Weird Western Tales actually started out as the second volume of the fan favorite anthology series All-Star Western. The first issues featured some basic historical characters like Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill, and Davy Crockett. DC creations such as Pow Wow Smith and Bat Lash made appearances as well as the demon possessed gunslinger known as El Diablo. In issue #10, readers were introduced to the mysterious bounty hunter, Jonah Hex.
A former Confederate soldier turned bounty hunter, Hex's visage was disfigured by a Native American shaman for allegedly violating rules of combat. This brand was called the 'mark of the demon'. While Hex didn't have any supernatural powers, his stories tended to have an element of the strange and macabre due the nature of his facial injury.
During this time period, the Comics Code was lessening its rules on horror tales. As a result, DC Comics created the wildly popular Weird War Tales in 1971. Seeing dollar signs, the editors at DC and publisher Carmine Infantino made the call to switch All-Star Western's format and title. The book was renamed Weird Western Tales with issue #12 (June, 1972).
For the first half dozen issues El Diablo and Jonah Hex rotated as the star of Weird Western Tales. Assorted Western themed horror tales rounded out the issue. Issue #17 saw Jonah Hex becoming the main feature of the series and within another dozen issues, Weird Western Tales dropped the back-up features. Hex's last appearance in the series was in issue #38. Readers fell in love with the character and by April of 1977, Jonah Hex was starring in his own self-titled issue.
Issue #39 saw the character of Scalphunter becoming the star of Weird Western Tales. In his debut we learn that the Scalphunter was a white man named Brian Savage. Abducted by the Kiowa Indians as a child, the Native Americans raised Brian under the name Ke-Wok-No-Tay, meaning 'He Who Is Less Than Human'. Skilled at combat, Brian left the tribe going by the name of Scalphunter.
Scalphunter eventually learned that he had a little sister and that's where this issue picks up. Heading over to Atlanta, Scalphunter follows up on a tip that takes him to a Confederate Army occupied mansion. Inside, he finds numerous members of a prominent family placed under house arrest under suspicion of being a spy for the North; including a pair of criminal who tried to kill Scalphunter previous in New Orleans and his baby sister, Samantha Savage!
Featuring artwork by Dick Ayers (Rawhide Kid), the script was written by Gerry Conway (Superman). Cover artwork by Ross Andru and Marvel Fanfare's Al Milgrom.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
Completing this review completes Task #47 (A Western) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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