RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books comic book characters you love, who never quite made it

I always find it weird that Jonah Hex got the love he got. Horrific scars, Confederate, mercenary. I know he had a moral code (like Enemy Ace) but still, amazing longevity for a character like that.

Well, I've noticed that any story in comics that deals with the Civil War is an issue that is very difficult to keep in stock. There are a lot of Civil War buffs. I once in my job phoned a client who was in North Carolina and in the course of small talk discussed regional history and the Civil war, and he said something to the effect of "A lot of good men died in that war...", as if he knew them personally !!
I was like "Uhh... yeah..."

In the former Confederate States, there is a large percentage of locals who are deeply immersed in that history, who know that history extremely well, or even have a revisionist romanticised reverence for the "Old South".

So, I'm sure that mindset taps into some of Jonah Hex's enduring popularity.

Beyond that, I also see Jonah Hex as an anti-hero in the vein of Clint Eastwood's "the man with no name" bounty hunter character in the 3 Sergio Leone spaghetti western films. A ruthless bounty hunter who kills and stacks up the bodies without a second thought.

I guess Jonah Hex has a sort of personal moral code of sorts. There are particular people he feels sympathy for, that he either defends or avenges. And occasionally criminals he lets go because they have turned away from their criminal past, or participated in crimes against their will.
And others Hex kills by the dozen without a second thought, or even takes satisfaction in killing. Kind of like Conan or Tarzan, he is not accountable to the laws of civilization, he is a law unto himself, the law of the jungle, or as termed in this country, "frontier justice".

Jonah Hex in many stories is an almost supernatural force of nature, almost indestructible, a gunman who seemingly can't be killed, who is terrifying because he can't be stopped, and if he is coming for you, you're as good as dead already.

So the Confederate element is certainly a big part of his appeal, and in issues that rolled out his origin, the Civil War is where his disfigurement and legend began.

On the other point you make, about Jonah Hex's disfigurement making him oddly popular despite that, there are actually, across many decades of comics history, many disfigured or monstrous characters who tend to be very popular with readers. Ben Grimm/The Thing, Swamp Thing, Two-Face, the Joker, Dr. Doom, and Orion (in New Gods), to name a few I can easily recall.

I think of Jonah Hex as a Michael Fleisher creation, but Jonah Hex was actually created by John Albano and Tony Dezuniga, who did the series for about 3 years, before Albano moved on and Fleisher took over the character in 1974.




Jonah Hex first appeared in ALL STAR WESTERN 10 and 11, beginning February/March 1971.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/All-Star-Western-1970/Issue-10?id=54086
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/All-Star-Western-1970/Issue-11?id=54087

Then the series changed title to WEIRD WESTERN TALES (and Jonah Hex appeared in 12-38, before being moved to his own title in 1977) . Fleisher took over the writing with WEIRD WESTERN issue 22, in May 1974.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Weird-Western-Tales-1972/Issue-12?id=54097

And then continued after 1977 for another 92 issues with JONAH HEX in his own title. All written by Fleisher.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Jonah-Hex-1977/Issue-1?id=38854

And then in 1985-1987, as said in prior posts, he was time-transported and re-invented as a post-apocalyptic future character in the
HEX series for another 18 issues, also by Fleisher
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Hex/Issue-1?id=54066

And then there's also the DC SPECIAL SERIES 15 story (1978) set in the early 1900's, where Jonah Hex's final fate is revealed, where he was killed, then stuffed and mounted, and his remains made part of a travelling wild west show. Bizarre !
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/DC-Special-Series/Issue-16?id=62923
Also from the brain of Michael Fleisher.



And no exploration of the brain and collected work of Michael Fleisher would be complete without mentioning his run on The Spectre in
ADVENTURE COMICS 431-440
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Adventure-Comics-1938/Issue-431?id=41517

In the New 52 comics Hex time traveled to our time.
He got plastic surgery to fix his face.
He time traveled back to his time.
Hex killed a bad guy claiming to be Hex.
Hex assumed a new name.
Hex rode off into the sunset with Talullah.
That was the last Hex story I saw.

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Man, Jonah Hex has become a time-traveling maniac !

I recall after an absence a few years, there was a JONAH HEX: TWO-GUN MOJO miniseries around 1995 or so by Tim Truman, .that seemed to be very popular and a critical success as well.

Then circa 2006, I saw another JONAH HEX series on the stands, that I was surprised was once again drawn by Tony Dezuniga, that as I recall was another very long run..


And while maybe not achieving X-MEN-level high sales, JONAH HEX seems to keep coming back in a number of series and storylines, each generating some degree of enduring popularity.

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This next one is a bit complicated, and it's another of those situations where you almost need a PhD in comic book continuity to follow it.

Three minor characters that are intertwined :

(1) THE CAT




All three characters started with a short-lived series titled THE CAT (or alternately, CLAWS OF THE CAT), a brief 4-issue series with a female-reader/feminist angle, introducing a young widowed and struggling college student named Greer Grant who in the course of a job she takes for needed income, has access to an experimenttal cat-suit, volunteering in related scientific research. And when she sees another girl hired for cat-suit experiments die, she takes the experimental suit and seeks vengeance and justice for the other girl who died, against the ruthless group who got her killed.
1 by Fite, and Marie Severin/Wood art, Nov 1972
2 Fite, and Marie Severin/Mooney, Jan 1973
3 Fite, and "Paty Greer"/Bill Everett, April 1973
4 Fite, and Starlin/Weiss pencils/Meclauglin inks, June 1973

The first issue I bought off he stands, cover-dated Nov 1972, with series creators that were almost all female, writer Linda Fite (who was the girlfriend and later wife of artist Herb Trimpe), penciller Marie Severin, and inked by Wallace Wood.
The series at least attempted to have an all (or mostly) staff of female creators, likely made near impossible by the sparsity of women in the comics field. Often the letterers and colorists on these issues were women too.
But the series seemed to have trouble keeping a steady creative team, virtually every issue had a completely different creators. But particularly the first two issues were good reading, by Fite and Marie Severin.
The third was pencilled by "Paty Greer", who later became Paty Cockrum, Dave Cockrum's wife, nicely inked by Bill Everett.
Issue 4 is pencilled by Jim Starlin and Al Weiss, both just months after their first work at Marvel.

The last appearance I'm aware of as The Cat was in an issue co-starring with Spider-Man, in
MARVEL TEAM-UP
8 by Gerry Conway, with art by Jim Mooney, cover-dated April 1973


And Greer Grant went on after that to to her metamorphosis into Tigra, in
GIANT-SIZE CREATURES
1 , by Tony Isabella, with art by Don Perlin/Vince Colletta, July 1974

.

(2) TIGRA

After her transformaion into Tigra in GIANT-SIZE CREATURES 1 above, the character had a few sporadic appearances over the next 8 years.

In WEREWOLF BY NIGHT
20 by Moench, and Perlin/Colletta, August 1974

MONSTERS UNLEASHED
10 by Isabella/Claremont, and Tony Dezuniga, Feb 1975


Cover is Chaykin pencils/Wrightson inks

MARVEL CHILLERS
3 by Isabella, and Meugniot pencils/Charamonte,Grainger inks, Feb 1976
4 Claremont, and Robbins/Colletta, April 1976
5 Isabella, and Meugniot/Colletta, June 1976
6 Isabella, and Byrne/Springer, August 1976
7 Shooter, and Tuska/Trapani, Oct 1976

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE
19 by Mantlo, and Sal Buscema/Heck art, Sept 1976

MARVEL PREMIERE
42 by Warner/Hannigan, with Vosburg/.Chan art, June 1978

MARVEL TEAM-UP
67, by Claremont, with John Byrne/Dave Hunt art, March 1978
125 by DeMatteis, and Gammill/Esposito art, Jan 1983

And best of the bunch for my money,

AVENGERS
215 by Jim Shooter, with Al Weiss art, Jan 1982
216 By Jim Shooter, with Al Weiss art, Feb 1982

Bendis also introduced a character into his version of Young Justice, called I think Jenny Hex? She was a great great garnddaughter of Jonah Hex, and had a box with all of his future gadgetry which she used.



Sure, but Hex's face is next level. Hex's skin is melted and partly covers his mouth, and his eye protrudes from its socket. Gah.

The last time I saw Tigra in a comic was in the remarkable title Avengers: Arena. She and Hank Kym were dating and are the chief instructors of the Avengers Academy. (Avengers Arena is a psychological thriller, and by its own confession is loosely based in The Hunger Games. Arcade is transformed from a goofy villain into a ruthless manipulator.)

Before that, I saw Tigra make a relatively brief appearance as the victim of the big roster of the Masters of Evil, where she was beaten up on video as a warning to other superheroes. That was in New Avengers, written by Bendis. She gets revenge, however.

Wow, a few series I was unaware of, so new stuff to check out.
AVENGERS: ARENA 1-18

There's another series called AVENGERS ACADEMY listed, that seems to be more what you described. It lists Hank Pym and Tigra as characters in the series, in many issues prominently shown on covers.


There are muliple series of NEW AVENGERS , so it's more difficult to narrow down what issues of that series are the ones with Tigra you refer to.


While a minor character, Tigra over the last 50-plus years has either starred or guest-starred in hundreds of issues. Another example of how even a minor Marvel or DC character, that fades in and out of popularity, can amount to a substantial franchise and profit for the company. Plus cartoons and other licensing appearances.

Kind of like Rocket Raccoon, or Guardians of the Galaxy.
Stories that for decades sat in the back issue bins un-noticed, available for decades at cover price or less at any time. Then a new series and a movie made all the stories they ever appeared in hotter than anything else, impossible to keep in stock at any price.

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And to finish outlining the history of The Cat and Tigra, the third and final character interwined wih those two is...


(3) HELLCAT

When Steve Englehart was scripting the series in AMAZING ADVENTURES 11-17 (1972-1973) where the Beast first transformed from the human character in X-MEN 1-66 to the more beastly blue furry guy we all know and love now.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Amazing-Adventures-1970/Issue-11?id=87998

Englehart introduced a liason military officer working for the Brand Corporation, and the officer's wife was Patsy Walker. A female character who along with MILLIE THE MODEL, previously had her own PATSY WALKER tittle from 1945-1965 and a few scattered issues beyond. Her and Millie's titles provided Marvel's competition with the Archie Comics titles, and other romance/dating titles.

Englehart revived the Patsy Walker character as a military officer's wife in a struggling marriage in the AMAZING ADVENTURES Beast series.
And really, it was just a few panels of sub-plot in each issue during this brief run.



Then, after that series was cancelled in AMAZING ADVENTURES (replaced by Killraven), Englehart began using Patsy Walker again as a character in the AVENGERS issues he was scripting, 141-150, in 1975-1976.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/The-Avengers-1963/Issue-141?id=10755

In particular in AVENGERS 144.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/The-Avengers-1963/Issue-144?id=10758


Gil Kane/Frank Giacoia cover


In 144, the Avengers are investigating the Brand Corporation and are (with Patsy Walker along) exploring one of the Brand Corporation's vast warehouses of technology that Brand either developed themselves, or that they bought out or otherwise acquired from other companies. With her bad marriage and criminally inclined ex husband, Patsy Walker expresses a desire for a better life, and expresses her interest in becoming a superhero and sharing a life like the Avengers she is in the company of.

And then... right there in the warehouse is a super-powered cat costume like the one the Cat wore in THE CAT 1-4, before Greer Grant was transformed into Tigra and no longer had a need for it.
And (incredibly) the Avengers encourage Patsy Walker to put the costume on and fight alongside them.
No, REALLY !!

No martial arts training, no military combat training, no weightlifting, gymnastics or other physical preparation, just puts on the costume and starts fighting as one of the Avengers. Her military officer Ex-husband and the Brand corporation are controlled by some other-worldly "invasion of the body snatchers"-like thing called the Serpent Crown, and the Avengers defeat them, and also defeat the Squadron Supreme (Marvel's thinly veiled re-creation of the Justice League, in what was the first unofficial clash between Marvel and DC heroes, under other names).

This all occurred in AVENGERS 141-150, by Englehart with a new to the series George Perez.
And in issue 144, Patsy Walker begins calling herself Hellcat.

Then she moves on from fighting alongside the Avengers, and eventually joins THE DEFENDERS in a long run, in issues 44-125 (Feb 1977-Nov 1983).
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/The-Defenders-1972/Issue-44?id=54336

After that she appeared in a Son of Satan revival in 1993, titled HELLSTORM, issues 1-5, wih nice art by Michael Bair.
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Hellstorm-Prince-of-Lies/Issue-1?id=62778

Then a few scattered appearances in THUNDERBOLTS ANNUAL 2000, in AVENGERS ANNUAL 2000, and a HELLCAT miniseries 1-3 (2001).

And I'm sure quite a few more series appearances beyond that.

In 2022, Marvel was promoting a plot where Hellcat and Patsy Walker were to get married. Not sure what happened, because around a year later Stark married to Emma Frost.

Oh, here we go: https://screenrant.com/iron-man-proposal-answer-hellcat-tony-stark-comics/#:~:text=Patsy%20Walker%20is%20surprised%20to,him%20%2D%20at%20least%20right%20now.

And Frost/Stark has a very interesting twist: https://www.polygon.com/23890921/iron-man-emma-frost-wedding-x-men