First Appearance: Outlaw Kid #1 (September 1954).
Appearances: Outlaw Kid #1-19, Wild Western #43,
Rawhide
Kid #46, 148, 150,
Western Gunfighters #8-9,
Wyatt Earp
#24, Outlaw Kid v2 #1-30,
Blaze of Glory #1-4.
Years Active: 1860s-1885.
In his
civilian identity, the Kid is blond Lance Temple, a peaceable frontier
lawyer and Civil War veteran. He's a mild-mannered guy working on his dad's
ranch, but when danger threatens he puts on his black outfit with white
shoulders and a red kerchief, saddles up his horse Thunder, and rides out
to fight crime as the Outlaw Kid.
The Outlaw Kid's 1970s origin, as recounted in Outlaw Kid v2 n10, had Lance and his father "Hoot" Temple riding into "the Territory" and being ambushed by a group of outlaws. During the fight a keg of dynamite was set off, the explosion blinding "Hoot." Lance vowed to protect his father and avenge the wrong done to them, and put on the costume of the Outlaw Kid. "Hoot," however, told Lance not to get involved:
Hear me, son--I've been doin' a large bit of thinking here--it was VIOLENCE that blinded me! I don't want WORSE happenin' to YOU, son! PROMISE me you'll never get involved in VIOLENCE! PROMISE ME, BOY!Blaze of Glory reveals that by 1885 the stress of playing two roles had gotten to Temple, who had a kind of mental breakdown and developed a split personality. When he's Lance Temple, he is unaware of his alternate identity and in fact hunts the Outlaw Kid. In the words of the Two-Gun Kid,
He became th' Outlaw Kid t'keep his pa from knowin' he took up th'gun. His pa found out. And th' shock killed him. Temple split that side o'himself off and blames it for his pa's death.When danger threatens, however, the Outlaw Kid personality emerges. Obviously at some point the Two-Gun Kid and Kid Colt (and perhaps others) became aware of the Outlaw Kid's civilian personality. In Blaze of Glory Temple, wanting to find the Kid, rides to help Two-Gun; Temple helps Reno Jones but dies in the final battle to save the town of Wonderment.
Note: Despite the similarity in (civilian) names and backgrounds, the Outlaw Kid and the Texas Kid (II) are not the same character. As far as I can tell the repetition was just a brain glitch on the part of the creators of both characters.
