The ranger glared in rage at Texas Red, ""I'm going to kill you, you sob."" Big Iron is based on Three Marty Robbins ballads, ""El Paso,"" ""Felina,"" and ""Big Iron"". The Big Iron story, expanded to book length, combines three famed ballads into a two-generation story based on the talents, skills, and genius contained within these songs. This is a story that never truly ends; it is simply retold by different people, in different places, at different times. But in one form or another, whether with spears, guns, or lasers, there is always a final showdown. In Big Iron, there are two, a final showdown for each generation.