Two Gun Kid #36 (Apr 1957) ORIGIN!
Review by Thomas Lammers.
I don't know if this is the first telling of the Kid's origin, but it's
the earliest one I've seen.
L-338 "The Saga of the Two-Gun Kid!" (6 pp., unsigned art by Chuck Miller)
in Two-Gun Kid #36 (Apr 1957).
Two Gun Kid grew up on a poor Kansas farm. His father Frank had once been
the sharp-shooting sheriff of Mesquite, a wild town farther west. Frank
married Milly, an eastern girl, who abhorred violence and gunplay. When
the Kid was born, they moved to Kansas and took up farming. One day in
the potato cellar, the young teen finds his father's old pistol. He finds
that he is a natural shot, lightning fast and accurate. But his father
tells him to forget about guns, that they're peaceful farming folk now.
Shortly after, Sheriff Josh Meadows retires and Frank is asked to take his
place. The fact it is a peaceful farming community and the pay is good
convinces him to accept. But no sooner is he sworn in than the Corbett
Brothers - Red, Sam, and Snake - come to town fleeing a posse. Frank is
gunned down and Milly dies when thrown from the wagon by the spooked team.
With his dying breath, Frank releases his young son from his promise,
asking him to "bring peace to this troubled land."
The young orphan picks up his father's gun plus one that Snake Corbett
dropped and swears revenge. "And I'll use YOUR GUN to help anybody in
trouble! THIS gun too! Yes, two guns ... one to always remind me of the
GOOD and this other to remind me of the EVIL, the LAWLESS ..." Years
later, the Kid is invited to the peaceful town of Carbonville by his
friend Sam, where he has the opportunity to finally capture the Corbett
Brothers.
That's a pretty cool explanation for his name. If only he'd been exposed
to some radiation somewhere ...
The origin was also told in:
P-45 "Origin of the Two-Gun Kid!" (7 pp.) in Two Gun Kid #41 (Apr 1958),
and T-564 "The Origin of the Two-Gun Kid!" (7 pp.) in Two-Gun Kid #52 (Feb
1960), but I haven't had the chance to dig them out and see how they compare.
Review by Thomas Lammers.
I don't know if this is the first telling of the Kid's origin, but it's
the earliest one I've seen.
L-338 "The Saga of the Two-Gun Kid!" (6 pp., unsigned art by Chuck Miller)
in Two-Gun Kid #36 (Apr 1957).
Two Gun Kid grew up on a poor Kansas farm. His father Frank had once been
the sharp-shooting sheriff of Mesquite, a wild town farther west. Frank
married Milly, an eastern girl, who abhorred violence and gunplay. When
the Kid was born, they moved to Kansas and took up farming. One day in
the potato cellar, the young teen finds his father's old pistol. He finds
that he is a natural shot, lightning fast and accurate. But his father
tells him to forget about guns, that they're peaceful farming folk now.
Shortly after, Sheriff Josh Meadows retires and Frank is asked to take his
place. The fact it is a peaceful farming community and the pay is good
convinces him to accept. But no sooner is he sworn in than the Corbett
Brothers - Red, Sam, and Snake - come to town fleeing a posse. Frank is
gunned down and Milly dies when thrown from the wagon by the spooked team.
With his dying breath, Frank releases his young son from his promise,
asking him to "bring peace to this troubled land."
The young orphan picks up his father's gun plus one that Snake Corbett
dropped and swears revenge. "And I'll use YOUR GUN to help anybody in
trouble! THIS gun too! Yes, two guns ... one to always remind me of the
GOOD and this other to remind me of the EVIL, the LAWLESS ..." Years
later, the Kid is invited to the peaceful town of Carbonville by his
friend Sam, where he has the opportunity to finally capture the Corbett
Brothers.
That's a pretty cool explanation for his name. If only he'd been exposed
to some radiation somewhere ...
The origin was also told in:
P-45 "Origin of the Two-Gun Kid!" (7 pp.) in Two Gun Kid #41 (Apr 1958),
and T-564 "The Origin of the Two-Gun Kid!" (7 pp.) in Two-Gun Kid #52 (Feb
1960), but I haven't had the chance to dig them out and see how they compare.
