Leir (Marvel): part 4

In previous posts (here, here, and here) we've looked at the introduction of Leir, lord of lightning and god of the spear, in the pages of The Mighty Thor.  Today, we'll consider his brief contemporaneous cameo in West Coast Avengers #41 (FEB 1989).  The War in Asgard arc (which was wrapped up this month in Thor) serves as the macguffin to wrap up dangling plot lines in The West Coast Avengers.

The opening splash page represents the first and last appearances of Leir in this issue.  (At least he doesn't announce that he's "lord of lightning and god of the spear!").  Against this backdrop, Seth has despatched a lieutenant to ensure that the Egyptian moon god, Khonshu, does not participate in the resistance to Seth.

Meanwhile on earth, the estranged West Coast Avengers: Mockingbird, Tigra, and Moon Knight have sought out the aid of Daimon Hellstrom (AKA the Son of Satan) to investigate Mockingbird's accusation that modern-day Phantom Rider, Hamilton Slade, is a reincarnation of his ancestor, Lincoln Slade.  (Lincoln, as it turned out, had raped Mockingbird in a previous time-traveling storyline.)

While discussing possession with the skeptical Hamilton, Hellstrom's gaze leaves Khonshu (who had previously taken full possession of the human Marc Specter, AKA Moon Knight) wondering if his cover has been blown.

 

During Hellstrom's exorcism of Slade, not one--but two Phantom Riders spirits exit!  One is the spirit of the aforementioned Lincoln Slade, while the other is the spirit of Carter Slade (the original, heroic Phantom Rider).  The noncorporeal Hamiltons battle each other to a virtual standstill.  Hellstrom then announces a third spirit is needed to settle this phatasmagorical donnybrook.

No sooner does Khonshu appear, however, than Seth's minions do as well. At this point the general melee environment increases exponentially. Seth's forces are trying to eliminate Khonshu through use of the "etheromic phase out cannon"...and everyone else is pretty much engaging in the super-equivalent of a barroom brawl.

Of course, Seth's forces are eventually defeated and retreat back through a portal to Asgard.  The spirit of Carter defeats the spirit of Lincoln Slade, and then calls for Hamilton to embrace his destiny as this century's Phantom Rider.

With the immediate threat of Seth and the etheromic phase out cannon gone, Khonshu announces he's going to answer the call to resist Seth in the mystic realm, giving Specter back full control of his own body.

Shaken by these revelations, Specter announces he's leaving the Avengers, as being a member had been Khonshu's desire...not his own.  Mockingbird, having been brought face-to-face with the consequences of her previously relaxed attitude toward killing, is filled with similar doubts and refuses Tigra's call for them to rejoin the West Coast Avengers.

Other sources on The West Coast Avengers #41

• http://berkeleyplaceblog.com/2019/08/20/west-coast-avengers-41/ 

Lone Rider (part 2)

Today we finish out the Lone Rider's opening adventure, "Double Trouble" from Lone Rider #1 (APR 1951)

When last we left the Rider, he'd just come to the rescue of the little brave Bright Feather, who previously saved the Rider and provided cover fire with LR's own handguns!  (Don't ask...it's too convoluted to explain...just see the previous post here.) After bandaging up Bright Feather's wrist (we're never given clear specifics, but it appears the little guy only suffered a flesh wound from a grazing bullet), the implied sidekick informs Lone Rider that he caught a glimpse of the "evil white man" who had fired on them both.  Based on Bright Feather's description, the Rider concludes they're looking for someone with a large facial scar.

So...I don't know that I'd describe the typical
facial scar as looking like "war paint."

At some point (and for some utterly inexplicable reason) the off-panel assailant(s) quit firing at our heroic duo, and they set off to retrieve Lightnin' (the Rider's trusty steed).  Unfortunately, Lightnin' has disappeared!  Lest this seem problematic, the story provides a totally plausible in-narrative explanation:  the horse might've been blindfolded.

So, while the Rider was bandaging Bright Feather's
wrist, some ne'er-do-well scuttled down and
blindfolded this wild and mighty stallion and
led him away before the Rider could return? 
Suuuure he did.

The Lone Rider acknowledges there's no point in trying to follow Lightnin's tracks on foot.  Instead he and Bright Feather head back to the Indian camp for a spare horse.  Once there, Bright Feather pleads to accompany the Rider, but is rebuffed with the eminently rational explanation that there will likely be trouble and that where the Rider is headed is, "no place for a boy."  Our hero then heads off in search of his pilfered horse...and epistemic shenanigans again ensue.

Seriously?  This chief is sooooo lucky there
was no Child Welfare office back then.

In the course of his pursuit, the Rider comes across a man who's steer has fallen down a ditch.  Being the right-neighborly masked gunman that he is, the Rider helps retrieve the animal, but once having done that is shocked to find himself staring at the business end of a revolver!

That evening, the Rider is settling down by his prairie campfire and musing on the events of the day when he hears a twig snap and quick draws his pistol.   Yes, you read that right.  The same man who didn't notice the absence of his guns and belt at the beginning of the story has a hair-trigger reaction to a twig snap.  But it actually gets even better.

Notice who the Rider is addressing?

The Rider, who is using a borrowed horse to track down his stolen steed addresses that borrowed horse as "Lightnin'"!  (Maybe you can explain this away as force of habit...but to me it just looks like absence of editing.)

It turns out that the snapping twig is due to Bright Feather.  The Rider gently scolds the boy by warning, "You almost stopped a bullet!"  Bright Feather explains that he was following the Rider to ensure the latter safely arrived in town, when he observed a "great danger."

Thus the title of the story is finally
explained.

The Rider decides to head back to town to get to the bottom of things, and tells Bright Feather to return to his tribe.  Unfortunately, as soon as our hero meets Sheriff Steve, he's accused of being a thief and killer.

As the Rider is locked up in the county jail, we learn that he and Sheriff Steve have somewhat of a history...not that that's really helping the Rider out now.

Locking up a "long-time friend" for murder, but
you're mostly thinking about how you won't have
to pay out for his execution?
You cold-hearted Sheriff Steve.

Moments later, a young man barges into the Sheriff's office and announced that the Lone Rider has just raided the mail coach.  Slowly, Sheriff Steve puts two and two together...but not before our hero betrays his Old West moxie by trolling the lawman.

The Rider is released, and the trio charge out to intercept the Identity-Theft Bandit. Once they find their numerically-superior foes, however, our heroes promptly give up the element of surprise by loudly announcing their presence.  And no...it's not the young, rattled stage hand who puts their lives in danger by loudly narrating their actions.  It's the FREAKING SHERIFF!!!

Sheriff Steve doesn't know how to keep a low
profile.  Lone Rider has trouble keeping up with
his guns and his horse.  I just can't imagine why
there's so much crime in them there parts.😏

So anyway, our noble paladins charge right down and promptly get themselves surrounded and nearly out of ammunition.  The unlikely deliverance comes for our hapless heroes in the form of Bright Feather's tribe which arrives en masse to punish these men.  As it turns out, the desperados being led by Not-Lone-Rider are the same ones who were trading with tribe at the beginning of the story. 

Apparently, "injuns" have lots of gold...but don't
inspect any of their goods before handing over $$.
Also, I guess Bright Feather's tribe is into
referring to themselves in the generic third person.

While the braves are busy meting out high plains justice on the underlings, Lone Rider has one thief in particular that he "wants a piece of."  

Naturally this leads to your classic "oh-no-we-can't-tell-which-one-is-the-real-Lone-Rider!" dilemma.  When not even Bright Feather can distinguish the hero from the huckster, shrewd ole Sheriff Steve gets hisself an idey.

"Sensing that the Lone Rider is in some sort of strange trouble," our hero's faithful steed turns on (and thereby exposes) the imposter.

Horsey-sense, tingling!

It's nice and touching (bond between a man and his horse and all) but I have some questions.  If Lightnin' can sense when the Rider's in danger, why didn't he do so earlier--when his owner was
being ambushed on the plain? And why did Lightnin' allow himself to be led off by the Faux Rider in the first place?!

Anyway, Sheriff Steve announces that he's got a rope that'll just fit this desperado's neck, when the (STILL UNNAMED) Chief of the (STILL UNSPECIFIED!) tribe asks that he Indians be allowed to punish this criminal instead.  

I guess he's the chief on account of he's the only
person in the valley who can say "indians" instead
of "injuns."

The hombres beg, plead, and demand their "right" to go to a white man's jail.  After being reassured by the Lone Rider that the white man's laws and punishment will be "as effective and just as your own," the Chief agrees to let Sheriff Steve take the criminals back to town and stretch their necks a bit.

I'm thinking, "Our-laws-are-as-just-as-yours" probably
wouldn't work as reassurance for someone whose land
had been stolen with the approval of those same laws.

And we close the narrative loop with this moment of high plains levity.

Lone Rider (part 1)

The Lone Rider is was an example of what you might call a "transitional character."  In first half of the twentieth century, western adventure tales were a major genre of interest. This manifested in movie and radio serials, television shows, novels...and comic books.  At the same time so-called "mystery men" (e.g., The Shadow, the Spirit, etc.) and superheroes (e.g., Superman, Captain America, etc.) were pretty big deals.  It was only natural that there would be some hybridized characters that straddled these realms.

Probably the most-famous (and long-lasting) of the Cowboy-Mystery-Man hybrids was the Lone Ranger (first appearing in a radio serial in 1933). As with almost every other trope in children's entertainment at that time, the success of the Lone Ranger bred a bevy of imitators.  One such is the focus of today's post:  Ajax-Farrell's Lone Rider.

Lone Rider # 1 (April 1951)

Double Trouble

The inaugural appearance of the Lone Rider begins as many such stories did, by jumping straight into a world in which the Rider is already accepted as a force for justice in late 19th century American West.

The story begins with the Rider overseeing the transfer of goods from some white traders to an unspecified Indian tribe.

How many North American tribes are you
aware of that had trade-able reserves of
gold on hand?

The transaction completed, the Rider parts ways with the tribe.  As he rides off, however, we discover that our hero is entering the range defenseless, as Bright Feather--the son of the chief--has at some prior point pilfered both of the hero's guns in order to polish them up

So right off the bat, I've got
some serious reservations about
Lone Rider's alertness and
competence as hero.

Naturally, Bright Feather comes running out of the teepee just as our titular hero is trotting off into the horizon.  Somehow, despite the fact that Lone Rider didn't hear Bright Feather calling to him as when he was still in the camp...he did hear the little brave shouting his name across the wide open spaces of the prairie.

I mean, it's reasonable
the Rider couldn't hear...
he's a little far off--

Ahhhh...yeah.  So, No way he
didn't hear Bright Feather back
at the camp.

The Rider's musings about what in the world the little boy he apparently entrusted with his firearms could possibly want, is interrupted by a grazing bullet. Deftly taking cover, the Rider informs his trusty steed Lightnin' that they're being fired upon!

Golly, Rider!  You mean, they
don't just hate these cans?!

Despite his apparent inability to keep track of his sidearms, when the moment demands it the Rider rises to the occasion.  Hopping out from behind the safety of a rock, our hero dodges the whizzing bullets to approach Bright Feather's position.

Once there, we realize that the little brave (who has taken some shots with the Rider's pistols in attempt to give him some cover) has suffered a wrist wound.

Don't be too hard on
yourself, Bright Feather...
there's plenty of foolishness
to go around.

 
Next week, we'll conclude this exciting tale.  Will the Rider stay alive long enough to find out who's shooting at him?  Will he remember to hold onto his pistols?  Will they be loaded?  Tune in next week to find out!