Kid Colt Outlaw #68
Firing Squad
Inside a saloon, Kid Colt is confronted by some lawmen who have come to arrest him. Kid Colt tries to escape by running upstairs and using a chandelier to swing across the saloon and smash out the window. Unfortunately for him, there is an entire army of government soldiers who were called to help apprehend him. One of the men asks Kid Colt what he did with the explosives and gun powder he stole, but Kid Colt insists that he is innocent. Taken into custody, Kid Colt is loaded on a train where he is passengers with another outlaw named Bart Spencer. Kid Colt doesn’t like the idea of being tied to Bart Spencer. When Spencer asks what they got him for, the Kid tells him about how he was framed for the robbery of gun powder and dynamite. This gives Bart a good laugh because he was the one who made the theft, especially since Spencer is going to get a slap on the wrist for mail theft while Kid Colt will be doing some real-time for a crime he didn’t commit. Since nobody will believe the Kid, Spencer tells him that he is going to use the explosives to rob a big gold shipment coming out of Cherokee. This gold is going to be used to buy land from the Native Americans.
Once he is told this, Kid Colt tells Spencer that the gold shipment has actually been moved onto the train that they are currently on. This causes Spencer to panic and he tells Kid Colt to do something before they are all blown up. However, Kid Colt doesn’t care since he’s going to be facing a firing squad anyway and he doesn’t care if he gets killed sooner. Spencer rushes to the guard and tells him the whole thing. When Spencer tries to escape, Kid Colt stops him. With Kid Colt freed of all charges, the Kid then reveals that he lied about the shipment method being changed. He also reveals that the government canceled the land deal and that his men wasted the gunpowder so either way, Bart Spencer loses.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt
The Scar of Destiny!
Kid Colt catches a bunch of poachers and tells them their days of poaching buffalo off Comanche land is at an end. The leader, Dirk Dawson, insist that they made deal with the Comanche, but Kid Colt doesn’t by it since the Native Americans are on the warpath for the poachers. When Kid Colt won’t stand down, Dawson tries to draw his guns but Kid Colt is faster on a draw and shoots the guns out of Dirk’s hands. That’s when the Comanche arrives on the scene and confirms that they made no such deal with Dawson and are quite furious because the poachers are only taking the buffalo pelts and leave the meat to rot, meat that the Comanches rely on to feed their people.
When Dawson says Kid Colt wouldn’t be so brave without his guns and an army of Comanches on his side, Kid Colt accepts the challenge. To see who is superior, Dawson has his men dig a hole and fill it with cactus and lay a log across the pit. The two men then strip off their shirts and get on the log to fight it out. When Dawson sees a star-shaped scar on Kid Colt’s chest he refuses to fight him because he’s not going to mix it up with the so-called star killer. Not only do Dawson and his men flee, but so do the Comanches. The whole experience makes Kid Colt very confused and he dismisses it.
When Kid Colt arrives in the town, he decides to wash up at a horse trough with a bunch of other men. When Kid Colt takes off his shirt these men also see the star-shaped scar on his chest and flee in fear as well. Wondering what is going on, Kid Colt asks one of the local old-timers. All the old man will say is that the “star killer” has a lot of nerve returning to town without his mask. That’s when a bunch of locals surrounds the Kid with their guns drawn and tell him to get out of town before they send him to boot hill.
That night, Kid Colt is setting up camp and is joined by a fellow traveler. He tells Kid Colt that he has had similar troubles due to a star-shaped scar on his chest. While the Kid is distracted this strange knocks him out from behind, this man is the real star killer and only the stars themselves know the truth. When Kid Colt comes around he discovers the stranger had stolen his horse and walks back to the own of Pawnee. There he is ambushed by a man and Kid Colt is forced to shoot him. As it turns out, this was the real star killer, which the local law discover once they strip off his shirt and discover the star-shaped tattoo on his chest.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt, Steel
Last Stage to Pyote!
Kid Colt entertains a group of children with his shooting skills by shooting an outline of a scarecrow around a boarded fence. The teacher tells the kids that class is dismissed for the day and they head off to go swimming in Mill Pond. The teacher wishes Kid Colt could stay longer, as the children idolize him. However, Kid Colt is investigating a series of attacks on a stagecoach line.
When Kid Colt arrives at the stagecoach office a man who just knocked the clerk and robbed the place pushes past Kid Colt, dropping his pocket watch as he makes his getaway. When Kid Colt goes inside he finds the clerk dead and is caught at the scene by the local sheriff who accused of robbery. When the office clerk comes around he tells the sheriff that he doesn’t know who robbed him since they knocked him out from behind while he was opening the safe. The sheriff won’t listen to reason and arrests Kid Colt and locks him up in the jail.
Later that day, the children come up to the window of Kid Colt’s cell, they know the Kid didn’t do it and want to help. He gets the children to round up Steel, his horse, and tie a rope from the saddle to the bars of his window. Steel manages to pull the bars off the window allowing Kid Colt to escape. He then has the children delay the stage. Spotting the thief walking by, Kid Colt asks him if he has the time. That’s when the man realizes his watch is missing. Kid Colt then pulls out the man’s pocket watch. When the thief tries to draw his guns one of the kids shoots his hand with his slingshot making the robber drop his gun. Kid Colt then takes the man into custody so he can clear his name.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt, Steel
Ambush!
Walking into a shop, Kid Colt witnesses an interesting scene. The shop owner, Ben Fraser refuses to buy gold Clem Stagg and demands to know what happened to his son. Clem doesn’t take kindly to this and pulls a gun, telling Ben that he will buy the gold or else. Kid Colt steps in and forces Clem Stagg to leave. He then asks Ben what’s going on. Ben tells Kid Colt that his son Johnny was working with Clem Stagg — despite the fact that he is a crook — to pan for gold up by Wolverine Creek. Kid Colt agrees to go up there to search for Johnny, unaware that Clem Stagg has been listening in on their conversation from outside.
As he rides out of town, Kid Colt barely manages to avoid getting crushed under a pile of falling wood thanks to his horse Steel sensing the trouble before he does. Soon Kid Colt arrives at the dig site near Wolverine Creek and examining the area he sees sign of a struggle. Unfortunately, the Kid lets his guard down and is hit over the head with a shovel by Clem. Clem, who left Fraser for dead, sees on sign of his body and goes looking for him so he can finish Johnny off.
Not far away a band of Native Americans find Johnny and treat his wounds. That’s when Clem Fraser happens upon them and convinces the natives that Johnny is in safe hands and they leave. By this time, Kid Colt has come around and is searching for the man who attacked him. He runs into the Native Americans and they tell him about their encounter with Johnny and Clem. Telling them that Johnny is in danger and they agree to help Kid Colt save him. They arrive just in time to stop Clem to stop him from killing Johnny. After Clem is turned over to the authorities, Johnny is reunited with his father. When Ben Fraser offers Kid Colt a reward he tells him to give them to the natives as they’ll can make better use of it.
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt, Steel
