Markley’s Fevered Brain: DC’s Jonah Hex – The Best Book You’re Not Reading

Jonah Hex #51

Jonah Hex #51

by Wayne Markley

Every month there are hundreds of comics published, some of which are excellent. But which book is the best month after month? I would argue that it’s Jonah Hex from DC Comics written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray with rotating artists. The artists range from those you may not be familiar with to legends such as Russ Heath and Jordi Bernet.

Personally, I was a huge fan of the original Jonah Hex series from the 1970s. If you have never read Jonah Hex, the basic story is that Jonah is a rugged, scarred, Civil War veteran who has turned to bounty hunting for a living. He has his own sense of morality and he lives an extremely violent lifestyle that is, to some extent, forced on him. The original stories are blazing violence with the death count per issue often exceeding ten or more.

He first appeared in All-Star Western #10, which was a revival of a comic DC first published in the 1950s. As an aside, in the 1950’s superhero comics has faded from popularity and almost everything other than superheroes sold well – crime, romance, western, funny animals, etc. The big names – Superman, Batman, Shazam – were still around, but it was nothing like today’s comic world where 95% of the titles are superheroes. There were tons of westerns, with both new characters (Johnny Thunder, Rawhide Kid) and TV adaptations (Roy Rogers, Dale Evens). The quality varied from stunning, such as Alex Toth’s Johnny Thunder or Jack Kirby’s Rawhide Kid (available as two nice Masterworks, by the way) to very mediocre stories. But by the last 50’s, superheroes had once again became the choice of comic fans, and the westerns died.

Jonah Hex: Face Full of Violence

Jonah Hex: Face Full of Violence

In the late 60’s, DC was trying various things to expand its audience. One attempt was the revival of the western. They published Bat Lash, which was sort of an homage to the old TV show Maverick, and they re-launched All Star Western. The first nine issues of All Star Western featured the Outlaw Kid or El Diablo. It was fairly typical western fair, with El Diablo being more interesting and having better art. With issue #10, DC introduced Jonah Hex, created by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga – and the legend began. With issue #12, the title was changed to Weird Western Tales and Jonah remained the star till issue #37 when he got his own title. Michael Fleisher took over writing Weird Western Tales fairly early on and remained on the book till the end of its run, including a short lived science fiction Jonah Hex series called Hex, which is best left undiscussed. Fleisher was best known at the time for his work on the Spectre, whose run in Adventure Comics was both shockingly violent and beautifully draw. Jonah’s death remains one of the best “death of a character” stories ever written in comics. The early Jonah Hex stories are available in a two nice Showcase collections and the Spectre stories are collected in a trade called The Wrath of the Spectre. Both are highly recommended.

Jonah Hex: Origins

Jonah Hex: Origins

When DC first revived Jonah Hex a little over four years ago, I was doubtful. There had been a couple of mini-series prior to this by Joe Landsdale and Tim Truman. Both series were very good, but didn’t quite have the feel of the original. When I read the first issue of the new Jonah Hex, I hated it. I could not believe what they had done to my favorite character. But as I always try to give a new book a chance before I give up on it, I tried another issue. Issue two caught my attention and away I went. Month after month, they tell the best stories you will read. It is as gritty as a Sergio Leone movie and as violent as a Sam Peckinpah movie. And each issue has some of the best art around. My favorite part of the new Jonah Hex is that it features stand alone stories. In the 50 issues so far, there have been only a few stories that went more than one issue, the origin, (which was tweaked from the ’70s version) and the most recent story, Six-Gun War. While the origin story held up, I felt Six-Gun War was bit of a let down, even though the conclusion did make sense with what they were trying to do.

My one complaint about Jonah Hex is that while there are six trade paperback collections of the series so far, the trades are not numbered on the spine – or anywhere for that matter. I understand this for book store sales, but NO WHERE in the trades does it say, “also available are these collections” and mention the other Jonah Hex trades. The one ad that is in the back of the books is not for other Jonah Hex trades, but for the standard superhero stuff. With a Jonah Hex movie coming next year, hopefully DC will gets its act together and market these books correctly.

Invincible Iron Man #22

Invincible Iron Man #22

In closing, another book I would recommend you give a try is Invincible Iron Man by Matt Fraction. It is a strong mix of Jason Borne intrigue with a heavy douses of Marvel Universe bad guys. And the art is fantastic. It’s well worth your time to read the trades, the second volume of which just came out.

As always, comments, complains, and suggestions are welcome.


Purchase

Jonah Hex #51

Jonah Hex: Face Full of Violence SC

Jonah Hex: Guns of Vengeance SC

Jonah Hex: Origins SC

Jonah Hex: Only The Good Die Young SC

Jonah Hex: Luck Runs Out SC

Jonah Hex: Bullets Don’t Lie SC

Invincible Iron Man #22

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