| All-Star Western | |
|---|---|
 Cover toAll-Star Western #58 (Apr-May 1951), art byGil Kane andFrank Giacoia. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | Bi-monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Publication date | (vol. 1): May 1951 – July 1961 (vol. 2): Sep. 1970 – May 1972 (vol. 3): Sep. 2011 – Aug. 2014 |
| No. of issues | (vol. 1): 62 (vol. 2): 11 (vol. 3): 34 + 0 |
| Main character(s) | (vol. 1) Super-Chief Johnny Thunder Trigger Twins (vol. 2) Jonah Hex Bat Lash El Diablo Outlaw Pow-Wow Smith (vol. 3) Jonah Hex Amadeus Arkham |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | (vol. 1) Gardner Fox Robert Kanigher David Wood (vol. 2)John Albano (vol. 3) Justin Gray Jimmy Palmiotti |
| Penciller(s) | (vol. 1) Gil Kane Carmine Infantino Alex Toth (vol. 2) Tony DeZuniga (vol. 3) Moritat Staz Johnson Cliff Richards |
All-Star Western is the name of threeAmericancomic book series published byDC Comics, each aWestern fiction omnibus featuring both continuing characters andanthological stories. The first ran from 1951 to 1961, the second from 1970 to 1972 and the third was part ofThe New 52 and ran from September 2011 to August 2014.
The originalAll-Star Western began with #58 (May 1951), having taken over the number of its predecessor title,All Star Comics — asuperhero omnibus that years before had introduced the enduring team theJustice Society of America.[1] With the postwar decline in the popularity of superheroes, publisherDC Comics changed the series format and title.All-Star Western ran 62 bimonthly issues through #119 (July 1961). The cover logo did not include a hyphen until issue #108 (Sept. 1959), when it was much reduced in size and placed above the much larger logo for what was then the title feature, "Johnny Thunder". Johnny Thunder remained on the cover until the final issue, #119, occasionally sharing it with Madame .44, "the masked outlaw queen".
The first issue contained the features "The Trigger Twins", created by writerRobert Kanigher andpencilerCarmine Infantino and running through #116; "Don Caballero", drawn byGil Kane, and "Roving Ranger", penciled byAlex Toth, the writer-creator uncredited; and "Strong Bow", created by writer David Wood and artistFrank Giacoia. Other features that appeared through the years included "Super-Chief", by writerGardner Fox and artist Infantino; and, beginning with #67 (Nov. 1952), "Johnny Thunder", featuring the masked, vigilante persona of aschoolteacher in anOld WestMormon settlement. The character had been created by writer Kanigher and artist Toth in DC'sAll-American Comics in 1948.
The series was revived in the following decade, and ran 11 bimonthly issues (Sept. 1970 – May 1972) before changing its title and, slightly its format to becomeWeird Western Tales.All-Star Western vol. 2, #1 starredPow-Wow Smith, scripted byJohn Broome, with art byCarmine Infantino. The next four starred the characters Outlaw andEl Diablo. With issue #5, the character Outlaw was dropped, with the cover logo "Outlaw" now referring to the replacement-feature star,Billy the Kid. The Western "all-stars" now included such historical characters asWild Bill Hickok,Buffalo Bill andDavy Crockett, in a mix of new stories and reprints, as well as DC stalwarts Pow-Wow Smith, El Diablo andBat Lash.
Issue #10 (February–March 1972) introduced the enduring and popular characterJonah Hex, created by writerJohn Albano and artistTony DeZuniga.[2] Hex continued as the star of the comic when it changed its name toWeird Western Tales with issue #12 (July 1972), and he continued into issue #38 (Feb. 1977) of the 59-issue series.
The series was revived as part of the line-wideThe New 52 relaunch in September 2011, written byJustin Gray andJimmy Palmiotti with art byMoritat. The series followed the adventures ofJonah Hex andAmadeus Arkham in an Old West-version ofGotham City, with back-up tales featuring other Western characters such as:
After issue #21 the backup features stopped. Beginning with issue #21 the comic was about Jonah Hex and his adventures in the present. He meets the heroes of the present. Characters met in the present:
The series was discontinued with issue #34 (released in August 2014).
Vol. 2 ofAll-Star Western has been collected intoShowcase Presents Jonah Hex:
Vol. 3 ofAll-Star Western has been collected into the followingtrade paperbacks:
| Title | Material collected | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Vol. 1: Guns and Gotham | All-Star Western Vol. 3 #1-6 | 1-4012-3709-6 |
| Vol. 2: The War of Lords and Owls | All-Star Western Vol. 3 #7-12 | 1-4012-3851-3 |
| Vol. 3: The Black Diamond Probability | All-Star Western Vol. 3 #0, #13-16 | 1-4012-3851-3 |
| Vol. 4: Gold Standard | All-Star Western Vol. 3 #17-21 | 1-4012-4626-5 |
| Vol. 5: Man Out Of Time | All-Star Western Vol. 3 #22-28 | 978-1-4012-4993-9 |
| Vol. 6: End of the Trail | All-Star Western Vol. 3 #29-34 | 1-4012-5413-6 |
The Western comic had all but ridden off into the sunset, until the arrival of Jonah Hex gave the genre a new face...A tale by John Albano and drawn by Tony DeZuniga immediately presented the bounty hunter as a cold-blooded killer.
| Supporting characters | |
|---|---|
| Five Warriors from Forever | |
| Publications | |
| In other media | |
