| Rita Peters | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Rita Peters |
|
First Appearance |
Crack Western #82 (Jan. 1953) |
|
Original Publisher |
Quality |
|
Created by |
Joe Millard and Charles Sultan |
Origin[]
Bush Peters, having been spurned by Two-Gun Lil when he advances for a kiss, manages to tears off a piece of her shirtsleeve when she pushes him into the street. Later, he and his henchmen discover a scene between Sandy Jones, who is wanted by the law, and Rita. The gang watches surreptitiously as Sandy swears he will go straight, marry Rita, and buy a ranch.
Bush's gang follows Sandy, and Bush kills him. He places the cloth from Two-Gun Lil in Bush's hand. The next morning, he shows Rita the scene, convincing her that Lil killed her paramour and she ought to get revenge.
Rita goes to town with a pistol and tries to shoot Lil after noting Lil is missing a piece of her shirtsleeve. She runs dry of ammo. Lil figures out it was Bush who placed the piece from the dress in Sandy's hand. A cowboy rushes up to tell Lil the bank is being robbed.
Two-Gun Lil goes to the scene, killing Bush's two cohorts. Bush hides behind a door and shoots at her. He misses, and doesn't get a second chance as Lil drops him with a bullet.
Rita apologizes profusely to Two-Gun Lil, saying she wouldn't want to kill the wrong person. Lil says Rita learned a valuable lesson.
Public Domain Appearances[]
- Crack Western #82
- Apache Trail #2
Notes[]
The story from Crack Western #82 was reprinted in Apache Trail #2 with the following notable differences:
- In one panel, Lil is incorrectly referred to as "Lil Adams."
- Rita is Lil's sister and George, their brother.
- Bush takes a handkerchief from Lil, not a piece of her dress.
- George has left Lil in charge of the town as 'boss lady' in his absence.
- Neither Lil nor Rita have guns, except on the last page when Lil tells Bush she is armed.
- Bush Peters asks Sandy Jones to surrender first, instead of killing him Bush forces Sandy to play dead when Rita comes riding up. Sandy plays dead as demanded by Bush. Bush convinces Rita it was Lil who did the killing of Sandy.
- Rita confronts Lil in town without a gun, Lil figuring out it was Bush who placed the kerchief.
- A cowboy tells Lil of the bank robbery, telling Bush's cohorts to stay where they are.
- Bush Peters attempts to shoot Lil but, her brother has returned and shoots Bush first off-panel.
- Lil says Sandy, who survives in this iteration, will pay for his crimes through the legal system.
- In the last panel, a previously-unidentified bystander is now George.
- George smiles at his sisters as they reconcile.
- George says, "One big happy family."