All Star Western #10 (1972)

Jonah Hex, a bounty hunter, has been hired by the mayor of Paradise Corners to eliminate the Big Jim's Raiders, a group of saddle tramps led by Big Jim who have been terrorizing the town to force people off their land and make money selling it to a railway company. After bringing in two of the men, dead, he collects part of his payment (100 dollars a head), before going after three more of Big Jim's men who have holed up in the local Saloon. Hex gets the drop on them, shooting two of their number, but the third gets away when a local boy trips him up. When Hex tells the boy off, he finds that the kid has a tough attitude, for a little boy. Hex manages to follow the escaping member of Big Jim's gang to Big Jim's hide out. Killing the man who got away, Hex ends up chasing Big Jim across the countryside. Jim stumbles upon the little boy's farm house and takes the boy's mother hostage in order to escape from Hex. Hex agrees to drop his guns so the woman can be let free, when Big Jim complies and begins to ride away, Hex throws a hidden knife at Jim, striking him in the back and killing him. Afterwards, the boy invites Hex back to their home for his mother's apple dumplings. Making his payment, Hex inquires about a house that was up for sale. Not wishing to have everyone think there is a cold blooded killer in their town, the mayor tells him that it and all other houses in Paradise Corners have been sold. Hex leaves to visit the boy, but his mother shoots at him and tells him to leave, not wishing a cold blooded killer to be a hero to her son. When Jonah comes across the boy on his ride out of town, the boy wants to go with Hex, but Hex coldly rejects the boy who -- rejected -- returns home. Hex leaves Paradise Corners, but not before shattering the sign marking the town with his bare hands.