Justice League Unlimited - The Once and Future Thing: Weird Western Tales

Its Labor Day, So instead of going out and sweltering in the hot weather you should stay inside and watch some Weird Westerns; or at least one. Its a fun episode of Justice League Unlimited called The Once and Future Thing. It follows Batman, Wonder Woman, and John Stewart (Green Lantern) as they follow the villain Chronos first into the past then into the future as he collects (or rather steals) historical treasures for his own collection.

This is only part 1 of the story (the part that deals with the Old West), Part 2 can be found here.

This marks what is probably the 2nd of the 4 known Jonah Hex appearances in WB animation, and while he isn't the star, Jonah makes his presence known, like always. If I can dig it up, Ill post the Batman episode where he IS the star, its a good one (And written by one of my favorite Weird Western authors Joe R Lansdale, Who Ill be writing about at some point.)

Other great DC Western heroes that appear are El Diablo, Bat Lash, and Pow Wow Smith.

I hope you enjoy it! And have a good and safe Labor Day!

EDIT: The videos I had here were taken down from Youtube and I haven't been able to find anything to replace them. So until I do HERE is a comprehensive synopsis of the episode and some other things.

"Sheriff Moses Stone has a good life in Bollas Raton: a good job, a loving wife, and a reputation that helps him keep the peace. Once a legendary bounty hunter, "Holy" Moses doesn't chase bad men across the wilderness anymore. At least, not until the outlaw El Diablo pays a harrowing visit to his town.

In the aftermath, the sheriff and his posse track down the shadowy fugitive through the high desert to Halo, New Mexico. But even a $10, 000 reward can't explain Moses Stone's zeal to bring down the particular lawbreaker. Something more has drawn him to the little town of Halo - a secret that wont die, no matter how much blood is spilled."

Written by Brian Azzarello and art by Danijel Zezelj, and loosely based on the DC Comics Western character El Diablo is REALLY good. I'm always up for a good comic book Western (Heck I'm always up for ANY kind of Western) and this one delivered. Sort of a Spaghetti Western/Weird Western hybrid, El Diablo is one of those series that starts off fairly light, and then gets dark really quickly and doesn't let up.

It has clever twists and turns that will keep you thinking until the final page, as Moses Stones' actions throughout the series catch up to him in the end.

Danijel Zezelj's thick lined artwork sometimes channels the decayed over xeroxed look of Spaghetti Western artwork, yet never becomes lost in a bog of muddiness. I'm a little biased though, being a fan of Zezelj's artwork...especially Congo Bill, Loveless, and various short stories. Its definitely edgier then your normal mainstream work.

If you get a chance you should ride out and pick up a copy.

4 out of 5 Bloody Spurs