Hex issue 1

Hex
Issue 1
by Michael Fleisher (story) and Mark Texeira
DC Comics, September 1985

By the Summer of 1985 it was becoming clear to the comics publishers that the rise of dedicated comic book shops was going to revolutionize the sales and marketing of comics. 

This was welcome news, for this 'direct market', as it came to be called, was likely to rescue the entire industry from extinction as newsstand sales plummeted, and more and more distributors became indifferent to comic books and the few cents of profit they earned from each sale. 

Superhero titles were the main beneficiaries of the direct market, which led DC comics to contemplate reducing its lineup of non-superhero titles, particularly ones with poor sales records. A potential casualty of this attitude was the long-running comic Jonah Hex, which by 1984 was a bimonthly title.

As is detailed in essays available at DC in the 80s, One Fangirl's Opinion, and Matching Dragoons (warning: they have spoilers) longtime Hex writer Michael Fleisher was willing to radically change the title in an effort to revive sales.

'Hex', which debuted in September 1985, sent its hero into the year 2050, into a United States turned into a mashup of post-apocalyptic pop culture references like Mad Max, Escape from New York, and even the 1983 B-movie Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn. 

Below is the contents of the first issue of 'Hex'. If there is interest, I'll post additional issues.