The Return of Johnny Ringo!

Eating a meal in a saloon, Kid Colt overhears how a Native American is looking for him. He decides to find this man and sees what he wants before someone recognizes him for who he is. Outside, Kid Colt meets with the Native, who calls himself Injun Red (seriously?) who says Johnny Ringo wants to meet with him right away. When the locals spot Kid Colt talking to Injun Red they realize who he is and try to capture the pair but they make a quick escape. As he rides out of town, Kid Colt thinks about how he hasn’t seen Johnny Ringo in years and wonders what he could possibly want.

When he arrives at the cave where Johnny Ringo is hiding out in, he discovers the local sheriff and a posse have the place surrounded. The Kid tricks the sheriff into thinking that Johnny Ringo managed to escape and sends them on a wild goose chase. Kid Colt enters the cave and asks Johnny what he wants.[1] At first, Kid Colt refuses to help Johnny Ringo until the outlaw reminds him how he once helped Ringo Kid out of a jam five years earlier. Kid Colt was ambushed by the Durstine Boys. If it wasn’t for Johnny Ringo, Kid Colt would have been killed. Johnny Ringo told the Kid back then that he owes him a favor and now, five years later, Johnny is calling in that marker.

Kid Colt agrees to help but won’t do anything that is against the law, putting him in a conundrum since helping Johnny escape would be breaking the law. Johnny then offers a compromise, all Kid Colt has to do is to split up so that the lawmen do the same thing since he’d be better at handling two lawmen than four. Kid Colt agrees to do this as long as Johnny promises not to shoot anyone. Ringo refuses and is prepared to draw on Kid Colt when the Kid tells him to hold still. Suddenly, Kid Colt draws his gun and shoots a rattlesnake that was about to strike Johnny. Ringo draws his gun, but Kid Colt shoots it out of his hand. Since he just save Johnny’s life, Kid Colt says they are even and leaves just as the lawmen return to arrest Ringo.

Recurring Characters

Kid Colt, Steel

Continuity Notes

1. Johnny Ringo says he learned Kid Colt was in the area form Midnight Hawkins. Kid Colt encountered Midnight Hawkins last issue.

The Trail of Sam Hawk, Manhunter!

Kid Colt arrives outside of the town of Tumbleweed, Texas, and hopes he can get in and out without being recognized since he’s on a mission that was a matter of life and death. Stripping off his trademark cowhide vest and hat, Kid Colt tries to sneak past the guards by hiding in plain sight hoping the sentries won’t recognize him. The ploy works long enough guards let him through after telling him that the town is on high alert since the Sam Hawk, the bounty hunter, is recovering from pneumonia and they believe Kid Colt might come to town to finish him off.[1] However, the two guards begin to become suspicious of him forcing the Kid to blow his cover and make a run for it.

Word of Kid Colt’s arrival in town spreads fast and soon Doc Ben Masters is warned that the outlaw is coming. Kid Colt hides in a barn near the doctors house and sees that there are a number of armed guards outside. Banking on them falling for the same trick, the Kid manages to fool them into following a false trail. Going into the doctor’s office, Kid Colt wrestles with the doctor and manages to get into the room where Sam Hawk is recovering despite being shot in the shoulder. By the time the guards come back the doctor tells them that they were too late and Kid Colt has already come and gone.

However, instead of killing Sam Hawk like they though, Kid Colt actually arrived with the medicine Hawk needs to recover after Si Nesbitt, the man bringing the medicine, was fatally wounded by attacking Navajos. As Kid Colt rides out of town, the locals try to comprehend how an outlaw would risk his life to save the man who has made it his job to hunt him down.

Recurring Characters

Kid Colt, Sam Hawk, Steel

Continuity Notes

1. Sam Hawk has been trying to capture Kid Colt since Kid Colt Outlaw #78.

Trapped by the Wolf Man!

Kid Colt is leaving town when he is stopped by the sheriff who warns him that the trails are being terrorized by someone they call the Wolf Man. The sheriff explains that the Wolf Man is the last of the Osago Tribe and lives in the hills where he has been attacking steer herds. They call him the Wolf Man because this Native American acts more like a beast than a man. Concluding his warning, the sheriff says that they have twenty men scouring the wilderness looking for the Wolf Man, but warn the Kid to be careful just the same.

Kid Colt thanks them for the warning but leaves just the same as he is more concerned with someone recognizing him for who he is. Along the trail, Kid Colt notices the tracks of someone walking barefoot and decides to take it slow in case the Wolf Man is lurking around. Spotting a Native American man lurking atop a rock outcropping, Kid Colt tries to bolt for it, but the warrior ambushes him. The Wolf Man — who calls himself Roaring Buffalo — thinks that Kid Colt is one of the men hunting for him and is tired of running. Kid Colt fights him off and manages to get the draw on him. Realizing that there is more going on here than he was told in town, Kid Colt decides to listen to what Roaring Buffalo has to say.

He learns that Roaring Buffalo considers the white man his enemy as his people warred with them before they were all wiped out. Kid Colt explains that this was all long ago and that his people want to live in peace with the Native Americans and that the only reason why the locals are trying to hunt Roaring Buffalo is that they think he’s been attacking their cattle and as such fear him. He decides to help Roaring Buffalo relocate where he can live in peace. With the posse heading their way, Kid Colt covers Roaring Buffalo in a blanket and has him lay across his horse. He tells the posse that his friend was attacked by the Wolf Man and sends them on a wild goose chase.

With the posse distracted, Kid Colt takes Roaring Buffalo to a field of wild horses and they tame one of the horses. He then gives Roaring Buffalo directions to a Kiowa reservation where he will be welcomed as a brother. Roaring Buffalo thanks Kid Colt for his help and rides away. As he goes, Kid Colt can understand Roaring Buffalo’s position, he was alone and afraid and hopes that he’ll find a safe existence among the Kiowa.

Recurring Characters

Kid Colt, Steel