Let's be clear: the entire
Tomahawk series, including
World's Finest appearances, should be reprinted. Since I probably won't live to see that happen, I'll settle for a nice, slim volume of
Son of Tomahawk stories. Even though it represents a sort of coda for the long running series, it is actually a great place to start. Robert Kanigher had a brilliant idea by transporting the Tomahawkverse 20 years into the future, with stories now focused on Hawk, the son of the now grizzled Revolutionary War vet. It's a real change of pace from the earlier series, and the stories are uniformly strong.
Much like it did with
Bat Lash and later with Jonah
Hex, DC was trying to rejuvenate the western during this era. In the end, it turned out to be a bit of a failed experiment, with only Hex finding commercial success. That being said, these are interesting books worthy of reprinting. The Kubert covers are full of drama, and the Frank Thorne's interior artwork is a perfect fit for Kanigher's topical and occasionally preachy tales. It has become a mere footnote in the history of the DCU, but it is certainly worth preserving and getting into the hands of new readers. The originals are still worth owning, as the 52 pagers are full of tough to find reprints, but a new and glossy trade would look great on my bookshelf.
Let's be clear: the entire Tomahawk series, including World's Finest appearances, should be reprinted. Since I probably won't live to see that happen, I'll settle for a nice, slim volume of Son of Tomahawk stories. Even though it represents a sort of coda for the long running series, it is actually a great place to start. Robert Kanigher had a brilliant idea by transporting the Tomahawkverse 20 years into the future, with stories now focused on Hawk, the son of the now grizzled Revolutionary War vet. It's a real change of pace from the earlier series, and the stories are uniformly strong. 
Much like it did with Bat Lash and later with Jonah Hex, DC was trying to rejuvenate the western during this era. In the end, it turned out to be a bit of a failed experiment, with only Hex finding commercial success. That being said, these are interesting books worthy of reprinting. The Kubert covers are full of drama, and the Frank Thorne's interior artwork is a perfect fit for Kanigher's topical and occasionally preachy tales. It has become a mere footnote in the history of the DCU, but it is certainly worth preserving and getting into the hands of new readers. The originals are still worth owning, as the 52 pagers are full of tough to find reprints, but a new and glossy trade would look great on my bookshelf.
4 comments:
I am undergoing a personal rediscovery of DC Western titles. I have followed Jonah Hex since the Lansdale Vertigo mini, but never really went back and got his early appearances until lately. I also picked up the Bat Lash Showcase last month and found a few Scalphunter back issues. The only exposure I have to Tomahawk is the vertigo special from the 90's and his appearances in the DC Super Dictionary from the 70's, but as I am loving the DC Westerns right now, you can add my voice to the call to reprint not only this but more Tomahawk stories as well.
LR, it's Prince Hal here, And you may remember from CBR's Classics Forum that I'm a Tomahawk aficionado.
Couldn't agree more with all you've written here. Tomahawk was a real iron horse for DC. It could be argued that no strip was as effectively reflective of the various phases that DC went through from the late 40s to the 70s.
Reprint 'em all, please!
Argh! Another run I will have to put on my want list!
Damn you Scott! (just kiddin' of course, thanks for the cool entry)
I've got these issues & several more from, say, #100 on which can be found in lower grade for a reasonable price.
I can't believe, however, that I'll never get to read Tomahawk's 1st appearance, or any of the early issues in Star-Spangled, World's Finest, & the Tomahawk title without shelling over $1000s that I don't have.
In the trade/archive/Absolute/Showcase happy 2010s, there should be some of this stuff collected!
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