Comic Title: Bat Lash #6
Publisher: DC (National Periodical Publications, Inc.)
Address: 909 Third Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: Aug/Sep 1969
On Sale Date: June 24, 1969 Copyright Date June 24, 1969
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1969


Newsstand Date June 24, 1969
Source: Comic Reader, #73

Frequency: Bi-monthly
Cover Price: $0.15
Page Count: 32
Editor: Joe Orlando

Title: (Revenge)
Pages: 24

Feature(s):
Bat Lash (of Earth-1)

Plotter: Sergio Aragones
Scripter: Dennis J. O'Neil
Penciller: Nicholas Peter Cardy
Inker: Mike Sekowsky

Reprinted In:
All-Star Western #9 (1971)
All-Star Western #10 (1972)
Millennium Edition:All-Star Western 10 (#17) (2000)
Showcase Presents:Bat Lash TPB (2009)

Feature Character(s)

• Bat Lash (last appearance in Bat Lash #5; next appearance in Bat Lash #7)

Villain(s)

• Rickett (a swindler; dies in this story; no further appearances)
• Melvin Midas and his gang (all die in flashback; no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• An unnamed sheriff (no further appearances)
• Lemuel and Martha Lash (Bat's parents; both die in flashback; no further appearances)
• Bitsy Gannon (Bat's former girlfriend; no further appearances)
• Melissa Lash (Bat's sister; no further appearances)
• Billy Lash (Bat's brother; first name given as Tom in this story; next appearance in Bat Lash #7)

Flashback Appearance(s)

• Bat Lash (origin revealed; earliest chronological appearance; next appearance in Showcase #76)

Comments:
The origin of Bat Lash is revealed in flashback.

Synopsis:
Tired from riding, Bat Lash pauses to watch a funeral outside a town in East Texas. He recognizes the preacher as Rickett, the man who destroyed his family. Bat confronts Rickett and kills him when the preacher pulls a gun. The local sheriff then arrests Bat and puts him in jail.

Bat then tells the sheriff his life story. He grew up with his family on a Louisiana farm. Rickett came to the farm one day and claimed there was oil on their land. He convinced Bat's parents to sell the farm in order to buy equipment to drill for oil. However, Rickett had planted the oil.

Bat went to the sheriff's deputy to report the swindle only to discover that he was working with Rickett. Bat was forced to kill the deputy in self defense, but he was branded a murderer. When he returned to the shack where his family was now living, he found his parents murdered and his brother missing. After taking his sister and his girlfriend Bitsy to the nearby convent, Bat set out to gain revenge on Rickett and the Midas Gang who had swindled them. Over the years, Bat had caught and killed the Midas Gang, earning him trouble along the way. Now with Rickett dead, his mission was complete.

Bat Lash escapes from jail and returns to the convent to retrieve Bitsy and his sister. They have heard of Bat's adventures and fear that he has changed. Both women decide to remain in the convent to take their final vows. Bat, still a fugitive, leaves them behind.