Random Back Issues #139 - Lead City #1

Colman Cooper, his wife Pearl and their son, are heading west in a wagon train. As you can see, that didn't go well, and they fell behind enough they went ahead and tried a different route. Which results in their being caught in a blizzard and Pearl taking sick.

Things are looking bleak, but the storm passes and lo, there's a town ahead! Two towns, actually. One on a hill overlooking the other. Recognizing it's better to scout the high ground first (reduces the chance of something dropping a boulder on your head), Colman enters the town on the hill and finds. . .the remnants of some sort of battle. Spent cartridges, bloodstains, a real mess.

He does find one live person, who advises him to seek the doctor in the town, Duganville, below. he also advises Colman not to enter Lead City unarmed in the future. Well, sure, a town built on mining lead, you need tools for that.

The doctor diagnoses Pearl with diptheria, and with some annual event about to take place, price gouging is all the rage. Colman tries holding back enough money for supper for him and his son. No dice. OK, save enough for supper for his kid. Sorry, no. But maybe if he sells his oxen. . .

Medicine acquired, with enough left over for dinner - and cake for Isaiah! - the quiet evening's disrupted by some loudmouth proclaiming himself the "Huntsville Hammer", who almost immediately locks horns with a doughy Irishman named Neil Kelly. But any fight will have to wait, because the board is open!

What that means isn't immediately clear, but the Hammer and Kelly both throw their names in the ring, with money to back it up. Four more follow in succession, although Jiao Long Ru Ren draws Kelly's attention (and mockery). Meanwhile, Colman figures out what's going on, and sends Isaiah to retrieve a gift for Pearl the boy was hiding for his dad. By the time he returns, the man Colman met on the hill explains this is for a free-for-all gunfight, with big-time killers all after a 10 grand prize, and Colman don't want no part of this!

But Colman disagrees and, even after a very large black man in a Union uniform, carrying a tiny Native American girl doll and the title, "Reb Stalker Walker" enters the competition, pays into the mix with a silver locket or watch, something like that. That makes 8 contestants, so the field is set, and the fun begins the next morning.

{6th longbox, 81st comic. Lead City #1, by Eric Borden (writer), Kyle Brummond (artist)}