(Famous Funnies 067, 1940)
The Panther is a no-nonsense Western gang boss who actually avoids a lot of the common missteps of the average super-villain by running an extremely tight ship in her munitions-smuggling gang. Is maintaining workplace discipline with a bullwhip the best idea? No, but it is better than workplace explosions.
The Panther's downfall starts when she puts a little two much trust in her lieutenants, Luis and Ramon, and they immediately go out and do some unsanctioned train robbing. Trouble is, the robbery was somehow pinned on Lone Rider, who ends up escaping the law and stumbling around in the desert until he passes out on the Panther's front door. It's hardly the most efficient way to infiltrate a gang, but it works.
The Lone Rider (going by the name Lightnin', which is his horse's name) proves his worthiness to join the gang by beating all of the Panther's specialists: he out-shoots Tex the gunhawk and out-fights Santos the strong man and then as a bonus because Santos is a poor loser the Panther gets to show off the fact that she can pick a knife out of the air with her whip.
Luis and Ramon eventually decide that they could do a better job at running the gang than the Panther (despite all evidence to the contrary) and rally the rest of the men to join them. The Panther proves them all wrong of course, when she deploys the knockout gas system that she had put in place outside of her fortified chambers for this very reason. The only unexpected variable turns out to be Lightnin', who reveals himself to be the Lone Rider and turns her over to the authorities.
Ultimately the Panther doesn't really get enough room to shine - she has sick whip skills, a pet panther, special lieutenants, a secret mountain base and good (criminal) business acumen - the conflict with Luis and Ramon is over expanding their purview to include kidnapping, and she is right to tell them no! They're running a clandestine smuggling operation, while kidnapping is by its very nature a very attention-getting crime! It's a hard life out there for a competent villain.
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