Trigger twins

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Trigger Twins (in German, "The Trigger Twins" and "[pistol] deduction Twins") was the title of a series of US Western Comics , the publisher of DC Comics published. The series was created by the author Robert Kanigher and the painter and draftsman Carmine Infantino .

The name of the title characters is a descriptive name that alludes to the English word trigger for the cock of a revolver (in English trigger-happy means something like “ happy to shoot, have your hand on the trigger quickly”) and thus to the - obligatory for western heroes - the brothers' perfect shooting skills stand out. The name Wayne is also almost certainly an allusion to the actor John Wayne , who is considered a Western actor par excellence.

Publication history

The series' title characters were twin brothers , Walt and Wayne Trigger, whose first adventure was published in May 1951 in issue # 58 of the "All-Star Western" series, a series that featured various ongoing western features. The identical twins' adventures proved hugely popular and continued through 1961 through All Star Westerns number 116 . After that, the series with number # 119 was discontinued due to the dwindling popularity of the western genre in the early 1960s, when science fiction and fantasy fabrics in particular became fashionable (circulation shrinkage within ten years of over 1.4 Million issues per issue to less than 300,000). 1951 to 1952 the Trigger Twins and the Indian hero Strong-Bow, protagonist of another feature of the series, alternated as feature characters on the covers of the "All Star Westerns" . From 1952 to 1956 the Twins adorned almost all covers of the series, until they in turn were increasingly supplanted from 1956 by the new, more popular feature "Johnny Thunder", to which more and more covers were dedicated over time. The last cover dedicated to the Trigger Twins was released in 1958.

In 1973, when westerns began to gain popularity again, the characters received their own western series, which was now more exclusively dedicated to their adventures. Characteristic for the series was Kanigher's unusual approach to the western theme, as well as Infantino's straightforward, naturalistic drawing art. After Kanigher's departure as writer of The Twins' Adventures, writers like Dave Wood and Gardner Fox took on the writing duties for the series. Occasionally, artists such as Gil Kane or Mike Sekowsky Infantino took over as assistant draftsman .

action

The plot of the series revolved around classic western themes such as bounty hunts, running cattle trucks, railroad robberies , saloon brawls and, above all, duels . While Walt is a sheriff in the sleepy town of Rocky City in the frontier area of ​​the United States, his brother is a bon vivant and owner of a drugstore (general store). Wayne was always portrayed as the significantly more mature and personally developed brother of the brothers, who would actually have been much better suited to the sheriff's job.

A leitmotif of the "Trigger Twins" was that Wayne occasionally pretended to be his brother in order to deceive the opponents of the Twins, who always assumed it was his brother. In order to help his brother in sticky situations, Wayne sneaked into a secret tunnel that connected his shop and the sheriff's office and took on the role of his brother. To make the deception perfect, he not only dressed like his brother on these missions, but also rode a horse that was indistinguishably similar to his horse. The stories always ended with Wayne, impersonating Walt, clearing up the dangerous situations that had arisen in the course of the plot with his keen mind and his ingenious shooting skills and thus bringing order to Rocky City. At the end of the story, the residents of Rocky City always considered Walt a reckless hero, while the allegedly indolent Wayne was reprimanded for his "lack of initiative".

The parallels to the comic series Superman were not inconspicuous : As in the Superman series the meek reporter Clark Kent, whom everyone thought was a little effeminate, secretly leaves the editorial offices of the newspaper "Daily Planet" to transform himself into Superman, To spend great heroic deeds and then transform himself back into his secret identity as Clark Kent, Wayne leaves his comfortable life as a shopkeeper in danger, becomes his supposedly daring brother Walt saves the situation and then returns to his own identity. As Superman gains fame for heroic deeds that Clark Kent does, Walt reaps the credit for the deeds of his brother that everyone thinks he is. Wayne's love triangle with his shop assistant Linda is similar to that of Superman : How in the Superman series the reporter Lois Lane loves Superman and only has strict admonitions for his alter ego Clark Kent without realizing that both are one and the same, Linda loves the daring Walt and criticizes the supposedly lethargic Wayne for his lazy way of life without realizing that both are one and the same.

Modern version

A modern version of the Trigger Twins was developed in 1993 by the author Chuck Dixon and the illustrator Graham Nolan in issue # 667 of the Batman series " Detective Comics ". These new Trigger Twins are the identical twins Tom and Tad Trigger , who outwardly are modeled on their Western counterparts one to one and even claim to be descended from them.

The murderous triggers are hillbillies from the Midwest of the United States. Although they live in the 20th century, they wear typical western clothing (cowboy hats, neckerchiefs, shepherd's trousers with chaps trimmings, spurred boots and vests) and imitate the speech and behavior of cowboys in a stereotypical way. In doing so, they are more based on the clichés portrayed in Hollywood films and novels than on historical reality. They round off the Western image by using historical weapons from the time of the Wild West such as Colts and Winchester rifles in their actions.

In the Batman series, the triggers were introduced during the so-called " Knightfall " storyline: They come during the events of Batman's defeat in the fight with the terrorist and the "entry into service" of a replacement Batman - the assassin Jean Paul Valley (Azrael) in Batman's hometown to make big money. In their debut story, the triggers were hunted down by Batman's substitute after several robberies on banks, "mail trains" (ie, money transports by the subway company ) and protection rackets on behalf of gangster "Dirty" Dan Doyle ( Detective Comics # 669). A woman named Tonya Trigger , who posed as Tom and Tad's sister, turned out to be con artist Paige Willingham ( Robin Annual # 6).

In later Batman stories, the Trigger Twins mainly act as accomplices of other criminals, such as the con artist Arthur Brown , whom they support in orchestrating a mass escape from Blackgate prison - in which they were held together ( Batman: Blackgate # 1) and the sociopath Lyle Bolton . They helped the latter to rule the prison, which was abandoned by the regular guards, during the so-called “ no man's land ” storyline: Bolton, a mentally ill person who suffers from the paranoid obsession of having to lock up other people and consequently had himself declared “king” of the prison Together with the Triggers and the Russian Anatoly Knyazev, he suppressed the other inmates whom he held as his "private prisoners" in the cellars of the institution. The violent quartet's reign of terror was eventually ended by crime fighter Nightwing, Batman's adopted son ( Nightwing # 34-36). The Triggers were later, apparently, shot in a shootout with the vigilante Wild Dog ( Infinite Crisis # 7).

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