Coates and Hart that explodes into a fist fight until it is broken up by the locals. Zane tells Lance that the two have been in the feud for the past 20 years when they both fell in love with the same woman who later ran off with a cattle buyer and they have not been fighting with each other ever since. Muely then leaves town after the altercation.

Hours later, Lance is in the local general store when Muely returns to town and shortly thereafter Hardpand's donkey returns alone with blood on it's saddle. When the locals find the donkey, Brad Caplan accuses Muely Coats of murdering Hardpan and entices a lynch mob. Lance makes an excuse leave for his father and slips away to change into the Texas Kid. He stops the lynch mob from hanging Muely and helps him escape under a hale of bullets. Muely insists that he is innocent and they find the donkey's trail and follow it.

The tracks lead them to the Golden Girl mine where they find Hardpan dead under a pile of rocks. Digging Hardpan out they find some gold which Muely identifies that it could not have come from the mine because all the gold that has previously been mined out of it had a red hue to it. Realizing that the gold was planted in order to trick people into thinking that there was gold in the mine and that somebody murdered Hardpan when he found out the truth. Just as they make this discovery Brad Kaplan and his men come to get them. The Texas Kid easily guns down Kaplan's men, and when Brad tries to flee Muely kills him by throwing a pick axe into his bad.

Later, back in his civilian identity, Lance Temple explains to his father that the Texas Kid exposed the fraud and cleared Muely's name.

Appearing in "Code of the Killers!"

  • Appearances not yet listed

Synopsis for "Code of the Killers!"

Western tale.

Appearing in "Blood on the Trail!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Zane Temple
  • Tim Murphy (death)
  • Spade Tennyson (death)
  • Widow Murphy

Antagonists:

  • Sims

Other Characters:

Locations:


Items:


Vehicles:


Synopsis for "Blood on the Trail!"

With beef sales at an all time low, area ranchers have gotten desperate and have come to see the Sims, the areas biggest rancher to organize a cattle run to Kansas City to sell their beef. Joining the cattle run is Lance Temple, widow Murphy's son Tim and a trouble maker named Spade. Lance notices that Spade is insisting on joining the cattle drive in order to keep an eye on Tim for Murphy.

As they run the cattle they face threats from renegade Native Americans and prairie fires, and the harsh elements of the desert. With tempers flaring, Tim gets into an altercation with one of Sims men. Before the ranch hand can shoot Tim, Spade guns him dead. As they continue their cattle run there are more casualties. One morning, Lance notices that Spade's horse looks as though it was ridden in the night. Noticing this as well, Spade decides to take another one of his horses. Soon they are greeted by a posse who say that a previous cattle run came with with horses infected with the Texas fever and refuse to let them travel further. Sims insists that they keep on going, but they soon find that there are sentries placed around to keep them right where they are. The man offers them a deal to buy the cattle at 50 cents a head, Sims says that this is a good deal much to the protests of the other ranchers who know they can go for 30 dollars a head in Kansas City.

With the word spreading among the ranchers, Lance slips away and changes into the Texas Kid. He meets with the ranchers and suggests that they start a stampede in order to get the cattle away from the men Sims is trying to sell to. The attempt leads to a gun battle and the Texas Kid leads the ranchers into victory against the men trying to keep them put. When they capture the men, the ranchers are about to string them up when it's discovered that Tim Murphy was shot dead. The leader of the men trying to sell the cattle confesses that they were working for Sims to buy the cattle cheap and resell them at top dollar in Kansas City.

This angers Spade who goes after Sims and his men with his guns blazing. The Texas Kid tries to intervene but is too late to stop Spade from shooting Sims dead. Spade also takes a fatal bullet wound and as he dies he explains that he was the husband of Widow Murphy and that she had left him. Going on this cattle run was his attempt to make amends by keeping an eye on Tim and helping sell the cattle, he asks the Texas Kid to insure that the money from the cattle go to his estranged with.

Changing back into his alter-ego of Lance Temple, the Texas Kid insures that Widow Murphy gets the money for her cattle, so that Tim and Spade's deaths are not in vein.

See Also

Links and References

References

Advertisement