Comic Book Review

All-Star Western 4-6.  Written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, art by Moritat.

Still in Gotham after the events of issues 1-3, Jonah Hex (still accompanied by psychologist Dr. Amadeus Arkham) is hired for a large amount of money to find a missing boy. This turns into a larger child labor plot, ending after an issue-long action sequence in a large cave under Wayne Manor. A cave that contained bats. Lots and lots of bats.

Jonah survives the child labor adventure, and at the end of issue 6, there is still one loose end for him to work on. This situation sends Hex (without Dr. Arkham, it would seem) to New Orleans for the next story arc. I am looking forward to issue 7, having been greatly satisfied by the storytelling of the first six. The trade paperback collecting the first six issues is scheduled to come out in October.

Again, Moritat's art style fits the story beautifully. His unique drawings (and the unusual coloring techniques used) make it clear that the stories are not taking place in modern times. The very muted palate gives the entire issue an appropriately old-fashioned look.

Each of these issues contained an 8-page backup story, also written by Gray & Palmiotti and drawn by Phil Winslade, featuring the Barbary Ghost. Yan Mei is a woman on a search for vengeance in San Francisco in 1878. Moving from China to the West Coast of America in search of a better life, Mei finds the Chinese mob firmly entrenched when she and her mother arrive. After members of her family are killed by the mob, she seeks revenge in the guise of a ghost. Over the course of the story, she does find her vengeance, but her mother disappears, giving her a reason to continue her journey.