Broken Frontier

For whatever reasons, Jonah Hex always seems to find himself stuck between a rock and a hard place when he’s forced to aid an old friend.

We’re now eight issues into the new series and there doesn’t seem to be any fatigue showing from prolific writers Palmiotti and Gray. The book has proven quite successful, and already a trade collecting the first few issues is due out shortly from the company. I think it’s safe to say this book is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future, and it’s nice to see DC continue their diversity publishing other genres besides just superheroes.

This issue opens with Hex making a huge splash by coming into Southern Nevada hauling a cart of severed heads. He’s been awfully busy as a bounty hunter and he aims to collect the hefty reward with the local Marshal, despite the chagrin of the townsfolk passing him on the street. Good ol’ Jonah couldn’t care less what people think as he leaves his grisly handiwork with the Marshal, before heading off into the saloon. All he can think of doing is buying the company of a pretty lady, but that gets interrupted when his old friend Jake comes crawling into the town looking for help against a band of Bedroll Killers hunting him. Of course Hex decides to help his old friend out despite not knowing the full story behind the Bedroll Killers and in typical fashion Jonah’s being deceived as usual.

I think it always comes down to deception in a Jonah Hex adventure, and it’s one that may seem all too familiar if it were in the hands of other writers. For me though, Palmiotti and Gray have certainly found their niche with the scope of Jonah Hex’s continual mythology in the post Infinite Crisis era of the new DCU. They manage to make it work every single issue, and I am really enjoying how much new breath they have brought back to the western genre as a whole. Jonah Hex as a character seems to be invigorated once again, and this new incarnation is nothing like his previous outings when the Vertigo imprint had their meat-hooks into him.

Now as for the art in this issue, the majority of the story was handled by Dylan Teague. His storytelling is precise and competent enough for my liking, although I am not sure why a veteran like Val Semeiks was brought in to finish off the last eight pages. I can’t say the two artists’ work meshed well together either, and I would have preferred it if Dylan handled the art chores throughout. The ending was rather explosive and I thought Val’s work couldn’t keep up when the story demanded a Grand Guignol-like finish. It’s just too bad the artwork fell to pieces and ruined what should have been a near prefect issue.

Overall though, this is a solid book from DC. The stories are always entertaining and thought provoking, and as I have mentioned already Jonah Hex has been aptly re-imagined for a new generation of comic readers. This book deserves plenty of accolades and dare I say it may eventually become a classic run years down the road. Well, at least I think so.