The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Pax and Michael get ready for the upcoming Magnificent Seven remake by sitting down with the original starring Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Brad Dexter, Horst Buchholz, and Eli Wallach.

We also revisit DC's Justice Riders, talk over Chuck Dixon and John Buscema's Punisher: A Man Named Frank, discuss Sam Shepard as Butch Cassidy in Blackthorn, follow up on Bo Hampton's 3 Devils, converse on Kid Colt Outlaw #171 (guest-starring the Two-Gun Kid), and gab about early John Wayne movies Sagebrush Trail and Riders of Destiny.

Hitchin' Post | Yojimbo (1961) and Dollar for the Dead (1998)

In this special Hitchin' Post episode, Michael and Pax delve into Sergio Leone's influences by discussing the 1961 samurai classic Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa, which inspired A Fistful of Dollars. Then we also discuss the 1998 TV movie Dollar for the Dead starring Emilio Estevez, which Leone's Dollars Trilogy in turn inspired.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

In this episode, Pax and Michael finish Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy with the epic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach. It's the longest of the trilogy, but is it the best? And how does it fit in with the other two?

Tune in as we hash that out, right after a discussion of the Weird Western comic The Sixth Gun, William R. Cox's novel The Gunsharp, the 1967 film Hombre, DC's Justice Riders, and "The Origin of Kid Colt" from Kid Colt, Outlaw #170.

All this and listener mail!

For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Pax and Michael continue exploring the Dollars Trilogy with the second installment, For a Few Dollars More, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and a bunch of Sergio Leone's other favorite actors. We talk about the difference in Eastwood's character between Fistful of Dollars and this one, and we also start the discussion of whether or not the Dollars Trilogy works as a straightforward story of one man's adventures in the West. Plus: much love for Van Cleef and Gian Maria Volontè.

In our "Whatcha Been Westerning?" segment, we cover the Vertigo comics series El Diablo by Brian Azzarello and Danijel Zezelj, John Ostrander and Leonardo Manco's Blaze of Glory for Marvel, Alejandro Iñárritu's film The Revenant, and Elmore Leonard's classic novel Hombre.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

In this episode Mike and Pax start their three-episode look at Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy. We start with the movie that made Clint Eastwood a star, 1964's A Fistful of Dollars. We talk about our history with this movie, Clint's performance, Ennio Morricone's score, and we even discuss the rarely seen 4-minute CBS TV prologue filmed with Harry Dean Stanton.





In our newly named "Whatchoo Been Westerning?" segment, we also talk about Bo Hampton's supernatural Western comic 3 Devils, the Gene Autry serial The Phantom Empire, and circle back around to the slim-waisted "Señorita Scorpion."

Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985)

At last! Pax and Michael discuss one of the greatest Westerns of all time. Or at least, certainly one of our very favorites. Grab your feather cape and gather 'round the campfire as we talk about 1985's Rustlers' Rhapsody, the comedy classic starring Tom Berenger, GW Bailey, Marilu Henner, Sela Ward, Andy Griffith, and Carson from Downton Abbey.

Also up for discussion are the comic book series Six-Gun Gorilla and Trailblazer, Gary Cooper in 1929's The Virginian, Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson's Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights, and the pulp magazine adventures of Señorita Scorpion. We also give quick shout-outs to The Sixth Gun, the role-playing game Deadlands (which Michael can't remember the name of), and the idea of Western comedies in general.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

In this episode, Michael and Pax watched the John Ford classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance starring Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Vera Miles, Lee Van Cleef, and Woody Strode. Before we talk about the movie we mention other things we're doing like reading the comics Galveston, Manifest Destiny, and Kid Colt Outlaw, the novel The Last Mountain Man by William W Johnstone, and watching the movie The Big Trail starring a young John Wayne.