Showcase Presents: Jonah Hex Vol. 1

"...he did have two companions: one was death itself...the other...the acrid smell of gunsmoke."

Jonah Hex Vol. 1 includes stories from All-Star Western (which was later renamed Weird Western Tales) #10-33. The Hex stories run from 1972-1976. Oddly, there are several Outlaw stories included as well.

The character of Jonah Hex was created by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga. The early stories are written and drawn by both of them respectfully. Hex is a staunch antihero. He's on the side of good, but just doing the good deed isn't motivation enough. There's usually some cash involved too, and he will never discuss with anybody lame things like "feelings." He's rough, gruff, and tough. His entire character and background plays out like a Greek tragedy, and are incredibly well-written. It is one of my top Showcase Presents volumes so far.

The early stories pick and choose from Hex's adventures. There's no solid timeline of events. This is totally fine, because each standalone story is great. All you need to know is presented up front. Hex is a bitter loner, master gunman, and bounty hunter with a past that he's not in the mood to talk about. There are many classic Western themes throughout this volume. If you've ever seen a "classic Western film," you can expect to find similar characteristics in these stories. And like most of those stories, bad things happen to good people. There's just no way around it. It makes all of the stories that much more tragic and real.

Thinking this literally right before she's murdered by a knife-wielding maniac.

At issue #22, Michael Fleisher takes over writing duties. He immediately starts to throw backstory and extended story arcs everywhere. It isn't necessarily bad, but it's too much too fast. He also, unfortunately, takes Albano's dialogue accents to the absolute extreme. Eventually it's toned down to tolerable levels, but for a while some of it's near unreadable.

Everyone. All the time.

There are several stories with human rights motives. They include Native Americans, women, and African-Americans. Hex is on their side, although he usually has to hide it since every white guy around him is heavily armed and on the opposing side. The stories really capture the untamed frontier that was the West. Even though people were "civilized," it didn't stop some of them from doing anything to get ahead or make a quick buck. It's a great snapshot of post-Civil War America at its best and worst.

The level of violence is quite high. There's a pretty high body count per story, and the main antagonist in each adventure usually gets what's coming to him/her. It could be anyone from a gang of outlaws to a corrupt judge. It's this sense of impending justice that made the Albano stories so good (plus that Hex usually has one last quip before he kills them). But it's not like Hex comes out on top. He is usually cast out from the town even though he just saved all their sorry asses. He never finds a place to settle down (if that's even something he wants), and even if he seems to, some event occurs that would make it impossible. Just when things start to look up for Hex, you can count on something smashing him back down.

Art duties fall mainly to Tony DeZuniga, who does beyond outstanding. Others that carried the art torch include Noly Panaligan, George Moliterni, and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. It's all great. The action is presented wonderfully, and the variety of layouts and amount of detail really set this apart. I feel like the original coloring would have obscured some of the intricate line work, so I am more than okay with this being in black and white.

There's a great level of humor pervading almost the whole volume. Even though many of the stories are serious in nature, there's still room for a joke or two.

As stated earlier, the end of this volume includes the complete Outlaw adventures. I know they're still Western stories printed around the same time, but it's a little odd. I would guess their inclusion is to satisfy DC's "Over 500 Pages of Comics!" boast. These stories are quite forgettable, especially compared to the prior Jonah Hex adventures.

Bottom line? Absolutely worth checking out, even if you don't particularly care for Westerns. And you can find it relatively inexpensive, unlike some Showcase Presents volumes. I am pumped for Volume 2.