Weird Western Tales #17

Weird Western Tales number 17 was probably worth your 20¢ for the Jonah Hex story 'The Hangin' Woman', but if you were an El Diablo fan - well, it wasn't the best issue for you.

Jonah comes upon a town ruled by a ruthless matriarch hanging judge. She initially hires Jonah to hunt down three outlaws, which he gladly does.

But when hex sees the judge's three sons up to no good, he rescues a little girl from a fire they intentionally set, and ends up turning on his former employer.

With all the hangings in this story, it has enough macabre imagery to fall under the umbrella of 'weird' western, I suppose, but mostly it's a straightforward, decent standard western.

The El Diablo story, 'The Demon of Bad Rock Mountain!' is definitely more of a 'weird' story. Though it too has little of the truly supernatural in it, Alfredo Alcala's heavy inking style does a lot to add to the 'dark' mood. Unfortunately, the story isn't all that compelling. Just a simple story of El Diablo helping some travelers through a mountain pass. There are two miscreants trying to stop the travelers, but the reason is never made clear. And El Diablo's ability to grab things with a bullwhip seems to be taken a little far. But it's not really a bad story, just a bit standard.