POW! annual 1971 - #10 - Kash Pearce

As i've mentioned here before, if there was one copy of a title i could keep that would sum up my childhood comic reading, it would be this annual.
I loved and cherished it, being totally enthralled by the thrills inside - a mix of high thrills, odd plots, odder heroes and even odder villains.
And slightly disturbing artwork which made it all the more intriguing. The 9 year-old me wasn't to know that was due to the European artists that were used - all i knew is what i was reading seemed vaguelly like the Marvel heroes i knew from the UK reprints, but they had a slightly bizarre quality to them.
As i say, i've always cherished the book, one of only two that i've kept from my childhood right up to now.
And you can see here, on pages two and three, there's a nifty rolecall of the characters, to which i'd added my ratings of them:

So thought it'd be an idea to look closer at each one and see why i rated them as i did.
First up is "The Time Rider", Kash Pearce, who comes bottom of the list and i'm guessing i valued so little that i couldn't even be bothered to put a 10 alongside him.
Having a re-read, i can see why: Mr Pearce is a "million dollar rancher - and genius! Among his many incredible inventions, the mechanical horse!"
So, a loaded genius who, rather than setting himself in a lab benefitting humanity, choses to be a rancher. On a robot horse. Hmmmm...
He bungles an attempt to catch some bank robbers, gets told off by the police for interfering, goes off in a sulk and ponders at home: "If i had been back in the old west i'd sure have shown the law how useful my horse could be"
The lightbulb pings on as: "Hey! Why NOT go back to the wild west? My time transporter's almost finished..."
So, a genius inventor, with a robot horse and a working time machine, choses to be a rancher. Double hmmm...
Off he goes then, all garbed up, back to 1877 to defeat the dastardly Buck Sawyer. Which he does in an incredibly predictable, dull way. The only things of note? See the bottom of this post.
The only thing that i can really recall before re-reading this today are the daft fruit machine handles that pass for controls of horsey:

"AIEEEE!" WATCH:
Oddly, yes there is one and, boy, is it odd. We get an "Aieee!" from one of a bunch of native americans who're chasing our hero. He exclaims it as, i kid you not, the horse farts smoke in their faces.
Yep, a smoke screen produced from a bum-hole. VERY surprised the kid version of me didn't note that - surely it would've been the height of comedy back then?