"Madame .44 was an alias used by Jeanne Walker and was a comic book character that first appeared in DC Comics All-Star Western #117
In the Wild West - "Madame .44" -ie Jeanne Walker would dress up in disguise and become a
sleuth to fight crime and evil.
As "Madame .44", Jeanne Walker would discover evil men's
secrets and then pretend to be an outlaw to establish contacts with various
criminal gangs. She would infiltrate such groups and steal the bounty they had
acquired from various robberies. Donning a mask and a pair of six-shooters, she
would steal from the thieves, and give the goods back to the families.
When I said keep your hands off the gun, Thunder - - I meant
it!
Jeanne Walker was the daughter of a man who had helped find one
of the largest gold deposits in the West. Jeanne's father was swindled
out of his part of the mine and was unable to get his claim recognized in
court. He died bitter and broken leaving Jeanne on her own. Jeanne
decided she would get even with evil men who were unable to be punished by
ordinary laws.
She donned an all white get up and dyed her hair
red. She became a photographer in the wild west and soon was very
connected with those who were rich... and corrupt. She used her status as a
successful photographer to learn about the various underhanded affairs of the
wealthy evil men. She created the
alias of Madame .44.
As Madame .44, Jeanne would discover the evil men's secrets and
then pretended to be an outlaw in order to establish contacts with various criminal
gangs. She would infiltrate such groups and steal the bounty they had acquired
from various robberies. Donning a mask and a pair of six-shooters, she would
steal from the thieves, and give the goods back to the families.
She eventually brought her style of justice to the streets of
Tombstone, Arizona. It was in Tombstone that she crossed paths with the infamous Wyatt
Earp and even aided him in his struggle against the villainous
Clanton Gang. While Wyatt and his family squared off against the notorious
Clantons at the OK Corral, she provided the Earp's with an escape route by shooting
out all of the gas lamps along the back corridor leading away from the corral.
Soon after the gunfight at the OK Corral, she relocated to the
town of Mesa
City,
where she met a gunfighter named, Johnny Thunder.
Johnny Thunder was an alias used by John Tane, a schoolteacher.
John Tane was the son of a sheriff and a teacher. While John's father
believed in dealing out justice with guns, John's mother believed that education
would solve all the world's ills. John swore to his mother that he would
never wear a gun and followed her footsteps becoming a teacher.
As time
marched on, John's father found policing the little town of
Mesa City as Sheriff became harder and harder to do on his own. That was when John
decided he had to help his father, but didn't know how, since he did not want to break
his word to his mother. So, he decided to dress up in disguise and use the alias of Johnny Thunder.
He would don a cowboy outfit, change his hair, dumb down his speech, and put on
his six-shooters. As Johnny Thunder, he and his horse named Black Lightning
became a big help to the elder Sheriff Tane and the folks of Mesa City.
It wasn't long after Jeanne Walker and John Tane met that both John and Jeanne began suspecting each
other's legitimate identification. After they worked together to defeat a common foe
named Silk Black, John and Jeanne finally revealed their true identities to each other. They eventually got married and lived happily ever
after with their son and daughter, Charles and Becky.
In those wild west days, John Tane was an extraordinarily well read
and educated gent much more than the average Western man. While Jeanne Walker was known
for her trick shots with her guns and as being the Robin Hood of the West.
