One of the fun things about placing Jonah Hex (mostly) in
Gotham City of the 1880s is that we meet many families who we later run across
in modern-day Batman stories. We have Cobblepots and Waynes, and in issue #13,
we meet Haly’s Circus, later famous for their trapeze act, The Flying Graysons
We meet a homicidal clown, whose self-awareness and psychological insights seem
much more 21st century than 19th, but that is the first
time in this run I’ve noted such an anachronism.
This issue intersects with a Jeckyll-Hyde storyline, leading
into “The Black Diamond Probability.” The search for Jeckyl’s formula takes us
to Chinatown, where the Barbary Ghost is operating. Her origin story was one of
the back-up features in earlier issues. I enjoy this type of continuity, and it
was something I was hoping for in DC’s “New 52” initiative. The Barbary
Ghosts’s backstory made for a great opportunity to (at least for the time
being) write Talullah Black out of the series, restoring the book’s status quo
of Jonah Hex and Dr. Amadeus Arkham in the lead roles.
Arkham is infected by the Jekyll potion, which takes him out
of the story for an issue and a half. It also allows him to be on the receiving
end of “modern” psychology, which I will assume plays into future stories. This
allows Hex to single-handedly (with the help of a cute redheaded nurse) solve
the Jeckyll / Black Diamond mystery.
These issues also contain backups of Tomahawk, the four
parts of which make up a complete story. These are written also by Gray &
Palmiotti, with art chores performed by Phil Winslade. This story takes place in the early days of
American expansion, telling the story from the perspective of the heroic
Indian. It has a much more colorful palate than the main stories do, making
them stand out (in the positive way) from the rest of the book.
The covers on each of these four issues are eye-catching,
and three of them retell present stylized versions of scenes from the
book. One of my pet peeves is comic book
covers that don’t do this. All in all, this series continues to be my favorite
current book.
Source: My daughter and I are purchasing these regularly
from various local comic shops.
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