Kid Colt Outlaw #26 (1953)

Kid Colt is riding through a forest when he comes across a crying woman and goes to her aid. He learns that she is the local schoolmarm who is without a truant officer to keep her children in class. She explains that a local named Champ Gannon has convinced all the children that school is not important and has enthralled the children with his wild tales of achievements as an outlaw. Kid Colt decides to lend the school teacher a hand in convincing the children that an education is important. Riding into town, the Kid finds the children all gathered around Champ Gannon as he is spinning another one of his tall tales. Kid Colt then challenges him to a competition to see who is the better. In a drawing competition, Kid Colt shows the kids that he is a faster draw. The group then goes to the outskirts of town where they put on a shooting competition. The first challenge is trying to shoot a branch out from buzzards who have perched on nearby trees without hitting the birds. Kid Colt pulls off this test easily, but Gannon proves unable to hit the tree or the bird, emptying both of his six shooters. Kid Colt explains that he determined the shot by knowing the technical specifications of his guns and ammo and their range and limitations, something he learned in school. The next test they use rifles to blast dirt into the face of a gopher. Gannon goes first and once again fails, while Kid Colt succeeds once more using his education to determine the shot. Furious at being upstaged, Champ tries to gun down Kid Colt, but the Kid easily bowls him over. This humiliating defeat not only shows the children the importance of an education, it also teaches it to Gannon who decides to go to school along with the children to learn all he can.