Marvel Premiere Featuring: The Coming of Caleb Hammer

Just a slight diversion before we jump back into the Jonah Hex books. Marvel Premiere was Marvel's answer to DC's Showcase, a series of one-shots to see what would work and what. In 1980 they produced this western, written by Peter B. Gillis, penciled by Gene Day, and inked by Tony DeZuniga. Here the, is the story of Caleb Hammer.


The Devil's Starry Anvil

Our story starts in 1890, in Manacle, Wyoming. A young buck walks up to a man in a bar and calls him out. The young man draws and the man, Caleb Hammer, rushes him and knocks him clean out, tossing him into the street. The sheriff comes by, wanting to know what is going on. Hammer explains that he is with the Pinkertons and that he is looking for two men, Crawford McKie and Jake Lovelace.

They took part in the campaign to capture Geronimo but after that they took up bank robbery, murder, and other things. The sheriff explains that they did come through, but Manacle wasn't worth their time and they moved on, up in the valley. The sheriff offers Hammer a drink, but he declines and moving on.

In the morning, Hammer is riding into the valley when the youngster that he trounced the night before comes riding up, saying Hammer won't get away with treating him that way.

FLASHBACK: 1885. A Union soldier storms into a woman's bedroom, calling her Molly. The woman isn't Molly and the soldier shoots her dead, claiming that she cheated on him. A crowd gathers and Hammer is among them. He realizes that his wife has been killed and the soldier, drunk out of his mind, starts shouting that he had the wrong hotel room. Hammer had been training for the ministry and his faith has abandoned him.

Present day: The young gun demands his chance to have revenge. Hammer dismounts, picking up a fist-sized stone. The young gun jumps off his horse and draws on Hammer, who responds with throwing the stone into the young man's shoulder, breaking it. The man goes down and Hammer walks over, picks up his pistols and snaps the cylinders off and rides off.

Night falls and Hammer comes upon a ranch, having followed the outlaws trail. The cabin shows signs of a struggle and when he checks the barn, he snags his boot on a tripwire and the barn explodes, he manages to grab a colt and rescue it from the flames.

FLASHBACK: 1886, the McCormick Harvesting Machine factory in Chicago, Illinois. There is a union strike and as scabs try to cross the picket line a fight breaks out and six men are killed in the riot. One of them is Isaak Hammer, Caleb's younger brother. Caleb was visiting his brother to get over his wife's death, but once again his faith crushed him.

Present day: Hammer notices that there is a cabin on the cliff overlooking the ranch he just found. He spots a reflection from inside the cabin and realizes that his prey is up there, watching the burning barn.

Inside the cabin, Crawford and Jake are sure that 'the Pinkerton' is dead, but just in case, they still have the ranch family as hostages. Nora, the wife, has had enough and demands to be let go because Jimmy has 'got himself a sickness'. The crooks ignore her.

Outside the cabin, Hammer gets closer and realizes the cabin sits on The Devil's Anvil, a solid piece of rock outcropping that offers no cover whatsoever. Hammer realizes that the only weapon that he has is..... fear. He puts his hands near his mouth and start howling like a wolf.

In the cabin, Crawford gets a little spooked but the rancher explains that there are no wolves. It must be the Indian wolf-spirit whose lands they have defiled. Just then they look out the window and spot Hammer outlined against the full moon, his arms raised and draped in some cloth. Just as quickly he vanishes.

FLASHBACK: 1888, Montana. Hammer bursts into a cabin to bring in an outlaw and ends up shooting the man in the shoulder but a huge snowstorm moves in and they are snowed in for five months. Sadly, the shot man dies and when Hammer leaves the cabin he is a man completely devoid of any faith at all.

Present day: The rancher explains that the Devil's Anvil was an Indian holy place and the two crooks actually helped capture Geronimo. The Wolf-Spirit wants to punish them for that. Hammer pulls his ghost stunt once more and the crooks are getting more and more edgy, starting to believe the rancher.

Just then Jimmy falls to the floor in convulsions and one of the crooks takes that as evidence of the wolf-spirit trying to get into the cabin. He lets loose with a barrage of bullets, killing teh boy just as Hammer kicks in the door. He punches the crooks senseless as one of them starts screaming that it was the wolf-spirit that was trying to get them.

It is then that Caleb Hammer realizes that it was the fear that HE instilled in the crooks that led them to kill Jimmy. Hammer picks up the boy's body and takes him outside...to look at the stars.

Impressions:
Thirty four years ago I loved the heck outta this book. Re-reading it, Marvel was doing their spin on Jonah Hex with some slight twists (unscarred, not a bounty hunter). Caleb Hammer was a man whose life was full of tragedy but he didn't turn to booze and he didn't shoot to kill. He just turned his back on God and busted guns with his bare hands. Of course, Marvel got DeZuniga to do the inks so that it would even LOOK like a Jonah Hex book.

A lot of this artwork was muddy and in some places they had white letters on a black background, darn near unreadable on newsprint

I can understand why this never took off, the Western was pretty much dead at this point except for Jonah and he only had five years left as a Western himself. It would be fun for Justin and Jimmy to 'borrow' this character from Marvel and clash with Hex once he gets back to his own time.

Jonah Hex #13 V2 "Retribution Part 1 of 3"

Jonah Hex #13 V2 Jan '07
"Retribution, Part 1 of 3"
Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, story - Jordi Bernet, art and cover

The Wyoming Badlands, 1868 - Two wagons sit under a full moon and four men huddle around a fire that is battling back the Wyoming darkness. Bix, Rufus, Pete, and Captain Fulsome are discussing their business, running stolen rifles down into Mexico.

Bix heads out into the black to relieve himself and during the continuing talk we learn that Fulsome served with Colonel Ackerman in the Confederacy. Rufus staggers back towards the fire and falls down, face first, a tomahawk embedded in his back, stuck clean through a wanted poster of the now dead Rufus (wanted for Murder, Train Robbery, and Rape(?!?)). Bix starts to panic and states "It's HIM".

Fulsome gives orders to kill the fire and cover the wagons. A rope leaps through the air and Pete finds himself yanked off his feet and drug into the dark. Bix makes it to the wagons and suddenly finds a knife in his chest, piercing the wanted poster with his likeness. Fulsome makes it to a wagon, yanks back the canvas and drags out one of two women and holds a pistol to her neck. (the woman says words to the effect "not again", so I am taking that as impending rape)

Fulsome shouts that he will kill the girl if he isn't allowed to leave. He should have killed 'him' at Fort Donelson and the camera slowly pulls back into the night.

Fort Donelson, Tennessee, 1862 - A Union wagon train is slogging through a downpour and a few Confederate soldiers rise out of the underbrush as the wagons roll by. They climb on to the back of the wagons in order to gain access to the Fort in the distance. Once inside, the Rebs attack and open the gates to the Fort, allowing the rest of their men access to the Fort. One Reb in particular seems awfully fond of using a tomahawk.

The Union forces finally get a Gatling gun set up and mow down the Confederates as they enter the Fort. Colonel Ackerman and Captain Fulsome stand over the bodies littering the ground. Ackerman looms above our downed Jonah Hex, noting that rumor has it he was raised by Apaches and that Jonah seems to have an affinity for being on the losing side. Ackerman orders all the bodies bayoneted except for Hex, of whom an example shall be made.

The Cumberland River, Sept 18th, 1862 - Day breaks and Jonah is tied to a large wooden X mounted on a raft. He has been stripped naked and covered with a Confederate flag. Ackerman and Fulsome are there and Ackerman gives Fulsome the order to proceed. Fulsome produces a large whip commences to whip Hex. Hex whispers that he will kill Fulsom but the promise rings false on the Captain's ears. He orders Hex set adrift and the raft is pushed out into the current.

For two full days and two full nights, Jonah hangs from the cross, mosquitoes and other bugs feasting in his bloody open wounds. On the third day, Jonah is sighted by a family on the river bank performing a baby's baptism.  The raft is caught and drug ashore. It is determined that Hex is alive, just barely.

Back at the house, we find Jonah on a table, with the father performing surgery on him, removing bullets, shrapnel, and maggots. The son (not the baby) asks if Hex will die. The father responds that the Good Lord saw fit to bring Hex to them so they will do what they can to save him. The boy continues to talk of the evil of Yankees. The father says that Yankees are men, differing only in their beliefs and measure of their brutality.

The boy mentions that he is scared and the father reassures him that the North will never reach this far south.

Some undisclosed time later, the father is reading in the paper that Lincoln is expected to issue an Emancipation Proclamation. Jonah staggers into the room. The father explains Jonah's situation and that with the damage to his throat, his voice will probably never be more that a coarse whisper. Jonah can stay until he heals, but once he is able to ride, he will be outfitted with a horse, clothes and a rifle.

January 17th, 1863 - During a thunderstorm, three Confederate soldiers come to the door of the house. The father opens the door.

Jonah and the boy are in the barn, saddling a horse when they hear a gunshot. Jonah grabs an axe and heads for the house. He finds the father in a pool of blood and the three soldiers grabbing the mother. She shouts that Confederates don't act tin this manner and they explain that they are not soldiers but they stole the uniforms in order to gain entry to homes.

Jonah bursts in and buries the blade of the axe into the head of one man, grabs his pistol and shoots the second. The last man reaches for his weapon and his head is deftly removed from his torso, courtesy of Jonah's axe.

Several hours later we see Jonah burying the father as the son looks on. The family mourns the loss of their husband and father. That night Jonah pays his respects and rides off.

The Wyoming Badlands, 1868 - Fulsome is still shouting to the dark the conditions of his letting the woman go. A pistol barrel gently eases against the back of his neck and we hear "Drop the gun." Fulsome states that it was Ackerman that slaughtered the Apache, Fulsome had nothing to do with it. The darkness replies "His time is coming."

Fulsome is grasping at straws now. He says that Ackerman can't be taken down, he has too many men, he'll be too angry to find his rifles stolen, he won't stop until Hex his dead. Hex orders Fulsome on his knees, places the wanted poster against Fulsome's chest and says...

Statistics for This Issue
Men Killed By Jonah - 10 (Fulsome and his men, three 'Confederates', two in the fort and I'm not counting all the others dead in the fort) 
Running Total - 585 (432 past, 55 future, 15 Vertigo, 83 V2)
Jonah's Injuries - Dehydration, exposure, shot, whipped.
Timeline - Well, 1868, flashback to 1862 and into 1863. The flashback covers four months, current day; about 15-30 minutes.
Rape Percentage - 46% (6 out of 13)

This story caused a lot of speculation when it was announced. How close would J and J stick to the Fleisher origin?  The details regarding the Fort Charlotte massacre were changed, pretty much removing Quentin Turnbull from the picture (for now) and the entire scene with the whipping brought up concerns that maybe THAT is how Jonah got his scars. So far (I'm trying to not give things away), I'm liking the story and I especially loved the explanation of Jonah's voice, something that we will never hear in a comic but allows us to cast his voice as that of Clint Eastwood.

Bernet's art, first time here, was slightly cartoony but gritty enough and fluid enough to really really work for me. In fact, I like more photo-realistic art myself, but Bernet won me over eventually. In some cases his work, cinematically, works as well as that of Ross, especially here...

All in all, a great issue and a fantastic place for folks to jump on board and learn more about the scarred bounty hunter.

Next Issue - Woodson Hex, The Apache and two panels that sum up the entirety of Jonah Hex's life.

Justice League Unlimited #19 "The Justice Rangers Ride Again!"

Justice League Unlimited #19 May 2006
"The Justice Rangers Ride Again!"
Adam Beechan, story - Gordon Purcell and Bob Petrecca, art - Ty Templeton, cover

1879.
Jud Saunders rides as hard as he can across the American West to elude the men chasing him, the men with cowboy hats and ray-guns. He is just about cornered when three men come to his rescue, Bat Lash, El Diablo, and Jonah Hex.

Current Day.
On the Justice League satellite, The Vigilante and Elongated Man are helping Wonder Woman inventory the trophy room. Vigilante is admiring an hourglass when he is startled by Ralph Dibny and drops the hourglass, shattering it and opening up a time vortex.

Naturally, they end up in 1879 Wyoming right in the middle of our western heroes being chased by the bad guys. Wonder Woman is startled to see Hex, Lash and Diablo. Ralph asks if she knows these guys and Wonder Woman explains that she, Batman and Green Lantern once... "well, never mind. It's time travel. It's complicated."

The bad guys realize they are overpowered and they take off, leaving the heroes to talk over what caused the ruckus. Jud explains that he was just mining his own business playing cards in Laramie when those guys came in and shot up the place. Bat grabs Jud and asks if Jud had cheated them the way he cheated Bat in Dodge last month. Jud denies that he cheated but Bat states "There's no way you pulled that fourth ace on the draw cause I had palmed it two hands before." But Bat won't let anyone hurt Jud until he can get back the rabbit's foot that he lost in the game.

Vigilante notices that Jud's last name is Saunders and asks if he is married to Kitty Wilcox Saunders. Jud says he ain't married but he has visited Kitty Wilcox in Carson City. Vigilante starts to explain the relationship between he and Jud, but Wonder Woman intervenes and says that they can't say too much since it could cause a time paradox.

Ralph then brings up the fact that the bad guys had been shooting laser pistols. Wonder Woman asks Vigilante if his family had ever been involved with someone named Starr and he stats that they did. She then theorizes that the hourglass was destroyed in their time but the vortex brought them back to a time where the glass still exists and since it is here then they could possibly use it to get back to their own time.

Anyway, she now knows that they are facing off against the Time Commander.

It is this Time Commander who is back at the bunkhouse with his bunch of bad guys. He goes on a tirade explaining how the Vigilante foiled his plans in 2009 so he came back here to get rid of Jud Saunders, he gets weapons for the bad guys to use but Time keeps trying to correct itself. To counteract this, the Commander goes hopping through time and returns with some more advanced weaponry... heavily armed robot suits!

That night, Diablo is mad at Bat for dragging him into trying to recover property that Bat lost while cheating, Jonah is talking to Diana and telling her that they will stick around until everything is cleared up and Ralph and Vigilante are discussing meeting your own ancestors and not mucking up the Time Stream. While everyone is discussing their next step the bad guys show up in their robot suits!

Ralph springs into action and wraps himself around one of the villains. Jonah gets into a Mexican standoff with another and does his best Clint Eastwood impression...

and Wonder Woman cleans up the last of them. Time Commander has been watching it all from a nearby hilltop and right before he can escape, Jud tackles him and knocks him down. Commander jumps up and states that he will send Jud back to the Dawn of Time but Jud has 'picked the pocket' of the Commander and now has possession of the hourglass!

All the bad guys are easily tied up and Wonder Woman tells Jonah how they will return to their own time..

Our current heroes return to the JLA satellite with Time Commander in tow and in the closing panels Vigilante starts feeling better about his contributions to the team.

Statistics for This Issue

Well, Jonah didn't kill anyone or get hurt, so a big zero on both of those counts!

It was kinda nice how Jonah took the whole time travel thing in stride, a nice little wink to his own adventures skipping across the time stream. The story was light-hearted, nothing to write home about, but it did a good job of giving everyone the same amount of 'screen time'. The whole story is a sideways redo of the Justice League Unlimited cartoon "The Once and Future Thing Part 1: Weird Western Tales" and that isn't a bad thing. It's nice to have this in book form.

Secret Origins #21 "The Secret Origin of Jonah Hex"

Secret Origins #21 Dec 1987
"The Secret Origin of Jonah Hex"

Michael Fleisher, story - Gray Morrow, art - Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, cover

Secret Origins was a great book back in the 80's. DC decided to have this book, giving space to one Golden age character and newer character, often with an artist that either originally drew the character or could mimic the style of the original artist. The Golden age character stories was almost always written by Roy Thomas and the newer character stories was penned by the ongoing writer or the writer who was handling the reigns on the relaunch.

Usually the newer character was involved in a new book, so it is somewhat odd that Jonah Hex, just canceled that year, lands a spot in Secret Origins. I picked it up because I'm a fan. I already knew about Jonah's Secret Origin. Heck, I even knew about his OTHER Secret Origin. So what was I going to learn in this story? Well, a little something, so hang on.

We start off in the Frontier City Amusement Park in Laramie, Wyoming. There is a Frontier City Amusement Park in Oklahoma City, but I get that wasn't Wild Westy enough, but I'll cover that a little bit more in a later post. Anyway, we see a scantily clad young woman running through the park at night being chased by two gun-wielding thugs. She shouts for help, rounds a corner and the heel of her shoe breaks off, throwing her into a nearby cowboy statue. We hear a director shout "CUT!" and we realize that we are witness to the making of a low budget movie. As they set up for the scene it is discovered that the statue that was knocked over was not a statue, but a stuffed corpse.

An unknown time later, at Princeton University a Prof Lawrence is talking with a Mr. Kastner over the phone. Lawrence states that, according to the description and the photos Kastner sent, the corpse must be that of Jonah Hex. Kastner explains that the statue was purchased with a lot of other stuff when West World Amusement Park in NY went out of business. Lawrence asks if Kastner has plans to display the corpse but Kastner explains there is a fly in the ointment.

Frontier City had the corpse repaired and Kastner (we assume he with a museum) want to buy it, but there is an old Cheyenne woman who has an injunction on the sale. She states she is Jonah's common law wife and wants the body for a Cheyenne burial. Lawrence is on a plain to Wyoming asap.

Meanwhile, in Lombard, Illinois, we meet a Mr. Lewellyn, a collector of American Frontier Memorabilia. He is showing two of his thugs around his collection. He has Wyatt Earp's Buntline,, the poker hand held by Wild Bill Hickok when he was shot, the tomahawk of Scalphunter, the table from the saloon where Jonah was shot, Hex's glasses, George Barrow's shotgun, even Mei Ling's wedding dress. BUT he is wanting the stuffed corpse of Jonah Hex. He even has a glass case ready for it and he tells his thugs to do anything in order to obtain it.

At the Gray Eagle Indian Reservation in Wyoming, Lawrence pulls up in a Land Rover in front of a bunch of tipis. He thinks that he never imagined that Tall Bird would still be alive, let alone survive the fire set by Lew Farnham. He enters a tipi and meets Tall Bird. As he pushes the elderly Tall Bird around in a wheelchair, Lawrence states that she has answered every question he has poses, so there is no doubt as to her identity, but Lawrence asks another question: What happened to Jonah in the town of Red Dog in 1875 when he literally vanished from sight?

Tall Bird states that Jonah did speak of it once, "that he had been vouchsafed a visit to a strange new world" and they would never speak of it again. Lawrence asks about Jonah's son, Jason. Her answer? "He told me about Jason. But his is a tale so fraught with horror that I have vowed to carry it within me, in secret, to the end of my days."

The Prof then asks what drove Jonah to be a bounty hunter. The story Tall Bird relates:

The drunken Woodson Hex gives Jonah a rifle for his birthday, something very uncharacteristic of the abusive bastard. Jonah is probably, oh, TEN? (well, we don't know, but it IS before his mother leaves.) We see a joyous Jonah running around the farm shooting bottles, sticks, scarecrows and the like. That night, Ginny comes home from a day in town. The buckboard broke down and she had to get it fixed. Woodson accuses her of hanky panky and starts slapping her around. He breaks a bottle and threatens her with it.

Young Jonah awakens to the disturbance, grabs the rifle and confronts his father only to get the crap slapped out of him and knocked to the ground.

Tall Bird stops there and says that she will finish the story in the place where they found Jonah, the amusement park. Lawrence takes her back home and heads for his hotel. When he steps into his room, he is attacked by Lewellyn's thugs and told to have Tall Bird sign over the corpse to them.

The next day at Frontier City, Tall Bird retells Hex #7 and #8 in three quick panels and Jonah fell into drunkeness and loose women. One night as he was staggering down the street, he sees a large man beating a young woman. Jonah hallucinates, thinking that it is his father and he draws on the man and shoots him dead. The sheriff shows up and states that Jonah just killed Lucas McGill, a wanted murderer and hands the sizeable reward over to Jonah. Jonah looks at it in a puzzled way, drops it to the ground and rides off.

Back in Frontier City, Lewellyn and his thugs step forward and demand that Tall Bird sign the papers. She, sitting in the shadow of her dead husband, refuses. Lewellyn pulls a gun and states that he will have his way no matter what. Suddenly a shot rings out and Lewellyn drops to the ground. Lawrence grabs the dropped pistol and demands that the thugs drop their weapons.

Later, we see the police carting off the thugs and the body of Lewellyn. Lawrence and Tall Bird have to go to the police station to give their statements but as they leave, Lawrence turns to Jonah Hex and says that by tomorrow, they will have Jonah out of there. The police drive off, leaving the stuffed corpse of the greatest bounty hunter standing alone.

Statistics for the Issue

Men Killed by Jonah Hex - Well, McGill and dare I say, Lewellyn? There was nobody else to shoot him. So how about two?
Running Total - 485 (430 past, 55 future)
Jonah's Injuries - none
Timeline - Supposedly this takes place in 1987 and probably spans about a week.

This really isn't a SECRET origin. We only get five pages of info on Jonah's past that we didn't have before and only two of those as an adult. Pretty lame stuff all around. We do get to see Tall Bird, a verification that the HEX series is considered canon, a hint at the horrible end of Jason (not yet seen), but we never see what happens to Jonah's corpse. That is left hanging there, begging for answers.

If Tall Bird gets custody and burns the corpse, how can Jonah see it in the future? If it ends up in a museum, how can it be 'collected' with amusement park junk in the future so Jonah can see it? This issue raises many more questions than it answers and at times I think it would be better if it hadn't been written. The artwork by Gray Morrow, once again too full of Ziptone, too murky, too stiff, too 1950's, too YAWN!!!

Next post, will tie up this story and the Death of a Bounty Hunter into a nice little package. I have mentioned this item before, but it is worth repeating. After that, we'll visit some more of the guest appearances of Jonah Hex and then we dive headlong into the world of VERTIGO. (Don't say I never did anything for you guys, okay?!?!?)

Jonah Hex Spectacular "The Last Bounty Hunter!"

Jonah Hex Spectacular Fall 1978
"The Last Bounty Hunter!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Russ Heath, art - Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, cover

This appeared at what I guess was the pinnacle of sales for Jonah Hex. It was also a defining moment in the history of the character. It has become one of the most talked about stories in Jonah's timeline and was somewhat unique in comics history. It's also sad to say that this was published about the same time as the amazingly awful dreck that was in Justice League of America.

But let's forget that icky icky ca-ca and get right into our story.

Jonah is lying on a rocky outcropping, using binoculars to track the George Barrow gang who just robbed a bank in Cheyenne. They have broken up into two groups of four. Jonah, his face in shadows, walks back to his horse and contemplates how much the world has changed. Folks are riding in gasoline powered buggies, a couple of guys actually flew for 59 seconds and he is feeling too tired to try to take on all 8 guys in the Barrow gang. Yup, 1904 is a strange time to be in. We then see Jonah in the sunlight, 66 years old, wrinkled, haggard looking, wearing wire-rimmed glasses.

We cut to the Barrow gang setting up camp later that night. They know that Jonah has been following them and they have a plan to double back and get the drop on Jonah. Once the fire is going, Frank & Larry go off to 'collect firewood' but they actually climb the hills surrounding the camp and come up behind Jonah, laying on a rocky outcropping. But it is actually all of Jonah's clothes, laid out to look like he is lying there. Suddenly a lasso snakes out of the darkness, tightens around Frank's neck and Frank is yanked back into the shadows. Larry quickly jumps to his feet just as a Bowie knife is thrown into his heart. Jonah emerges from the shadows wearing red long johns.

back at the campfire, Zeke & Pete are getting nervous about Larry & Frank being gone so long. Jonah calmly states that maybe those two are dead. Zeke & Pete spin around to see Jonah calmly lighting up a cigarette. They start to draw on Jonah but he guns both of them down. Pete manages to get a shot off that goes through Jonah's right arm. Hex, fingering the hole thinks "Yo're gettin' slow, Jonah boy! Mighty damn slow!"

The next morning, the city of Cheyenne is greeted with the sight of Jonah dragging four corpses through the middle of town. Jonah heads to the police station and checks in with Hank, the chief of police. Hank tallys up the reward to $12,000 for the four men. While Jonah is signing the voucher for the reward, Ernie, the deputy, takes it upon himself to try to educate Jonah in modern police methods. Ernie states that the modern system really doesn't need old men from the 1870's doing dirty bounty work.

Jonah's reply?

Jonah walks out and Hank calmly tells Ernie that he got off lucky, Jonah could still stitch his name in bullets across Ernie's forehead. Hank then laments to himself that Jonah's world is gone now & that they don't make men like that anymore.

Jonah heads over to a general store to stock up on supplies. While he is there, he encounters Michael Wheeler, an American History professor at Princeton. Wheeler explains that he has traveled out west to meet Jonah. Hex replies that he hopes that it has been a scintillatin's experience and then walks out the door. Wheeler follows him, explaining that he wants to write the history of Jonah's life, of the entire way of life of bounty hunters. Wheeler wants people to be able to remember how it was for these men. After some thought, Jonah tells Wheeler he can come out to Jonah's cabin.

Several hours later the two men arrive at a cabin in the foothills. A beautiful Indian woman, Tall Bird, comes running out to meet them. Wheeler remarks on her beauty and asks if she is Jonah's daughter. Jonah replies "not hardly", pulls her close and kisses her deeply.

Over the next several days, Jonah recounts to wheeler his life with the Apache, being a buffalo hunter, his days as an Army scout (post Civil War). Oddly enough, nothing is said about the Civil War. Jonah then goes on to tell about his early days as a bounty hunter. Time continues to pass until Wheeler has stayed with the Hexes for months.

Winter has set in and Jonah and Wheeler head out into the snow to hunt some game. As they get ready to drop a moose they are rudely interrupted by two men and a gaudy wagon. It is Lew Farnham and his sidekick Simon. Farnham owns Farnham's Spectacular Wild West Revue. Farnham had been to Jonah's cabin and spoke with Tall Bird in order to locate Jonah. Farnham has a business proposition for Hex. He wants Jonah to join the show and travel around the world to perform before kings, queens, and emperors, displaying his amazing gunfighting talents. Farnham even had a white leather costume made up with Jonah's name across the back in genuine simulated rhinestone diamonds. Farnham also wants Jonah to ride bareback while juggling and even has plans for "that cute little squaw" that includes:
Needless to say, Jonah turns his back on the showman and leaves. Needless to say, Farnham doesn't like taking no for an answer and vows to get Jonah into his show.

Several more days pass and when Jonah and Wheeler return from another of their hunting trips, they find the cabin ransacked, Tall Bird missing, and a note:

It is night, George Barrow and two of his gang are around a campfire, another is on lookout, and Tall Bird is tied to a tree. The two gang members are wondering if this is a good idea, will Jonah, a 'washed-up' bounty hunter actually come rescue an 'injun'? barrow assures them that he will. Barrow's dad fought alongside Jonah at Shiloh and Barrow knows what Hex is capable of. Of course, what Jonah is capable of is sneaking up a cliff, knife in his teeth, getting the drop on the lookout and stabbing him to death without a sound.

A few minutes later, 'Luke', the lookout, comes down to the fire to get some coffee. Barrow realizes that it isn't Luke's voice and draws his gun. When they rip the hat off of 'Luke' it's really Wheeler (whom they have never seen before). While Barrow and his men are demanding an explanation, Jonah is drawing a bead on them from the lookout post. He shoots all three men and they drop to the ground. Wheeler runs over to free Tall Bird. Tall Bird shouts that one of the men is escaping and Wheeler fires several shots into the darkness.

When Jonah gets down to the camp he asks about all the shooting and Wheeler explains that Barrow has gotten away. Hex apologizes for his eyes not being what they used to be. Since they can't go after Barrow in the dark, they'll just get these other three into Cheyenne in the morning. Tall Bird tells Jonah to be careful, she has a bad feeling. Hex and Wheeler head off into the dark toward Cheyenne while Barrow, wounded in the cold darkness vows that he will repay Jonah.

The next morning as Jonah and Wheeler are coming out of the police station there is a brand new 3 hp Oldsmobile parked in front. Wheeler is admiring it and the owner offers to take Wheeler and his 'dad' for a ride. Jonah takes a pass, observing that he only risks his neck when he gets paid for it. Wheeler rides off in the car as Jonah heads for the saloon.

In the saloon, Jonah is invited to join a poker game. After several hands Jonah takes off his glasses to clean them. Jonah is apologizing for holding up the games when suddenly George Barrow storms into the saloon with a double barreled shotgun. He smashes the butt of the gun into Jonah's face, knocking him out of his chair. While Jonah is on the floor, grabbing his pistol. Barrow unloads first one barrel and then the other into the chest of Jonah Hex. The barkeep quickly phones the Police station, where Hank grabs his rifle and makes tracks for the saloon.

The Oldsmobile arrives in front of the saloon just in time for Wheeler to see George Barrow emerge, arms over his head, holding the shotgun aloft, proclaiming that he has just killed Jonah Hex. Hank comes around the corner and orders Barrow to drop the shotgun. Barrow breaks open the shotgun to show that it isn't loaded and then Hank shoots Barrow twice in the chest, killing him.

Wheeler rushes into the saloon to find Jonah on the floor. He gently lifts Jonah's head off the floor as Jonah whispers:
and dies. Wheeler picks up Jonah's body and takes it from the saloon. Outside, some children are begging for souvenirs from Jonah's body and when one of them pulls a button from his coat, Wheeler gives the kid a swift kick. Wheeler takes Jonah back home.

Wheeler starts to apologize to Tall Bird, but she quiets him, telling him that men like Jonah die because they have willed it deep inside themselves. Tall Bird directs Wheeler to put Jonah on the bed. By Comanche tradition (Tall Bird's people), Wheeler must light the fire that will burn down the cabin and release Jonah's spirit.

Just as they start to do that, Lew Farnham and Simon appear in the doorway stating that they have better plans for the corpse. Wheeler rushes them but is quickly gunned down. Tall Bird protests, kneeling by Jonah's body, but Farnham kicks the living bejesus out of her. They then set fire to the cabin after stealing Jonah's corpse.

The next afternoon, they have delivered the body to the taxidermy studio along with the costume that they wanted Jonah to wear in the show. A week later, the stuffed corpse of Jonah hex is returned to the Wild West Revue. They place Jonah on a pedestal and Simon starts to place a pistol in Jonah's hand. Farnham warns Simon to be careful but:


So Simon becomes the last man that Jonah Hex kills. Oh, and Farnham just drags the body away.

The story doesn't say for how long Farnham showed off the corpse of Jonah Hex, but it appears to have been quite awhile, word has gotten around how much Lew has been making. So, one night, while Farnham is counting his money, three men come into the tent, kill Farnham, rob him and take the body of Jonah to sell to an antique dealer.

After that, Jonah's body is shown to have been in the back room of an antique shop in 1923 and then ended up in a warehouse in Detroit in 1949. In 1972, the corpse was purchased by the owner of Westworld Amusement Park on the outskirts of New York City. At the end of our tale, we see Jonah in the park with a small boy dressed in cowboy gear asking his mom if that is a real man. She assures him it is just a dummy.

It starts to rain and as the mom hustles her son off, the boy shouts, "Take THAT, badman! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" The rain continues to pour and we see the last of Jonah Hex, 1838-1904.


Statistics for this issue:
Men killed by Jonah: 7 of the Barrow gang and a post mortem shooting for Simon. 8 total.
Jonah's Injuries: Shot once in the arm. Double shotgun blast to the chest resulting in death.
Timeline: 1904 with quick stops in 1923, 1949, and 1972. I do have an item about the timeline (Surprise!). In several books, Jonah's birth year has been listed as 1838 and in issue 50 of Jonah Hex it was listed as November 1st. Jonah's death is listed as 1904 at the age of 66, therefore, Jonah died either in November or December. This is actually a pleasing item, something that actually fits!!!

At times I'm at a loss for words about this comic. DC actually killed a character, not a supporting character, but one that was currently in his own book. But there was one reason I see that they could get away with it. Jonah Hex, by our account, was already dead. Jonah's adventures take place in our past so we know that he is dead, but knowing it and seeing it is something else completely.

This isn't like Superman/Green Arrow/Green Lantern/Wally West dead. It's Ferro Lad/Barry Allen/Tasha Yar dead. Not 'mostly dead', he is all dead. And it's not a death that will ever be rebooted, it's a nasty needless death with a horrible ending that has been referenced in several other books already. I don't think that this death will ever change. You can read some of Fleisher's thoughts about this issue here. This concept of showing the death of a character but still have his book ongoing (and it would be ongoing for about 74 more issues!) was a totally new concept that I don't think had been done before.

A few other interesting things about this issue. It came out long before we learned about Mei Ling, but here it appears that Jonah is married to Tall Bird (she does appear much later in a copy of Secret Origins), so Fleisher, accidentally at the time, has made Jonah a twice married man. Also, when Jonah is relating his past, the Civil War is not mentioned at all. Did Fleisher do this because he didn't want Jonah talking about it, or was it an unintentional omission?

DC did get some disparaging letters (two I think), but I was among the ones that really really enjoyed this book. Sadly, I don't think we ever saw Russ Heath work on Jonah again. (UPDATE: Mr Heath did work again in Jonah Hex V2 #25)

Also in this issue was a Bat Lash story and a Scalphunter story and...no ads.

Weird Western Tales #13 "The Killer's Last Wish!"

Weird Western Tales #13 Aug-Sept 1972
"The Killer's Last Wish!"
John Albano, story - Tony Dezuniga, art

The story starts off with Jonah gunning down an unknown man. Jonah is riding across the desert followed by his wolf, Iron-Jaws. Jonah loads up the corpse on his horse and continues riding on. Later he comes upon a small shack and gets fired upon from a covered wagon. Jonah returns fire and shouts out that the gunman has just two seconds before Jonah shoots him dead.

The gunman is an old man who suddenly recognizes Jonah's voice. The old man jumps out of his hiding place and shouts that he is Windy Taylor, the man who taught Jonah how to shoot. Later while they are visting, we learn that Windy had requested that Jonah come to Windy' ranch. Jonah shows Windy the corpse on Jonah's horse and asks if Windy recognizes him. Windy verifies that the dead man is one of the men trying to run him off his ranch.

Jonah starts to bury the corpse but Windy points him over to three other graves, buddies of the dead man, and who all work for a man named Fenwick. After the man is buried, Jonah and Windy are eating supper. Suddenly they hear gunfire and when they run outside there are several men on horses riding away. They have shot & killed all of Windy's cattle. Jonah saddles up & takes off after the men and tells Windy to tie up Iron-Jaws. Windy shouts back that all he really wanted Jonah to do was help straighten out Windy's son.

Meanwhile in town, Fenwick greets the men who shot the cattle. Fenwick offers the men some sherry but they are wanting to get paid and get gone. They tell Fenwick that Windy has hired Jonah Hex and Hex has already killed the fella that was supposed to bushwhack Jonah. Fenwick states that he has no idea who Hex is.

Later that evening, these two men, Will & Boone, are riding far out of town. They discuss if Hex will hunt them down for killing the cattle. They decide that they are far enough away from town to camp for the night. Will starts telling stories about Hex, about how Hex is immortal and can cast spells. The other man, Boone, leaves to gather firewood. A few minutes later, Will hears a sound and thinks he hears a wild steer. He fires at it and then discovers that he has shot & killed Boone coming back with an armload of firewood. Will is shouting at Boone, telling him he is sorry for shooting him.

Just then we hear Jonah tell Will that Boone can't hear anything. Will panics and start running through the underbrush, yelling that Hex won't catch him. Will suddenly falls off a cliff, screaming all the way down.

Back at Windy's ranch, Windy fires at an unknown rider coming towards his ranch. The man dismounts and shouts that he is Tod, Windy's son. Windy says that he is surprised Tod is back since they had that big arguement last week. Tod has come back only to pack, he is sick of being treated like a stepson. Tod says that he is heading east but he will be needing a lot of money to get started. When Windy's back is turned, Tod pulls a pistol and shoots Windy in the back. As Windy falls a large wad of cash goes airborne in the cabin. Windy gasps that he was going to give Tod the money to start over.

Tod starts ranting, saying that he had asked for the money a hundred times before, but Windy had always refused. That is why Tod had to make a deal with Fenwick to kill Windy for $500. Tod leaves the cabin and we see Iron-Jaws lunging against the chain that is holding him.

Tod rides into town to meet Fenwick & get his money. Fenwick offers him more cash if Tod will find and kill Jonah Hex. Tod says that Fenwick probably has about a thousand dollars in his office so Tod shoots & kills Fenwick and then steals the money. Tod rides out of town and several miles later he gets ready to bed down for the night. He keeps having this odd feeling that he has been followed. He imagines that shadows are shaped like men. Slowly one of the shadows takes shape until it appears to be Jonah Hex and Iron-Jaws.

Tod demands to know who he is going to kill. Jonah tells Tod his name and that he is tracking the killer of his friend. And that trail leads east. Tod admits that he is heading east, and he'll continue to head east after he has killed Hex. Tod draws and as he is about to pull the trigger, Jonah's bullet strikes him in the chest. Tod staggers several steps, eastward, and then collapses in a nearby creek.

The next morning, Jonah is riding out of town. Several townsfolk comment on Jonah bringing in two bodies and requesting that Windy will be buried on his ranch but that Tod's body will be shipped east.

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah - 3
Running Total: 20
Jonah's Injuries - None
Timeline - This takes place prior to Iron-Jaws death in the next issue, which I've placed around 1867. Oddly, Jonah has his Confederate hat, but not the black one he had been sporting.

This early story from Albano keeps the mystical superstitious stories surrounding Hex. The later Fleisher stories dropped this in favor of characterization. Was the change for the better? I think to get the character started it was a wonderful way to build mystery and build readership but I think that the current series that DC is publishing is striking a good balance between the two types of Hex. There are times I enjoy these older stories, other times I enjoy the later stories.Next Issue: A stakeout, rabies, killer cats and bodies left to rot.

Weird Western Tales #38 "Track of the Wolf"

Weird Western Tales #38 Jan-Feb 1977
"Track of the Wolf"
Michael Fleisher, story - Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, art & cover

This is the last story of Jonah Hex in WWT, issue 39 started Scalphunter & they decided to go out with a bang. Any story done by Lopez gets an immediate thumbs up & I'll tell why later.

To start off, Jonah doesn't appear until page 6 in this story (I'm not counting the waste-of-space splash page). Instead we are treated to a full page of a white wolf in the snow-covered Wyoming mountains attacking & eating sheep. None of this goes unnoticed. One man in a group of four sees the wolf & attempts a shot. However, he is berated by his companions because they are out in the wild on more nefarious business. They are there to ambush Banker Haskins.

They rob him of the mortgage receipts from Josh Morgan. It is revealed that the men are led by none other than Morgan himself. Is plan is to steal back the money & keep his ranch. They kill Haskins and then claw up the body with a wolve's paw to make it appear that he was killed by the white wolf.

Several days later the saloon is packed with a meeting of the Eastern Wyoming Sheepman's Association. Josh Morgan is heading the meeting & is talking about getting rid of the White Wolf since it has been killing sheep & then the banker. One of Morgan's thugs speaks up, saying that he saw it happen. Morgan states that he has taken action to capture the wolf, he has hired Jonah Hex. The scene cuts to Hex up in the mountains in the middle of a blizzard pondering the fact that Morgan wouldn't let Hex examine the banker's body. He hunkers down for the night, making camp.

The next morning, Jonah wakes up, feeling a strange sense of apprehension. Suddenly an arrow slams into a tree next to him. Suddenly he is attacked by a large group of Crow Indians. Jonah kills one before he gets an arrow in the left shoulder. He shoots down three more, takes a arrow in the right calf. Kills a fifth Indian and runs out of bullets when the wolf appears out of nowhere, attacking the Indians. Gunfire erupts from the ridge above them and a mountain man drives off the rest of the Indians.

With the Indians gone, the rescuer climbs down to Jonah & it becomes apparent that the wolf is his pet. The man, Bearclaw Jackson takes Hex back to his cabin. Several hours later Jonah wakes up. Bearclaw has taken the arrow out of Jonah's leg, but the arrow in his shoulder won't budge. Bearclaw breaks off the fletching and cuts a groove in the shaft. He fills that with gunpowder. He lights the gunpowder to cauterize the wound and then using the butt of a pistol, Bearclaw hammers the arrow the rest of the way through Jonah's shoulder.

Jonah suffers in bed for three more days, fighting a fever & blood loss. On the fourth day He gets ready to leave and Bearclaw asks Jonah what he is doing up in the mountains. Jonah explains that he was hired to capture the wolf, but now he can't do that since Bearclaw saved him. Bearclaw snarls about the stupid sheepers and how the wolf has to eat sheep every once in a while. Jonah explains that a man died because of the wolf. Bearclaw opens a chest and pulls out a Navy telescope. He details how a week or so ago he saw four men kill another man that was in a surrey.

Jonah asks if Bearclaw could tell who did the killing, but Bearclaw says that the telescope is not that good of quality. Jonah tells Bearclaw to put a rope on the wolf, they are all going to town. Bearclaw refuses and Jonah tells him to come along.... or else. Or else what? Or else Jonah will lay the smackdown. Hex & Bearclaw trade blows until Jonah finally topples Bearclaw with a two-fisted punch. Bearclaw agrees and they load up & head into town.

As Jonah, Bearclaw & the wolf ride into town, folks from all over empty out into the streets. Morgan meets them in the street, demanding an explanation. Jonah states that Bearclaw witnessed the murder of Haskins. Bearclaw points out one of Morgan's thugs. The thug panics & said it wasn't him, it was .... Morgan shouts at him to shut up and lifts his rifle to shoot Bearclaw. The wolf lunges at Morgan, killing him. A thug starts to shoot the wolf, but Bearclaw jumps in the way to save him. Bearclaw, lying in the street dying, tells the wolf to git. The wolf runs off and three of Morgan's thugs decide to draw on Jonah. The town population is quickly reduced by three.

Jonah goes over to Bearclaw, who's dying wish is to not die in town around the sheepers. Jonah takes Bearclaw back to his cabin. With the wolf howling outside, Bearclaw passes away. Jonah blows out the lantern in the cabin and rides off.



Statistics for the issue:
Men killed by Jonah: 8
Running Total - 109
Jonah's Injuries: Arrow in the left shoulder, arrow in the right calf.
Timeline: Not really sure, could have been any period. It does take place in Wyoming.

I have a soft spot for almost any story drawn by Lopez and this was a very good story. Jonah is worked over be a group of Indians and I liked the fact that it was Crow, instead of the normal Apache or Cheyenne, and their dress and headdresses were of a different style than the southwestern Indians. A nice detail in the art. The thing that Lopez does better than anyone else in the business is give us a sense of place. He draws a town scene and no matter what angle we see that town from, everything that was in the opening shot is where it is supposed to be. If you see a blacksmith next to livery in the first panel, 5 panels later when seen from another angle that livery is still next to the blacksmith. This consistency is what endears Lopez to my heart.

The character of Bearclaw could easily have been played by Brian Dennehey. His death at the end was depicted very well and I regreted that he couldn't live to be in another story later down the line.

Next Week: The end of the useless splash page, kidnapping, boy-fighting, and Hex gets fitted for a casket. All of this in Jonah Hex #1.

Weird Western Tales #28 "Stagecoach to Oblivion"

Weird Western Tales #28 May-June 1975
"Stagecoach to Oblivion"
Michael Fleisher, story - George Moliterni, art.

The story starts in Green Rapids, Wyoming, 1874. A telegraph operator receives an important telegram. He rushes out to deliver it when he hears gunshots. In the street is a dead man and Jonah Hex reloading his pistol. The telegram is a job offer for Jonah from the Huddleston Downing Express Company, over in South Pass City.

Four days later, Jonah arrives in South Pass City just as the stage arrives with one of the drivers shot up by the Hauschel Gang. Jonah locates Mr. Preston, the man who sent the telegram. Preston explains that Huddleston Downing ships gold nuggets from the local mine over to Green River City but Jake Hauschel & his gang are constantly robbing the stage. Tomorrow they are shipping $135,000 by a secret route that only Preston and his clerk Sims is aware of.

Preston shows Jonah that he has had the coach reinforced with steel plating and demands that Jonah ride inside instead of alongside. Jonah takes the job.

That night, Sims, the clerk, shows up at the Hauschel hideout and delivers all the info on the shipment, route, guards, eveything, in exchange for 25%. As he turns to leave, Jake Hauschel shoots Sims in the back.

The next morning, Jonah is telling Preston that he hopes they don't regret letting Jonah see the route in advance. That proves to b true as the stagecoach comes up on "The Narrows", a half-mile stretch of road with cliffs towering over it on both sides. The pass is so narrow that the stage couldn't turn around if it had to. Just as the stage gets to the middle, the Haschel Gang starts firing from above, killing both drivers and all six horses.

Jonah and the men are pinned down in the stage. The other guards ar convinced they're safe because someone will come along and then go get help. Jonah decides to make a break for it. As he runs for shelter, Jonah is cut down in a barrage of gunfire. The Hauschel Gang then sends flaming kegs of kerosene down onto the stage, setting it afire. As the guards run out, they are shot dead in their tracks.

After the stage burns out, Jake and the boys gather the chest and ride off. Several hours later, Jonah stirs and realizes that he luckily had a bullet only craze his scalp. Manyhours later, Jonah arrives back in town on foot. As the doc is tending Jonah, Preston storms in, demanding to know what happened. Jonah mentions how the Gang knew the route. Preston mentions that Sims is missing. Jonah asks whose idea the "Narrows" was and Preston owns up to it, saying that it was the shortest & cheapest route. Jonah bad-mouths Preston and then leaves.

The next morning, Jonah is having breakfast at the saloon and he is approached by Cobb Wisner. Cobb's cousin is a member of the Hauschel Gang. Cobb tells Jonah tht he has heard the gang has almost a half million stashed away. Cobb says that he could tell Jonah where the hideout is and Jonah could kill them all and find the money. Jonah turns down Cobb's offer, saying that he doesn't want their blood money. Jonah heads out on his own to track down the Hauschel Gang.

As he starts closing in on them, he gets ambushed by two members of the gang who decide to "fix 'im up jus' lahk we done thet preacher ovuh in Tucson last year" and they tie Jonah to a cross made of saplings. They empty Jonah's canteen and leave him for dead.

Jonah eventually finds a narrow canyon archway and keeps slamming the ends of the crosspiece until it finally cracks but Jonah collapses from exhaustion.

That night, at the Hauschel hideout, Jake wakes up in the middle of the night and stabs his own lookout, returns to the cabin and shoots the remaining four members of his own gang. In the gunfight, Matt Borden (the cousin of Cobb Wisner), gets off a lucky shot and kills Jake. Wounded, Matt heads for town on horseback.


Jonah comes to and continues on to the hideout, only to find everybody dead and a trail of blood leading back to town. Meanwhile, in town, Matt comes riding in, shouting for help. Several townsfolk rush to his aid and start to take Matt to the doc's office. Just then Cobb shows up and demands that Matt tell them where the loot is hidden before they get him treatment. An arguement ensues and then Jonah comes riding up. Jonah comments that Cobb is pretty free with money that isn't his and then rides off to get a steak.

The townsfolks side with Cobb and refuse to let the Doc treat Matt until he reveals where the loot is hidden, but Matt then up & dies. The townspeople get angry at Cobb for dragging things out and losing their share of the treasure. They grab a rope and hang Cobb in the middle of town. A man comes running into the saloon where Jonah is eating and shouts out they are gonna hang Cobb. Everyone excitedly rushes out to watch the hanging, leaving Jonah alone, eating his steak.

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah - One man seen dead in the street at the start of the story. The Hauschel gang was responsible for 12 men dead (including themselves)

Running Total - 82
Jonah's Injuries - Skull grazed by a bullet
Timeline - 1874, stated clearly at the beginning. A blurb at the end of the story explains that this story was true and the Hauschel gang's loot has never been found. I learned that South Pass City is real, but I couldn't locate any info on the Hauschel gang or a company called Huddleston Downing Express.

I didn't care for this issue very much, it was nice to see Jonah tied to real events, but has been done since and has been done better. At times the story almost seemed like one of the old westerns that Gold Key put out, with tons of text on the page (like when Jake kills his gang). George Moliterni's art is very good, lifelike and gritty with people having natural proportions and their clothes hanging like real cloth. George did a lot of work on Jonah and I always thought he was under-appreciated.

Next Week: Prison Break!! The truth about the Man with the Eagle-topped cane!! And the Emancipation Proclamation!!