DALLAS KID

Real Name: Sam Markam

Identity/Class: Human (Old West)

Occupation: Sheriff; former gunslinger

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: The townsfolk of Sagebrush

Enemies: Spade Yeager

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "The fastest draw in Texas," "Old Whitey"; "Granpa" (as called by Yeager)

Base of Operations: Sagebrush, Texas

First Appearance: Six-Gun Western#1/1 (January, 1957)

Powers/Abilities: Highly adept in the use of handguns, the Dallas Kid's skills did not diminish with age.

History: (Six-Gun Western#1/1 (fb)) - The past of the Dallas Kid is largely unknown, but his first recorded adventure involved a confrontation with three owlhoots who challenged him to a showdown. The Kid not only outdrew the trio, but mercifully only winged them. It wasn't long before a special state-appointed commission bestowed the title of marshal upon the Kid, making him a special Texas marshal.

  The Dallas Kid soon gained a sterling reputation in the territory for his speed, skill, and courage in his battles against law-breakers. Not a week passed without the Kid risking his life to make the West a better place to live. Yet the Kid never used his prowess to bully or cow his opponents, and always insisted that they received medical attention before he did.

  As the years went by, one of the Kid's favorite pastimes was to teach youngsters the art of self-defense -- with fists, guns, and wits. But the Kid also tried to instill in them a sense of honor and justice ("Never use yore gun 'ceptin' as a last resort!"). Unfortunately, one of the boys didn't take the Kid's advice to heart, and the Dallas Kid would learn of the ramifications of this years later.

(Six-Gun Western#1/1 - BTS) - The Dallas Kid eventually dropped from sight, and many presumed the legendary gunman to be dead -- but by the age of 61, he was working as the sheriff in the quiet little border-town of Sagebrush, where he was known as "Old Whitey". He rarely carried his guns in the peaceful town.

(Six-Gun Western #1/1) - But one day, trouble came riding into Sagebrush in the form of a grim-lipped, gun-totin' stranger whose heart was filled with hate. The rannie introduced himself to the residents as Spade Yeager. He demonstrated his lightning-quick draw and bullied the townsfolk, demanding to know where the sheriff's office was -- figuring Old Whitey would be no match for him, the citizens feared they would soon be losing their only lawman.

  Yeager went into Whitey's office and showed nothing but contempt for the old man, who didn't even wear his guns. Yeager told the sheriff he was on the run from the Texas Rangers and that he was going to stay for a while. Advising Whitey to take a vacation, Yeager said he'd be taking over the town, and warned him that he'd been taught to shoot by the Dallas Kid himself.

  A little later, Whitey heard that Yeager was shooting up the town's saloon. Trying to resolve the situation peacefully, Whitey went over to talk him out of it, but that only brought another threat from Yeager ("I don't mind shootin' hombres with grey hair... I ain't got no prejudices! Haw! Haw!").

  Seeing he had no alternative but to face Yeager on his own terms, Whitey went back to his office to reluctantly retrieve his six-shooters, then walked back to the saloon. The two gunmen faced each other for a final showdown. Surprisingly, the aged sheriff was able to outdraw the younger man, and shot him down.

  As he turned to walk back to his office, Whitey removed his gun belt and hoped that he would now be able to hang up his guns for good. The townsfolk could only gasp in shock when they saw the words "Dallas Kid" engraved on the handles of Whitey's guns, and they finally realized who their sheriff was.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely.

Considering his propensities for using aliases and teaching youngsters his skills, maybe "Old Whitey" eventually retired under the name "Ben Dancer".

Profile by John Kaminski

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Dallas Kid ("Old Whitey") has no known connection to:

• Commander Frank Dallas, Silvereye commander @ Blade: Vampire-Hunter II#1
• Dallas Cowboys, based on the real team, Spider-Man characters @ Spider-Man and the Dallas Cowboys: Danger in Dallas
• Dallas Riordan, aka. Citizen V/Atlas/Vantage @ Thunderbolts I#1
• "Whitey", aka. Aelfyre Whitemane, Kymellian who transferred powers into Power Pack @ Power Pack I#1
• any other characters with similar names

Spade Yeager has no known connections to:

• Callie Yeager, scientist @ Fantastic Four III#15
• any other characters with similar names

Spade Yeager

He was a quick-draw with his shooting irons and skilled in the use of a lasso. As a youngster, he was one of the many boys taught to shoot by the Dallas Kid. But Yeager never learned the Kid's lessons about honor, and went bad.

As an adult, he was a fugitive on the run from the Texas Rangers. He stopped in the town of Sagebrush and planned to take it over, figuring no one would stand up to him. He never knew that the town's elderly sheriff had once been his mentor.

--Six-Gun Western#1/1

images:
Six-Gun Western#1, Cover (main)