Pitchman-A-Go-Go #8

Back from vacation & time to open the Pitchman-A-Go-Go vault!
Who didn't either sell something from a comic book or dream about winning the wonderful prizes that those seed/greeting card/newspaper companies offered? I just wonder how effective this ad was back in 1958?

On the back of Action Comics?

As they say, "Make it work."

Weird Western Tales #27 "The Meadow Springs Crusade"

Weird Western Tales #27 Mar-Apr 1975
"The Meadow Springs Crusade"
Michael Fleisher, story - Noly Panaligan, art

Panaligan is back & the book looks much better thanks to him. We start with a women's suffrage rally in Kansas. Miss Todd is espousing how the state constitution needs to be amended to allow women to vote. Suddenly a lasso falls around her shoulders and five men wearing sheets and on horseback destroy all the signs and scare everyone away. They slowly drag Miss Todd away and warn her against causing any trouble.

After a short time they ride off, leaving the meeting in shambles. Five miles from town they ride past Jonah Hex who notes that it's a might early for Halloween and that their getup reminds him of some folks in Tennessee. When Jonah gets into town he heads for the sheriff's office where he encounters an angry Miss Todd arguing with the sheriff.

Sheriff Hillman isn't interested in chasing after men she can't identify and has no time to offer her protection. Jonah mentions that he'd like to get the $1000 reward for the dead men he has outside & they are getting pretty ripe after 4 days.

The sheriff has a brilliant idea and suggests to Miss Todd that she hire Jonah to protect her. Jonah thinks she's kidding about suffrage and comments that if women get to vote they would probably outlaw drinking. Jonah tells Miss Todd that she can buy him a steak and tell him all about the women sufferers. Miss Todd corrects him, saying that it's 'suffrage', not 'sufferers'. Jonah laughingly agrees, saying it will be the men that will be the sufferers.


During dinner, Miss Todd explains her crusade and how the men breaking up her rallies work for Curtis Thraxton, who owns a big cattle ranch. Thraxton don't want women voting since they will support a candidate for Governor that will change the water-rights policy of Kansas & Thraxton currently have control over all the water in the area. Jonah agrees to protect Miss Todd until the legislature votes the following week. Snce he hates taking money from women, he will only charge her $500.

A couple of men at a nearby table overhear everything and then report back to Thraxton. Thraxton's men offer to kill Hex, but Thraxton says that since Jonah has done nothing yet, they should kill Miss Todd.

That night they sneak into Miss Todd's hotel room and catch her asleep in a rocking chair, but it turns out to be Jonah in a shawl & bonnet.


















Jonah gets the drop on them & Miss Todd has a good idea for revenge. Jonah makes the men put on dresses & bonnets and parades them through the saloon.



















He then ties them to their horses wearing signs reading "We Support Women's Suffrage".

The men end up back at the Thraxton ranch where Thraxton devises a plan.

The next day a young boy finds Hex & tells him that Miss Todd has been hurt over at the Livery. When Jonah goes in he is ambushed and taken to Thraxton. Thraxton tries to reason with Jonah, offering him double to side with him. Jonah mentions that he only switched sides once in the middle of a fight and he has swore to never do it again. Thraxton then tells his men to take Jonah & shoot him.

The two henchmen take Jonah to a 2,000 ft cliff & as they are preparing to shoot him, Jonah jumps over the edge of the cliff. When one thug looks over the edge, Jonah, clinging to a small tree growing from the cliff-face, grabs the man's foot and pulls him over the edge. Jonah then grabs his knife and stabs the other thug in the chest who falls over the cliff as well. Jonah then notes a problem with his line of work is that he'll never make any money if he always keeps losing his knife & guns.

Back in town Jonah spends the rest of the week protecting Miss Todd until a telegram arrives giving the outcome of the legislative vote. The amendment was defeated. Jonah asks for his money which the weeping Miss Todd shove into his hands. As Jonah prepares to mount up & ride off, Thraxton and three of his men show up to draw on Hex. Jonah tries to warn them off, but they draw on him anyway. He guns them all down.

Jonah starts to get in the saddle but Thraxton is not dead. As he draws his pistol for the last time, there is a sudden gunshot and we see that Miss Todd has killed Thraxton with rifle. She tells Jonah that he owes her a favor for saving his life and demands that he wear an armband reading "Support Women's Suffrage". Jonah rides off in total humiliation.

Statistics for the issue
Men killed by Jonah - 5: 1 thrown off a cliff, 1 stabbed, 3 shot

Running Total - 81
Jonah's injuries - Knocked out with axe handle
Timeline - This one takes place squarely in 1867. The reference to the KKK and Kansas Women's suffrage dovetails nicely.

I enjoyed this story quite a bit. It is one of the more light-hearted stories involving Jonah, what with all the ribbing aimed at Miss Todd, Jonah in drag, and then the dressing of the thugs in women's clothes. I especially liked Thraxton's attempts to reason with Jonah & Jonah's response, alluding to his leaving the Confederacy.

The only thing that could have made the ending funnier would have been this:

Next Issue - Hidden Treasure, a Burning Stagecoach, and Jonah gets Crucified!!

Weekly Wonderous Moment in Comics #12

And if all that gorilla goodness wasn't enough, how about you consider this question (Since I'll be gone next Sunday). What happens when a trained circus ape escapes and tracks Batman & Robin to the Batcave?


Batman becomes a wise@$ and tells Alfred to keep the gorilla entertained!! And how does that sit with the man who singlehandedly manages Stately Wayne Manner? He gets torqued and lays down the law.

Ladies & Gentlemen, I present Bat-Ape!!

Batman #114

All-Star Western #11 "The Hundred Dollar Deal"

All-Star Western #11
"The Hundred Dollar Deal "
John Albano, story - Tony DeZuniga, art

First off, extra special thanks to Cesar for sending me scans of this issue all the way from Brazil. Second, since I'm trying to catch up on some posts, here is the second appearance of Jonah Hex.

This story starts off with a young man in a derby getting the drop on Jonah and stealing Jonah's horse. As the young man rides off, Jonah grabs his gun and draws a bead on him, but the horse thief faints and falls off the horse. Jonah catches up to him and as the vultures gather on the young man, Jonah mounts up to ride off.

The next page, Jonah has had a change of heart and is having target practice with the vultures when the young man wakes up. He tells Jonah that he only stole the horse to get away from three men who are after him, thinking he killed a man named Hillsworth. Jonah responds "Whut the blazes you tellin' me fer? Ah ain't no danged parson." The man offers Jonah $100 ($1,600 in today's $$) to take him back to his sister's farm. Jonah accepts the deal.

While they are riding, they encounter the three men who think that Jonah has probably aided in the murder of Hillsworth. The men suddenly recognize Jonah and pull their weapons. Jonah throws the young man off the horse and then shoots all three of the attackers.

That night, Jonah and the man show up at the farm. A woman comes out and Jonah drags the unconscious man into the house. After the woman puts the man to bed (she refers to him as Terry), she thanks Jonah Hex for bringing him back. Jonah tells her to keep the thanks & pay him the $100. Jonah explains that her brother offered $100 to keep Hillsworth's men away. The woman can't believe that her brother killed Hillsworth but just then the door swings open and Hillsworth's son and a couple of men pull guns on her & Jonah.

Jonah kicks the door shut, shots at the door & shoots out the oil lamp. Jonah jumps out the back window. The woman is huddled in the dark when she hears gunfire. The front door slowly opens and Jonah walks in. The woman throws her arms around Jonah and expresses her fear that Jonah might have been killed. Hex tells her to hold on and take a good look at his scarred face. She says that it's what is inside a man that counts and she grabs Jonah and kisses him. She hears her brother stirring and goes to tend to him as Jonah goes outside to bury the three men he just shot.

While outside, Jonah mulls over his options.



A week later, while Jonah is standing watch on a hill overlooking the farm, Terry tells his sister to pack her things to get ready to leave. She asks "what about Jonah?" Terry asks if she wants Jonah to discover that Terry & the woman are really married, that he lied only to get Jonah suckered in by her feminine wiles. As they head for the door, Jonah is standing there. Terry draws on Jonah but Jonah shoots the gun out of Terry's hand. Jonah takes both of them captive and heads them to town.

The deputy tells Jonah that the sheriff will be back from Dodge tomorrow and once they check Jonah's story, then he'll get any reward. Jonah starts to head across the street for the saloon, but the woman starts crying, begging Jonah not to leave. Jonah leaves anyway and as he is knocking back a bottle a salesman walks into the saloon selling jewelry. He offers to sell Jonah a very nice ring for only $100. The story ends with the salesman being thrown out the window.

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah - 6 men shot.
Running Total: 12
Jonah's Injuries - none
Timeline - Nothing to really give any clues as to when this story takes place, but it does appear to take place in Kansas, due to the refernce to Dodge.

All in all, a pretty good story with Jonah being deceived but eventually getting even. A nice view into Jonah's dealings with women. A very nice 2nd appearance

Next Issue: A name change for the book, an Indian Princess, small pox, and Iron-Jaws

Weekly Wonderous Moment in Comics #11

Okay, we've had Gorilla blow-gun Death Squads, Gorillas with machine guns, and Gorillas with swords. But that cannot possibly beat:

Electrified See-Through Gorillas with Purple Skeletons!!!
Batman #195
And if you think you CAN, I still have a secret weapon to beat them all!!

Watch yer Table Manners!!!!

Jonah likes his Tex-Mex

Weird Western Tales #26 "Face-off with the Gallagher Boys!"

Weird Western Tales # 26 Jan-Feb 1975
"Face-off with the Gallagher Boys! "
Michael Fleisher, story - Doug Wildey, art

The story starts off with the 5 member gang of the Gallagher Boys pulling apart the rails in front of an oncoming train. Naturally the train derails horribly and the Boys head for the payroll car. Jonah has been trailing them for 2 months and gets the drop on them during the robbery.

He kills one and then is forced to jump into the overturned payroll car to avoid being shot by one of the gang. They slam the door and lock him before they ride off. A few minutes a posse rides up (where they came from is anybody's guess) and assume that Jonah is part of the gang that got left behind. They cuff Hex and take him to town to stand trial.

Meanwhile, we get an interlude as the Gallaghers make their getaway. They are aided by local ranchers that hate the railroads. The ranchers misdirect the following posse and the Gallaghers end up at the home of Mack & Martha and their teenage daughter Debbie. It's very obvious that Debbie & Ben, the leader, have a flirting relationship.

Back in Poozle Junction (honest to God, that's the name of the town) Jonah is jailed and kicked into his cell. Later he is offered coffee and when he refuses, it's thrown in his face by the deputy.

Back in Virginia, it is raining in a graveyard as a surrey pulls up to a grave marker. The man with the Eagle-topped cane disembarks and lays flowers at the grave of his son. He rants for a few panels to his servant, Solomon, and then gives him a letter to mail. A few days later the letter finds it's way to the Gallagher's hideout. How the man in Virginia knows the Gallaghers or where to find them is never addressed (haw haw, addressed, git it?) but he has offered them $10,000 for killing Jonah Hex. Ben Gallagher convinces Debbie that Jonah is one of their gang and enlists her help to free Hex.

That night Debbie goes into town to take some soup to the deputy (who does recognize her). As he is scarfing down the soup, she slips the key ring to Jonah. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Jonah gets out of the cell, pulls a gun on the deputy, empties the contents of the ashtray into the soup and then forces the deputy to eat it. When the deputy stands up, choking on the nauseating mixture, Jonah cranks him in the head with the ashtray, knocking him out.

Jonah follows Debbie back to the ranch and as they enter the house Debbie comments how about Jonah's 'friends'. Before Jonah can respond, the door swings open and the Gallaghers usher Jonah inside at gunpoint. They sit Jonah in a chair & and mention they are getting paid by a ma in Virginia to kill him. Debbie intervenes since she's angry at being fooled & used. She shoves Ben, shouting that he's just a murderer.

Mack quickly responds by grabbing a shotgun from the mantle and tosses it to Hex. Almost everyone hits the floor as Jonah opens fire with both barrels, killing two of the gang and wounding a third. Ben starts to draw down on Jonah but Jonah literally busts the shotgun over Ben's head.

The next morning, Jonah leaves to take the gang to town & clear the slate with the sheriff. As he leaves he makes a mention that maybe someday the railroads will all go bankrupt and that maybe he needs to go visit Virginia.

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah - Four. 3 of them were shot and Jonah busted a shotgun across Ben Gallagher's head so hard that he appears unconscious the next morning (?). I'm assuming that he's dead.
Running Total - 76
Jonah's Injuries - Kicked in the ribs & hot coffee to the face
Timeline - Since this does contain a reference to the Man with the eagle topped cane it takes place prior to Jonah heading back to Virginia. This part of the timeline starts getting real sticky & I'm sure that we'll have to come back & revisit it. There is nothing else in the story to place it in the timeline.


I would rate this near the very bottom of Hex stories. The Doug Wildey art is very murky with the ziptone shading, that just doesn't work on newspaper especially when it is colored on top of it all. The story consists of Jonah shooting a guy, getting jailed, being freed, and shooting 3 more guys. If they had phones back then, he could have phoned it in. Also, Fleisher has a bad habit of making rewards in the thousands of dollars as opposed to hundreds that they probably were. Every dollar in 1875 is equal to sixteen in today's dollars. That means that $10,000 offer is $160,000 today. That, coupled with the bizarre unexplained way as to how the man with the cane knows how to find the Gallagher boys, just really seals the lid on a bad story that is already dead.

Next issue - Jonah rocks the vote & is revealed as a cross-dresser.

Not going in for a Hex-change operation

It turns out that guys currently writing Jonah Hex had an idea where Jonah encounters a couple that are unable to have children. Through one means or another, Jonah ends up being 'hired' to impregnate the woman, thus providing them with a family. The catch to the whole story? The family's name is Dent... as in Harvey Dent... as in Two-Face.

The big hoo-hah about this story seems to revolve around DC nixing the story and the discussion revolves around two things (how appropriate!): Did DC kill the story because it is in bad taste? and why this would be a bad idea for the character of Two-Face.

When I first heard this story idea, I let out a little chuckle and thought about the sweet irony in the story, but the more I think about it, the less I like it. It appears that people are not thinking about what this would mean for the Character of Jonah Hex.

Jonah does exist in the DCU, that much has been established. However, for me, part of the enjoyment of Jonah has been the time he existed apart from a world that had superheroes. He lived on a world where he could meet Bat Lash or maybe Scalphunter, but I never expected him to encounter El Diablo or a young Toby Manning. That would have moved him from a romanticized semi-realistic West into a West that could include aliens, demons, and all kinds of things.

But eventually this did happen. Jonah encountered the JLA, was in CoIE, time traveled to the future, appeared with Clark Kent’s ancestors, ran into Swamp Thing, and even had his corpse on display in a theme eatery. Okay, he’s in the DCU and having these events seems to bring a level of realism and continuity to the books they appear in (the non WWT, JH books) I think that they take a little bit away from the character & world of Jonah Hex himself. Jonah is a loner living an exile created by either society, his profession, his personality, or his appearance. But he is a loner and the few times he has allowed himself the luxury of friendship or love, all of the aforementioned things seem to conspire against him to destroy that relationship. He is doomed to be alone.

And I think I like the idea of him being alone in the DC publishing universe. A book alone amongst all the others. The one book that DC prints where they can say, this one is good enough and unusual enough to not get ensnared with this pot-luck of heroes that we print and have to re-boot their histories every few years. This book is about the man and his actions, not about guest stars or entangled crossovers into other books with writers that don’t understand the character.

Tying Jonah directly to the Dents and actually being an ancestor to one of the more famous villains is just a little too much to me. I can swallow the chance encounters, they really don’t alter either characters involved. So the Kents run into Jonah. Neither are worse for the wear. I can even take the slight reference to St. Roch in a recent Jonah Hex, but I think if do the Hex/Dent storyline a line may be crossed that will allow writers to take almost anything that happened in the 1870s and try to tie it to Jonah in an attempt to be clever. And then Jonah’s character will become a dumping ground for anything in “The Old West”. I don’t like it.

Jonah did have a son, Jason, and we have never heard of him since he was about three. I think that is completely fair. In our world there are groups of people, friends, families, that seem destined for greatness. Their name spans generations, their influence crosses centuries. But these folks are in the minority. There are even more folks that manage to make a mark/change on this earth but their families eventually merge into the rest of society, they become average. I think it most fitting that a man with Jonah’s drive, skill, and infamy would have a descendants that would become part of the normal population, thus leaving Jonah alone in history. The man who was abandoned by his mother, sold by his father, hunted by his comrades in arms, betrayed by his step-brother, scarred by his step-father, and finally rejected by his wife, ends up finally and totally alone, not only in the stories of his life, but in the publishing universe he lived in.

It's not the Bat-tusi, that's for sure

Because of this, you get this:

Just'a good ol' Bats

Never meanin' no harm.

Beats all you never saw

Been enforcing his own 'law'

Oops, he just broke your arm

Bustin the crooks

Cleanin Gotham

Someday the villians might win

But not ole Doc Wertham

He became this'a way

Cuz of a random killer

Used'ta be a little more sane,

That's before Frank Miller.

Just a good ol' Bats,

wouldn't change if he could

Runnin round with his 'pal'

Slidin' down the 'bat-pole'

A little more than he should

Makin' his way

The only way he knows how

That's just a little bit more

Than the law will allow.

I'm a good ol' Bats

You know my momma left me

Down in a pool of blood

Right there deep in the hood

in the apt named Crime Alley

Weekly Wonderous Moment in Comics #9

Tuesday is when a Jonah Hex review is posted, but this week's review will be forced to Thursday. To make up for it, here's a bonus WWMiC.
Tommy Tomorrow of the Planeteers has gone undercover to infiltrate a gang of outer-space outlaws. Here he gets to meet the gang.


I've had a gall stone & several kidney stones, but there is no way in H-E-double toothpicks I'm going to hear a doctor say "you're gonna have to pass Uranus stone". And what kind of bad-@$$ gang of crooks let's their boss mandate a dress code of blue swimtrunks, yellow leotards and hang signs around their necks?

Weekly Wonderous Moment in Comics #8

Normally the WWMiC shows up on Sunday but I was really really busy on Sunday. A friend of ours got baptized, we went out to lunch, I worked on Eldest Son's car. You know normal stuff.
Now, granted I wasn't as busy as some folks, like, say, Congo Bill. This guy has to run around the jungle with his sidekick Janu stopping diamond thieves, cornering crazed tribal chiefs, shutting down mean poachers, turning into Congorilla, babysitting movie crews, and facing

GORILLA POISON-DART BLOWGUN DEATH SQUADS!!!
also
Gorillas with Swords
&
Gorillas with Machine Guns

Pitchman-A-Go-Go #7

TASK FORCE!! FLYING COFFINS!!!! Only $1.50 EACH!!!! Why didn't I BUY THIS?!?!?!


Task Force - had 2 GIANT BATTLEFIELDS that covered 3 sq ft (so it was 3ft by 1 ft, not really GIANT) that has 6 Pacific islands!! Of course, Task Force sells for $3 in stores and is played by members of the real Armed Forces!!

But my favorite part is the blurb on Flying Coffins!!!
"A salute to the heroes of a bygone era when the average life span of an active pilot was 19 days and his choice was burning or leaping to his death. WHAT WOULD YOU PREFER??"

Also in Flying coffins you get 4 EXPLODING BARRACKS roaring infernos as roofs and walls blow apart. safe & reusable. Nothing like a good reusable roaring inferno!!

You could have purchased this from .... Helen of Toy!! back in 1971.

Weird Western Tales #25 "Showdown with the Dangling Man"

Welcome to everyone finding your way here from the Jonah Hex Corral. I try to post reviews on Tuesdays (I'm late this week) with an occasional extra review on Saturday). Thanks for stopping in. This week is somewhat ironic because Jonah is involved in a hanging and the current issue of Jonah Hex starts off with Jonah being IN a hanging.

Weird Western Tales #25 Nov-Dec 1974
"Showdown with the Dangling Man"
Michael Fleisher, story - Noly Panaglian, art

A three page intro covers a train robbery that results in a boxcar of Army supplies being stolen. Meanwhile, two of the holdup men decide to liberate cash & valuables from the passengers. Sadly for them, Jonah Hex is on the train & makes short work of both of them. Hearing the shots, the two men looting rifles from the Army boxcar hightail it out of there but not before gunning down a conductor that had pulled a rifle on them. Jonah unloads his horse from the train and decides to give chase because "Men whut so rude to law-abidin' folks frequently got a price on their heads".

Later the two train robbers come to Antelope Springs Way Station, a toll booth run by a slimy man named Silas Barfrey. Barfrey asks the robbers where the rifles are and they explain what happened at the train. They mention that a scar-faced man is pursuing the,. Barfrey tells them to hide in back of the saloon. Before Jonah can get to Antelope Springs Barfrey is confronted by an old man in a covered wagon heading west on the Oregon Trail. The man refuses to pay the $10 toll ($140 in 2006 dollars) . Barfrey tells the man that he can go around the toll-gate and the town, but he had better watch out for the pools of quicksand in the surrounding marshes.

Jonah show up in town shortly after the old man leaves and is welcomed by Barfrey. Barfrey buys Jonah a drink & explains that he hasn't seen the men Jonah is after. Just then, a man runs in hollering about the old man getting stuck in the quicksand. Everyone heads out to see the action. The old man has managed to crawl from the marsh but everything he owns gets sucked into the wet sand. The man turns on Barfrey with a knife, blaming him for the loss of the wagon. Barfrey guns him down in cold blood saying all the while that his toll is perfectly legal. Jonah mentions that it may be legal, but it stinks. Jonah decides to ride to nearby Fort McPherson to report the train robbery and investigate if the toll gate is on the up and up.

On his way, Jonah encounters a covered wagon trying to outrun a buffalo stampede. Jonah tries to aid the wagon but the wagon makes a sudden turn out of the path of the buffalo and almost runs Jonah over in the process. The wagon is driven by a widow and her two young sons. Her husband died of cholera just that morning. Jonah offers help burying her husband, but she refuses and says that after they are done they'll load up supplies in Antelope Springs and head on west. Jonah leaves them and continues on to the fort.

At the fort, jonah reports the robbery & his suspicions about Barfrey to Col. Crandall. The Col. states that he will investigate. Jonah heads back to town but on the outskirts he sees the town gathered around a pool of quicksand. The widow's wagon is being sucked under along with both of her sons. Jonah manages to lasso the woman and drag her out but the entire town watches her sons as they sink beneath the sand. The woman blames Barfrey for her son's deaths and Jonah, fed up with everything, heads back to the fort to set things straight once and for all.

When Jonah gets to the fort, he overhears the Col. talking to the two train robbers about how he gets a cut of the sale of the stolen rifles. Jonah breaks in and kills one of the robbers but not before a stray bullet kills the Col. Soldiers come in and the other robber blames the Cols death on Jonah. Jonah fights his way out of the fort & heads back to Antelope Springs.

As he nears the town, he spots a piece of cloth stuck to a sign warning about a lime pit. Stopping to investigate Jonah finds the lime ravaged corpse of the widow. She has been murdered with an axe and tossed into the lime.

As Jonah contemplates his next move, the surviving train robber shows up and pulls a rifle on Jonah. Jonah turns and throws a hatfull of lime into the robbers eyes and as the lime is dissolving the robbers face, Jonah guns him down.
Jonah heads back into town to discover that the townsfolk are fed up with Barfrey and they are getting ready to hang him from his very own tollgate. Barfrey pleads with Jonah to take him in. He is a criminal so Jonah can get a reward for taking him to the fort. Jonah states that there is no reward on Barfrey's head so he ain't interested. As Jonah rides off, the townsfolk whip the horse Barfrey is on letting him hang from the tollgate. Then they set fire to the tollgate & Barfrey's corpse.

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah - 4 men shot

Running Total - 72
Jonah's injuries - 0
Timeline - The Oregon Trail was in use from 1841 to 1869. Since Jonah is scarred here, it is after 1866 but I would place this story around 1868 or 69 since he is not wearing the black hat he had in 1867. Brandon, in research, discovered that Fort McPherson was located in Nebraska and since the Oregon Trail went through Nebraska & there is quicksand along the Platte River, everything seems to jive for this taking place in Nebraska.

This is one of the more morbid stories I've seen. The rotting skeleton in the lime pit, the kids drowning in the quicksand, the faceful of lime, and then the burning corpse were all incredibly gruesome. The cover was one of the best ones that Weird Western Tales ever had, perfectly capturing the weird part of the title by having Jonah and his horse rising from the quicksand.

Panaglin's art is fantastic. I especially enjoy the layout of the title page with the circle with Jonah's name in it. The whole issue is very cinematic with the artwork flowing over the panels (like Dezuniga) and some panels not having any lines seperating them at all.

Fleisher's writing was good with some nice comedy bits giving insight into Jonah's character and even his past (when he mentions that he hates stockade food). One of the best issues in the run.

Next Week - More train robbers and a new artist

Weekly Wonderous Moment in Comics #7

Sometimes, just sometimes, you don't need to say anything else.


..except maybe they should have added the words "the elevator". Heck, this meant the same thing back in 1975 that it means today. I could never figure out why Superman was so scared. The fella must have some issues or something.

We got nominated!!!!

Matching Dragoons has been nominated for Best Unusual Blog for the 2006 Okie Blog Awards. You can read all about it here and, if you're eligible, vote for your favorites.

Pitchman-A-Go-Go #6

An American Indian Hand Wrestling Machine. Wow! It doesn't say which tribes it's endorsed by, but I'm sure they wouldn't lie. It comes with adjustable tensioners, a padded armrest, and it clamps to a table.

The other thing it does, & they don't tell you this, is that it somehow places your left hand on your right arm, as shown in the drawing.

So the next time you want to hand wrestle an Indian, plunk down your $7.98 and practice, son, practice. And since no partner is needed, you can practice at any time. (wink wink, nudge nudge)