Weird Western Tales #59 "The Search"

 Weird Western Tales #59 Sept 1979

"The Search"

Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers & Romeo Tanghal, art - Luis Dominguez, cover

Unknown date, unknown location. Scalphunter is astride his horse, being chased by three unknown men who have sworn vengeance for Scalphunter having killed and scalped their brother Billy for having tried to kill Scalphunter. They continue to shoot at him and eventually wound him. He continues to ride, racing his horse towards a massive cliff and, spurring his mount onward, man and horse plummet off the cliff and into a river below.

They both survive the plunge and make their way to the far shore. Scalphunter, wounded and tired, seeks shelter in a nearby cave. He slaps the horse on the rump, sending him away to make tracks to confuse the men who will eventually track him once they find a way across the river. He hides in the cave, blocking the entrance with a cottonwood branch and falls asleep. Unknown to the warrior and old ragged man emerges from within the cave and stands over the prone sleeping Indian. 

Some time later, Frank and his two brothers find the horses tracks and take off in pursuit.

Hours later Scalphunter wakes up to find the old man tending a fire and making stew. He has tended to Scalphunters wounds. The man said he was in the cave waiting for Lucky. The stew is pretty good because Lucky scarfs it down and he has been hiding in the cave waiting for Lucky to come back. The old man continues to talk about waiting for his partner who wandered off. Lucky and he came out to look for gold and never found any. Lucky didn't much care for gold and one day went out to look for game and wandered off, never coming back. The man, Jake Link, is tired of waiting and when Scalphunter came into the cave, Jake thought that maybe this Indian might help him find Lucky.

Sclphunter agrees to do it in repayment for his wounds tended and soon they find Scalphunter's horse. They load up Jake's horse and his mule and head out. They eventually come upon a canyon and Jake is sure Lucky went that way. Scalphunter says they must not go there because he can see it is an Apache burial ground. Jake says he is going in anyway and Scalphunter follows in an attempt to protect Jake, but Apache warriors are already watching them from the cliffs above.

Once in the canyon Jake dismounts and starts shouting for Lucky. Scalphunter tries to quiet him when an arrow suddenly strikes Jake in the shoulder. Jake tells Scalphunter to grab the rifle and shoot them but Scalphunter knows the sound of gunfire would bring dozens or hundreds more. He does grab the rifle and hold it aloft, speaking to the Apache loudly. Jake asks for a translation and Scalphunter says he told them an Apache warrior is like a withered old woman and other trash talk of the kind.

Of course, it has the intended effect and the three Apache ride down to attack the Kiowa warrior. The three are quickly dispatched with knife and tomahawk. It is unclear if he takes their scalps, but I'll say Yes. Jake pulls the arrow out of his shoulder, breaks it and climbs up on his horse to leave. Scalphunter asks how long Jakes friend has been gone and he says it has been fifteen, maybe twenty years.

Up on the cliff, watching with binoculars are Jim, Frank and the other brother. As one of them takes aim, the other stops him, noting the prospecting equipment on the mule. Smelling gold, they decide it is in their best interests to follow them and then ambush them.

Some time later, with night falling, Jake and Scalphunter arrive at an old stone well. Jake says they will find Lucky, he has wandered off before. They approach the well whose side has collapsed. Jake looks over the edge and starts moaning that he has found Lucky!

The outlaw brothers are hiding nearby and hear Jake shouting but can't make out his exclamations. Scalphunter lowers Jake into the well and once at the bottom, Jake starts crying that it is Lucky, after all these years. The brothers arrive and tell Scalphunter to pull up the old man. Jake climbs up over the edge with a wrapped bundle. The brothers demand to see the treasure that was secreted in the well and Jake unrolls the bundle to display the skeleton of Lucky....his dog. 

The brothers are distracted and confused because they expected gold. That is all the chance that Scalphunter requires. His knife flies through the air, killing the first brother. The second is sent to his reward with the tomahawk. The third brother drops his rifle and jumps on his horse to take flight but Scalphunter rushes to his mount, grabs a bow and arrow and plunges the shaft into the back of the fleeing man.

Jake is kneeling by the skeleton of his companion, crying asking why Lucky wandered off. A sand storm starts whipping up and Jake starts hearing Lucky talking to him.... LUCKY IS ALIVE! Jake runs off into the darkness and sand with Scalphunter calling for him to come back. Jake starts screaming for Lucky to keep barking so the two can be reunited but he finally succumbs to the wind and the sand.

The next morning Scalphunter finds Jake, face down, half buried in the sand. He digs a grave for Jake and Lucky to share, marks it with Jakes pickaxe and rides off into the morning sun.

Statistics for this issue

Men Killed by Scalphunter - 6

Running Total - 112

Compared to Jonah Hex - 21st appearance and Scalphunter has 112 vs Jonah's 90 (in WWT #31)

Scalps Taken - 3

Running Total - 20

Injuries - Shot twice.

Timeline -  This issue takes place during one full day and the next morning.

So this was obviously a story that was penned prior to Gerry Conway taking over and they must have been in a deadline crunch. Conway was writing a LOT in the late 70's and I'm not surprised that a western book would have fallen on the back burner. In 1979 alone he was working on at least 10 books a month!

I really liked this one, falling back onto the Weird in Weird Western Tales and the art by Tanghal really sold it, especially the crazy darkened gaze of Jake as he was rambling on and on about Lucky. He really had a look that would have been at home in any of the DC 'scary' books. While the tale didn't fit the current ongoing timeline of Conway's, it was a nice break. 

Ads include Star Trek The Motion Picture, the answers to the Superman Movie Contest, a form to get two issues free for subscribing to Weird Western Tales, but no Hostess ad.

Next Issue: Scalphunter vs The Gangs of New York!!

Weird Western Tales #44 "Covered Wagon to Doomsday!"

Weird Western Tales #44 Feb 1978
"Covered Wagon to Doomsday!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers and George Evans, art - Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom, cover

Scalphunter is hanging upside down from a tree after being captured by Sheriff Brett Harley, brother to a bank robber that Scalphunter killed as revenge for killing an Indian child. Just as Harley is ready to pull the trigger, two riders happen upon the scene. They are Obadiah Jethro, head of some Quakers heading to California, lead by their wagon master Travis Barnes.

Harley tells them to butt out, but Jethro wants to be sure that Scalphunter is taken to trial. At the point of Jethro's shotgun, Harley cuts Scalphunter down. Then they all head back to the wagon train. The wagon train stops for the night and Scalphunter is tied to a wagon wheel. When a woman and her younger brother attempt to give Scalphunter food, Harley slaps her down into the snow. Jethro steps in to sort things out.

  Jethro gets everyone to calm down and tells his folks that as long as Harley doesn't actually harm Scalphunter, they should leave well enough alone. Later that night, Davey, the brother of the clapped girl, brings Scalphunter some food and water. After making Scalphunter promise to not escape, he cuts the bonds holding one hand so he can eat. Of course, things being what they are, Harley shows up.

 Harley, doing his best Pappy Hex impersonation, is drinking and pulls off his thick leather belt and beats Davey senseless with it. Scalphunter is helpless and watches as Harley drinks his bottle empty and then breaks it on the wagon. Harley is advancing on young Davey with the broken bottle. Finally, Scalphunter reaches behind him and grabs a pitchfork off the wagon behind him and throws it into Harley, killing him instantly. Everyone hears Harley's dying scream and they come running.

Davey explains what happened but Travis Barnes has had enough, he wants to kill Scalphunter then and there. Jethro will have none of it and demands they take Scalphunter in to the authorities so everyone needs to go back to sleep. Scalphunter tells them if they sleep, they will not wake for he has seen the signal fire of Apaches on a nearby cliff. The fire signals a war dance and that they will attack at dawn.

There is a lot of fear and argument amongst the wagon train but Jethro decides to travel at first light. Scalphunter protests and Barnes clubs him unconscious with a rifle butt.

Just as the sun starts to break over the horizon, a lookout is tending the fire. Suddenly an arrow pierces the coffee pot and two more arrows pierce his sternum. The Apaches descend onto the wagon train, killing, scalping, and setting the wagons alight. As quickly as they arrived, they ride off into the snow.

From the carnage emerges Angela (the slapped girl) and Davey. Barnes comes running up. Seems he was out early looking for firewood. Davey sees something moving under a burning overturned wagon. It is Scalphunter. They right the wagon and free Scalphunter and then they realize that all the horses are dead. Scalphunter offers to lead them to Fort Onondaga (more on that later) but it is a two day walk, so they should get moving. Barnes doesn't want to be led anywhere by an Indian so Scalphunter takes a cue and leads Barnes to...PAINVILLE!

Angela breaks up the fight and says they HAVE to trust Scalphunter. Barnes agrees but he will turn the Indian in to the Fort authorities.

Later, as they are walking through the snow covered forest, a mountain lion leaps out of a tree and attacks them. Scalphunter draws his knife and prepares to vanquish the huge cat, but Barnes panics and unloads five shots into the cat. Davey goes bananas, telling Barnes that every Apache in the county heard those gunshots and now they are in deep doo-doo. On top of it, in the excitement, Angela twisted her leg and can't walk.

Scalphunter tells Barnes and Davey to hide the cougar in the nearby brush and then they will hide for the night in that nearby cave up on the cliff. Some time later, Davey is keeping lookout with a spyglass and sees some Apaches find the dead cougar. Scalphunter asks Barnes how much ammo he has left. Surprise!! He's empty, having panicked and unloaded on the cougar. Scalphunter then concocts a plan.

We see Angela standing out on a snowy overhang, not a care in the world as the two Apaches sneak up on her from below. Higher above her is Scalphunter, Davey, and Barnes. Scalphunter will take out the first Apache and Barnes the second. Scalphunter gives the signal and jumps, boots to the Apache's face. Barnes, however, totally has a panic attack and freezes in his tracks. Davey grabs a knife and jumps over the edge himself, knocking away an Apache that was sneaking up behind Scalphunter, but suddenly Davey is in trouble so Scalphunter finishes off his attacker and then rescues Davey.

Two days later at Fort Onondaga the General of the Fort hears their story and promises to go round up the Apache. He then asks how did Ke-Woh-No-Tay come to be teamed up with the Quakers. Barnes is about to spill the truth when Angela interrupts and says that Scalphunter was hired as a guide. A few hours later Scalphunter rides off with the scalps that will prove that he has completed his Death Stalk.

Statistics for This Issue
Men Killed by Scalphunter - 3
Running Total - 26
Compared to Jonah Hex- 26 vs 28 Jonah still leads.
Scalps Taken - 2
Running Total- 12
Injuries - Dropped on his head, knocked out with a rifle butt,
Timeline - This covers about two days.

I was getting ready to write this and then decided to check my draft folder. Surprise! I had written this waaaaaay back in 2012. It always pays to work ahead! I really enjoyed this issue. The cover was great with the tilt to the cover and I always enjoy covers where they incorporate the title of the book into a word balloon. I'm a sucker for that. 

 Death by pitchfork is another soft spot for me. There just isn't enough DbPf in books nowadays, in my opinion. Scalphunter's offering the scalp to Davey and the steps Davey takes during this issue as he matures were other good steps in the storyline. A fine ending to a multi-issue story. We wrap it up next week when Scalphunter returns with the scalps to finish his Death Stalk.

Weird Western Tales #43 "Feather for a Savage!"

Weird Western Tales #43 Dec 1977
"Feather for a Savage!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers and George Evans, art - George Evans, cover

We start off with a three page recap that brings us to the point where Scalphunter and Sixteen Hands are bound hand and foot as the bank robbers decide what to do with them. Pete, the leader, gets the idea to use the dynamite they had been saving for a big job.

The robbers set the dynamite a short ways from the captives, put an incredibly long fuse on it, light it and ride off chortling. Alone, Sixteen Hands confesses of his plan to kill Ke-Woh-No-Tay. Ke-Woh tells him to shut his yapper and then rolls upside down to dislodge a knife in his boot. Holding the knife he tells Sixteen Hands to cut his own bonds. Sixteen Hands does this, grabs the knife from Ke-Woh, cuts loose his feet and then throws himself onto the dynamite to save Ke-Woh-No-Tay.

The dynamite goes off and then Ke-Woh-No-Tay has to wriggle across the snow, pick up the knife in his teeth and cut himself loose. After all of that, Sixteen Hands is still not dead. He still has time to wish Ke-Woh-No-Tay luck on his Death Stalk and gives him his own feather, making him a warrior.

Off in the distance, the bank robbers hear the explosion and celebrate. Pete tells everyone to break up and head back to their old jobs. They can lay low for awhile since nobody knows it was them that robbed the bank. However, Ke-Woh-No-Tay overhears everything since he is high above them in the trees.

Several days go by and Pete and Bart are working in the barn. Suddenly they smell smoke. Pete runs out and finds some rags on fire on the ground and a huge white man raised by Kiowas leaping from the barn roof. He puts up a gallant effort, but Ke-Woh-No-Tay holds him down and stabs him repeatedly. Bart tries to intervene, but the Kiowa brave reacts instinctively and scalps both men.

A few days later, Mike and Red are hanging out in the blacksmith shop wondering why they haven't heard from Pete. They decide to mount up and mosey on over and see what's up. On the way over, Mike's horse falls into a huge covered pit and Ke-Woh-No-Tay leaps from an overhanging tree. As Read panics and turns tail, we hear the agonizing screams of Mike.

Red pulls up in front of the sheriff's office and runs in pleading his brother, Brett, for help. Red tells MOST of the story and gets Brett to help him find the Indian. Brett and Red use a shortcut to lie in wait for Ke-Woh-No-Tay and Brett gets a shot off, knocking the Indian off his horse and into the tall grass and cattails. When they rush down to inspect the body, Ke-Woh-No-Tay is gone. The men decide to split up and in a short time Red is ambushed by a bent sapling.

On his knees begging for mercy, Red watches as Ke-Woh-No-Tay slowly walks forward, grabs Red by the hair on his head and then buries his tomahawk into the man's skull. As Ke-Woh-No-Tay is taking Red's scalp, Brett shows up and his horse kicks Ke-Woh-No-Tay as he rushes Brett.

Brett, slips a rope around the Indian's ankles,, drags him to a nearby tree and hangs him upside down as he takes careful aim with his rifle...

Statistics for This Issue

Men Killed by Scalphunter - 4
Running Total - 23
Compared to Jonah Hex - 23 vs 22
Scalps taken - 4
Running Total -10
Injuries - Shot in head, kicked by a horse
Timeline - Several days and then a few days in Winter, 1865 (can we say a week?)

A seventeen page story with three pages of recap doesn't leave much room, but this one is packed with action. True, the dynamite was terribly slow and Sixteen Hands appeared to be able to live through almost anything, but the out and out savagery depicted in the scalpings really helped the book live up to its name. One thing bothered me, it seems like two weeks has gone by, so I'm wondering if Scalphunter is a dead man when he gets back to the tribe. (I'm not really wondering, I've already read all of these books. Just trying to build suspense.)

I'm liking the ongoing storyline and it's interesting that Ke-Woh-No-Tay's task is done, but he isn't out of the woods yet.

Next Issue: The wagon train of death, a killer cougar and...APACHE RAID!

Weird Western Tales #42 "Death Stalk!"

Weird Western Tales #42 Oct 1977
"Death Stalk!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers and George Evans, art - Alan Weiss, cover

Cantwell, Missouri, 1865. We last saw the town of Cantwell two issues ago, ya know, back in 1862.  Now, three years later, six men on horseback ride into town. They pull up in front of the bank and tell Brandy to keep watch. They go inside and rob the bank and the patrons, gunning down one old farmer. The bandana slips off of Red's face and a woman recognizes him as the younger brother of Sheriff Brett Harley.

The robbers are left with no choice but to kill the teller and the other three patrons. They run from the bank, mount up and ride off into the growing snowstorm.

Meanwhile in the snowy hills above town, Ke-Woh-No-Tay is teaching Little Bear how to hunt for food using only a bow and arrow. Little Bear wishes that Scalphunter had brought his rifle but gets a lesson on Kiowa preparedness instead. While Scalphunter cleans the deer, Little Bear chases down a fox and while trailing the fox, he comes to a cave where Bart and his gang of robbers are holed up. The robbers spot him and give chase, thinking that he heard something and can snitch on them.

Little Bear is running away but is soon surrounded by the six men on horseback. Little Bear panics and fires an arrow at Pete, who in turn get angry and shoots Little Bear. The shots alert Scalphunter and he arrives on a hillside overlooking the scene. As he draws back his bow, the robbers fire on him, grazing his head and the men ride off.

Hours later, Scalphunter comes to and rushes to Little Bear. He picks him up and sings his Death Song. Much later Scalphunter walks into the village with the body of Little Bear. He tells the story and Little Bear's mother is distraught. Another brave, Sixteen Hands Horse berates Ke-Woh-No-Tay as being a coward, afraid of the white man. Scalphunter responds..

Sixteen Hands pulls a tomahawk and rushes Scalphunter but is quickly cooled off by being thrown into the lake. The Chief finally shows up to see the ruckus and tells Scalphunter that there is only one way to remove the dishonor that he has brought upon himself. Scalpy must track down these six men and count coup with only a tomahawk and a knife and he has only two weeks (the Chief states that the moon is hiding and he has until the moon is full. That's two weeks, isn't it?) to complete this mission, otherwise, Scalphunter will die at the stake in place of the killers of Little Bear.

Scalphunter rides off and the Chief tasks Sixteen Hands Horse with following Scalphunter and if Scalpy wavers in his task, Sixteen Hands is to bring him back to the village. However, Sixteen Hands plans on exacting revenge upon Scalpy himself.

Five days later, the robbers are riding through a narrow pass and Scalphunter is hiding in the snow above them. Brandy, the alcoholic of the bunch, falls behind to take a snort on his flask and it's true that liquor will kill ya....

After a while, one of the men rides back to see Scalphunter holding up Brandy's bloody dripping scalp. Scalpy rushes him and plunges his knife into the man's ribs.

Up above, in the hills, Sixteen Hands is taking aim with his rifle in order to kill Scalphunter. Just then a grizzly bear (Seemingly possessed, as indicated by the red glowing eyes) rushes Sixteen Hands. Scalphunter hears the screams and realizes that Sixteen Hands is in danger. He grabs a rope from the dead man's horse and lasso's an outcrop and scales the cliff. He then rushes into the arms of Wa-Noh-Nah (the bear) and finally vanquishes the beast.

As Scalphunter turns to Sixteen Hands and demands to know why HE is there, the two Indians suddenly find themselves set upon by the four remaining robbers....

Statistics for This Issue

Men Killed by Scalphunter - 2
Running Total - 19
Compared to Jonah Hex - 19 vs 20
Scalps taken - 2
Running Total - 6
Injuries - Shot in head
Timeline - Six days in Winter, 1865 (really?)

I liked this book a lot, mainly because of the interior inking of George Evans. Evans is a gritty inker and it really makes the book shine. We also have the beginning of an ongoing story and I'm happy to see some continuity (even though it is three years off the mark...maybe).

Also, this is the first time that we have seen Scalphunter interacting with other Indians and it appears that he even is a member of a tribe. In past issues we have seen how Brain is not accepted by the White men but in this issue we see how he isn't fully accepted by his own tribe. The last we saw of the Kiowa tribe was back in issue #39 where a large bunch of them were killed. I liked the cover. At first I thought it was Alfredo Alcala, but then I saw the Weiss signature.

And this brings up one other thing. Our hero has four names; Scalphunter, Brian Savage, Ke-Woh-No-Tay, He Who is Less Than Human. In the book, he is rarely referred to as Scalphunter or as Brian Savage. The Indians always call him Ke-Woh-No-Tay (which they never translate as He Who is Less Than Human) but refer to each other as their translated names (Sixteen Hands Horse, Little Bear). So, with all that information, how shall I denote our hero? I would like to stay consistent (and I have tried three of the four names to see how they 'feel')

Next Issue: Things get really really bloody and there is a transfer of plumage!

Weird Western Tales #41 "The Black Seer of Death Canyon!"

Weird Western Tales #41 August 1977
"The Black Seer of Death Canyon!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers and Frank Springer, art - George Evans, cover

Summer, 1862. Brian Savage finds himself riding near the Canyon De La Muerte when he hears a man screaming for help. Turns out several men are terrorizing an old prospector when one of them is suddenly shot to death. Several of the men take off towards the cliffs where the shots came from, leaving behind one man to guard the old prospector. But, that idea doesn't pay off too well...

Brian grabs up the old man and runs off with the old man and his burro and attempts to nurse him back to health. The old man tells Brian that he was searching for his old pal Skeeter Short. Brian has to tell Skeeter that the old man, Muskrat Charlie, finally hit it rich and that he hid the map. All you have to do is look through the eye... the eye...needle....PLOTZ!! He's DEAD!!!!!

Brian buries the old man and the rides off with the man's burro in tow.

The next afternoon in a nearby town, the thugs that were killing the old man recognize the burro as Brian rides into town. They get an idea and tell the sheriff that Brian murdered the old prospector and stole the burro. Brian says that they are lying, that the men killed the prospector and resists the sheriff's attempt to jail him. One of the thugs pistol whips Brian, knocking him out.

Several hours later, the sheriff is bringing Brian a meal in jail, but when the sheriff tries to awaken Brian, he learns that the form on the cot is just a bundle of blankets. Brian drops from the ceiling and knocks out the sheriff and sneaks out the second story window of the jail. He jumps from the balcony onto a buckboard below, knocking out the driver, and then steers the team towards the livery. As he nears the livery, he jumps off, leaving the woman passenger at the mercy of the runaway horses.

Brian bursts into the livery in order to obtain his horse. He refuses to pay and rides off into the night. In the darkness the sheriff and the thugs laugh to themselves about how easily they let Brian escape so that he could lead them to the map and the treasure.

Several hours later, Brian rides up to needle rock and climbs up so that he can see through the eye. In the distance he spots a rock with a large X on it. Brian climbs down and heads over to the X and finds the map. Just then shots ring out and Brian topples over, the thugs come out of hiding and close in to recover the map.

Just then one of the thugs notices an African standing on a nearby boulder. The African is glowing and is wrapped in a large snake. Suddenly a spear pierces one thug, killing him, and the African vanishes only to appear behind them. He hurls the snake at the sheriff who gets squeezed to death and the remaining two thugs take off.

The glowing African then picks up Brian and takes him to a cave. Three days later when Brian comes to, the African explains that he is Wakwame, a shaman, a seer, a magician, a necromancer who can see the future and speak with the dead. He tells how he was kidnapped from Africa and there was a great revolt on the slavers ship. The slaves managed to kill the white men, but the ship crashed at sea and only he survived.

He gives Brian the map and tells Brian that the treasure house shall be the white men's tomb. Brian thanks him for his help and rides off.

A week later, Brian is riding along and finally locates Skeeter Short. Brian tells the story and Short busts out laughing because the map is for a mine full of fool's gold. Short says that Muskrat must have been senile and thanks Brian for his trouble. Brian rides off and suddenly Short is gunned down.

Brian hears the shots and rides back to find Short dead and the map gone. Brian has seen the map and knows where the mine is located.

At the mine, several of the thugs enter the mine and leave Lance to guard the entrance. They go in and find several bags of gold nuggets and then they realize that it's nothing but fool's gold. They look deeper into the mine and that's when they spot the real gold, further into the mine. Just then Lance stumbles into the mine with a large arrow sticking out of his chest. The thugs whirl around and see Brian standing at the entrance of the mine. One of them opens fire with his rifle and that sounds causes the entire mine to come crashing down on their heads, killing all of them.

Brian rides off, thinking about Wakwame.

Statistics for This Issue

Men Killed by Scalphunter -3
Running Total - 17
Compared to Jonah Hex - 17 vs 17
Scalps taken -0
Running Total - 4
Injuries - Pistol whipped 
Timeline - Eleven days in summer, 1862

All in all kind of a 'meh' story but it was nice to see Brian encounter an African witch doctor and what the witch doctor did with the glowing and the vanishing and the snake did help the book live up to the Weird in Weird Western Tales. The bit with Brian leaving the woman in the buckboard (and probably resulting in her death when the wagon eventually overturned) was a bit unsettling. I know it was supposed to be funny, but it really wasn't.

Next Issue: A bank robbery, blood in the snow, and the start of an ongoing story arc.

Weird Western Tales #40 "The Mark of a Warrior!"

Weird Western Tales #40 June 1977
"The Mark of a Warrior!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers and George Evans, art - George Evans, cover

It's been awhile so you might want to catch-up here.

Southwest Missouri, 1862. Miss Masefield, a blonde woman, is riding in a buckboard with Ed, a black man that works for her. Miss Masefield runs a newspaper and Ed is scared of what she has been writing, it might stir up trouble. Of course, it means trouble for Ed because at that very minute he gets shot in the chest.

Several men wearing white masks ride up and pull all of the papers out of the wagon. It seems that Miss Masefield is an abolitionist and declares so in her papers. The men set fire to the papers and then tear open the front of her dress when an arrow suddenly strikes one man in the chest. They all turn to see a horse with no rider bearing down on them. Too late they realize that there is an Indian hanging off the side of the horse and, using the horse for cover, shoots most of the men dead. The rest ride off, fearing for their lives.

The Indian, Scalphunter, examines Ed and states that he will live. Scalphunter then goes to the fallen men and scalps them all. Miss Masefield is appalled, but thankful for her life. Sclalphunter asks why she was attacked and she explains about the newspapers and her stand against slavery. Scalphunter mocks her for her writings but takes her into town to the doctor and then leaves.

She takes Ed to the doc (same one from last issue) and explains about the Indian. The doc chuckles and explains that is Brian Savage, the son of Matt Savage. 23 years ago (1839) Kiowas attacked the Savage ranch and carted off the young boy. Matt survived the raid and built a ranching empire, but about two months ago some troopers from Fort Caroline fought some Kiowas and brought back one, a white man, Brian Savage.

But Matt had died of TB but Brian refused to believe that he was born white and turned down the land that was left to him.

Back in town we find a Mr. Stockwell, who is very very angry. It was he that had hired those men to put Miss Masefield out of business and he has bigger and better plans to deal with her.

Later that night, in Southfield, Missouri, Miss Masefield and Ed are getting the next day's edition ready for the presses. There is a knock on the door and, thinking it is Brian Savage, Masefield opens the door. Sadly, it's Stockwell's men and they deliver a shotgun blast to Ed, killing him. They then take axes to the presses, pistol whip Masefield, and then torch the place.

They ride off and Miss Masefield comes to just as Scalphunter crashes through a window, scoops her up and carries her to safety. Scalphunter starts to leave, saying that he will find the men responsible and destroy them by Masefield asks to go along and then suddenly collapses. Scalphunter picks her up and takes her to the doctor.

The doc opens the door and starts to slam the door, stating that he doesn't treat Indians but Ke-Woh-No-Tay literally kicks the door off the hinges and tells the doctor to treat her or what is left of the doc's scalp will be used to braid a whip for his horse.

Several hours later Scalphunter locates Mr. Stockwell's place and finds the men who burnt the newspaper office. He is lurking outside but is discovered and brought inside. One of the men shouts that it's the Indian that attacked them. Stockwell starts hollering because his men had told him they had been attacked by a dozen Indians. Brian uses the distraction to knee on guy in the gut, but is suddenly brought down by being pistol-whipped.

Rather than killing the Indian outright, Stockwell decides to make an example of him and they haul Scalphunter to a grain mill and they tie him to a waterwheel to drown him. Stockwell's men leave and Brian uses a piece of glass that he has hidden in his hand. He obtained the glass when he kneed the one guy in the gut (causing him to drop a glass lantern). He manages to saw through his ropes and escape.

Shortly thereafter a flaming arrow bursts through Stockwell's window. Stockwell grabs a rifle and heads for the door, followed by several men. They see Brian standing in the darkness holding a bow and arrow. Before they can even blink, Savage grabs a rifle from behind him and kills them all. One last thug, the leader, sneaks out of the house and draws a bead on Savage as he leaves but is suddenly shot in the side of the head.

We discover that Masefield shot him with her rifle. Savage is not thankful. He says that a warrior must fight his own battles or stand shamed in the eyes of The Great Spirit and that a Kiowa squaw would know not to interfere. Masefield is incensed and demands to know why Brian showed up at the newspaper office, was it to learn to read (as she had offered earlier)?

Scalphunter scoffs and says that watching the wriggling maggots is a pastime for women and then he mounts up and rides off into the night.

Statistics for This Issue

Men Killed by Scalphunter - 9
Running Total - 14
Compared to Jonah Hex - 14 vs 12
Scalps taken - 4
Running Total - 4
Injuries - Pistol whipped and almost drowned
Timeline - One day and one night in 1862

This was a pretty good issue and fairly gruesome. Scalphunter starts living up to his name and we do see a guy shot in the head. I find it interesting that Brian Savage is hanging around Missouri and hating all over the white man's ways rather than heading out west. We get another heaping helping of the "noble Savage" (hee hee, see what I did there?) and how he refuses to acknowledge any hint of a desire that he might have to want to learn of the white man's ways. Also, I'm not sure how 'hip' it was in 1862 to use the term 'chauvinist'.

I enjoyed Evans artwork. I'm normally a fan of cleaner work, but Evans stuff here is gritty and has a loose flowing quality to it. I would like to see this reprinted on quality paper with better or no coloring.

It was also around this time that the TV show "The Quest" aired in 76. Coincidence? I think not. YouTube disabled embedding for this video, but here ya go, you can watch the whole pilot.

Next Issue: A map to a lost mine and the power of Voodoo!

Happy Birthday, Jonah. Happy Birthday, Michael

Yup, November 1st is Jonah Hex's birthday. Today would have been his 173rd birthday. Sadly, I didn't make him a cake, nor did I make a quick sketch. Susan, over at One Fangirl's Opinion, manages to write a heck of a post, presenting sketches and history that I hadn't seen or heard before (WWT was actually canceled? Why didn't I notice that?)

So have a slice of cake, drink a shot of something, read or watch a western, and thank everyone involved for giving us Jonah Hex.

It's also Michael Fleisher's birthday and he is 69. Happy Birthday, Mr. Fleisher.

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?!?!?)

Hex #18 "Thanksgiving"

Hex #18 Feb 1987
"Thanksgiving"

Michael Fleisher, story - Keith Giffen and Carlos Garzon, art and cover

An undisclosed amount of time after last issue, we find Jonah Hex and Stiletta on their motorcycle, plowing across a snow-covered countryside. Stiletta mentions that Mookie and Vance are cooking up a good Thanksgiving dinner, so she hopes Jonah is hungry. Jonah think it's odd that she can find anything to be thankful for in the sinkhole that the future is.

Just then a shot rings out, knocking Jonah off the bike and throwing Stiletta into a snowbank as the bike crashes. It appears that there are some structures around and Jonah takes cover behind one of them. Stiletta makes her way to Jonah's side, dodging the ongoing gunfire as she does.  She looks at Jonah's injury (we don't because Keith Giffen obviously hadn't drawn his way out of the wet paper bag yet to be able to show us anything understandable) and Jonah states that there is no way he can ride the bike to safety.  He tells Stiletta that she will have to go get help and reluctantly she takes off on foot.

Jonah starts looking for a place to hide and smashes in a basement window and crawls down inside the basement. We then see that there are three gunmen who are looking for Hex. They find blood drops in the snow and follow them to the broken window. They crawl down into the darkness and then they notice the smell...and the fuel hose coming in from the window. As the truth dawns on them, Jonah, who is now outside, tosses his lit cigar into the window, blasting the three gunmen right up to God's front door.

Jonah collapses into the snow, bleeding as heavily as ever and his mind races back into the past. Jonah is ten years old and is forced into a boy fight by his father. We see Jonah getting pummeled all because his father wanted to use the prize money for whiskey.

A loud pounding brings Jonah back into the present and he sees that six more gunmen have shown up, looking for the first three. Jonah makes tracks for another building as the new guys locate the remains of their comrades. They also see the blood spatters being left by Jonah and start searching. Jonah, in his hiding place has another flashback, this time to when he found a small raccoon and kept it as a pet. Back in the present, the thugs split up and one of them checks the shed that Jonah is in. as he pokes around in the dark, Jonah steps out of the shadows and slides a knife through his ribs.

The dying thug makes the smallest of sounds, but his buddies hear just enough to head to the shed to investigate. They bust down the door and find their dead friend. They see a hole in the wall and assume that Jonah has headed out that way and give chase. Jonah, however, is still in the shed and slowly slips into another recollection, this time about Thanksgiving dinner where Jonah and family, unbeknown to one of them, consumed the family pet raccoon. This leads to a fight between Jonah and Woodson, with Papa Hex using the Backhand-Beltstrap Combo that was outlawed in Street Fighter 7.

Jonah comes back to his present troubles, bleeding still, and tries to move from his hiding spot, only to stagger and collapse once again. Shortly thereafter, the gunmen, realizing that they can't find Hex and decide to doubleback. They find him on the floor of the shed and prod his body with their foot. A pistol pops up in Jonah's hand and two gunmen show up early for their appointment with St. Peter of Pearly Gate fame.

A third gunman gets his act together, draws his weapon and Jonah barely whispers "Better hang it up while you're still ahead, right?" The gunman turns to see Stiletta and a small army getting ready to use the remaining gunmen as target practice. The gunmen drop their weapons as Vance, the doctor rushes forward to tend to Jonah. They quickly get Jonah back to Vance's place.

Vance's place is a huge warehouse, location unknown and we next see Jonah is some sort of hoverchair, not as cool as Metron's but a step up from Niles Caulder. He is in a healing body stocking that not only monitors vitals be released meds in appropriate doses. Vance explains that all Jonah has to do is think and the chair will go where he wants to go. It seems that Mookie, Vance's wife, collects amusement park antiques, several of them from the early 20th century. Jonah's chair goes gliding through the collection as Jonah sees 'antiques' that are completely new to him.

Past the bumper cars and merry-go-round horses Jonah finally comes across...

He thinks that someone had made a statue of him after he got old but then he realizes that it isn't a statue, but a stuffed human. He recognizes his own dragoons and sits in silence, staring at his own corpse. Finally, one thought travels through his mind "Ah guess it means ah'll be goin' back home one day... after all."

The issue closes with Stiletta finding Jonah sitting in the dark.

Statistics for this Issue

Men Killed by Jonah - 5
Running Total - 483 (428 past, 55 future)
Jonah's Injuries - Apparently gutshot and almost bled out.
Timeline - There is no way to determine how much time passed between last issue and this, but it appears that this issue takes place in only one day.

And this is how it ends. The incredibly sad horrific life of a scarred man, far from home and unable to return, is brought to some sort of circle where the end turns back onto the middle. It makes me wonder what Jonah's viewpoint was after that. Did he have a concept that every day could be his last, once he returned to his present, and he was more cautious? Did he think that he had nothing to fear in the future and became even more reckless there? And as postulated elsewhere, (By Ms. Hillwig, I believe) what went through Jonah's mind in 1904 when Lew Farnham held up that exact same cowboy suit for Jonah to see, almost like the Death itself grabbing you by the shoulder and spinning you around?

All in all, a so-so issue. Giffen's artwork was actually helped by the addition of white space between the frames, but in some places the weird angles, overuse of ziptone, and using color to provide artistic detail rendered the work on par with Bobo the Incredible Painting Monkey (Ya know, the monkey with a glass eye and a hook for a hand whose other arm got mangled in that automatic banana peeler accident that the zoo tried to cover up. Yeah, THAT monkey). In the flashbacks, Fleisher got some of his own details wrong as if he were working from memory, much like Jonah, but unlike Jonah, I don't think Fleisher was suffering from blood loss. I do have to admit that the last four pages of the book are worth double the price of admission, so I would suggest that you grab a copy if you can. (When was the last time THAT was ever said about a copy of HEX?).

18 issues of the bounty hunter thrown into the future comes to a close. Was it worth it? Or should they have just left Jonah in the past, never to see his own corpse?

The issue is closed out with a letters page, the last letter by T.M. Maple himself.

Next Up: Ten short months later and Secret Origins presents us with the Secret Origin of Jonah Hex.

Hex #17 "The War with the Xxggs"

Hex #17 Jan 1987
"The War with the Xxggs"

Michael Fleisher, story - Keith Giffen and Carlos Garzon, art and cover

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT OOOOPS KABLAMMMM Tear drop.

Oh. You want MORE detail than that? ooooooooooookay. Hang on, cuz here we go!

Jonah Hex, our scar-faced time-displaced bounty hunter is the topic of conversation between S'ven Tarah and Stanley Harris. S'ven is astonished at how much havoc Jonah was able to cause when suddenly the guard drones drag Stiletta into the room. Stiletta is surprised to see Harris since she thought he went back to the past right before the Needle explosion. She takes out the guard drones and then I have no idea what happens. Don't believe me? YOU tell me what is going on in these three panels.

Meanwhile, three Xxggs are running loose through the compound, searching for S'ven Tarah. They also have these floating sidekicks (ala Skeet) by they appear to be organic and shoot and horrific power blast, at least that what I THINK is happening in these three panels.

Currently S'ven Tarah has realized that the Xxggs are in the compound and he has 30 minutes before he can launch his spaceship that will signal the future destruction of the Xxggs race. The Dogs of War offer to battle the Xxggs but S'ven reminds them that five of them are required to properly man the spaceship if its mission is to be successful. If even one of the Dogs of War perish, Earth (in the future) is doomed. S'ven decides to dispatch his guard drones to slow down the Xxggs to buy time until liftoff. The Dogs of War, along with Jonah Hex and Stiletta, take off for the spaceship.

During the quick race across the compound, Jonah asks if anyone can bring him up to speed. Harris explains S'ven's plan to alter the genetic makeup of the Xxggs race in this current time and the genetic weakness will snowball until the Xxggs can be defeated in the far flung future. Jonah replies that he is still in the dark on what is going on.

You and me both, Jonah, you and me both.

Across the compound, the Xxggs encounter the guard drone army and quickly dispatch the several hundred of them. S'ven, realizing that the Xxggs have not been slowed down enough does the only thing he can. He releases all of the prisoners, the criminals and the innocents that he enslaved, provides them with weapons and allows them to encounter the Xxggs. Thousands of slaves are released and when they encounter the aliens, they fight bravely, but are slaughtered en mass.

With time running out and the Xxggs having the run of the compound, S'ven orders the Dogs of War to fight the Xxggs to prevent the destruction of the spaceship, however, none of them may fall in combat. The Dogs of War embark from the skycraft that are using to get across the compound (when did they get into THAT?!?!?) leaving Jonah and Stiletta to their own devices. Jonah roots around the ship and finds a jacket that somewhat fits.

The Centurion encounters the first Xxgg and it's sidekick and blasts it with enough energy to "level half of Rome" but the aliens are unfazed and the Centurion has to retreat.

Harris encounters a Xxgg next and using his chronal aging powers quickly ages a huge wall, causing it to collapse on the Xxgg, but the alien is able to blast its way free and Harris beats a hasty retreat.

The Ninja is next up and with the swiftness of his blade is able to slice one of the sidekicks in half but there is some sort of explosion and a wall collapses and falls on him, crushing him. One of the sidekicks is laughing a hideous laugh when a huge arm jets up from the rubble and squishes the sidekick. It is the Demon that lives within the ninja. The demon states that he is sworn to forever thwart the ninja's hope of an honorable death and then retreats back into the ninja. As the Ninja realizes what has happened, we here the Demon state "Effortlessly could I destroy all your enemies if I chose, little ninja, but give me one good reason why I should."

Then we see....wait one cotton picking minute. The Demon could kill all the aliens but won't? The demon is sworn to protect the Ninja from an honorable death? Then why the hell didn't the ninja head out and take on the aliens all by himself? That would be an honorable death and the demon would HAVE to protect him and destroy the aliens. I ain't no ninja and I could get that demon to do MY dirty work. Sheesh.

Anyway, then we see the viking running toward a Xxgg with his battleaxe, he smacks the ground with it, causing the rocks that the Xxgg is standing on to crumble but then he heads out for the spaceship.

Next is the flying Manta Ray who quickly realizes the Xxgg are immune to his paralyzing stare and he heads for the spaceship.

By now S'ven is resigned to his loss when suddenly Jonah Hex breaks in on the comlink and quickly outlines his plan. Its crazy, but just crazy enough to work. Stiletta drops Jonah off in front of the Xxggs and he takes off on foot and the aliens give chase. Jonah runs down a tunnel and turns a corner. The Xxggs come around the corner, see the tunnel and head in, just as Jonah steps from the shadows and activates the forcefield, sealing the Xxggs within the tunnel.

Much much too late the Xxggs realize that the tunnel they are in is actually the exhaust damper chamber for the spaceship and as it takes off they are fried to a crisp.

With the ship safely in space and all of the Dogs of War safely aboard, S'ven thanks Jonah and Stiletta for their help and explains that he must go back to his own time. If he does not, the Xxggs will send more search parties. S'ven will wipe his mind of all knowledge of what has happened, they will capture him and realize that he knows nothing.

Jonah interrupts, saying that since S'ven has been talking about time travel could he send Jonah back home? S'ven states that the teleportation crystal that he has only has enough energy for one more trip. Jonah asks what will happen when S'ven returns. S'vwn replies that he will be mind-scanned and then executed...then he fades away.

Jonah and Stiletta are left among the smoking, burning ruins of the compound and Jonah looks upward. Stiletta asks "Well?" Jonah replies, "Nuthin. Just lookin that's all. Wondering if'n mebbe ah couldn't see 'em." and we are left to see a twinkling star that could be the spaceship that will save the Earth.

Statistics for this Issue

Men Killed by Jonah - 0 (Three aliens don't count)
Running Total - 478 (428 past, 50 future)
Jonah's Injuries - none
Timeline - same day as last issue

Well, like I said earlier, it's a lot of fighting and a little bit of sadness. Sadly, everything was out of character with Jonah being the one to figure out to lure the Xxggs into the damper chamber but he is the hero of the book. It's just that Jonah can hold his own against humans in the future, but you start throwing in super powers and alien races, and that stretches even MY willing suspension of disbelief.

Giffen's artwork is still a major downfall of this book and there are times that I realize that if this book is ever printed in black and white there is no way in HELL anyone could know what is going on. Personally, I think that he should be charged with fraud for posing as an artist. Does anyone know if Giffen got some sort of kickback from a black ink company? I have NEVER seen an 'artist' use so much of the stuff.

Next Issue: Jonah has one last shootout and makes a horrific discovery.

HEX #16 "The Slayer and the Slave!"

Hex #16 Dec 1986
"The Slayer and the Slave!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Keith Giffen and Carlos Garzon, art - Denys Cowan and Carlos Garzon, cover

Jonah has been captured and is now part of the slave labor in the camp that belongs to the Visitor From the Future. Having had enough, Jonah grabs a rock and attempts to bash in the head of one of the guards. But this only gets him pummeled by half a dozen guards.

Meanwhile, Stiletta has visited a doctor to learn the reason behind her sudden attacks. He tells her that her symptoms indicate that the mind control drugs are very slowly working their way out of her system. However, he has also located a 'booster' cell implanted in her and that accounts for her great strength and speed. He says that he can remove it but just then three thugs bust in and demand drugs from the doctor. Stiletta jumps into action, crushing one thug with a roof beam (I think, I'm not sure), she throws a knife completely through the second thug and it appears that she snaps the third thug in half. Stiletta decides to keep the implant.

Jonah is now being held in a cell, but he reveals that during the beating, he manages to lift an electronic key off one of the guards. He figures out how to work it and manages to unlock all of the cells in the compound. So there is a huge jailbreak and during the confusion, Jonah decides to not run with the crowd and hides in a drainage pipe until all the commotion dies down.

Meanwhile, in the far far far flung future, the Xxggs have figured out that the Visitor From the Future has escaped their clutches and is now in the past (yet still, our future). They dispatch a liquidation team to hunt down S'ven Tarah (so THAT'S his name!).

Back to Jonah Hex. He is still hiding in the drain pipe when a guard comes by and Jonah jumps out and tries to clean the guard's clock. Jonah and the guard battles it out with Jonah winning .

Stiletta? She has left the mining town and headed toward the slave camp in an attempt to locate Jonah. Once she sneaks in, she has one of her attacks and with her super strength, beats the ever-loving snot out of the guards. However, this raises an alarm and several hundred guards are dispatched to the area. Oddly enough, one of the guards has a terrible scar.

Appears that Jonah has donned the suit of the guard to beat up and he now is wandering the compound and comes across the giant starship that S'ven Tarah is building. Sadly, he also comes across the Starkad, the Viking from the Dogs of War. They fight, fight, fight, with Jonah taking most of the damage until Jonah douses him with gasoline and threatens him with a flamethrower (holy, Jonah Hex movie tie-in!!)

Suddenly Stanley Harris appears and sets everything right, introducing everyone all around.

Meanwhile, someplace in the darkness we see what appears to be a vehicle driving down the road. An alien looking arm appears, people scream, confusion reigns and we head for the next issue.

Statistics for this Issue

Men Killed by Jonah - 0 (this is getting old!)
Running Total - 478 (428 past, 50 future)
Jonah's Injuries - Crap beat outta him twice
Timeline - Again, no idea. A day? A week? phhggt

While there was plenty of action, this issue is like watching Raiders of the Lost Ark with my glasses off. Sounds like a lot happening, but I can't see a damn thing. Two issues to go!!

Next Issue: Fighting! Explosions! Tears! Anti-Climax!

Hex #15 "Chain of Doom"

Hex #15 Nov 1986
"Chain of Doom"
Michael Fleisher, story - Keith Giffen and Carlos Garzon, art and cover

Jonah Hex exits the cafe and meets Stiletta at the motorcycle. He asks if she has ever heard of a gang called the Dogs of War. She says that she hasn't and Hex relates the tale he heard in the cafe regarding an alien from the future. Hex decides to try to locate this fella to see if he has a way to get Hex back home. They both jump on the bike and head out but Stiletta starts getting dizzy and attributes that to all the drugs that were forced into her over the past few issues.

Conglomerate Headquarters! Yup, we're back at that palatial estate and none other than Chain is talking to the head man himself. Chain is demanding that he be allowed to kill Jonah Hex, but the Conglomerate has no beef with Hex since Jonah toppled the empire of Reinhold Borsten. Besides, they would never hire a loser like Chain. Chain responds to the insult by instantly killing once of the Conglomerate's thugs. The head guy calls for reinforcements and Chain quickly slices the head off one and cuts the other one in half, explaining that he no longer has a regular chainsaw for hand but now has a photon scrambler. Having made a shambles of everything, Chain leaves the room with the head of the Conglomerate quaking in his boots.

At the slave labor camp, our unnamed alien in doing an introspective recap and we learn that he is from the future that has been conquered by an intergalactic race called the Xxggs (pronounced Shhigs). There is no good way to condense this, so I'll go pretty much verbatim on this one.

The Xxggs cam from the star system Erqlahlia in a giant generational starship, that was both a ship and a homeworld. This allowed them to travel for generations, seeking planets to conquer and when they reached Earth, they swept across the planet. Their science and technology was so superior there was nothing Earth could do. Eventually, all of Earth was enslaved and our alien buddy hatched a brilliant scheme.

He would travel back in time preceding the invasion in order to built a starship that could intercept the Xxggs ship enroute to Earth and then utilize a Nucleotide Injector to subtly alter the Xxgg's gene plasma in order to weaken the Xxggs throughout the future generations, thus ensuring Earth a victory in the coming battle. In order to do this, the alien would utilize the help of the Legion of Superheroes, BUT while our alien was trying to go back in time to the 30th century, Reinhold Borsten was tossing 'time-nets' into the timestream to gather warriors to fight in his staged battles. Our alien friend was caught in one of those nets.

The alien strikes a deal with Borsten. If Borsten allows the alien access to all of Borsten's resources in order to build this ship, the alien would then create a band of super-powered being to allow Borsten to rule the world. The alien knows that Borsten has no chance of accomplishing this goal (since there is no mention of Borsten ruling the world in the future), so the alien is given a Norseman, a Roman Legionary, a Japanese Ninja, and a Maori Chieftain, as well as Stanley Harris (whom the alien caught himself after the Needle's destruction.) Got all that? Good, cuz there's gonna be a test later.

Back to Jonah Hex and Stiletta on their bike. They are traveling across the countryside and Jonah mentions that they are getting close to where the Road Reaper told him the slave camp would be. WAIT! But isn't the slave camp three thousand miles from New York? I looked back at issue #13 and I'm not so sure. The Dogs of War capture the Road Reapers 3k miles away from New York, but the location of the slave camp is never given.

But I digress. On with the story.

Suddenly there is a huge blast, narrowly missing the bike.

We cut to the Dogs of War talking how they just blew up a titanium mining operation. Is that anywhere Jonah Hex? I have no idea. Can't tell from the story and sure as hell can't tell from the art. But let's continue on, shall we? So the Dogs of War are standing around talking about the ray they used, given to them by the alien, would only cause the mine to collapse and not injure any of the workers trapped inside. The ninja, Sun Hawk, summons forth his demon who clears a path down to the trapped miners and then the Dogs of War take all the miners aboard their spaceship to work in the slave camp.

Elsewhere we see a lone ship flying over the landscape and it is piloted by Chain's little brother. He is searching for Jonah Hex but is having no luck yet.

Meanwhile, Jonah and Stiletta roll into the mining camp (so they must have only seen that huge explosion, not been the target. Thanks, Keith, for portraying that in such detail). Stiletta and Hex split up to question the locals in order to learn if this was the work of the Dogs of War. Overhead, Chain's little brother picks up Jonah on the video and then alerts Chain.

Jonah is talking to some locals, getting the skinny, when they suddenly scream that the monster's are back. Before Jonah can react, he is tackled to the ground by Chain.

In another part of the camp, Stiletta is getting sweats, cramps and then suddenly goes into convulsions, ripping up huge hunks of buildings and throwing them around.

The battle between Jonah and Chain is not going well for Hex who is only able to dodge the photon scrambler. Jonah pulls a pistol, but Chain reduces it to mere atoms. Jonah turns and runs into a nearby mine, knowing there will be something there to help even the odds. Chain follows into the darkness and comes upon and open explosives locker. As he takes in what he is seeing, a grenade sails forth from the darkness and explodes at his feet.

Jonah steps out of the shadows, silently thanking Mabel for teaching him about all the toys that the future holds. Just then the mine wall explodes and Chain sails through, knocking Jonah to the ground. Chain stands over Hex, gloating as Jonah tries to get to his feet. That's when Jonah notices that one of Chain's boots is broken and is throwing out sparks. Jonah goads Chain into getting closer and lures Chain into stepping into a shallow pool of water.

Science being what it is, the electricity and water mix in such a way that Chain is electrocuted as well as having the jets on his boots ignite, catapulting him up through the mineshaft and into the darkening skies. Jonah pulls himself to his feet and starts to find Stiletta, only to collapse unconscious.

Back in the mining camp, Stiletta has regained control of herself but has little idea of the destruction she has caused.

Jonah regains consciousness and heads back to the camp when he is suddenly covered by a huge shadow. He looks up just in time to see the flying Manta Ray from the Dogs of War unleash his paralyzing gaze and Jonah falls to the ground.

Statistics for this issue

Men killed by Jonah - Do we dare suggest that Chain is dead? Nahhhhh. 0
Running Total - 478 (428 past, 50 future)
Jonah's Injuries - Well, he once again gets the crap kicked out of himself and then gets hit with a paralyzing beam.
Timeline - Really, who knows? Let's just call it the same day as last issue. That seems about right.

Now about this issue. AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH. What in the ever loving HELL was DC thinking by letting Keith Giffen do the artwork on this book? His work on Ambush Bug was hard to understand but I did enjoy the book. Here, if possible, it seems that he just got lazier. I really feel sorry for Carlos Garzon who had to INK this crap. How many bottles of ink did he go through on each page? The biggest part of the problem with Giffen's work is that he wanted to be all cutting edge and he provides NO MARGINS between panels. Just a thin black line, and in work (cough cough) like Giffen's, a thin black line can be anything from a spaceship to a cute girl on the sidewalk. Hell, Little Lulu has more artistry than this guano-taco!!

The storyline moves deeper & deeper into intergalactic sci-fi and with a different star character that might be a good thing, but not here. Now it may seem odd that I am willing to accept an 1800's cowboy entangled with time-travel and a futuristic society but I draw the line at aliens and such. Maybe it's because that almost every time-travel story is about normal people encountering an advanced society and their problems with adjusting. Space aliens are usually NOT part & parcel of time-travel unless it is about aliens in the future traveling backward. Usually forward time-travel can find more than enough story fodder in the societal differences without having to bring in aliens and space travel.

You may have noticed a HUGE gap between the recap of last issue and this. I chalk some of that up to a hectic few weeks but I have to admit that I am not looking forward to wading through the next few issues. I'm gonna have to take the band-aid approach and just rip through them and take all the pain.

Next Issue: Stiletta gets all super-powered, Jonah vs a Viking, and the Xxggs finally land in the 21st century!!!