Season 11, Episode 1 - Law-Shooters of Cowtown

Howdy, friends! We're lighting out down The Western Road this season, taking a look at Robert E. Howard's Western stories, along with tales from other influential western authors! We kick things off in wild fashion this week with "Law-Shooters of Cowtown" by Howard! You can find this story in  "The End of the Trail" collection from Bison Books.

We Know The Editor!

Interested in some actual Texas history as told by an actual Texian? Visit our friend Ben Friberg's podcast "The Texian"! Tell him The Cromcast sent you!

Luke cites Frank Gruber's list of seven basic plots for westerns (via Wikipedia):

1. Union Pacific story. The plot concerns construction of a railroad, a telegraph line, or some other type of modern technology or transportation. Wagon train stories fall into this category.
2. Ranch story. The plot concerns threats to the ranch from rustlers or large landowners attempting to force out the proper owners.
3. Empire story. The plot involves building a ranch empire or an oil empire from scratch, a classic rags-to-riches plot.
4. Revenge story. The plot often involves an elaborate chase and pursuit by a wronged individual, but it may also include elements of the classic mystery story.
5. Cavalry and Indian story. The plot revolves around "taming" the wilderness for white settlers.
6. Outlaw story. The outlaw gangs dominate the action.
7. Marshal story. The lawman and his challenges drive the plot.

Josh calls out the TV Tropes page for Westerns. Check it here. The relevant quote to us is as follows: 

Much has been made of the distinction between the "classic" Western and the "revisionist" Western, the former being shiny and heroic, the latter Darker and Edgier and often embodying a paradox: "Civilization can only be defended from barbarians by men with guns, but once you pick up a gun, you become a barbarian yourself." 

Seems to align with some themes we frequently discuss on the show, doesn't it?

One Things
Jon: The Political Process, a game in early development on Steam!
Josh: The Mandalorian, a very satisfying space western set in the Star Wars universe!
Luke: Mr. Robot, which is highly recommended television!

Next week - We try to catch the "Stage to Lordsburg", an influential western short story written by Ernest Haycox, which forms the basis for the 1939 John Ford western "Stagecoach", starring John Wayne. Read it online here!

Questions? Comments? Curses?

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Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. 

Outro: "Desert's On Fire" by Murder by Death. Music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!