Six-Gun Heroes #12

Smiley Burnette, ever the eager reporter, follows a notorious outlaw into Death Valley, where mirages and exhaustion play tricks on his mind. After narrowly avoiding a trap and misreading a surreal landscape, he stumbles into the outlaw’s hide-out—only to be knocked unconscious by a low-hanging wire. The story ends with Smiley dazed and disoriented, unaware of what lies ahead.

In the dusty frontier town of Galoose County, roving marshal Lash Larue races to protect a reluctant witness, Jack Zack, after a murder at Ace Diggens’ gambling casino. With the killer’s henchmen hunting Zack and the town too afraid to help, Lash must outwit Diggens and his men to keep the witness alive and ensure justice is served.

Rocky Lane arrives in River County under the guise of attending his old friend’s daughter’s wedding, only to find the festivities shadowed by a series of threatening notes and a gunshot wound to the best man. As he investigates, he uncovers a web of secrets tied to the groom, Ted Bruce, whose past as a fugitive sheriff may be the real reason someone wants the wedding to end in tragedy.

Toddler Tod, a young boy on vacation with his mother, becomes fascinated by a cowboy's horse, convinced the man must have built it since he saw him "tacking the horse's feet on." His mother tries to explain that horses aren't made that way, but Tod remains utterly convinced—until the moment he runs off to show her his theory, leaving her to follow in amused disbelief.