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.