Jonah Hex

[Iambaytor]

Hello Hondo's, most specifically the comic-reading crowd/western loving crowd it's time we talk about Jonah Hex.

 

 

Jonah Hex was one of the many creations of DC in the mid-70s in their series Weird Western Tales and of all the characters introduced in said series (including the likes of Bat Lash, El Diablo, and Scalphunter who were all pretty interesting as well) Hex was the most popular. He's a vigilante with a nasty scar that covers the right half of his face, he's most notably depicted in a tattered Confederate soldier uniform from his military days. He's a bounty hunter with shades of The Man With No Name, William Money, and The Outlaw Josey Wales. If you're an Eastwood fan there's really no reason you shouldn't be reading this shit (I'm looking at you, Custer )

 

He had his own series that went on some time until Crisis on the Infinite Earth gave him the shaft and he got a new series called Hex where he was transported to the future and became a bounty hunter in a Mad Max style post apocalyptic world (it wasn't half as retarded as it sounds.)

 

After the end of the series Hex dissappeared for several years until the character was picked up by Vertigo for 3 miniseries' written by none other than the greatest writer in the known universe Joe R. Lansdale. They were deeply satirical, darkly humoroued, gritty, hard-core, supernatural westerns. I highly recommend them all.

 

The newest series, done by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti is a bunch of random moments in Hex's life. It has little structure but that works for it, it's just a series of interesting happenings in Hex's life before his death in 1904 wherin he's stuffed and put in a goofy singing cowboy costume and ultimately ends up in a restaurant owned by Booster Gold as a creepy conversation piece. It drops a lot of the supernatural elements of the original series with the exception of one guest appearance by El Diablo (he and Bat Lash make cameos) an a vague mention of a little girl that might be the angel of death and a Apache healing spell.

 

No less if you enjoy Westerns, you enjoyed Garth Ennis' Punisher Max series, or just want to read a book with the DC label that isn't a piece of shit I highly recommend it.

[Thelogan]

I haven't read the new Jonah Hex books, but I have fond memories of the ones from the 70's. It could be genuinely creepy.

 

Anyone remember this?

 

 

Man, the 90's weren't nearly as cool as I remember...