Friday, October 15, 2021

Random Back Issues #71 - Lady Rawhide #3

Seems like that would be a particularly unpleasant place to give yourself a rope burn. 

At the time of this mini-series, Mexico is on the verge of revolution. People were being inspired by how folks like Zorro and Lady Rawhide were standing up to the corrupt government. Except, rather than just protecting people they find being treated unjustly, the Sisters of the White Rose have been attacking and killing Army officers, leaving a trail through the county not unlike Sherman through Georgia. That's only fed the discontent of the people. In turn, the governor (under the influence of American industrialists) has been sending out the Army to suppress them.

Lady R saved one of the Sisters, a young lady named Esme, from near death when she was left behind, then set out to find the rest. Doesn't take long, a bartender tells her they've seized the Governor's Mansion. And the Governor. And Captain Reyes, who Lady R's tangled with before and considers a generally honorable fellow. The bartender agrees, but figures he'll be executed by the Sisters on some pretext sooner or later.

Approaching the mansion, she finds a bunch of hired guns making plans to storm it and retrieve their leader, a man named Cole. They're also supposed to retrieve the Governor, but don't seem to care about that, or potential civilian casualties. And they've got a Gatling gun, always an encouraging sign. Scaling the roof, she gets the drop on two of the Sisters and asks them to bring her to their leader.

So much for diplomacy. She does make certain they don't splat on the floors, but stealth is out and there's one particularly large woman in the way. Trying to get the whip around her throat just gets Lady R hauled off her feet and punched in the head, so the next time around she goes for the wrists and pulls her over the railing.

She hurries into the cellar, looking for the prisoners. The Governor isn't pleased to see her, but Cole wisely recognizes it's better to try and escape than stay there and be executed. Too bad all the Sisters have arrived with guns. Not really sure how Lady Rawhide though this was going to work. They know she's there, they must know which direction she went. Cellars don't typically have a ton of exits. 

Adelina, leader of the Sisters of the White Rose, isn't inclined to listen to any warning, and says it's time to start the trials. Meanwhile, Esme's trying to ride to keep Adelina and Lady R from killing each other, the people outside the mansion are getting more restless, and Cole's men are preparing to make their onslaught.

[6th longbox, 119th comic. Lady Rawhide (vol. 3) #3, by Eric Trautmann (writer), Milton Estevam (artist), Dinei Riberio (colorist), Marshall Dillon (letterer)]

No comments: