Weird Western Tales Jonah Hex

In 1970s comic books, Westerns were as dead as a louse in a Russian's beard, with only a few reprint titles ticking over in a ghostly half-life. DC's Jonah Hex, however, seriously bucked the trend, lasting 13 years from his 1972 debut (and even then transmogrifying into a horrendously misconceived SF character, before various more on-message revivals in subsequent years).Hex first appeared in the tenth issue of the anthology series All-Star Western in 1972, and appeared in every subsequent issue (with the exception of #15) through to #38, after which he graduated to his own magazine in 1977. But All-Star Western, which changed its title to Weird Western Tales from #12, was pretty much his from the outset. Issues 10-14, and 16-17, were shared with other characters, but he claimed five of the seven covers, and from 18 onwards, he was the only character in the book, with his name was far more prominent on the cover than the magazine's official title.This book contains all of Hex's adventures from All-Star/Weird Western and makes a strong case for this being DC's most consistently strong series of the era. Other titles may have reached greater heights, but they tended to crash and burn very quickly. Hex was never as good as, say, the Wein/Wrightson Swamp Thing, or O'Neill and Kaluta's Shadow, but they didn't last long. Hex kept on plugging away, issue after issue, reliably delivering engaging, well-crafted stories with gritty, atmospheric art. There are no absolutely classic stories in this book, but there are lots of very good ones, and the overall level of sustained quality is outstanding.Hex probably lasted as long as he did because, as a comic book Western hero, he was unique. Apart from gimmicky semi-super-heroes like the original Ghost Rider and El Diablo, his predecessors had all been clean-cut good guys, straight out of Saturday morning serials, who, when they shot, made sure they just blasted the guns out of their enemies' hands. Okay, some of them were outlaws, but they'd been framed and were fighting to clear their names.Hex, by contrast, took advantage of the popularity of the cynical, brutal Italian westerns of the 1960s and the relaxation of the Comics Code censorship system in 1971. Far from clean cut, he was a hideously scarred bounty hunter, short-tempered, ornery and motivated entirely by money. He didn't shoot anyone's gun out of their hand. He shot to kill, frequently and without hesitation. The violence in Jonah Hex was unprecedented in Western comic book history up till that point. He was, just about, a hero - he had a firm, if somewhat monochromatic moral code, and his cynicism was essentially due to bitter experience of the greater cynicism of those he met - but he was very much an anti-hero.Hex was created by writer John Albano and the great, under-appreciated artist Tony De Zuniga (who was responsible for the character's unique facial disfigurement). However, he was perfected by writer Michael Fleisher, who took over from issue 22 and made the character his own, writing every subsequent adventure through to 1985 (and even then taking on the misguided SF series). Fleisher's career in comics other than Hex was (with the exception of a gloriously horrific but short-lived and repetitive run on The Spectre) undistinguished, but his work here was an absolute triumph. He carried on with everything that Albano had been doing, but added depth to the characterisation, bringing in back-story and continuity. He also developed Hex's wry sense of humour, which adds welcome nuance to the series. Character and writer seem inseparable.Fleisher's earliest Hex stories are possibly his, and the character's, peak period, and they're all here. They're pacy, cleverly plotted and, for Westerns, surprisingly varied. One of them even uses the campaign for women's suffrage as its springboard. The art in the book is mainly by De Zuniga and two other Filipino artists, Nory Panaligan and George Moliterni. The Filipino artists of the 1970s were often criticised for being good illustrators but poor story-tellers. That's not the case here. The storytelling is excellent, as is the atmospheric, illustrative quality of the art. Their grainy, highly-rendered styles are perfectly matched to the material. In other words, even the most passing glance at a page lets you know: this is a Western. This contrasts emphatically with, say, Marvel's Westerns, which were drawn in exactly the same house-style as their superhero titles, and lacked atmosphere. And while we're on that topic, the quality throughout - both art and story - consistently exceeds the majority of super-hero titles, Marvel or DC, of similar vintage.I'm really pleased DC finally got round to publishing this overlooked but high quality material in a handsome omnibus format. You wouldn't want to sit and read it all the way through in one or two mammoth sessions - it's a bit too repetitive for that - but working through it in digestible chunks of 2-3 stories at a time is pleasurable and very satisfying. Recommended.

Classic Jonah Hex stories from the 1970s, we see his first appearance in All-Star Western #10, with a wonderful art by Tony DeZuniga, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopes, George Moliterni, Noly Panaligan, Rich Buckler and others, a must read for those who like westerns

Great book well worth cost

“Weird Western Tales: Jonah Hex” collects Jonah Hex’s adventures from All-Star Western (#10-11) and the subsequent Weird Western Tales (#12-14, #16-38), after which he moved to his own title. (#15 had an El Diablo story for some reason, drawn by Neal Adams). These ran from March 1972 to February 1977.I came in towards the end of this series, after rediscovered comic books in 1976, having been banned by my mother from reading them in the late 1960s, as she wanted me reading “proper books” – which sounds extremely judgemental when delivered with a Welsh accent, by the way. (Curse you, Doctor Wertham!!!)This was a period when American comic-books were still appearing in newsagents, and I had just started a new job a couple of years after leaving school, and in a newsagents nearby, I saw a copy of (the recently revived) All-Star Comics featuring the Justice Society – one of my all-time favourites following their appearances in The Flash and then the Justice League in the 1960s. I then looked for Marvel, and my first issue was X-Men #96, and the rest, as they say, was history.However, the Jonah Hex stories were a cut above much of the run-of-the-mill stuff of the time, and despite it being a “western”, this and the replacement series in Weird Western – “Scalphunter” became two of the most consistently entertaining series of the period.This volume has two main writers, the “creator”, John Albano (ten issues) and then the subsequent writer, Michael Fleisher, who brought ‘continuity’ – continuing sub-plots – and who gave Jonah his back-story and continuing supporting characters (though not in this volume). The artists were also very good, and usually a cut above many “super-hero” artists, the cheaper ones anyway, who would skimp on background detail, whereas in a Western story, background detail is vital for atmosphere.From the beginning, each of the stories here contain enough ‘plot’ to make a film from, though the earlier ones rely on Jonah’s dialogue to tell you what his character is through exposition rather than behaviour – but by the time Mr Fleisher arrives, this has faded out and the style of story-telling has become more ‘modern’.This is one of the classic comic-books of the day, though the best is yet to come, and I still miss it!