Who's This? A scarred cowboy anti-hero.
The facts: Created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga, Jonah Hex first appeared in All-Star Western #10 (1972) and went on to become DC's (not just DC's, COMICS') most popular western star, outliving the genre fad that spawned him. Two issues later, the book was renamed Weird Western Tales, which he headlined until issue 38 (1977) when he moved to his own series for 92 issues. The book was cancelled during the Crisis, movie Jonah to Hex (but we'll come back to that next time). In the 90s, Jonah went Vertigo with three mini-series written by Joe R. Lansdale. In 2005, a new monthly Jonah Hex series by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti premiered and lasted 70 issues (during which an ill-fated live action film came out). The stories more or less continued from there in the New52's All-Star Western, moving Hex to Gotham City during the 1880s (and another 34 issues).
How you could have heard of him: They have Jonah Hex appear in crossover events (including Death Metal which spawned the legacy character Jinny Hex), and in alternative media (like the cartoons and Legends of Tomorrow, where he regularly appeared over several seasons), but he's DC's most enduring western star and is probably the one DC "cowboy" most readers can name.
Example story: Weird Western Tales #20 (December 1973) "Blood Brothers" by Arnold Drake and Tony DeZuniga
While writer Michael Fleischer is most emblematic of Jonah Hex stories, I've picked an earlier tale on the basis of this cover being what they picked for Jonah's Showcase Presents collection. It starts with Hex, that one a-hole who keeps wearing his Reb uniform after the Civil War apparently just to piss people off, riding into town and saving a drunk Native American in a cavalry uniform from being gunned down. So... more hero than you'd think from the Two-Face features?
Nah, dawg. The cavalryman has a 50-dollar bounty on his head for going AWOL. It's just business. I think the rowdy bar patron is lucky Hex just shot his pistol, honestly, a sentiment echoed by an old codger who's heart of Jonah Hex. As for the Native, he's John Running Wolf, the youngest son of a (now dead) tribal chief, and there's no animosity there. He was going to turn himself in in the morning. But when they get to Fort Lang, it's under attack from Running Wolf's brother Red Horse and his Braves. So Hex to the rescue?
Nah dawg. He's got no horse in this race (except that one of the horses will pay the bounty, I suppose). He only draws when shot at. What is that, a flaming arrow? Anyway, the Fort repels the tribal warriors and Hex gets his money. Not that the cavalry has much appreciation for him otherwise - he's pretty outspoken about the Natives' right to exist. Next stop: The nearest town, where Hex can't get no respect, so he doesn't give none.
It's a small Old West. Some people know Jonah, and Jonah knows some people, and they don't have to have appeared before. Eileen is one of those girls who doesn't mind kissing Hex's sour puss so he keeps her close. The hotel is also a good place to pick up a job, and the man from the Abiline Railroad has one - recovering Eileen's niece Muriel from Red Horse. So after CENSORED and a bath (in that order), Hex sneaks into the Native village. Some nice old-timey spycraft there.
Red Horse gets the drop on him, they struggle, Hex gets a good kick in, but then...
The thing about writing a rough character like Jonah Hex is that his violent snatching of the rifle feels like something a pretty boy like Johnny Thunder wouldn't even have attempted. Of course, no one counted on Muriel WANTING to be wed to Red Horse, but there you have it. And perhaps Hex's sympathies for Red Horse are only strengthened when he hears his side about Running Wolf's defection - treason! - to the white man's side. Seems RW and his men sell their services as mercenaries and Red Horse had nothing to do with the attack on the Fort. Smells like the Mayor and the Railroad are making it LOOK like Red Horse's Braves are intransigent for their own purposes. But a job is a job is a job, and Jonah brings both the Native chief and his bride back to town for the paycheck. It turns out to be a mistake.
Love Muriel's line about Jonah being the "third man" responsible for her husband's death. Doesn't stop him from callously dumping Red Horse's corpse onto the hotel lobby floor. The rich white guys get cagey when Hex accuses them of manipulating the cavalry into a land grab, but relax when all he asks for is his 200$. But looks like they still want to shoot him, and would have if he hadn't asked Muriel to quickly check the Railroad man's pocket. A creak from behind him, it's Running Wolf throwin' knives! Hex gets it in the shoulder! The Mayor jumps for the gun, but loyal Eileen plants her heel in his hand. Fist fight!
Hex grabs his money from the Railroad man's wallet (just the amount promised, he's no thief) and rides off to tell the Fort all about the scheme. Death pun time!
Sho' 'nuff. I count myself a fan of Jonah Hex. This may not be part of the more classic corpus - or even the well-received later corpi - but it still packs a punch. It's clear to me that DeZuniga is doing the heavy lifting. Drake wrote a fair western story, with all the tropes, action and mystery required, but it's DeZuniga's grubby anti-hero and dynamic violence that sets this apart from other western strips. All Drake had to do was make sure Hex wasn't unlikable and voilà. It was a formula for success that others kept building on, and today, Jonah is kind of the genre's sole survivor.
Hey, why is this coming to you mid-week? Well, we did only cover HALF the entry...
Who's Next? A scarred Mad Max.
Comments