Jonah Hex #38 "Iron Dog's Gold!"

Jonah Hex #38 July 1980
"Iron Dog's Gold!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dan Speigle, art - Luis Dominguez, cover

Jonah is riding along a river when he spots an Indian on a cliff across the river. The Indian is shot and falls into the river. Jonah jumps off his horse, strips off his boots and shirt and dives in, swimming across to save the Indian. Once Jonah pulls the Indian to shore, he recognizes the old man as Iron Dog, chief of the Cree tribe.

Iron Dog gives Jonah an old elk skin that has a map on it and then he expires. Just then Jonah finds himself surrounded by Hoby Callender and eight of his thugs. Hoby orders one of his men to take the map from Jonah. Jonah obliges by breaking the thug's arm and then tossing the map into the river. Hoby says that the map leads to a sacred Indian canyon full of gold. There is an old blind prospector in the group that verifies the truth of the story since he has seen the canyon himself.

Several of Hoby's men are ready to kill Jonah, but Jonah reminds them that he is the only one among them that has actually seen the map and has it memorized. Hoby agrees with Jonah and they strip him of his guns and then Hoby, realizing that one of his men now has a broken arm, shoots and kills the injured thug.

Once they are on the trail, Jonah asks the old prospector how he and the young boy managed to throw in with the Callender gang. The blind prospector recounts the story from 30 years ago how he came west to find gold. While he was prospecting, his mule wandered off. The prospector followed the mule across an old rope bridge and then into a green canyon where the gold was just sitting on the ground and there were veins of gold ten feet across running up the canyon walls. However, the Cree discovered him in their burial ground, stabbed out his eyes and drove him off their land. The prospector has been trying for years to find people to help him get back to the canyon, but nobody would believe his story. Hoby offered to help for 50% of the gold. The prospector said that last week he and his grandson had learned about the map and they were unable to convince Iron Dog to part with it.

Jonah tells the old man that he's a fool if he thinks that Hoby will split with them, IF they manage to get out of the canyon alive. Just then a Cree warrior takes aim from a rock high above the traveling group. Two shots later, two of Hoby's men are dead and now the whole gang is pinned down behind some rocks. Jonah says their only way out is for Hoby to untie his hands and give him his pistols back. Hoby says that is a fat chance of that and orders one of his men to go kill the two Cree that are shooting at them. Aaaand....



Hoby now sees that he needs to release Jonah but doesn't give him the pistols. Jonah sets out up the rocks, sneaking up behind the two Indians. He stabs one with a thrown knife and tackles the other one, throwing him off the cliff, but not before the Indian gets off a shot. Triumphant, Jonah grabs a rifle from the stabbed Indian only to find it is out of shells and of no use to him to go up against Hoby. The other rifle went over the cliff with its owner.

Two days later, the entire group arrives at the rope bridge the prospector told them about. They are suddenly beset upon by several Cree on horseback. Hex and the rest dismount and lean their horses across the bridge as fast as possible. Once Jonah, the old man, his grandson, and Hoby are across, Hoby pulls out a knife and cuts the ropes, sending the rest of his men and the Cree falling to their deaths into the canyon below.

They continue on, eventually finding some rock steps leading down into a canyon containing a burial ground. The grandson starts picking up nuggets but Hoby says they need to come to an agreement on how to divide the find. Then he shoots the old man and the grandson but his pistol shots start an avalanche. He and Jonah run for the canyon wall and Hoby pulls a pistol to kill Hex. Just then the grandson, with his dying breath, shoots and kills Hoby Callender.

Jonah climbs on out of the canyon, mounts his horse and rides off.

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah - 2 Indians
Running Total - 272
Jonah's Injuries - none
Timeline - This story covers about three days and could occur any time in Jonah's history.

This wasn't too bad of a story. I didn't care for Speigle's artwork. It seemed way too much like something found in very old westerns and Hoby struck me as a caricature, not unlike the Dick Tracy villains. All in all, it was pretty mediocre.

Next Issue - Jonah Hex and a Samurai. What else do you need?

Wednesday? Check! Hembeck? Check!

I almost forgot that it's Wednesday

July 1980

The color separation on this one is pretty bad, I may try to clean it up at a later date.

Pitchman-A-Go-Go #23

Not only did Charlton comics have crappy war stories, they even had crappy ads. This one, from Turkish Taffy will give you a great portable TV or a blow dart set if you can write your name. I don't see where this is void in Arkansas, but I'm thinking it just assumed based on the criteria for entering the contest.

I won't mention how disturbing the logo B for the Bonomo Turkish Taffy is.

Weekly Wonderous Moment in Comics #19

And people wonder why Charlton doesn't publish war comics anymore? The placement of the orange machine gun barrel was probably more than enough to kill this comic. I just wonder what it would have looked like had it been drawn by Alex Ross?

The Many Phases of Jonah Hex - The Historical Hex

Michael Fleisher picked up the reins of Jonah Hex with WWT #22 and he never looked back. Starting in that issue we got hints of Jonah's past in the Civil War and the first glimpse of Quentin Turnbull. The Historical Hex lasted from WWT #22 through Jonah Hex #41, a full 60 issues if you include the Christmas special.

Fleisher took a great character and made him even better. The bounty hunter is a romanticized figure in American culture. A mysterious bounty hunter is even better. A hideously disfigured mysterious bounty hunter is the icing on the cake. But, realistically, how far can you take a character on mystery alone? You can get a load of creepy stories, but they are just creepy stories and they eventually fall flat. Look at El Diablo as exhibit #1. Fleisher took a character that was good for probably 50 issues, max, and fleshed it out so that is survived for over 160+ issues and three different incarnations (Jonah Hex, Hex, & Vertigo).

During this time, the presentation of Jonah's face actually started mirroring his past. With Albano, Jonah's scars and his past were hardly seen, both were something only hinted at. With Michael Fleisher at the keyboard, Jonah's scarred face was seen constantly and we were also treated sporadically to hints of his past, mostly his childhood and his years in the Civil War. The more we saw his scars, the more we saw of his past. There were a few times we saw Jonah post war, his scarring and his first foray into bounty hunting. The years that were mostly missing were 1854-1861 (his escape from the Apaches until the Civil War, ages 16-23), but this gap is addressed later on, near the end of the run of the first series.

During this time we learn that Jonah's dad, Woodson, is a drunken child abuser. Jonah's mother, Ginny (possibly short for Virginia) helped raise Jonah as well and we learn more about her in issue #57. Woodson was a single father for three years and then sold Jonah into slavery to the Indians. Jonah saves the chief from a puma and for the first time is accepted by a 'family' and adopted into the chief's family. But this would be short lived as well, since Jonah is abandoned once again by his step-brother (the chief's son).

So before Jonah has turned 20 he has had a pet raccoon slaughtered for dinner, has been abandoned by his mother, been abandoned by his father (in exchange for pelts), & left for dead by a 'brother'. This abandonment obviously set Jonah up for not having many emotional attachments as he got older. We never see his having steady friends, the few he has show up only to die later in the story and while this is obviously a mere plot device, it also tells us a lot about a man that is content with his chosen profession of constantly being on the move and constantly hated.

But what steered Jonah towards the Confederacy? We know of hints that he worked as a scout for the U.S. Army even as late as 1859 (we learn this in issue #65), but we can only assume by Jonah's 'accent' that his family was originally from the South and that after more 'abandonment' (#65) he heads back home to his roots. Somehow, he becomes friends with Jeb Turnbull and they both join the Confederacy. Then in Jan. 1863, Jonah actually has a chance to take control of his life. He quits, or abandons, the Confederate army in the most noble way he knows and refuses to betray his fellow soldiers. But Jonah is betrayed by an evil Union Corporal, leading to the death of his best friend and the constant hounding by Quentin Turnbull.

Sadly, Turnbull, who Jonah had obviously turned to as a father figure, being the father of his best friend, morphed into a copy of Jonah's real father. Turnbull, former friend, was now a constant threat in Jonah's life, seeking not to just abuse him, but to kill him.

It is undocumented (except for here) how Jonah returned to the Confederacy but the why can be assumed. Jonah saw the Union forces as the side fighting on the side of righteousness, but after the betrayal and slaughter at Fort Charlotte, he obviously turned his back on the Union and rejoined the Confederacy to exact some level of vengence. But Jonah has been branded as a turncoat by many in the Confederacy and by Turnbull as well. Jonah also ends up firing the bullet that takes the life of Stonewall Jackson, a superior as well as a respected father figure.

After the war, Jonah ends up encountering his Apache 'father' and confronts him, trying to settle an old score with his step-brother. But through deception and lies, Jonah is once again cast into the role of a liar and a cheat and his Apache father rejects Jonah, branding him with a tomahawk.
Every authority figure in Jonah's life has left him and/or rejected him. His mother leaves; his father sells him; his 'brother' leaves him for dead; the Union corporal frames him; Turnbull vows to kill him; Stonewall Jackson dies by his hand; and the only father figure that accepted him, the chief, not only turns Jonah away but places upon Jonah a permanent albatross, the hideous disfigurement, a symbol of rejection so that everyone will know that Jonah is refuse, a castaway, a pariah.

And since the disfigurement encompasses Jonah's mouth, Jonah is reminded of rejection by all cultures every time he eats, every time he drinks, every time he encounters a mirror. Every time he sees a child, he is reminded of his own painful past. Every time he meets a woman, he is reminded of the horror that his face has become and he is convinced that the ugliness on the outside is merely a window into the ugliness within. He must be ugly within, otherwise, why would everyone reject him?

Jonah turns to bounty hunting. A lonely life of killing, danger, isolation. This step completes the rejection of Jonah Hex. He is no good for decent society, but his own moral compass won't allow him to turn to the other side of the law. By becoming a bounty hunter, Jonah is also rejected by the lower elements of society. A force of good, he is shunned by the evil in the world. A vision of horror, he is shunned by the good in the world. On top of everything, Jonah insists on wearing the uniform of a defeated army, wrapping himself in the symbolism of a lost cause bearing the colors of a way of life that has been rejected, defeated, and crushed by the country at large. Jonah walks a line, hated by everyone and though that appears to be fine with him, we'll soon find out that it isn't and Jonah finally finds a way to change all of that.

That will be the next Phase of Jonah Hex.

It's Wednesday & it's Hembeck

From June 1980

This is something that always confused me. Of course, the name Arsenal confused me as well.

Pitchman-A-Go-Go #22

Once again the comic ad offers up a huge bunch of soldiers for less than $2. I just wonder if the British were red and the Colonists were blue. The best part? In the lower left hand corner is the disclaimer "Imaginary war scene shown". This wasn't Helen of Toy, but it is in the same genre of ad.

Jonah Hex #37 "Stonewall!"

Jonah Hex #37 June 1980
"Stonewall!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers & Danny Bulandi, art - Luis Dominguez, cover

Jonah Hex is standing, hat in hand, head bowed, before a large tombstone. Nearby, an old cemetery groundskeeper and his grandson look on. The young boy asks if that is really Jonah Hex. The groundskeeper affirms that it is and that Jonah stops by whenever he is in the area. The youngster asks who is buried there and the grandfather's reply is that it is the grave of "Stonewall" Jackson.

The old man tells the story of what a great general Stonewall was and how Hex was a good fighter in his own right, just being a lieutenant. Once, when Hex was on a scouting mission, he saw a Confederate being chased by five Union soldiers. The Confederate is shot off of his horse and then Jonah intervenes, hitting one Union soldier in the chest and another in the head. He continues to fire at the three remaining Union soldiers when his horse takes a tumble down the hillside and Jonah ends up on the ground in the open. He squeezes off three shots, killing the rest of the Unions troops.

The injured Confederate soldier comes forth to thank Jonah and introduces himself as General Stonewall Jackson. Stonewall invites Jonah back to camp where he outlines his mission. Stonewall has been ordered to take the Federal armory at Harper's Ferry (placing this part of the story in Sept. of 1862). Stonewall needs a man who can singlehandedly dynamite the bridge over the Potomac. Stonewall has heard that Jonah spent time with the Apache, so could he navigate a canoe?

Jonah takes on the mission and soon finds himself on a canoe traveling down some hellish rapids. Of course, this being a Jonah Hex comic and the financial straits that the Confederacy was suffering at the time, Jonah's canoe paddle breaks. Since the Confederacy was suffering all of those financial cutbacks, their map makers (low-paid that they were) didn't bother showing little extras on the map. Things like.....waterfalls.

Jonah survives the falls, retrieves his backpack, and continues on to the bridge. Once at the bridge, he pulls out some dynamite, tied it to the bridge and then lights it. I was completely unaware that the South had waterproof explosives and matches back in 1862!

Jonah is discovered by a Union patrol but he manages to knife one of them and blow up the rest when the bridge explodes. Jonah reports back to Stonewall where he is thanked for a job well done and then returns to his cavalry unit.

Seven months later, Stonewall Jackson is engaged at Chancellorsville where he is routing the Union forces. Night falls and Stonewall and his men get lost. Several miles away, Jonah Hex and his men are holding a position, on the lookout for Union forces that are attempting to flee Chancellorsville. In the darkness they see several riders approaching. Jonah has told his men to hold their fire until he shoots. Jonah takes the first shot, striking General Stonewall Jackson.

Back to present day, the groundskeeper explains to his grandson that Jonah Hex is the man responsible for the death of Stonewall Jackson. We see Jonah mount his horse and then ride off.

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah- 6 Unions soldiers shot, 1 stabbed, 1 blown up & Stonewall Jackson for a total of 9
Running Total - 270
Jonah's Injuries - Dumped over a waterfall, but that doesn't ever hurt Jonah.
Timeline - We have no idea when the opening takes place except that it is after 1866. It is probably during one of Jonah's trips to Virginia, encountering Quentin Turnbull. The flashback takes place in 1862 & 1863.

All in all, the story isn't bad, but there isn't much there. Jonah shoots some Union soldiers, goes over a waterfall, saves the day, and loses the war for the South. It is nice to see Jonah pre 1866, history is always nice to have on a character. Of course, there is no explanation of how Jonah rejoined the Confederacy after the Fort Charlotte Massacre.

Next Issue - A dying Indian's plea, an ancient map, a blind prospector and Jonah takes his shirt off!

Steve Gerber 1947 - 2008

I just read that Steve Gerber passed away yesterday. He will probably be best remembered for the all-time classic Howard the Duck. I know that I was constantly amazed that Marvel printed that book, but was even more amazed that I kept buying it. It was so unlike everything else out there.

He will be missed.

The Many Phases of Jonah Hex - The Early Hex

Jonah Hex is a rare character in comics. Not only is he a Western in a world dominated by superheroes, but he is probably the longest running western character out there (except for the Lone Ranger, but that is a whole other cowboy), having started in 1972 (36 years, can you believe it?). And in that 30+ year span there has been barely a handful of writers chronicle the adventures of Mr. Hex, John Albano, Michael Fleisher, Joe Landsdale, and the team of Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti. Granted there have been two others, David Micheline & Arnold Drake, but these two haven't done more than 4 stories combined.

Let's take a look at each of the phases of Jonah Hex. First up, Jonah Albano and the early Hex.

Jonah first appeared in All-Star Western #10 and throughout that story the scarred side of his face was covered in shadow. It wasn't until the end of the story when Jonah lights a cigar and along with a terror stricken outlaw we saw the hideous disfigurement that Jonah bore, even then it was in semi-shadows. His past was a mystery and at times even his abilities appeared to be a mystery as he dogged outlaws seemingly without need for water or rest.

All-Star Western #11 had a Jonah Hex that worked for very little money ($100) because life was cheap and Albano used realistic bounties. Jonah ends up falling for a beautiful woman, getting suckered but eventually learning the truth and turns her and her husband in. Jonah has a soft spot for beautiful women in distress and can be fooled.

Weird Western Tales #12 (the name changed with that issue) has Jonah being chased out of town by the locals, a theme that gets repeated often. The townsfolk are willing to tolerate Hex in order to clean up their town, but they don't want him hanging around because of the trouble that he draws. Later Jonah encounters a very young Indian girl and helps her and her tribe that are being victimized by the loacls. Jonah is defending the innocent, another theme that ends up being a core value of Hex's. Albano also gives Jonah a 'side-kick' with a wolf named Iron-Jaws.

The 'Weird' in Weird Western Tales started to surface in issue #13. Jonah is more in the background than before but at one point the main outlaw becomes a victim of his own imagination with the shadows of the night following him. Finally the shadows come to life in the form of Jonah Hex & Iron-Jaws. Jonah was almost a personification of the night and the outlaw's fears.

Jonah's valuing of an innocent seems to only extend to women & children, however. In WWT #14, Iron-Jaws is bitten by a rattlesnake and and when Jonah takes the wolf to a doctor, the doc refuses to see the wolf because he already has a patient. Without another thought, Jonah tosses the broken-legged human patient out the window. It appears that male adults, in the eyes of Jonah Hex, can never be truly innocent and worthy of compassion.

Jonah protects a woman's feeling for her outlaw fiance in WWT #16. Jonah hides the truth about her boyfriend's lying and killing in order to protect her, but it does appear that he keeps the money her boyfriend stole. This Hex story really does not have any 'weirdness' to live up to the title of the book.

The weirdness of the book, sometimes supplied by El Diablo or an offbeat backup story, shows up occasionally in a Hex story. It is not so much of a supernatural bent but rather the ironic twist that often characterized the EC and DC 'mystery' books. In #17 a villianous hanging female judge ends up dying by hanging herself when she falls off a cliff and her scarf gets tangled on a branch. We also see more of the self-serving Jonah Hex. During a holdup of the town bank, Jonah has no interest in helping the locals. He sits eating breakfast as the bank is dynamited and people are slaughtered in the middle of the street. Once he is offered money, he goes into action tracking down the villians. Once his job is done, he exacts revenge on behalf of orphaned children, again, voluntarilly protecting the innocent.

Issue #18 is the closest that Jonah comes to encountering the supernatural (until the new series) when he is hired to protect a 'werewolf/wild child'. Hex is again the victim of a swindle and is not the instrument of vengence, that is given over to another twist of irony.

Irony rears it's ugly head again in #19 when an escaped outlaw is the victim of a waterhole that he poisoned. #21, the last for Albano, was again showing the compassion that Jonah has, even in the midst of his ongoing killing. He gets a doctor for an old woman and donates bounty money for a children's hospital.

The Albano Hex was a mystery. Why was he so scarred? Why did he still wear Confederate grey? He had his own set of priorities and those seemed to be mostly set by the availability of money. Yet he also had compassion for young children for a reason that wouldn't be revealed for a few years and by another writer.

Only ten issues, but John Albano managed to lay the foundation for a character that was tough enough to live in the old west on it's own terms. Hex showed up at a time in the country when folks were fed up with the Viet-Nam war and were looking for a 'hero' that handled things the old fashioned way, with his wits, fists, and pistols. Hex was the right character at the right time.

Casting Call

Well, the Babboon has finally figured out who should play Jonah Hex. I agree

If it's Wednesday, it must be Hembeck!!

Okay, here is a little Hembeck that DC was putting in their Daily Planet feature back in the day.

From May 1980

Jonah Hex #36 "Return to Fort Charlotte"

Jonah Hex #36 May 1980

"Return to Fort Charlotte"

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

Jonah Hex is about to enter his hotel room when three men, a short one (Maynard Judson, local banker) and two gorilla-size, stop him and ask if he is indeed Jonah Hex. He admits that he is and turns down what he thinks is a 'welcoming committee' thanking him for capturing the Carley Brothers. But they are not a welcoming committee. The two large thugs beat the crap out of Jonah and throw him over the railing into the saloon below.

When Jonah comes to, he is being attended to by a 'saloon girl' (aka hooker) who sees that Jonah has three broken ribs (okay, she's a hooker with x-ray vision). Judson explains that Painted Butte is a nice town and they mean to keep it that way. They don't cotten to gunfighters and hookers so they put Jonah and the woman on horses and lead them to the edge of town.

As they ride off, the woman keeps pestering Jonah for her to bandage up his ribs but he turns her down. Eventually she almost talks Jonah into a coma (but she does score points for pointing out that she made need Jonah's help to survive in the wild west). Jonah thanks her and asks her name. She meanly wants to know why that is important, is Jonah gonna whisper it in her ear late at night when he tries to kiss her? Jonah replies that he wouldn't even let his horse kiss her.

A short while later they come to an old bridge. The woman gets off her horse and leads it across but when she gets to the middle, the ropes on one end snap. The horse plummets to its death, but the woman grabs onto of the bridge. Jonah unfurls his rope and (with three busted ribs, mind you), lasoos a branch on the far side. He ties off the rope and then travels across, hand over hand. He manages to grab the woman's hand and pulls her up so she is hanging around his neck.

This being a book about Jonah Hex, one of the unluckiest men in the old west, the rope breaks. This being a book about Jonah Hex, one of the LUCKiest men in the old west, he and the woman both survive the fall. But of course, this book is about Jonah Hex, blah bla blah balah balah bala, so he and the woman end up bring surrounded by the Fort Charlotte Brigade. The Brigade clubs Jonah and the woman over the head, knocking them out and then throw across a couple of horses.

Twelve hours later they arrive at Fort Charlotte. KABLAM!!!!!! Yup, my head exploded again. Near as I can figure, they were in far west Texas last issue. It appears in prior issues that Fort Charlotte was back east (like, maybe, South Carolina? But wait, would a Union fort BE in South Carolina?), but obviously you can ride a horse 1600 miles in twelve hours or about 134 miles an hour. KABLAM!!!!!!

Anyway, the Brigade take Jonah and the hooker and toss them in the very same brig that Jonah was held in back in Jan. 1863. Jonah explains the whole terrible history to her and they even find that the tunnel still exists. The hooker then understands that the Brigade plans to re-enact the massacre that happened "more than ten years ago." (placing this story after Jan of 1873, but since folks rarely take into account what month an event happened in addition to the year, I'm leaning toward the year 1874, even though I thought the first part of this story took place in 1878. I can be wrong sometimes. )

Jonah explains the layout of the fort, how you have to crawl through concertina wire, get past the Gatling guns and then through the barbed wire. The hooker gets a bright idea and since Jonah saving her life back on the bridge was the first time a man ever did anything for her without expecting something in return, she smashes a stool over his head, knocking him out. I love hooker-logic.

Outside the fort, the Brigade are watching the perimeter of the fort, waiting for Hex & the hooker to make their escape. Using binoculars in the dark, they are able to see Jonah crawling under the concertina wire. What they are actually watching is the hooker wearing all of Jonah's clothes making the escape. Once past the wire, the hooker trips the wire that sets off the "automatic" Gatling guns. I don't know what is more awesome, a hooker in Confederate greys or automatic Gatling guns.

Our brave little hooker hits the ground in time to avoid all of those bullets and makes her way to the barbed wire. The Brigade is watching her progress and notes that "Hex" will soon find the wire cutters that they left by the fence. Indeed, she does find the wire cutters and the moment she cuts the first wire....

The Brigade is now satisfied that Jonah Hex, their sworn enemy is now dead, all thanks to them hooking up a dynamite detonator to the barbed wire. They ride off to report to Turnbull and return to their families. Off course, the rousing explosion awakens Jonah (he's wearing long-johns, sorry ladies).

We cut to Richmond, Virginia several hours later and find Solomon delivering a telegram to Mr. Turnbull. Turnbull learns that Hex is dead and states that Hex was a formidable adversary "these past ten years". (again, I'm leaning more to 1874, here). The last panel we see Jonah riding off in his long-johns, his tattered clothes clinging to the barbed wire and a makeshift grave of piled stones marking the last resting place of the hooker.

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah - None
Running Total - 261
Jonah's Injuries - Beaten up, three broken ribs, fell from a bridge, pistol-whipped, hit with a rifle, knocked out with a stool.
Timeline - Well, taking into account the verbal references from the Hooker & Turnbull (two folks that you can always rely on), I'm placing this at 1874.

How did I like the story? Ehhhhh, not so much. The cons? Automatic Gatling guns, lack of geographic knowledge, no real reason for the hooker to die (or even to risk her life), I'm not sure that they had the means to blow something up when a current was broken (via a CUT wire), Jonah & the hooker falling into a canyon & living, Hex landing on his HEAD from the balcony.... The pros? I really really really liked the cover with that perspective.

I guess I would toss this one near the bottom of the barrel regarding Hex stories.

Next Issue: Waterproof dynamite, Harper's Ferry, Chancellorsville, and Jonah decides the outcome of the Civil War.