Broken Frontier

Jonah Hex has killed a lot of people but one accidental death hangs on his soul. A life was ended and another life was twisted and frozen. Only Hex can fix it – if he lives.

Writers, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti continue to write some of the most complex, thought-provoking tales in a mainstream comic book. Their work on the Jonah Hex series has been good from the start but it keeps getting better as the series moves forward.

Jonah Hex is hunting a bounty when he rides into town and encounters a sweet little girl who can see past his scars. When that girl dies accidentally because of Hex, the loss haunts him. Even more, the death freezes the heart of the girl’s mother and she makes Hex’s death her sole goal. She will not, and cannot, move forward and that guilt haunts Hex too. For this woman to live again, Hex has to die....

Gray and Palmiotti have set a new high bar with this issue. They have taken the rough, rugged, western setting and used it to tell a delicate, emotional story. The tale itself is as haunting as the subject matter and carves a new facet for the character of Hex. This dynamic writing duo have also proven that single-issue stories can be as complex and full as any multi-issue story arc.

Jonah Hex veteran Tony DeZuniga steps back into the title this issue to provide the penciling and inking duties. His work is perfectly suited to the story, providing just the right touches of otherworldliness while also grounding the action. His work has a faintly European flair, which lends a bit of "Spaghetti Western" vibe to the story.

Words of praise must also be given to colorist Rob Schwager. He has managed to adapt his style to fit that of DeZuniga, providing both the bright colors of hallucination and the washed out golds of the west.

The one complaint, perhaps, would be the lack of a permanent artist on the series. As good as DeZuniga’s art is, it would be nice to see some stability on the horizon.

If you haven’t picked up an issue of Jonah Hex yet, this issue is an excellent place to start. As it said in the first issue: "He had no friends, this Jonah Hex...but he did have two companions... One was death itself. The other, the acrid smell of gun smoke."