All Star Western #0

This review was published in my school newspaper

All Star Western Issue #0 review

To close out our look at DC’s Zero month, we have a special treat for you guys. Growing up with the reputation as the comic book guy, I’m often asked who my favorite superhero is. While I’ve always been partial to well known characters such as Batman, Superman or Captain America, if I were to pick my real favorite superhero it would be a character by the name of Jonah Hex

Background:

Who is Jonah Hex? To answer that question, it’s time for a little lesson in comic book history. In the 1950’s, superhero comics had fallen out of popularity due to increased censorship from the Comics Code Authority. At the same time, there was a surge in the popularity of western themed comics. These comics eventually fell out of popularity as well, but never really went away. In the 70’s DC comics introduced one of the most popular and enduring characters to emerge from this genre, Jonah Hex, a tough-as-nails bounty hunter with a severely scarred face. Hex has no powers to speak of, just a strong code of justice and skills with any weapon he can find. Over the years Jonah Hex has battled both traditional western outlaws and supernatural threats alike. In 2010, a feature film was made about the character. Despite Josh Brolin doing an excellent job portraying Hex, the film did not fair well with critics or fans due to some questionable ill-advised choices in casting and the decision to give Jonah Hex the power to talk to the dead, something that he’s never been able to do in any of the comics. A shame, because Hex is a character with a rich history and a great deal of potential for mainstream popularity.

Story:

Today’s comic deals with the origin story of Jonah Hex. However, it’s presented differently than it would be in a traditional origin comic. Instead different aspects of his history are presented in short vignettes. We see Hex being born. We see Hex being abused by his alcoholic father. We are shown his mother abandoning him because she simply cannot take another beating. We see his father sell him to a tribe of native Americans to pay off his gambling depts, the tribe raising him as one of their own only to have his jealous adoptive brother to turn on him and leave him for dead. We get to see Jonah fighting in the civil war, getting captured and tortured by Union soldiers. Everything that has shaped Jonah’s life is shown to the reader, each one lasting just long enough to make its point and say what it needs to say.

The highlight of the comic comes when Jonah returns to the tribe to challenge his adoptive brother to a fight to the death. The rules are simple: They must battle using only tomahawks and the victor will be the last man left alive. Upon learning that his brother cheated by giving him a sabotaged Tomahawk, Jonah pulls a small knife and slits his throat. Because Jonah cannot prove that his brother cheated, Jonah must face the consequences for breaking the rules of combat. As such, Jonah is exiled from the tribe and has a hot tomahawk pressed against his face, giving him his iconic scar.

Plot:

This comic is a fairly straight forward story, giving us the origin in an interesting way that holds our attention. This is exactly the kind of story I expected out of Jonah Hex, a dark western style story with elements of tragedy thrown in.

Artwork:

The artwork is just okay. Certainly legible and does a great job with facial expressions. A lot of Jonah’s evolution can be evidenced in his face. When he’s a little kid, you don’t see the cold hearted bounty hunter he’ll become, you see a kid who’s scared and wants his mother. But the more tragedy and hardship Hex endures the more grizzled and weary his face becomes until finally his face is permanently scarred both literally and figuratively.

Characters:

The only character that is really focused on in this issue is Hex himself and he’s written brilliantly. I guess the theme of this comic is how a tragic life can harden and strengthen a man. In the first scene, when Jonah is born, Jonah’s father brutally kills several corrupt law men who are trying to stir up trouble. The line that stands out to me is “Ah got me a son, gonna name him Jonah. Ah reckon Ah’ll teach him everythin’ ah know ‘bout people like you.” Even though Jonah’s father becomes a drunk later in his son’s life, in a way, he still kept his promise to teach him everything he knows about evil people. If Jonah’s father had not been an abusive monster, Jonah may never have become the strong and honorable man he grew up to be. You can decide for yourself which fate would have been better.

Overall

5/5

Like I said, this is exactly what I wanted out of Jonah Hex and I look forward to seeing more in the coming year.