Wyatt Earp #4
Gunning for the Marshal
June 1874: Wyatt Earp is challenged by a cowboy named George Peshaur who openly calls the marshal a coward. However despite the fact that George draws first, Wyatt is able to whirl around and shoot the gun out of his hand. Wyatt then tells George and his friends to clear out of town or be thrown in jail. George complies but vows to get revenge on Earp.
Over the next few days, Wyatt notices other rough and tumble cowboys appearing in town: John Wesley and George's cousin Mannen Clements, asking about George and Wyatt smells trouble brewing. Wyatt follows them out of town to a nearby cabin and listens in on their conversation. He overhears them plotting to get rid of him. but Mannen refuses to get involved telling George that Wyatt is too tough to beat. Mannen's turning down the job does not dissuade George from continuing to plot his revenge and once Wyatt has heard enough he heads back to Wichita.
Meanwhile in town, Ida Man -- owner of one of the town honky tonk and George's girlfriend -- refuses to pay a bill collector for the piano that she purchased for the bar. When the man tells her that if she does not return it or pay the full balance he will get the marshal involved. Ida scoffs at this and has one of the patrons toss the collection agent out. When Wyatt returns to town he is told what happened and resolves to deal with it right away. Gathering up some of his friends from his days as a buffalo hunter, Wyatt and his pals arrive at the bar. There they come to claim the the piano.
As it turns out George Peshaur is there and when he tries to draw on Wyatt the lawman shoots the holster off his belt before he can draw his guns. Before the other patrons can pull out their guns, the buffalo hunters reveal that they have been hiding their rifles in the cushioning blankets and have gotten the drop on them. Stuck in a no win situation, Ida collects money from all her patrons to cover the rest of the cost of the piano and Wyatt and his friends leave, but as they do George still vows to get revenge against Wyatt Earp.
This story is continued next issue...
Recurring Characters
Wyatt Earp
George Peshaur
Justice
The Robbers of the Rio Rapids
At a bridge crossing Cactus Charlie and his gang have sawed through some of the boards in order to set a trap for Wyatt Earp. When Earp and his hors Justice ride across the boards break sending him into the raging river and, as the outlaws hope, to his death. However, Earp is fast thinking in the raging rapids: climbing onto Justice he uses his rope to snare a passing tree branch and uses it to climb to safety and pulling Justice to shore.
Thinking that Wyatt Earp is dead, Charlie and his men head to Wichita to rob the bank. The outlaws rob the bank and ride off toward the bridge where they seemingly killed Wyatt Earp. Unable to find the marshal, the locals gather up a posse to and chase after then. However when they catch up to the outlaws they find none of the stolen money and they are forced to let them go.
Cactus Charlie and his men then ride to where the river drops into a water fall. At the bottom they had set a net to catch the loot when they dumped it. When they pull the bundle out of the blanket that are shocked to find that the money has been replaced with leaves and a note warning them to reach as someone is behind them. When they turn around they find that Wyatt Earp has gotten the drop on them. Earp then takes them to town and returns the stolen money.
Recurring Characters
Wyatt Earp
Justice
They Called Him Coward!
Wyatt Earp is on his way back to Wichita after dropping coach robbers off at Selina when he passes into the town of Galva where he finds that the town has degraded into lawlessness. Wondering if they have a sheriff he finds the office and decides to pay a visit. Inside he finds the sheriff, Jim, and his girl Sally talking about the state of the town. Sally tells Jim that the entire town thinks that he is a coward, and Jim says that he can't do anything about it as he didn't chose to be sheriff, having come from New York he does not know how to shoot.
At this point Wyatt makes his presence known and offers to help Jim learn how to shoot. After a lot of training Jim soon becomes a crack shot with his pistols. Jim then goes and confronts Kearny, the leader of the outlaws and runs them out of town.
Recurring Characters
Wyatt Earp
Justice
The Vigilantes Ride!
After taking Thad Turner in as a suspect for the murder of Gabby Gibson a group of vigilantes come to the town jail to kill him demanding that Wyatt Earp to turn Turner over. Wyatt refuses telling the mob that Thad has a right to a fair trial. However as he is dealing with the mob, Thad's sister Miss Turner rushes into the middle of the scene and tells Earp that while he was distracted up front some of the vigilantes had broken in through the bank and taken Thad. Miss Turner is shocked when Wyatt does nothing when the mob rides off.
Wyatt tells her that he didn't need to do anything and takes her into his office. He then removes a rug from the floor revealing a trap door. While out in the woods nearby, the vigilantes -- led by Diamonds Dunn -- realize that the "man" they captured was really a dummy hidden in some blankets. This is because Wyatt had hidden Thad in the basement of his office. Down there, Wyatt and Miss Turner ask Thad what had happened.
Thad -- who runs the local paper -- was leaving the office late one night when he was confronted by Gabby Gibson, the town drunk, confronted him and berated him about his newspaper. Next thing he knew it someone hit him over the head and when he woke up Gabby Gibson was seemingly dead, and Diamonds Dunn accusing him of murder.
Wyatt finds this all suspicious and goes up to Boot Hill and digs up Gabby's grave and is shocked by what he finds. He returns to Thad and tells him with what he found he can catch Diamonds Dunn in his lie. The next day Earp buys supplies at the local shop and later confronts Diamonds Dunn and tells him that Gibson isn't dead. To everyone's surprise, Gabby Gibson appears and accuses Dunn of framing Thad so he could force his sister to sell their land. Diamonds then blurts out that he paid Gabby off to hid in Mexico and filled his coffin with rocks and punches "Gibson", revealing him to be Thad Turner in disguise. With all the proof he needs, Wyatt Earp takes Diamonds Dunn into prison.
Recurring Characters
Wyatt Earp
Justice
