I have never read Jonah Hex before, true story. I’ll tell you all how I came to pick up #67 as you seem so interested. You see, on Tuesday night I was all alone in a strange city without anybody to keep me company, it was for this reason I decided to watch a movie, and the one that I chose was entitled, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It was awesome, and being an impressionable sort of jerk, I decided that I was in the mood for the wild west and outlaws and junk. Seeing Jonah Hex on the shelves the next day meant an easy sell for DC.
Already, I have fond memories of this comic… Even though I only read it like, two minutes ago. This is possibly the most accessible thing I’ve ever read, and given that it’s #67, that’s quite surprising. With other titles, you might find yourself in the middle of some epic story arc that’ll force you into spending all your pocket money on back issues or collected volumes, Jonah Hex not only managed to supply an awesomely entertaining story in 22 pages, it did it without requiring me to visit Wikipedia. The way the story was told was brilliant too, there was no unnatural, dialogue heavy exposition about characters or circumstance, no long winded inner thought monologue dredging up back story, just an incredibly concise adventure. At the beginning I wondered whether this was a continuation from a previous issue, but by the end everything had been explained and revealed, yeah… It was great. Kudos to Gray and Palmiotti for their succinct writing skills.
Bernet’s art definitely suits the west, and it has this cool classic vibe to it that made me feel almost as nostalgic as the subject matter. It also cleverly balances that line between cartoon and arty realism, so the darker elements of the story aren’t too heavy, but every time a gun is fired it slaps you with a sense of adventure and fills that wild west shape hole that you were looking to fill. It was great, I’m putting it on my list.
Joe Innes
