Weird Western Quarterly

*Note: If you need an explanation of fanfic and/or my involvement in it, click here.*

When I was about halfway finished with The Long Road Home, I became part of the staff for a fanfic site called DC2, where I oversaw my own "title" dubbed Weird Western Quarterly and was pretty much put in charge of the entire 19th Century.  It was a learning experience, let me tell you: I gave myself a crash course in just about every DC Western character out there, trying to figure out who would be good to use and who should be left behind.  I've since acquired a couple of new favorites (see the separate Vigilante listing for more on that, as well as links to his WWQ stories), but overall, I keep going back to Jonah Hex.  You've heard the old adage of "Write what you know"?  Well, I know him very well, thank you kindly, and I don't think I'll ever shake him.

If you want to just plow through and read everything WWQ, feel free to follow the link up top.  Some stories listed there were written by other staff members like Don Walsh, but they should in no way be considered "fill-ins" -- I keep continuity tight on WWQ, and I give everything that falls under the title a once-over before posting.  However, if you want to pick and choose between characters, I've made notes on the links below regarding who turns up where.

Death and Gunsmoke (starring Jonah Hex; guest shots by Scalphunter and Bat Lash)
Prologue    Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4
My first offering for WWQ, and I led with my best foot.  For lack of a better term, this is "Jonah Hex: Year One".  I poured through all my comics and strung together nearly every flashback and/or causal mention I could find regarding Jonah's life before he became a bounty hunter, filling in the gaps and smoothing out the bumps as best I could.  This approach kinda became the backbone of WWQ: part history lesson, part character study.  And for those at home who are on the lookout for my art as well as my stories, the cover for Part 3 was drawn by me, with a color assist from Roy Flinchum (who's done full work on a slew of WWQ covers over the years).

'Til Things Are Brighter (starring Nighthawk): Hannibal Hawkes finally gets an origin story!  I found it strange that a character this old could go so long without getting one, so this became a priority for me once I landed this gig.

In for a Penny, In for a Pounding and How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away? (starring Bat Lash; guest shots by Jonah Hex and Scalphunter): These two stories were done 4 years aprt, but they both revolve around the same characters: Bat Lash and a gal named Penny Dreasney, an original character given to me by DC2's Brandon Herren.  She's just as scheming as Bat, but with womanly wiles on top of it all, so you know Bat's doomed from the start.

Inherit the Wind (starring Windrunner; guest shot by Hawk Son of Tomahawk): In case the name isn't familiar, Windrunner is the moniker used in the 1800s by Max Mercury.  So this tale is unique in that we get to see him long before he becomes the "Zen Master of the Speed Force".  I did my best to build on what little we know about the character's past while adding a few twists of my own.

Lead Us Not Into Desecration (starring Scalphunter, Bat Lash, Cinnamon, and Jonah Hex)
Part 1    Part 2    Part 3
For those of you who read The Long Road Home already, this story can be seen as a sequel/prequel for it.  It's the DC2 version of Justice League of America #198-199, where four JLA members get tossed into the Old West.  About 50% of this story is based on those issues, with the other 50% being things I had to change to fit DC2 continuity (like swapping out Zatanna for Hawkgirl) or personal tweaks I made in order to make it a better yarn (the original comic has some parts that I consider to be very clunky).  I consider TLRH to be canon to some degree in DC2, but before I fully integrate it into the site's history, I felt I needed to lay this bit of groundwork.  All that being said, though, you really don't need to read one story to understand the other, as both were written to stand alone (or at least I hoped I wrote them well enough to do so).

The Third, More Mercurial... (starring Windrunner): A traditional Christmas tale with an Old West variation, with a young Max Mercury doing the work of four iconic spirits all by himself.

The Devil You Know (starring El Diablo): We're veering off to the side a bit here, as this was actually posted under DC2's villain-centric Rogue's Gallery title, but it ties directly into WWQ, so it gets a pass.  The editor of the title came to me asking if there were any Western baddies worthy of a spotlight, and after I explained that very few owlhoots lived long enough to merit full-on villain status, I offered him this tale, which had been on the back burner of my mind for a year or so.  By the way, if you skipped Inherit the Wind on your way down this list, backtrack up to it and read that story first.  Trust me, it's worth it.

Love and War (starring Jonah Hex; guest shots by Johnny Thunder and Madame .44): This is a 10-part story that wound through WWQ for two years, with one part spilling out into a whole 'nother book (namely DC2's annual holiday special).  As the title suggests, you'll get a bit of love (Jonah's relationship with the lovely Mei Ling) and you'll get a bit of war (Quentin Turnbull's neverending feud with Hex), along with all the other bits you've come to expect from a Jonah Hex tale.  So set aside some time and get comfortable, 'cause once you crack this one open, you'll be here for a while.

The Circle Unbroken (starring Tomahawk; guest shots by Hawk Son of Tomahawk and Windrunner): For a Western book, this tale is on the bleeding-edge of the era's beginning.  It's a variation on how Revolutionary War hero Tom Hawkins made his way out West and lived out his twilight years amongst the Indians.

Brothers In Arms (starring Scalphunter and Matt Savage): This story highlights one of the continuity changes of DC2, wherein Brian Savage not only has a sister, but an older brother named Matt, who will later become better known under his "Trail Boss" moniker.  Yeah, I know, James Robinson tweaked it so the Trail Boss is now Brian's dad, but if you go by the old Who's Who entries, Matt Savage served in the Civil War (which Scalphunter also participated in), so I tweaked it in my own way.  Besides, I think it gives a new dimension to the whole "white man living as an Indian" angle if he's got a brother constantly trying to pull him back to his birthright.