The Problem with the Comics Industry is YOU, Comic Book Nerds

I checked the headlines this week and found out that the sky is falling in the world of the comic industry these days. There is a lot of debate about what the root cause of all this is and what to be done about it, but after picking up a copy of Weird Western Tales that was published in 1974, I can tell you exactly what’s wrong: it’s the comic book readers.

Comics companies knew exactly who their audience was back in the seventies, and they were blessed with people that were simply a cut above today’s pitiful excuse for fandom. Comics readers weren’t just the sort of people that longed to get a brand-new Daisy BB Gun for Christmas. They were the type of people that could wow their dad with the Code of the Daisy Rifleman, learn gun safety rules and responsibilities, and even build 15-foot indoor shooting ranges.

They weren’t just the type of people would want a x-ray glasses or vibrating shockers, either. This generation was dominated by the sort of people that would be liable to go for that 100-piece toy soldier set. They dreamed mastering a complete course of kung-fu and bulking up with the fastest muscle-building system known to man. After learning a few magic tricks to impress the ladies, they would get on the fast track to a cool job by training at home to become a motorcycle mechanic.

Face it, comic book readers of the seventies were absolute chads. It’s no wonder everything went downhill when these people got replaced by a bunch of dweebs that spent way too much time goofing around with video games and roleplaying games.

Granted, there were only just enough of the more discerning types to keep Weird Western Tales coming out on a bi-monthly basis. And even those stalwarts weren’t especially garrulous either given that the editor had to beg them to help load up the saddlebag of mail in the upcoming months.

I’ll tell you this, though. It never crossed any of their minds to complain about a hero that not only hailed from the Confederacy, but also steadfastly wore his cavalry uniform during every episode. Heck, even the readers saddled with the misfortune of living in Boston or Rhode Island had nothing but good to say!

Some of these guys were pretty articulate, like Franklin W. Maynard from Des Plaines, Illinois. “These tales from the old, ‘weird’ west show all of the wrinkles,” he wrote in, “the unending wilderness the choking traildust, the sleazy bits of ‘civilization’ that men had to rely on to keep what sanity they had left.”

He’s right. Weird Western Tales not only provides a complete adventure story well in line with Clint Eastwood films like The Outlaw Josey Wales. They are impeccably executed, beautifully illustrated, and are wondrously effective at transporting the reader to another time and place.

These old Jonah Hex stories are not just an exemplar of what the comics industry ought to be producing today. They point us readers toward the kind of people we ought to be as well.

Good luck with your new career as a motorcycle mechanic!

Jeffro Johnson is the third most important person in D&D history. He is the author of both Appendix N: The Literary History of Dungeons & Dragons and How to Win at D&D. You can follow his latest exploits via Twitter or on his blog.

What do you think about the old Weird Western Tales series and Jonah Hex? Leave a comment and let us know.