Most of the time Bat Lash was reminiscent of James Garner's Maverick, but this story had a different tone. It was more serious, at times dark. It was a true collaborative effort, so much so, that it's hard to tell where one creator's contribution stopped and another's began. The script was credited to Sergio Aragones and Denny O'Neil. I'm assuming that Aragones did the plot. I've seen some of his scripts where he draws thumbnails for the artist, although I don't know if that was the case here. The dialogue and narration reads like Denny O'Neil. His prose could be poetic at times. The art was by Mike Sekowsky and Nick Cardy. Very little of Sekowsky shows through. Perhaps he just did layouts or loose pencils. Maybe it's just that Nick Cardy's lush inks disguised the usual blockiness and hard edges of Sekowsky. I don't know who the letterer or colorist were, but both of them did exemplary work as well. In the end I'd say the sum was greater than its parts, and starting with these parts, that's really saying something.
The plot is an origin story of sorts. It tells about young Bat Lash's family losing their farm, but it avoids the cliches of traditional western range war tales. Instead the farmers are swindled out of their land. When tragedy befalls his family, Bat wants justice. He isn't a brutal killing machine, but the moment where he first fires a gun in anger changes him. Bat's adult characterization as previously established in the series- his toughness, his cultured manners and taste for the finer things in life, his inability to love - are all explained in this story without overt exposition. The conclusion of the story is both powerful and moving.
Very sensitive inking and Sekowsky's fast, organic style shows through.
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