Have Gun Will Travel
was a CBS western made successful in part because it slipped the conventions of
the superhero story into TV’s version of the Old West. The star, Richard Boone,
was a descendant of Daniel Boone. The hero was an erudite gunfighter based in
San Francisco who had a secret identity (Paladin was only his nom de guerre), a
symbol (a chess knight) and tricky devices (like a hidden Derringer). When he
rode forth to help those in need, he even wore a kind of costume (all black). Inevitably,
he was also a comic book hero (Dell’s
Paladin comic books were published from 1958-61, with art by Alberto Giolitti).
He was also something of a legacy hero taking the "costume" and symbol from a gunfighter named "Smoke"(also played by Richard Boone.
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