Weird Western Tales

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Weird Western Tales
Cover of Weird Western Tales #12 (June - July 1972), the first issue of the series under that title; art by Joe Kubert.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
ScheduleBimonthly/Monthly
FormatOngoing series
Publication date
List
  • (vol. 1)
    June–July 1972 – August 1980
    (vol. 2)
    April 2001–July 2001
No. of issues
List
  • Vol. 1: 59
    Vol. 2: 4
Main character(s)Jonah Hex
Scalphunter
Cinnamon
Creative team
Written by
Penciller(s)
Inker(s)
List

Weird Western Tales is a Western genre comics anthology published by DC Comics from June–July 1972 to August 1980. It is best known for featuring the adventures of Jonah Hex until #38 (Jan.–Feb. 1977) when the character was promoted to his own eponymous series. Scalphunter then took Hex's place as the featured character in Weird Western Tales.

Publication history[edit]

Original series[edit]

The original title ran for eight years and 59 issues.[1][2] It started with issue #12 (June–July 1972), continuing the numbering from the second volume of All-Star Western two issues after the first appearance of Jonah Hex.[3] The title's name was partially inspired by the sales success of Weird War Tales,[4] and signaled the loosening standards of the outdated Comics Code Authority.[5]

When Jonah Hex received his own eponymous series,[6] he was replaced as the lead feature of Weird Western Tales by Scalphunter as of issue #39 (March–April 1977).[7] The character Cinnamon was introduced in issue #48 (Sept.–Oct. 1978) by writer Roger McKenzie and artist Dick Ayers.[8] The final issue was #70 (August 1980).[1]

Revival[edit]

Weird Western Tales was revived in 2001 as a four-issue limited series.[9] This series had no relation to the earlier title, instead featuring a series of one-shot Western-based stories.

Blackest Night[edit]

A one-shot revival of the series utilizing the original numbering #71 (March 2010)[10] was published as a tie-in to the Blackest Night limited series.[11]

Collected editions[edit]

  • Showcase Presents: Jonah Hex
    • Volume 1 includes Weird Western Tales #12–14 and 16–33, 528 pages, November 2005, ISBN 1-4012-0760-X
    • Volume 2 includes Weird Western Tales #34–38, 544 pages, March 2014, ISBN 978-1401241063

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Weird Western Tales at the Grand Comics Database
  2. ^ Overstreet, Robert M. (2019). Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (49th ed.). Timonium, Maryland: Gemstone Publishing. p. 1148. ISBN 978-1603602334.
  3. ^ McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1970s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. An instant hit with fans, Jonah Hex quickly overshadowed the other stars of All-Star Western. The series was renamed Weird Western Tales two issues later.
  4. ^ Daniels, Les (1995). DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes. New York, New York: Bulfinch Press. p. 153. ISBN 0821220764. Carmine Infantino and I found out that the word weird sold well'. [editor Joe] Orlando recalls. 'So DC created Weird War and Weird Western '.
  5. ^ Sacks, Jason; Dallas, Keith (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 82. ISBN 978-1605490564.
  6. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 173: "In true nomad fashion, disfigured gunman Jonah Hex rode his horse out of Weird Western Tales and into his own comic".
  7. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 173: "With scarred gunslinger Jonah Hex riding off into his own series, writer Michael Fleisher and artist Dick Ayers produced a new outcast to headline Weird Western Tales. Scalphunter was 'a man who lived in two worlds, but was at home in neither'".
  8. ^ Beatty, Scott (2008), "Cinnamon I", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley, p. 83, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1
  9. ^ Weird Western Tales vol. 2 at the Grand Comics Database
  10. ^ Weird Western Tales #71 at the Grand Comics Database
  11. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (October 12, 2009). "DC Reveals Plans for Blackest Night in January". IGN. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2012.

External links[edit]