He’s part of a plot to set-up Hex, and when that fails Hex is framed for murder. He’d return in the 21 st century Jonah Hex series, and played a pivotal role in the standalone No Way Back. Fleisher’s solution was Mexican bandit El Papagayo, so named for the parrot that accompanied him. His often cramped approach works best with a gothic and claustrophobic tale set in a circus freak show.Ī problem with Hex’s reputation as such a sure shot was the lack of recurring foes integral to the success of ongoing characters. Spanish artist Vincente Alcazar draws the majority of the remaining stories, his art solid enough in places, but plain slapdash in others.

Moliterni is a great Hex artist, Luis Dominguez a master of delivering a grubby Western environment, and Jos é Luis García-López always excellent, but the art quality dips after their departure. Illustration by excellent Argentinian artist George Moliterni helps, with clear and action-paced storytelling. Hex meets an eccentric companion, there’s a corrupt official, a twist, and a high dose of moral repugnance at the conduct of a town for which a hanging is a day of festivity. ‘The Hangman’ is among the best of the early stories and typifies Fleisher’s approach. What differed writer Michael Fleisher from his peers was a prodigious macabre talent for providing imaginatively violent and shocking material. Or anti-hero, depending on your views covering a number of issues. Over the years he’s become comics’ greatest Western hero. A loner by inclination, his gruesome disfigured face would ensure he remained that way.

Jonah Hex exemplified the rough frontier life, eking a living as a bounty hunter for people who’d otherwise shun him, and surviving via a combination of his wits, his facility with a pistol and his fearsome reputation.

Showcase Presents by Michael Fleisher