Western Winners #5

I Challenge the Army!!

The Two-Gun Kid rides into the town of Lawson for a bite to eat. As he walks to the local saloon, his wallet is taken from a pickpocket leading to a scuffle between the two. Two-Gun gets his wallet back but the sheriff arrives and puts him under arrest. The Kid is brought before Lawson, who runs the town, and runs as judge in the local saloon. A kangaroo court finds Two-Gun guilty of harassing the mugger and the Kid is forced to give over all his money and leave town. As he leaves the saloon, the Kid witnesses another man being thrown out after accusing a card dealer of cheating. Two-Gun learns that Lawson has taken over the town and has been pushing around the law abiding citizens. Not liking this, the Kid works with the man to gather a posse to try and run Lawson and his men out of town.

Two-Gun then returns to the saloon and warns Lawson and his men to leave town or die. When one of Lawson's men tries to shoot the Kid, Two-Gun is a faster draw. Lawson warns Two-Gun that he is the law in town and that he will bring the army down on any uprisings from the locals. Two-Gun leaves hoping that any military that will come will aid the people of Lawson instead of beating them down. After they leave, Lawson tells his men to go and get the stuff they stole from a government warehouse.

When Two-Gun returns with his posse a gun fight starts out, but when men in military uniforms arrive and begin shooting down the posse, they lose their nerve and the edge in the fight and are forced to retreat. Two-Gun then sends on of the men with a telegram to send to the governor, believing that they can still win the fight. Their counter attack is unexpected and the "soldiers" are caught off guard. When Lawson joins the fight Two-Gun Kid shoots him dead. With their leader dead, Two-Gun and his rebellion easily round up the rest of the fighters. When the governor arrives with an army of soldiers, they learn what Two-Gun knew all along: That the "soldiers" they were fighting were really Lawson's men in stolen military uniforms.

Recurring Characters

• Two-Gun Kid

• Cyclone

The Mystery of the Polls of Peril!

With an election for sheriff under way, Matthew Masters and his friend Ben talk about who they are going to elect. Matthew expresses that he won't vote for Waller because of the tax he is proposing on heads of cattle that he wants to impose on local ranchers. A man suddenly comes out and warns Masters not to vote against Waller. When he tries to get violent, Ben comes to Masters' aid fighting the man off and sending him packing.

Back at his office, Masters hears something at his door and finds that Ben has been shot dead, and a note left for him warning him not to vote against Waller, convincing Matthew that he must once more go into action as the Black Rider. That night, the Masked Rider goes to the hotel where Waller and his men are staying and climbs up to the upper floor and listens in on their conversation. He hears that Waller has bought all the mortgages owed by the ranchers and once elected plans on imposing his tax as a means to make the ranchers cash strapped so he can force them off their properties and claim them for his own. Part of their pressuring tactics are to go to the Lathrop ranch and burn it to the ground. The Black Rider is spotted by a one of Waller's men on the street and shoots him dead. He then hides in the next hotel room before he can be spotted. When Waller's men leave to find who shot their comrade, the Black Rider breaks into the room and goes through Waller's papers. Before he can warn the locals, Waller and his men return and catch the Rider at gun point. Waller has the Black Rider kept at gun point while he and the rest of his men go and burn down local ranches as a pressure tactic.

Left alone with two guards, the Black Rider gets the best of them and rides out to the Wiggle Ranch and sees that a fire has already been started. Waking up the Wiggles, the Black Rider tells them to vote against Waller. He then rides around the area warning local ranchers of Waller's plot. However he is too late to stop them from shooting dead one of the ranchers. On election day, Matthew Masters goes to vote for someone other than Waller and is forced to vote for Waller instead. Leaving the voting office, Masters changes into the Black Rider and starts a shoot out with Waller's men, taking the fight out into the street. The Black Rider gets some much needed support by a posse led by the Lathrop family who help gun down the gang. When Waller tries to join the fight, the Black Rider shoots Waller dead and the election goes on unimpeded.

In the aftermath, Masters reappears and gives Marie a note from the "Black Rider" asking her to meet on the front porch of the doctors office.

Recurring Characters

• Black Rider

• Marie Lathrop

• Jim Lathrop

• Satan

Dead Man's Justice!

Kid Colt is riding into Copper Gulch when he is confronted by a man named Bull Brody who wants to steal his horse. The Kid manages to shoot the gun out of the man's hand who suddenly recognizes Kid Colt for who he is. He then tells him that the sheriff of Copper Gulch has gone from one of the most feared lawmen to a drunk who has become a post. However the son of the sheriff, having overheard this in passing, attacks the man for insulting his father whom he still believes to be a brave man. When Bull attacks the boy, Kid Colt comes to his defence, forced to shoot the man dead when he does not stand down.

The boy introduces himself as Johnny, son of Sheriff Peters. They ride into town, and Kid Colt witnesses as some outlaws shoot out the newspaper office for writing an negative article against the criminal element in town. The Kid sends Johnny off to stable Steel and goes to see what he can do. He arrives just as Peters tries to stop the men, only to be pushed around because he is drunk. When he persists, Dawson, the leader of the gang gut shoots Peters. A local actor named Shakespeare helps the Kid carry Peters back to his home.

With Peters dying and his son's opinion of his father in the balance, Kid Colt convinces Shakespeare to use his make-up kit to make the Kid look like Peters. In his disguise, Kid Colt goes after Dawson and his gang and guns the gang down. Quickly rushing back and doffing his disguise, Kid Colt witnesses as Johnny comes to see his father and arrives too late before Peters dies. Kid Colt tells the boy that his father died fighting. The locals then rally to fight lawlessness, and turn try to shoot down Kid Colt as he rides out of town.

Recurring Characters

• Kid Colt

• Steel