Weird Western Tales

Weird Western Tales spun out of the second run of All-Star Western at DC, and featured as stars during its run Jonah Hex (Confederate soldier turned bounty hunter) and Scalphunter (white settler boy raised by the Native Americans).

Here, a focus on covers drawn by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, with the added bonus of one of the Scalphunter covers featuring Bat Lash (prairie con man who was a quick draw).

Weird Western Tales #32 and #38 (January-February, 1976 and January-February, 1977)

.

Weird Western Tales #39 and #46 (March-April, 1977 and May-June, 1978)

.

...and, all three characters appeared on the cover of DC Special Series #16 (Fall, 1978), otherwise known as the Jonah Hex Spectacular!

Celebrating Artist Phil Noto

Celebrating the birthday of artist Phil Noto (July 18, 1971) with a look at his covers for Jonah Hex... 

...that include the origin of Tallulah Black in the wild West, as well as Jonah having a few odd encounters in his travels, including with Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.

Jonah Hex #10 and #16 (October, 2006 and April, 2007)

.

Jonah Hex #17 and #19 (May and July, 2007)

.

Jonah Hex #20 and #22 (August and October, 2007)

.

Best of all, Phil's cover for Jonah Hex: Only The Good Die Young from June, 2008, which collects Jonah Hex #19-#24.

Great old time western stories like they don't tell anymore.

.

JLA JSA Fifth Multiple Crisis

History time again, and how appropriate that is for this batch of JLA/JSA team-ups, since they all involve a bit of history.

The first, is where the two teams are attacked by people who had long passed away, the second was dealing with the return of an old foe and a mystery, and the third, an extra long team-up, had the two teams dealing with the New Gods (and was history for both a sad and happy reason as well.

Time to look back at a few meetings of the Justice League and Justice Society....

Crisis From Yesterday

Now that the JLA and JSA could easily cross worlds thanks to their Transmatter Machine, the JLA and JSA decided to have a party on Earth-1's Gotham in Justice League of America #159 (October, 1978) by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin, but, as the cover by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano, there were some party crashers!

Before getting to the battle, a chance to review with the JLA and JSA, as they took the time...Earth-1 Batman reflects on his meeting with the Earth-2 Huntress in Batman Family, Earth-2 Flash says his life is supposedly easier after revealing his identity to the world in DC Special Series #11 (or so he says to Earth-1 Flash), Earth-2 Green Lantern was starting a back up in Earth-1 Green Lantern's title, and the JSA had just ended their All-Star Comics run with issue #74.....

....then, BOOM!

The heroes of today were attacked by History's Heroes...Jonah Hex, Viking Prince, Miss Liberty, the Black Pirate and the Enemy Ace!  These past heroes were plucked out of time by the Lord of Time (himself tired of battle from manipulations he had with Kamandi and Karate Kid), had retreated to a place "out of time" where he had constructed the Eternity Brain, a machine that would help him take whatever he wanted...by stopping time!

But, the Lord of Time found out that if he stopped time, he would be unable to start it again, and the Eternity Brain was set in its plans.  So, he plucked five heroes from history, gave them powers and set them to beat the JLA and JSA, thinking that if the teams were given a solid defeat, they would come back even more powerful, and, tracing back History's Heroes, would come and stop the Eternity Brain!

The JLA and JSA members at the party were all rendered comatose, except for JLA members (Superman, Flash, Elongated Man and Hawkman), and JSA members (Dr. Mid-Nite, Wonder Woman, Star-Spangled Kid and Huntress).  They remaining members faced History's Heroes again, and lost...giving the Lord of Time hope they now had the fight in them to defeat the Eternity Brain....

Crisis From Tomorrow

Picking up from the last issue, Justice League of America #160 (November, 1978) by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin (with cover by Dillin/McLaughlin), had Superman reflecting on the attack by History's Heroes (he recognized Miss Liberty and the Enemy Ace, Flash knew of Jonah Hex, and Elongated Man had heard of the Black Pirate, though no one knew of the Viking Prince).

The JLA/JSA were using a modified Cosmic Treadmill to go to where the Lord of Time was, his castle outside of time...all as History's Heroes were attacking the Lord of Time's castle as well, but finding out it was well defended by the Eternity Brain.  Meanwhile, back in 1978, Aquaman (who had been late to the party due to being on monitor duty), was working to revive the comatose heroes.

Still, the eight active JLA/JSAers were assaulting the Lord of Time's floating castle, but slowly being eliminated by his various time traps....until only Elongated Man remained, to find the Lord of Time pleading with the Eternity Brain to not go on....and, through an act of bravery, Elongated Man stopped the Brain, saving all of time!

Back at the hospital, as after clearing all the heroes of the energy leaving them comatose, Green Lantern was able to follow the trail through time and rescue the others.  After returning History's Heroes to their proper times, the JLA and JSA would recover...even Elongated Man was able to bounce back from his injuries!

Ending on a happy note, the JSA now had to move to being a back up in Adventure Comics (and they were dealing with a sinister plot by the Secret Society of Super-Villains, who were taking on less active members of the team....).

The Murderer Among Us: Crisis Above Earth-One

The JSA was recovering from their members being stalked by the Secret Society of Super-Villains, and troubles introduced during their run in Adventure Comics (including the death of a member), when Mr. Terrific returned to the team in their second to last Adventure Comics adventure....which led into Justice League of America #171 (October, 1979) by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin, with cover by Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano.

This time, there was a murder among the team while gathered in the JLA Satellite....that of Mr. Terrific, who had wanted to be a part of this gathering, as he told the two Flashes, because of the return of an old enemy of his (and the Earth-2 Flash)...

...the Spirit King (though, this was the first appearance of that villainous alter ego of Roger Romaine).  Mr. Terrific stormed off, then a wall in the Satellite blew, with Superman finding Mr. Terrific dead.  Recent enrolled to the JLA Zatanna tried to trace the identity of the killer off a piece of metal, but a mystic backlash...putting her in a coma, leaving the rest of the present members of the two teams to wonder which of them was the killer!

I Accuse...

Superman spelled it out in the beginning of Justice League of America #172 (November, 1979) by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin (though Batman took center stage on the Dick Giordano cover)...

....that someone on the JLA Satellite must be the killer!

So, Superman had the Green Lanterns and Dr. Fate put a mystic green energy shell around the Satellite so no one could leave...and set the detectives Earth-1 Batman and Earth-2 Huntress into finding out which teammate could have done it.

With Batman going through the clues, and Huntress checking a hunch to see what the Spirit King was stealing in Gateway City using the Transmatter Machine to link to the JSA's Brownstone computers...

...Batman was able to deduce the identity of the killer!

Scroll quickly if you don't want it spoiled!

It was...the Spirit King!   The Spirit King had used a seismograph to track the Earth-2 Flash, and possessed him, but did come out of the Flash's body long enough to kill Mr. Terrific.  Still in possession of the Flash's body, the Spirit King escaped (as the mystic shield didn't cover the Transmatter Machine).

The JLA tries to claim victory even with the villain escaping (as they didn't believe any of the heroes were responsible), but the JSA somberly left the JLA Satellite to go to Earth-2 to bury Mr. Terrific (and, later chronicled in a flashback, finally catch the Spirit King, freeing Jay Garrick Flash from his clutches, in Spectre #54 of the 1990s), and had their last adventure in Adventure Comics in the 1970s.

Where Have All The New Gods Gone?

The JLA and JSA were trying something new, half of each team would go to each other's Earths in Justice League of America #183 (October, 1980) by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin (under a Jim Starlin cover).  Or at least that was the plan.

The first four of each team were hijacked....and appeared in New Genesis!

JLAer Superman explained where they were (having met the Forever People and been to Supertown once in the days of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen), that this was the home of the New Gods...

....a race of incredibly powerful beings who were forever at war with their opposing numbers from Apokolips.

Batman and Green Lantern of the JLA patiently listened, as did Power Girl, Huntress and Dr. Fate of the JSA (though the Earth-2 Wonder Woman was a little put off by the phrase of "New Gods", as she believed in only one...as well as the Olympian deities she believed in).

Firestorm....had wandered off into the empty Supertown...finding Orion, and knocking himself unconscious through the shock.  As Orion was tending to Firestorm, the rest of the teams arrived, and fought Orion, at least until Metron, Mr. Miracle, Big Barda and Oberon arrived via Boom Tube. 

Knowing Mr. Miracle, Superman got the team to listen to him, who explained that Orion was moody due to feeling responsible for this tragedy, as he had recently killed Darkseid, which must have triggered this attack by Apokolips to empty New Genesis, that had been done by members of the Injustice Society (Fiddler, Icicle and the Shade).

The heroes would go to Apokolips and split into teams (coordinated by Metron, who had pulled the JLA/JSA from their Transmatter Machine to New Genesis), to find out where everyone had went.

On a sad note, this was the last issue completed by artist Dick Dillin, who passed away while working on the next issue.  His incredible legacy for all he did for the JLA will always be cherished.   

Apokolips Now

Picking up where the last issue left off, Justice League of America #184 (November, 1980) by Gerry Conway, George Perez and Frank McLaughlin (with cover by George Perez and Dick Giordano), continued the JLA/JSA/New Gods team-up....

with a great deal for the heroes to do all over Darkseid's home planet of Apokolips!

An incredible welcome for new artist George Perez, who was also working on New Teen Titans at the time, even though Dick Dillin had completed about six pages of the issue before he passed, DC had Perez draw this entire issue; the issue also had a few of Dillin's co-workers tell of that artist's great contributions to comics, as well as of his gentlemanly nature, in the letter's page).

Firestorm, Power Girl and Orion discovered the Injustice Society members reviving Darkseid and the heroes were captured by the villains; Superman (of E-1), Wonder Woman (of E-2) and Big Barda worked their way into Granny Goodness' Orphanage, finding that's where the New Genesis kids were, as well as finding out how Darkseid's consciousness had found its way to Earth-2 after "the final battle" of Darkseid and Orion in Adventure Comics, and how he got the Injustice Society to help him; Green Lantern (of E-1), Dr. Fate and Oberon found Highfather Izaya of the New Gods imprisoned, freed him and the group headed to confront Darkseid, who had an evil plan....and Batman (of E-1), Huntress (of E-2) and Mr. Miracle stormed Darkseid's Imperial Place, where they found out Darkseid's full plan...to transfer Apokolips to Earth-2, destroying the Earth in that dimension!

Darkseid Rising

Metron was nice enough to recap the previous two issues in the beginning of Justice League of America #185 (December, 1980) by Gerry Conway, George Perez and Frank McLaughlin (under a Jim Starlin/Robert Allen Smith cover)....


...which was that Darkseid, after being revived by the Injustice Society of the World members of Fiddler, Icicle and the Shade, had planned to have Apokolips "transferred" in time and space...


...and have it take the place of Earth-2, which would destroy that world and give Darkseid a universe of his own to plunder!

The heroes had plenty to do to stop him!

Batman, Huntress and Mr. Miracle had to free Firestorm, Power Girl and Orion (then Fiddler, Icicle and the Shade); while Highfather led Green Lantern, Dr. Fate and Oberon to attack Darkseid's Re-Creation Machine; Superman, Wonder Woman and Big Barda facing Granny Goodness in the tunnels below Darkseid's Palace..

..all to led Orion and Darkseid battle again as the now freed forces of New Genesis attacked the forces of Apokolips protecting the Re-Creation Machine (which would now transfer Apokolips to Earth-2)....still, all this effort and it was not enough.

Thankfully, Metron used all this distraction to redirect the Re-Creation Machine, having it focused now on Darkseid....which undid his return, defeating him and leaving the members of New Genesis free to go and rebuild their home.

All these tales were collected in fifth volume of Crisis On Multiple Earths (this one with a great George Perez cover combining the heroes of all of the crossovers of these issues)....all while getting ready for the Crisis On Infinite Earths (this volume showcasing the New Gods and History's Heroes, while Earth-X was in Volume 3 and Earth-S was in Volume 4), but one more collected volume was to come!

JLA Vs The Wild West

At one time, western comics were more popular than super heroes.  But, by the 1960s, the Justice League of America and others had taken the limelight away from the time of cowboys and such....

...but, there were a few who still braved the wild prairies, and in two special issues of the Justice League of America, they even ran against the JLA in a little shootout showdown!

But, before diving into that tale, a little history of the later day westerners!

Bat Lash

Bartholomew Aloysius Lash premiered in Showcase #76 (August, 1968) by Sergio Aragones and Nick Cardy, finding criminals by accident, as the wandering gambler avoided the boyfriend of a woman he fancied, and just tried to find a place to cook a pheasant.

Bat Lash grew up learning an appreciation for the finer things from his mother, Martha,  getting all the skills a man of the west would need from his father, Lemuel, and love from his brothers and sister (Thomas, William and Melissa).

Still, when swindlers and a crooked sheriff took his home from his family, killed his parents and his brothers went missing (and got him accused of murdering the local deputy), Lash took his sister (and girlfriend, Betsy) to a convent for safety, then spent years tracking down the criminals, losing those he loved along the way (even the two ladies, after he returned to the convent successful in his hunt....the two decided to remain committed to god and a life there).

Still undeterred, Bat Lash spent his time in the American Southwest, finding trouble where he went, but helping the less fortunate when he could, enjoying the ladies and a good poker game when available.

Bat Lash's appearances before meeting the JLA were in Showcase #76 and #100, Bat Lash #1-#7, Weird Western Tales #45, #46, #52. #53. #64. back ups in Jonah Hex #49, #51 and #52, with a hint of his future in DC Special Series #16.

Jonah Hex

Jonah Woodson Hex premiered in All-Star Western #10 (February-March, 1972) by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga, collecting a bounty on a gang, and finding that, even though he stopped the lawless folks, the scarred, ex-Confederate bounty hunter was still not welcome in the area.

Jonah Hex had a hard life, with his mother, Ginny, leaving her abusive husband, Woodson Hex.  Then, Woodson took his son to join the California Gold Rush, but sold him to Apache Indians.  There, Hex earned respect saving the chief, and fell for White Fawn, the favored of the chief's son, Noh-Tante, who, in an attempt to take horses from the Kiowa, left Hex behind, telling his tribe Hex had been killed. 

Hex, still alive, but wounded, was raised by a trapper, but unable to find his tribe, instead ending up working for first the U.S. Army, then the Confederate Army as a bounty hunter and trapper.  When Lincoln emancipated the slaves, Hex felt he could no longer work with a system that supported slavery, and went to turn himself in to Union forces. 

But, the Union forces figured out where Hex left his troops by mud on his horse, went and captured them, thanking Hex for his help in front of them.  The Union men then tried to kill their Confederate prisoners, but Hex helped free a few, who still blamed him for their capture (his friend Jeb did die, earning Hex the eternal hatred of Jeb's father, Quentin Turnbull). 

Hex then went to find his tribe, finding Noh-Tante married to White Fawn.  Hex challenged him to a duel, but Noh-Tante had sabotaged Hex's tomahawk, unknowingly forcing Hex to use his knife to kill Noh-Tante.  Violating the ethics of the tribe by killing, the chief had Hex's face branded with "the mark of the demon" and exiled from the Apaches.  Hex made a living as a bounty hunter, and ended up marrying Mei Ling, who wanted him to retire from the gunslinger life, though life kept drawing him back.

Jonah Hex had appeared in All-Star Western #10 and #11, Weird Western Tales #12-#38, Jonah Hex #1-#92, Justice League of America #159 and #160, DC Special Series #21, and the end of his life in the early 1900s was chronicled in DC Special Series #16.  (Hex's life after the Crisis On Infinite Earths in the 2050's of a nuclear war ravaged Seattle in Hex #1-#18 is worth a mention, but Jonah appears in these two issues of the JLA title between Jonah Hex #55 and #56). 

Scalphunter

Brian Savage was the son of trail boss, Matt Savage, taken from his family by Kiowa tribe, and raised as Ke-Who-No-Tay ("He who is less than human") by the tribe.  Later, framed for murder, the man also known as Scalphunter tracked down the real criminals in his case, all the while avoiding U.S Troops intend on bringing him in, and along the way, meeting his real father....all in Weird Western Tales #39 (March-April, 1977) by Michael Fleisher, Dick Ayers and George Evans.

Later adventures had him righting wrongs in the West, coming to terms with his dual nature while dealing with the death of his father, learning of a sister, Samantha.  Scalphunter even had adventures with Bat Lash and President Abraham Lincoln as well...and even a certain Batman too.

Scalphunter appeared in Weird Western Tales #39-#70, DC Special Series #16, back up tales in Jonah Hex #40, #41, #45. #46 and #47, and Brave and the Bold #171, all before meeting the JLA and later, the Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Cinnamon

Imagine you are the daughter of a widowed sheriff in a small Wyoming town, who watches your father killed by fleeing bank robbers and you'd know how Cinnamon felt in Weird Western Tales #48 (September-October, 1978) by Roger McKenzie, Jack Abel and Danny Bulanadi.

Cinnamon left the orphanage she was living in at 18, and went to hunt the killers, using her skills with the six gun and a new weapon, the shuriken (which resembled the sheriff star of her father).

The result of her quest was unknown, as her only two tales besides the JLA issues before the Crisis on Infinite Earths was in Weird Western Tales #48 and #49 (and she shouldn't have been able to team-up with the others, as the majority of their published adventures had happened in the 1870s, but she only started her quest in 1898!).  Be that as it may....there might have been other forces at work that created the team up of these heroes with the Justice League of America.

Once Upon A Time, In The Wild, Wild West

Gerry Conway, Don Heck and Brett Breeding gave us Justice League of America #198 (January, 1982, under a Ross Andru/Romeo Tanghal cover) where Green Lantern, Zatanna, Elongated Man and Flash were found wandering with amnesia by Jonah Hex, Cinnamon, Scalphunter and Bat Lash in 1870s Arizona.  The JLA enemy, the Lord of Time, had captured them and sent them there, to get them to focus an approaching meteor directed at the Grand Canyon, so he could use that to conquer his own era.

Superman, on monitor duty, found out the JLA members had disappeared from the now....but, in fighting a robot of the Lord of Time's in the Grand Canyon in the here and now....fell prey to a Kryptonite trap.

Grand Canyon Showdown

Gerry Conway, Don Heck and Brett Breeding concluded this time travel tale in Justice League of America #199 (February, 1982 under a George Perez cover), with the amnesiac heroes and westerners slowly headed towards a gathering in Desecration, Arizona (pursued by robotic cowboys of the Lord of Time).


With the westerners fighting the Lord of Time's robots, the JLA slowly regained their memories of their own identities and deflected the approaching meteor, with Superman returning the heroes to the modern day after figuring out a way to deflect the Kryptonite away and defeat the Lord of Time.

Cinnamon's appearance, never really explained, was either a manipulation by the Lord of Time or some unforseen pre-Crisis On Infinite Earths time paradox...


....as Jonah Hex remembered this event during the Crisis On Infinite Earths, recognizing Green Lantern's outfit (John Stewart had replaced Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, but was dispatched by the Monitor to the old west) in a meeting with Bat Lash, Scalphunter and the western Johnny Thunder and Nighthawk as part of the Monitor's plans to save the Multiverse, as heroes found others to help fight the Anti-Monitor's Shadow Demons.

The Future

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths and a meeting with the Monitor, Jonah Hex found himself stranded in 2050 for a time (detailed in Hex), but had to eventually return to his right time to fight zombies, then later die (as that had already been predestined, with Hex finding his own body in the future during Hex).

Scalphunter had settled on being Brian Savage, becoming a sheriff of what would be Opal City, befriending the Shade, guiding the O'Dare's into law, fathering Steve Savage (the Balloon Buster of World War I, enemy of Enemy Ace), and having one last revenge filled time after losing most of his policing force, before his end (chronicled over many issues of James Robinson's Starman, which also dealt with his reincarnation as a current day O'Dare).

Bat Lash had headed towards the Far East, having tired of the Wild West...

....meeting the Enemy Ace, Slam Bradley, Miss Fear, Kung and Vandal Savage, in the 1920s,  fighting dinosaurs and Ninjas in one larger than life adventure.

Cinnamon was later revealed to be Kate Manser, who was a reincarnation of Chay-Ara (Hawkgirl) and worked with Nighthawk (Hannibal Hawkes, a reincarnation of Hawkman) during Geoff Johns' run of Hawkman.  A modern day Cinnamon, also a bounty hunter, has appeared, and is an agent of Checkmate.

All this, to keep the Wild West alive, even today, and a few other meetings of old west characters with modern DC characters will be covered....in the future!

Watching The Monitor: Legion, Haunted Tank and Jonah Hex

While it seemed the Monitor was only watching the here and now, he was surveying the length and breath of the DC Multiverse (hinted at when he looked back to World War II and the All-Star Squadron).

The Monitor would also check out an even bigger group, the Legion of Super-Heroes, before going back to World War II again to view the crew of the Haunted Tank, and even interfere a little, in the Wild West, with Jonah Hex.

Death Trip

First up, a trip to the 30th Century in Tales Of The Legion Of Super-Heroes #317 (November, 1984) by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen, Mindy Newell, Terry Shoemaker and Karl Kesel, wherein the Monitor and Lyla check on Dev-Em (a survivor of Krypton with powers similar to Superboy's; when Dev-Em returned after the Crisis, he was a Daxamite instead), all the while as the second Invisible Kid tries to save fellow Legion member Wildfire from an otherdimensional trap.

This story has yet to be reprinted.

If Memory Should Fail

Next up, in Tales Of The Legion Of Super-Heroes #319 (January, 1985) by Paul Levitz, Terry Shoemaker and Karl Kesel, the Monitor and Lyla are kept as busy as the Legion, as the team is spread pretty thing, with Star Boy upset that he has to take on Mon-El (a Daxamite with powers like Superboy's, but going mad with worry from the thought of being exiled again to the Phantom Zone), and Brainiac 5 worried that he cannot properly secure the Legion's headquarters on Earth.

This tale has yet to be reprinted.

Magpie Complex

With Tales Of The Legion Of Super-Heroes #320 (February, 1985) by Paul Levitz, Mindy Newell, Dan Jurgens and Karl Kesel, readers see along with the Monitor as Star Boy and Dream Girl try to work our their relationship problems while dealing with Magpie, a thief breaking into their headquarters with tech supplied by the Monitor.  It was old Legion of Super-Heroes foe, Universo, who was trying to get more details on the Legion.

This tale has yet to be reprinted.

Death March

Next up in G.I. Combat #274 (February, 1985) under a Joe Kubert cover, and with story by Robert Kanigher and Sam Glanzman, readers finally get to see a little of the Monitor (as you may have noticed, his previous appearances have all been without actually seeing him).  Lt. Jeb Stuart headed the crew of the World War II Haunted Tank.....haunted by the ghost of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart, who used his knowledge to help the living Stuart become a better leader.  Here, the Monitor hints at his power, as he meets with the ghostly General on his homeground, something the ghost is not used to.

This tale has not yet been reprinted.

The Secret General

Next up, under another Joe Kubert cover for G.I. Combat #275 (March, 1985), with story by Robert Kanigher and Sam Glanzman, the ghostly General reflects on meeting the Monitor, as the Monitor's satellite leaves the after realm of the dead in World War II.   This hints at some of the length and depth of the Monitor's power, as well as how everything is threatened by the upcoming Crisis.

This tale has not been reprinted.

Starlight, Star Bright...First Star I See Tonight

Jonah Hex #90 (April, 1985) by Michael Fleisher and Gray Morrow (under a Mark Texeira cover) has one of the odder appearances of the Monitor....but you have to look hard.  In the Wild West, Confederate gunslinger, Jonah Hex, was quite injured and desperate, but happens to find a home with a horse right when he needed it....and, surprise, that home owner was a disguised Monitor!  The Monitor knew the need of an old 1870s bounty hunter in the upcoming Crisis and beyond his own time.

This tale has yet to be reprinted.

The Monitor has watched the Titans, Justice League, Justice Society and even more mystical lands, with the whole of the Multiverse in danger, wondering if the future (or the past) will survive, yet it is after his meetings with Batman and Superman that the Crisis would happen!