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 #58 "Weep the Widow"

 Weird Western Tales #58 August 1979

"Weep the Widow"

Gerry Conway, story - Dick Ayers & Romeo Tanghal, art - Luis Dominguez, cover 

Southeastern Maryland, close to midnight in early September, 1862.

Scalphunter is crouching high in a tree, watching the three Union soldiers walking below him. They are drinking from jugs and are obviously drunk. They are discussing how the killed a Sergeant and deserted the Army. The men, Jake, Jeremiah, and Rudolph, are talking about how the money looked good when they signed up, but taking orders and getting shot at was not for them. They unexpectedly come upon two Confederate soldiers and they gun they down without warning.

Scalphunter readjusts his stance in the tree and a branch breaks. The soldiers stop and look around and figure it's an animal or their imagination. They then head out looking for a farmhouse to shack up in.

Some ways away, in a farmhouse, a mom, Mrs. Lansing, is telling her son Richard to put away a pistol. Richard is eleven and says that dad would have let him practice, but the mother said the boys dad is dead, killed by the war, and she won't lose another to guns. Just then the door swings inward and Scalphunter stands there, silhouetted in the full moon. Richard panics and moves to protect his mom and fires the pistol. The shot goes wide and Scalphunter reaches out and snatches the pistol from the boys hands. He picks the boy up and lays him on the table as Mrs. Lansing rushes towards him.

Scalphunter grabs her by the wrists and says he comes to warn them of danger, and it does not come from him. He is a Kiowa warrior and has no reason to harm them. If he had wanted to, he would have done so already. He had been traveling north from Virginia and came from the Battle of Bull Run. He saw the slaughter and there was no honor in it. Many men died and were maimed in the butchery and then he saw three men, cowards all, flee into the woods. Most of the other soldiers were boys, but these were men who should not have behaved like children. They should have been men but they were stopped by a sergeant and they turned on him and killed him with a bayonet. Scalphunter followed them, feeling they were a danger to others.

Less than an hour ago they were two miles from the cabin and as he finishes his tale, the three soldiers walk into the cabin with their rifles drawn. Richard screams and rushes at the men but his mother pulls him back. Scalphunter leaps at them like a mountain lion, slamming two of them out through the door into the night. He grabs one by the neck as the one on the cabin takes a shot. Scalphunter quickly dives onto the porch and kicks the man back into the cabin. As he stands an turns to the men outside he is unexpectedly struck from behind with a frying pan and goes unconscious.

Richard asks his mom why she did that. She says that Scalphunter would have killed the soldiers and she couldn't let that happen and remain a Christian woman. She says it's better to let the soldiers take what they want and be on their way. The soldiers approach her, leering and agreeing that is just what they are going to do.

Quite some time later, Scalphunter is thrust awake by a pan of cold water thrown in his face. He sees Richard tied, like a dog, to the table, Mrs. Lansing is on the floor, her clothes torn and she is sobbing. Scalphunter himself is tied to a rafter, bound at the wrists, his arms straight out. One of the soldiers asks Mrs. Lansing if it time they finished up, with the implication that they all have had their way with her. She sobs, begging them to leave, haven't they done enough. The ringleader says she and the Indian have to pay for thinking they're better than the soldiers, hell, they have feelings too.

Mrs. Lansing begs God to forgive them and they say they don't need God, they have guns and they have torches. Since she has been talking so much about God and Hell, maybe she would like a taste of real hellfire. With that, they set the cabin afire and as they leave they notice that Scalphunter is just staring at them. The soldiers leave laughing as the flames lick and eat away at everything in the cabin. The fire climbs up the to the rafters and starts burning Scalphunter's bonds, burning his skin along with it. Finally, with all the strength of a Kiowa warrior, Scalphunter breaks free and grabs the unconscious form of Mrs. Lansing and runs her outside.

He lays her safely on the ground and rushes back in to save Richard. He unties the boys rope (he is now tied to a post?!?!) and as they exit the cabin, Richard grabs the pistol off the table. As they stand safely outside, the cabin is engulfed in flames and collapses. Mrs. Lansing asks Scalphunter if he will find the men, hunt them like animals and kill them. He replies that after what they have done she actually asks (as if it would be a foregone conclusion). Richard says he is going along.

Mrs. Lansing begs him not to, it will start a cycle of revenge that will ultimately result in more and more death. It is all because of the war. Because of the war his dad is gone, because of the war the men came and if he goes, he will be part of the war. Scalphunter hands the pistol back to Richard and then silently walks away and leaves them in the darkness.

Morning dawns and Scalphunter walks away from three dead soldiers, scalps in his hand, dripping fresh blood.

Statistics for this issue

Men Killed by Scalphunter - 3

Running Total - 106

Compared to Jonah Hex - 20th appearance and Scalphunter has 106 vs Jonah's 84 (in WWT #30)

Scalps Taken - 3

Running Total - 17

Injuries - Hit on the head, knocked out and almost burned alive.

Timeline -  This issue covers one night and the following morning.

This was a pretty good issue, with Scalphunter living up to his moniker and finally unsheathing his blade.  Tanghal's inks are much more fluid than Dominguez's and we do some really awesome frames. I'm not so sure on Richard and his mom, they seemed pretty trite in their characterization, but this IS a comic from the 70's and we did need to keep the story moving along.

The ads were somewhat lackluster but there was one for a Jonah Hex digest.

Next Issue: The Weird returns as does Michael Fleisher. What else do you need to know?

Weird Western Tales #57 "The Correspondent"

Weird Western Tales #57 July 1979

"The Correspondent"

Gerry Conway, story - Dick Ayers & Luis Dominguez, art - Luis Dominguez, cover 

August 28, 1862, just southeast of Bull Run, Virginia. Night. Ke-Woh-No-Tay is tending a fire as two Union soldiers walk up behind him, whispering for him to not move. They say they want two things, Who is he and Why is here? He says that he is Ke-Woh-No-Tay, a Kiowa, and as for why he is here? He doesn't explain himself to children. He grabs a flaming stick and rushes one soldier. He grabs the rifle barrel and shoves the torch into the man's midsection. He then swings the rifle free of the man's grasp, clocking the other soldier upside the head with the butt of the rifle.

The first soldier fights to extinguish the flames on his coat and Scalphunter tells him to put sand on the burns to ease the pain. The man lives because Scalphunter has no reason to kill 'unwashed boys'. The soldier does just that, falls to the ground and then pulls a pistol from his coat. To that, Scalphunter puts up his hands and laughs 'like a man newly reborn'.

Twenty minutes later the two soldiers being Scalphunter into the Union camp outside of Bull Run. It is the Army of Virginia commanded by General John Pope and tomorrow will see the battle of 'Second Bull Run'. The two soldiers bring Scalphunter to the Captain's tent and they say they think he is a spy. The Captain agrees and asks Scalphunter for an explanation.... or else. Just then a man steps forward and says that no explanation is needed as HE will vouch for Scalphunter.

The man is Lemuel J. Broderick, reporter for the New York Herald. Broderick was in Washington and saw Scalphunter at a reception hosted by President Lincoln. With street cred like that, Scalphunter couldn't be a Rebel spy. The Captain then makes Scalphunter Broderick's responsibility so he acn wash his hands of the whole thing, and then walks off. Broderick then explains that he is a war correspondent, one of the best, if not THE best. The two men sit down to a very late meal and Broderick explains the pickle he is in. 

His editor expects good stories and lots of them because battles sell papers. The problem is that the battles are two few and far between, sometimes for days. Some correspondents make up battles, for who back home would really ever know. But Broderick has scruples, he only writes about what happens even if, well, even if he has to instigate the conflict himself. Now, since Scalphunter was out in the woods he would know where the Rebel patrols are so all that needs to happen is for Scalphunter to lead Broderick and the Captain and some men to ambush some Rebs and...

Scalphunter quickly refuses any part of that but Broderick just as quickly points out that even without Scalphunter the patrol will be arranged and maybe innocent Union soldiers will die because of it. Broderick lights up a cigar and walks away. Scalphunter reconsiders and tells Broderick that he will help.

An hour later the patrol is working their way through the forest, following Scalphunters lead. He is leading them to the Southeast but only Scalphunter knows that the Confederates are to the Northwest. After another thirty minutes Broderick is starting to smell a rat and confronts Scalphunter, grabbing him by the shoulder. Scalphunter quickly backhands Broderick, calling him a corpse scavenger. Two soldiers in the patrol rush Scalphunter and he sidesteps one, grabs him and flings him over a cliff. The second one he then grabs, hoisting him over his head and throws the soldier into the approaching four remaining soldiers in the patrol.

Broderick comes to from his slapdown and shoulder butts Scalphunter over the edge of the cliff where he strikes his head on a ledge and falls unconscious. The soldiers then pull up the first soldier and Broderick then leads the patrol to the Northwest. 

Some time passes before Scalphunter comes to and then starts following the trail that the patrol took. For almost an hour, Scalphunter fights back the effects of a concussion but eventually trips on some forest undergrowth landing perilously close to a rattle snake. The snake rears up, coiled to strike and Scalphunter slowly pulls his knife when suddenly a Confederate soldier appears and takes aim. Scalphunter has to chose and quickly throws the knife into the soldiers neck as the snake sinks his fangs into Scalphunters forearm.

Scalphunter retrieves his knife, cuts open the wound and sucks out the poison and collapses.

Morning dawns and Scalphunter awakens and locates Broderick and the patrol that has been wiped out. Broderick is mortally wounded as the patrol was ambushed by a Rebel patrol of at least twenty. He begs Scalphunter to help him, get him to medical help but Scalphunter states that all Broderick longed for was a story and now he has it. Broderick needs nothing else from him.

As Sclphunter turns and walks away we are left with Broderick bleeding to death, crying for mercy and help with his last breath.

Statistics for this issue

Men Killed by Scalphunter - 0, surprisingly

Running Total - 103

Compared to Jonah Hex - 19th appearance and Scalphunter has 103 vs Jonah's 84 (in WWT #29)

Scalps Taken - 0

Running Total - 14

Injuries - Snake bit and a concussion.

Timeline - At best, three days from the prior issue. This issue covers one night and the following morning.

Not a bad story, we get a unethical reporter who will happily let other folks die so he can get a story. The real danger to Scalphunter only comes from soldiers trying to shoot him or fight him and the one snake. Broderick really isn't a danger but more of an evil for Scalphunter to play off of. The ending is somewhat typical, the hero walks off as the bad guy dies, begging for mercy. It had been done a LOT and much better than this issue.

In the ads, Batman and Hostess cupcakes realize "Someone is Kidnapping the Great Chefs of Gotham City." An obvious nod to a similarly named film.

We get two sports ads, one with O.J. Simpson and the other with Pete Rose. Some great examples for the kids to emulate. 

Next Issue: Scalphunter and a Cabin in the Woods!