The Hangman Never Loses

Guest post by Matthew Ilseman

DC comics, though best known for its superheroes, released a lot of high quality non-superhero work in the 70s. These genres included War, Horror, and of particular interest to those here, the Western. This was part of an effort to release more books to crowd titles from its rival publisher, Marvel, which was rapidly gaining market share. This was know as the DC Explosion which was followed few years later by the DC Implosion when they had to drastically cut the number of books due to various factors.

DC’s 1970s Western content has been collected in DC’s Finest: The Hangman Never Loses. The DC’s Finest is an attempt by the publisher to release reasonably priced collections of runs of various comics. The book is comprised of all the company’s Western content originally published between 1970s and 1973. There are issues of Tomahawk, an older series about a frontiersman, and All-Star Western, an anthology of various Western characters most notably Jonah Hex. During this period, Tomahawk would become Son of Tomahawk about the main character’s son and All-Star Western would change its title to Weird Western. There is also one story from Super DC- Giant called Stand Tall the Warrior Breed, by the legendary artist/writer Gil Kane.

Tomahawk was originally about a Revolutionary War era Frontiersman name Tom Hawk, also called, well… Tomahawk. It seems to have been written mostly by Robert Kanigher. While it apparently had goofy storylines with aliens and giant gorillas in the ’50s, it had become a war comic about Tom Hawk and his Rangers fighting the British similar in tone to Kanigher’s World War II comics. Only one issue of these stories is collected in this volume. The series then became about his son, Hawk, having adventures in the 1830s (though the original character still plays a major supporting role.) I find it fascinating that a frontiersman from the pre-Civil War era had a long lasting series in comics. Stories set in that time period where rare for the medium.

Most of the stories in the series fairly entertaining though the 1830s does look a lot like the 1860s. There is an issue where Hawk and his father help a runaway slave, but a lot of these stories could easily happen later. Kanigher was not known for his realism. (He infamously wrote a Sgt. Rock story where the American Rock guards troops retreating on Dunkirk which was, of course, over a year before our entry into the war.) That said some of the issues are stand out. This includes The Scalp-Hunter, where Hawk, who is half-Native American, battles an Indian killer. It deals fairly soberly with the conflict between the settler and the Native Americans. So do many stories in the series without painting one side as entirely good or bad. Unfortunately, the series did not last much longer. (DC’s Finest really should do a collection of the earlier stories of the Tomahawk).

The previously mentioned Stand Tall the Warrior Breed, by Gil Kane is also worth noting about the Indian Wars. It is about a green West Point trained officer on the frontier and his tense relationship with a half-breed scout. It is one of the stands out in the collection.

Then we come to All-Star Western. As I said it is an anthology about various characters. The first is Outlaw, a series about framed gunfighter being hunted by his Texas Ranger father. It did not last long and is not too notable. It was replaced by Billy the Kid who is not the historical character but a girl disguised as a boy hunting her father’s killer. These are a bit better written but suffer from the fact Billy the Kid was not a girl. More interesting is Joe Kubert’s Firehair about a white boy raised by Indians wandering the American West. These stories are well written and well drawn. Also better is El Diablo, a series about a supernatural avenger righting wrongs. It may be the first “Weird Western” series in comics. (As I said All-Star Western would become Weird Western which named the sub-genre.)

What would mark All-Star Western is the introduction of Jonah Hex. Created by writer John Albano and Filipino artist Tony DeZuniga, it would become DC’s most famous Western series. Also one of the best Western series of any comic publisher. What makes the stories great is that Hex is drawn as a tragic figure. A bounty hunter inspired by spaghetti westerns, Hex is an outcaste gunslinger seen as a simple killer-for-hire. However, he is often shown to be more honorable than the so called “respectable” citizens as in his first story Welcome to Paradise. This is a theme that come up through out the series.

Hex would go on to appear in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series written, along with other people, by Joe Lansdale. Lansdale would also write the character for DC’s mature Vertigo imprint. He would also have a (not very well received) movie adaptation. Eventually, he became the go-to character for Western stories.

I should mention that the art is universally excellent through out the volume. Gil Kane and Joe Kubert’s are rightly considered legends. Tony DeZuniga is another stand out. Should you get this volume? If you are both a comic and Western fan, yes. The stories vary in quality but none are awful. It is also worth mentioning that a second Western volume, Requiem for a Gunfighter, is coming out around year’s end. (There is also, apparently, a new Jonah Hex miniseries coming out.)

Highly recommended.