Weird Western Tales #18 (DC)
John Alband (w) Tony De Zuniga (a)
Of all the characters set in the Wild West, Jonah Hex has to be the best and most entertaining of the genre. A disfigured former Confederate Army soldier he switches sides as he can no longer justify his support for a regime that enforces slavery having been a slave himself having been sold to the Indians as a 13 year old.
The Apache Indians taught to hunt and track teaching Hex all their skills. These and his legendary gun fighting abilities led Hex to be feared. In most of the stories I have read thus far Hex has been a successful bounty hunter.
This story Hex gets caught up in a scam and ends up pursued by a Posse. Of course the perpetrators get their just deserts but this early adventure of Hex begins to show the inherent moral standards he holds to for the rest of his life.
Jonah Hex ran in Weird Western Tales #10 until #38 after which he got his own title which had a very decent run of 92 editions. There's even a Dollar Special Spectacular which I'd love to pick up one of these days.
Jonah Hex went on to appear in the war torn future in a bizarre title simply called Hex! That odd comic lasted for just 18 issues and it was Vertigo that revived Jonah Hex for a while. I'm most familiar with the Jonah Hex that ran in DC's New 52 era a few years ago, but that's a story for another day.
Jonah Hex is worth picking up once in a while just for something a little different if nothing else. Might try Scalphunter one of these days.
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