Comic Series Review #8: All-Star Western Vol. 3 (2011–2014)
Cowboys, outlaws, gunslingers and…Gothamite psychologists? Nothing could possibly be more American, atleast in the DC Multiverse. This review takes a look at the New 52 All-Star Western, starring the one-and-ugly Jonah Hex!
America loves the story of the gunslinger, the lone desperado, the man with no name — basically anything that Clint Eastwood has already portrayed in film. Even after the popularity of westerns began to decline after the 1960’s, there was always something that came along to renew some sort of interest in it — whether it was Young Guns, Tombstone, Django Unchained, or Red Dead Redemption. Even the 2010 remake of True Grit was decent, and far better than the original 1969 film (it’s true, sorry). The creation of Jonah Hex is DC’s contribution to the western genre, and honestly, few things are more badass than a disfigured Civil War-veteran turned bounty hunter who was raised by Apaches.
Following the reboot of DC’s main continuity in 2011 with the New 52, a third volume of the All-Star Western title was released with Jonah as the starring character. Although the series also maintains smaller side stories from some of DC’s other western characters, including El Diablo (another great, underrated character), Nighthawk & Cinnamon, and Tomahawk. However, for the sake of preventing this piece from being even longer than it will probably already be, I will just be focusing on Jonah’s story arc — which actually answers two questions. First, what happens when the East meets the West? And what if the past meets the present? Keep reading to find out!
How is it possible for a western to be set on the East Coast? I don’t have the answer, but Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, two astounding writers, do.
The story begins in late-19th Century Gotham City, with Jonah riding into town and crossing paths with Dr. Amadeus Arkham — who was hired by Gotham Police Department to be a “psychological consultant” in an ongoing serial killer case. Similarly, Jonah Hex, still sporting his old Confederate Army uniform, was hired by the department to hunt down the killer — who has become known as the “Gotham Butcher”. After much bloodshed, Hex and Arkham find out that the Gotham Butcher is one Dr. Dupree — who is part of a group called the Religion of Crime, which is largely made up of Gotham’s elite-class citizens. Not wanting to be apart of the case anymore, Jonah attempts to leave Gotham City but is offered a hefty reward by a man named Thurston Moody to find his missing son. Jonah decides to stay and take on the job, and once again crosses paths with Dr. Arkham.
The two are told about the hundreds of children who have been dissappearing throughout Gotham over the past few years, and their investigation takes them into the sewers undereath the city. While in the caverns, they discover the mining operation using children as slave workers. After making quick work of the enslavers, and nearly being killed themselves, Hex and Arkham help the kidnapped children escape — only to end up on the grounds of Wayne Manor. With the help of the Waynes, Hex and Arkham deduce that Moody himself is behind the kidnappings — and they aim to go after him to get answers. The duo’s journey leads them to New Orleans, where Moody is thought to have fled to, and they meet up with Nighthawk and Cinnamon. Together, they attempt to go after Moody and a local pro-Confederate, anti-immigrant terror syndicate called August 7. Hex comes close to inflitrating thee group in order to sabotage them, but his cover is blown by Dr. Arkham.
Arkham blowing cover is revealed to have been a ruse by Hex, with the intent of bringing the August 7 to him rather than trying to hunt them down. While “captured” by the group, Hex and Arkham foil their plan to bomb and sink an immigrant ship anchored off the coast while Nighthawk and Cinnamon engage the August 7 directly. The group is taken care of, with the Hex and Arkham finding and confronting Moody. In that moment, Moody is attacked and killed by one of the Talons belonging to the Court of Owls, for being a liability due to leading Hex and Arham to getting involved in catching on to the Court and it’s illegal activities — unknown to them. Now back in Gotham, Hex and Arkham run into Tallulah Black, who had just been thrown out of a window after attempting to kill Lucious Bennett — a member of Gotham’s elite class and poker buddy of Alan Wayne. Bennett, despite bieng a member of the Religion of Crime, is asked to leave by Mr. Wayne. Meanwhile, the Court of Owls begin to enact their plan to control Gotham — with the Religion of Crime being the biggest obstacle in their path.
Back at his mansion, Dr. Arkham tends to Tallulah’s wounds and is informed of the history that Hex has with her — both as a mentor and lover. Later on, Tallulah and Jonah attempt to ambush Bennett’s carriage as he rides into Gotham — and almost succeed in killing him before another one of the Court’s Talons shows up and take Bennett away in a screen of smoke. The Talon warns Benett that the Court now considers him a risk as well, and hangs him from a noose tied to the same bridge that he had been ambushed on. Bennett is quickly replaced by a Mr. Evan Charles. The Religion of Crime, looking to eradicate Hex, Arkham and Black, uses it’s connections within Gotham PD to order their arrest. The three are tied up and taken to Slaughter Swamp, the future home of Solomon Grundy. Tallulah breaks free and eliminates their assailants one-by-one, before the remainder are arrested by Alan Wayne and legitimate police officers. The remaining members of the Religion of Crime are executed by public hanging, and Hex plans to leave Gotham for good before being approached by a young man named Reginald Forsythe, who claims to be the former assistant of a doctor named Jekyll — and he warns the trio that Gotham will soon be plagued by people becoming insane and psychotic as the result of Dr. Jekyll’s formula being stolen. The formula, which causes people to go mad, is being used in tonics made by a local snake oil salesman — and causing members of the populace to go insane.
The trio try to hunt down the source of where the tonic is originating from, and they infiltrate a nearby travelling circus — in which some of the local carnies have become victims of the insanity tonic. After more bloodshed, it is revealed that the snake oil guy’s son had stolen the formula from Dr. Jekyll’s lab in Scotland. Dr. Jekyll, as you might’ve already guessed, reveals his other identity as Mr. Hyde — who has taken over Jekyll’s body. Dr. Arkham returns the formula to Mr. Hyde, who claims that the formula had actually been incomplete due to not having the black diamond (the same one that belonged to Eclipso). After adding the diamond into the mix, Hyde uses Arkham as his lab rat to test the now “completed” tonic — causing Arkham to go mad. A fight with Hyde leaves Jonah critically wounded and unable to walk, while Hyde and Arkham escape off into the night.
A month later, Jonah is still recovering, Hyde is using Slaughter Swamp to develop his formula, Arkham is put into an asylum, and Tallulah has straight up left Gotham. Hyde returns one last time, to finish off Dr. Arkham for good. After finding out that the doctor is not home, Hyde goes after Jonah in his weakened state — but is instead shot by Jonah’s nurse and caretaker, Ms. Constance Chambers. Hyde reverts back to the young Dr. Jekyll, who helps tend to Jonah’s wounds.
Jonah stays in Gotham for some time afterwards, as he is eventally hired by Mr. Wayne during the Winter to help find his missing wife Catherine Wayne. By this time, some of the lower-class areas and slums of Gotham have been rampant with plague and become quarantined off — which turns out to be the work of Vandal Savage. Savage brought plague into Gotham and kidnapped Mrs. Wayne in order to use her to blackmail Mr. Wayne into giving him all of his wealth and assets. However, things are quickly settled as Catherine was momentarily able to break free from Savage — and was spotted by Dr. Arkham crossing the frozen Gotham River. Savage catches up to them and begins monologuing, but is quickly dealt with after taking a direct chest-full of buckshot from Jonah’s shotgun. Seemingly dead, Savage’s body is buried in Slaughter Swamp alongside dozens of other plague victims. Jonah finally decides to leave Gotham for good, and takes a train heading out west — leaving Dr. Arkham behind.
Back out on the frontier, Jonah runs into Booster Gold — who is posing as a sherriff, but isn’t sure about how he ended up in Jonah’s time. While out, Booster’s town is ransacked by a local outlaw gang — with most of the population being murdered. The following morning, Jonah and Booster go after the gang in order to retrieve the gold that they stole — only to find them all dead. Booster and Jonah keep going, and come across a hideout being used by Mexican bandits — who also have the gold. Booster and Jonah steal the gold back while the bandits are sleeping, but are forced the fend for their lives after being discovered the next morning. During the ensuing gunfight, the two are thrown from their cart and over a cliff — but no to their deaths. The two find themselves plummeting through time and space, with Jonah once-again ending up in Gotham — but present-day Gotham. In the present, Jonah is labelled as a lunatic after claiming to be from the past and is thrown into Arkham Asylum. After being briefly interrogated by Jeremiah Arkham, Amadeus’ great-grandson, Jonah makes his escape — catching the attention of Bruce Wayne.
Jeremiah, originally skeptical of Jonah claiming to be the real Jonah Hex, becomes convinced after Jonah tells him that he owned a stake in Alan Wayne’s casino— a detail lost to history, only to be rediscovered after looking through the Wayne family archives. Meanwhile, with the help of a local bartender named Gina, Jeremiah and Jonah head to a local auto shop to get a car that police won’t be able to track. After securing a vehicle, Gina is nearly run over by a speeding madman seeking to kill innocent people out rage — a rage that he developed after learning his wife wants to divorce him. The murderer is able to claim several lives before being wasted by Jonah, who is quickly surrounded as Gotham PD arrives on the scene. Jonah is arrested and labelled as the mass murderer despite being the hero. While in police custody, Bruce Wayne shows up and says he’ll represent Jonah in the court-of-law — in which Jonah is eventually found innocent. With Booster Gold nowhere to be found, and no way to get back to his own time period, Jonah has no choice but to adapt to life in the 21st Century.
After a very odd series of events involving John Constantine, Swamp Thing and the Black Mercy (too complicated to summarize) — Gina and Jonah find themselves in Metropolis, face-to-face with Superman. Jonah, hoping to still get back to how own timeline, is searching for the House of Mystery — which Constantine told him could take him back to the late-19th Century. Superman promises to ask around and help Jonah find it by asking it around. While still in the city, Gina takes Jonah to the Metropolis Museum to see an exhibit about himself. While there, Jonah sees what is supposedly is corpse, on display and dressed in stereotypical western attire. This distrubs him as he becomes angry at Gina for bringing him — eventually taking their motorcycle and storming off, leaving her behind. He gets drunk at a roadside bar, and passes out. After waking up a few hours later, Jonah is still noticeably drunk but decides to hit the road. He begins thinking about Tallulah, and, in a suicidal attempt, lurges his motorcycle and himself into an oncoming truck.
Three months pass as Jonah, being held at a hospital in Metropolis, is in a deep coma. When he finally awakes, he finds out that Gina has been coming to visit him regularly. The doctors unwrap his bandages, and what Jonah sees in the mirror shocks him. The doctors reconstructed his face, thus getting rid of his scar and removing the cataracts from his right eye. After finally leaving the hospital, Booster Gold appears — and transports Jonah, alongside Gina, back to the days of the Old West. After being transported back in time, Jonah and Gina immediately find themselves surrounded by Apache warriors. The Apache threaten to kill Jonah and take Gina, but are quickly handled taken car of with a hail of bullets. However, Gina is wounded after having taken a bullet to the thigh. Jonah digs it out of her, and the two begin a journey across the desert in search of supplies and a doctor. They come upon a Navajo village, where Gina succumbs to her dehydration and dies.
The following day, Jonah buries Gina in the desert and continues his journey. He comes upon a small town, where he miraculously runs into Tallulah — who refuses to believe that he is Jonah Hex due to his facial reconstruction. The two catch up on what’s been happening since they last met, only to be interrupted by some mercenaries trying to steal a treasure key from Tallulah. Jonah and Tallulah make quick work of the mercenaries, and then proceed to engage in a physical act of fornication on top of the saloon bar (yes, I worded that in a way that was meant to be funny). They are interrupted by the town sheriff, who doesn’t believe Jonah is who he says he is, and informs Jonah that the “real” Jonah Hex is wanted for murder. After being given a warrant displaying the likeness of the “wanted” Jonah Hex, the two decide to go after the imposter.
Jonah and Tallulah find the imposter in another town, sitting in the corner of a saloon. Jonah, staring at the imposter, attempts to challenge him — but is interrupted by a local man claiming that bouny hunters are coming after the fake Jonah. The imposter and his group leave and take over a hotel across town, while Jonah and Tallulah decide what they want to do and how the decision will impact the rest of their lives. In the middle of night, Jonah sneaks out of their room and lights a stick of dynamite to blow up the hotel and put an end to the imposter. After doing so, members of the imposter’s gang emerge from what remains of the hotel and are quickly gunned down by Jonah. Upon finally confronting the imposter face-to-face, Jonah reveals who he is and shoves his blade into the man’s chest — ending his life. Jonah is confronted by the townsfolk, who asks for his name since he’s the “man who killed Jonah Hex”. He tells them that his name is George Barrow before riding off with Tallulah. The body of the imposter is collected by L.B. Farnum, owner of Farnum’s Spectacular Wild West Revue, who intends to put it on display.
By using a fake name, Tallulah and Jonah are able to leave their life of violence and bloodshed behind them once and for all. Jonah admits to Tallulah his passion for boats, and the two decide to head to Louisiana and purchase one to live life on the sea — naming it the “Louisiana Purchase”
Through all the escapades and gunfights, Jonah’s story in the New 52’s All-Star Western ends in traditional western fashion— by riding (or sailing, in this case) off into the sunset. What could possibly me for fitting? Jonah and Tallulah get to make peace with their past, and begin a new life together. Even if it is stereotypical, it creates closure for both characters and leaves the reader feeling satisfied in feeling like the story is actually completed, rather than just being another cliffhanger with no follow-up. This is far more common in comics than some might think, largely due to titles being abruptly cancelled for a variety of reasons — which was actually the case with this title. Although it was cancelled after issue #34, enough time was allowed for the story to come full-circle.
What I really enjoyed about this series was the odd, and often hysterical, pairing of Dr. Arkham with Jonah. The two characters compliment one another fairly well, with Arkham clearly being the brains and Jonah being the brawn. Even better is the fact that Amadeus’ great-grandson, Jeremiah, is the exact same way as he is— straight-up awkward and easily intimidated. Gray and Palmiotti’s writing makes Jonah’s character more than just that “brawn”, as he actually has an endgame — whether it be avenging the death of his family, or returning back to his time (as in this case). The same thing applies to Dr. Arkham, who we see in his pre-Asylum years and when he was still sane. However, it gets even a little deeper than this, as Jonah and Arkham’s relationship leads to Arkham finding fascination in Jonah’s psyche and backstory — and wanting to further understand his trauma. After all, Arkham is a psychologist, so it only makes sense right?
Although Dr. Arkham only appeared until a little over halfway though the series, the humor is Jonah’s relationships continued. Namely in how he could be a jerk to both of his female companions, Tallulah and Gina. The difference is that Tallulah doesn’t hesitate to fire back at Jonah, whether it be verbally or physically. Things like these make the inclusion of other characters feel jusified, and even neccessary, rather than forced with no place in the actual story — which I give great applause to Palmiotti and Gray for being able to successfully do.
Something else I really enjoyed is the fact that Jonah had a place within the greater DC Universe, which is seen through his interactions with characters from both his time and the future — and that it still felt like a western, atleast for a good portion of the series. The debacle with Booster Gold doesn’t have much of an explanation, but using it as a way to connect Jonah to the future was brilliant because it takes the story away from traditional Western tropes and creating a pathway for Jonah interact with larger name DC characters such as Batman and Superman. This is also something that separates this series from other Jonah Hex-related titles, as he’s usually just stuck within his own era (with the exception of 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earth’s storyline, as well as 2010’s Blackest Night crossover — which was amazing by the way).
Moritat’s artwork for this series is also phenomenal as he does a good job matching the gritty nature of the writing, before eventually leaving after issue #27 — ironically, just before Jonah’s face was reconstructed. Following his departure, something just felt off as a few others (Staz Johnson and Cliff Richards) took up pencilling duties for the last few issues. Perhaps this was on purpose, as Jonah was somewhat of a “new man” after his surgery — whereas Moritat’s style depicted Jonah’s grittiness and relentlessness, namely through the emphasis on the details of his facial scar and his fogged up right eye. Either way, the series is visually intriguing to readers and does not hesitate to become a little bit more graphic and adult-oriented. Similar praise goes to the many cover artists for this series, but namely Rafael Garres (issues #3, 11–12), Jose Ladronn (issues #4–10), and Howard Porter (issues #19–23, 25) — as well as Moritat, again (issues #1 and 2).
Overall, there is no doubt that volume 3 of All-Star Western is one of the best title within DC’s New 52 reboot — if not the best. While I did enjoy a select few other series’ (also Red Lanterns, check out that review out here), All-Star Western established it’s dominance through a well-written narrative that puts Jonah Hex outside of his usual, bounty-hunting element — whether it be in 1800’s Gotham City or time travelling to the present. The numerous connections to more inonic DC characters establishes Jonah’s place within the greater DC Universe, which created the opportunity for Palmiotti and Gray to include easter eggs — which, as we know, all comic book fans enjoy. If you love westerns, gore, or are just looking for something new to read — I don’t think this series will leave you dissappointed!
To read the previous review, please click here!
