



                                                                    Exhibit 10.1


                              EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

     This Employment  Agreement  ("Agreement")  executed by and between COMSTOCK
RESOURCES,  INC., a Nevada corporation (the "Company") with principal offices at
5005  LBJ  Freeway,  Suite  1000,  Dallas,  Texas  75244,  and  M.  Jay  Allison
("Employee"), an individual residing at #3 Post-N-Paddock, Frisco, Texas 75034.

     1. Employment.  The Company hereby agrees to employ Employee,  and Employee
hereby  agrees to render his  exclusive  service to the Company,  in his current
capacity of President  and Chief  Executive  Officer of the  Company,  with such
duties as may be assigned to him from time to time by the Board of Directors for
a  period  of  time  commencing  on May 11,  1998  (the  effective  date of this
Agreement)  and ending on May 10,  1999 (the  "Employment  Period"),  subject to
earlier  termination as  hereinafter  provided.  Upon  termination of Employee's
employment  for any  reason  except  for death,  disability  or for good  cause,
including  termination of the Employment Period, the Company shall assign to the
Employee  ownership of any life insurance policies owned by the Company insuring
the Employee's life.

     2.  Place  of  Employment.  Unless  otherwise  agreed  by the  Company  and
Employee,  throughout the term of this  Agreement,  Employee's  business  office
shall be located in Dallas,  Texas,  at such location as may be specified by the
Board of Directors of the Company.

     3. Base  Compensation.  Employee  shall be  compensated by the Company at a
minimum base rate of $20,416.67 per month,  payable semimonthly on the fifteenth
and final days of each month during the period of  Employee's  employment  under
this  Agreement,  subject to such  increases and  additional  payments as may be
determined  from time to time by the Board of  Directors  of the  Company in its
sole discretion.  Such compensation shall be in addition to any group insurance,
pension,  profit sharing,  and other employee benefits,  which are extended from
time to time to  Employee in the  discretion  of the Board of  Directors  of the
Company and for which Employee is eligible. Subject to such rules and procedures
as are from time to time  specified  by the  Company,  the  Company  shall  also
reimburse Employee for all reasonable  expenses incurred by him on behalf of the
Company.

     4. Performance of Services.  Employee shall devote his full working time to
the business of the Company;  provided,  however, Employee shall be excused from
performing  any services for the Company  hereunder  during periods of temporary
incapacity and during vacations  conforming to the Company's  standard  vacation
policy,  without  thereby in any way affecting the  compensation  to which he is
entitled hereunder.

     5.  Continuing  Obligations.  In order to induce the  Company to enter into
this  Agreement,  the  Employee  hereby  agrees  that  all  documents,  records,
techniques,  business  secrets  and other  information  which have come into his
possession  from time to time during his  employment by the Company or which may
come into his possession during his employment hereunder,  shall be deemed to be
confidential  and proprietary to the Company and the Employee  further agrees to
retain in confidence any  confidential  information  known to him concerning the
Company and it's  subsidiaries and their  respective  businesses so long as such
information  is not publicly  disclosed.  In the event of a breach or threatened
breach by the Employee of the provisions of this Paragraph 5, the Company shall,
in  addition to any other  available  remedies,  be  entitled  to an  injunction
restraining Employee from disclosing,  in whole or in part, any such information
or from rendering any services to any person, firm or corporation to whom any of
such information may have been disclosed or is threatened to be disclosed.

     6. Property of Company. All data,  drawings,  and other records and written
material  prepared or compiled by Employee or furnished to Employee while in the
employ of the Company shall be the sole and  exclusive  property of the Company,


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and none of such data,  drawings or other records,  or copies thereof,  shall be
retained by Employee upon  termination of his  employment.  Notwithstanding  the
foregoing, Employee shall be under no obligation to return public information.

     7.  Surviving  Provisions.  The  provisions  of  Paragraphs 5 and 6 of this
Agreement  shall  continue to be binding upon Employee in accordance  with their
terms,  notwithstanding  termination of Employee's  employment hereunder for any
reason.

     8. Termination for Good Cause. It is agreed and understood that the Company
cannot  terminate the employment of the Employee under this Agreement except for
good  cause,  and that,  without  prejudice  to the  generality  of the right to
terminate  for good cause,  each of the  following  contingencies  shall be good
cause:

          (a) Should  Employee by reason of injury or illness  become  incapable
for  more  than one  hundred  fifty  (150)  consecutive  days of  satisfactorily
performing his duties as an employee under this Agreement;

          (b) Should  Employee for reasons  other than illness or injury  absent
himself from his duties  without the consent of the Company (which consent shall
not be unreasonably withheld) for more than twenty (20) consecutive days;

          (c)  Should  Employee  be  convicted  of  a  felony   involving  moral
turpitude;

          (d) Should Employee during the period of his employment by the Company
engage in any  activity  that would in the opinion of the Board of  Directors of
the  Company  constitute  a material  conflict  of  interest  with the  Company;
provided that termination for cause based on this  subparagraph (d) shall not be
effective  unless the Employee shall have received written notice from the Board
of Directors of the Company of such activity  (which notice shall also include a
demand for the  Employee to cease the  activity  giving rise to the  conflict of
interest) fifteen (15) days prior to his termination and the Employee has failed
after  receipt of such notice to cease all  activities  creating the conflict of
interest; or

          (e) Should  Employee be grossly  negligent in the  performance  of his
duties  hereunder,  or materially in breach of his duties and obligations  under
this Agreement;  provided that termination for cause based on this  subparagraph
(e) shall not be  effective  unless the  Employee  shall have  received  written
notice from the Board of Directors of the Company  (which notice shall include a
description of the reasons and circumstances giving rise to such notice) fifteen
(15) days prior to his  termination and the Employee has failed after receipt of
such notice to satisfactorily  discharge the performance of his duties hereunder
or to comply with the terms of this Agreement, as the case may be.

The  Company  may for good  cause  terminate  Employee's  employment  under this
Agreement without advance notice, except as otherwise  specifically provided for
in  subparagraphs  (d) and (e)  above.  Termination  shall not affect any of the
Company's other rights and remedies.

     9. Payment of Certain Costs of Employee.  If a dispute arises regarding the
interpretation  or  enforcement of this  Agreement,  all legal fees and expenses
incurred  by the  Employee  in seeking to obtain or enforce any right or benefit
provided for in this  Agreement or in otherwise  pursuing his claim will be paid
by the Company,  to the extent  permitted by law. The Company  further agrees to
pay  prejudgment  interest  on any  money  judgment  obtained  by  the  Employee
calculated  at the First  National Bank of Chicago N.A.  prime  interest rate in
effect from time to time from the date that  payment(s)  to him should have been
made under this Agreement.

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     10. Mitigation.  The Employee is not required to mitigate the amount of any
payments to be made by the Company  pursuant to this  Agreement by seeking other
employment or otherwise.

     11. Successors.

                    (a)  Except as may  otherwise  be  provided  under any other
                    written  agreement between the Company and the Employee with
                    respect to the terms of  Employee's  employment in the event
                    of a change of  control of the  Company,  the  Company  will
                    require  any  successor  (whether  direct  or  indirect,  by
                    purchase,  merger,  consolidation  or  otherwise)  to all or
                    substantially  all  of the  business  and/or  assets  of the
                    Company, by agreement in form and substance  satisfactory to
                    the Employee,  to expressly assume and agree to perform this
                    Agreement in the same manner and to the same extent that the
                    Company   would  be  required  to  perform  it  if  no  such
                    succession had taken place. Failure of the Company to obtain
                    such  agreement  prior  to the  effectiveness  of  any  such
                    succession  shall be a breach of this Agreement.  As used in
                    this   Agreement,   "Company"  shall  mean  the  Company  as
                    hereinbefore  defined any  successor to its business  and/or
                    assets  as  aforesaid   which   executes  and  delivers  the
                    agreement  provided  for  in  this  Paragraph  11  or  which
                    otherwise  becomes bound by all the terms and  provisions of
                    this Agreement by operation of law.

                    (b) This  Agreement  shall  inure to the  benefit  of and be
                    enforceable   by   the   Employee's    personal   or   legal
                    representatives,   executors,  administrators,   successors,
                    heirs, distributees,  devisees and legatees. If the Employee
                    should die during the term hereof,  the Company shall pay an
                    amount  equal  to  any  amounts  than  payable  to  Employee
                    hereunder,  plus an amount  equal to six months'  annualized
                    total compensation  (considering Employee's base pay and his
                    most recent annual bonus,  if any), with all such amounts to
                    be paid to Employee's devisee, legatee or other designee or,
                    if there be no such designee, to his estate.

     12. No Inconsistent  Obligations.  Employee represents and warrants that he
has not  previously  assumed  any  obligations  inconsistent  with those of this
Agreement.

     13.  Modification.  This  Agreement  shall be in addition  to all  previous
agreements,  written or oral, relating to Employee's  employment by the Company,
and shall not be changed orally,  but only by a written  instrument to which the
Company and the Employee are both parties.

     14. Binding Effect. This Agreement and the rights and obligations hereunder
shall be binding  upon and inure to the benefit of the parties  hereto and their
respective legal  representatives,  and shall also bind and inure to the benefit
of any  successor of the Company by merger or  consolidation  or any assignee of
all or substantially all of its properties.

     15. Bankruptcy. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary,
the insolvency or adjudication of bankruptcy of the Company,  whether  voluntary
or involuntary, shall terminate this Agreement and the rights and obligations of
Company and Employee hereunder shall be of no further force or effect.

     16. Law Governing.  This Agreement  made,  accepted and delivered in Dallas
County, Texas, is performable in Dallas County, Texas, and it shall be construed
and  enforced  according  to the laws of the State of Texas.  Venue shall lie in
Dallas  County,  Texas for the purpose of resolving  and  enforcing  any dispute
which may arise under this Agreement and the parties agree that they will submit
themselves to the  jurisdiction of the competent State or Federal Court situated
in Dallas County, Texas.

     17. Invalid Provision.  In case any one or more of the provisions contained
in this Agreement shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, the
validity,  legality and  enforceability  of the remaining  provisions  contained
herein shall not in any way be impaired thereby.

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     18.  Notices.  For  purposes  of this  Agreement,  notices  and  all  other
communications  provided  for herein  shall be in writing and shall be deemed to
have been duly given when  delivered or mailed by United  States  registered  or
certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, addressed as follows:

                  If to the Employee:

                           M. Jay Allison
                           #3 Post-N-Paddock
                           Fisco, Texas 75034

                  If to the Company:

                           Comstock Resources, Inc.
                           5005 LBJ Freeway, Suite 1000
                           Dallas, Texas 75244

or to such other  address  as either  party may have  furnished  to the other in
writing in accordance  herewith,  except that notices of change of address shall
be effective only upon receipt.

     EXECUTED and effective as to this 11th day of May 1998.

                           COMSTOCK RESOURCES, INC.


                           /s/ROLAND O. BURNS
                           ------------------
                           Roland O. Burns
                           Senior Vice President

                           EMPLOYEE:


                           /s/M. JAY ALLISON
                           -----------------
                           M. Jay Allison

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