Jonah Hex V2 #37 Jan '09
"Trouble Comes in Threes"
Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti - story, Jordi Bernet - art and cover
Night, and Jonah is sitting in a mine with an old miner who keeps talking long after Jonah is done listening. The miner describes his family and all the dozen kids he has and that is why he is working so hard in the mine. Jonah quickly tells the man to lay down and be quiet as Jonah kills two men coming forward with guns drawn. Jonah hollers into the mine that the men behind him need to get back into the mine to continue working and for the rest of the bandits to come out.
The men inside are discussing their problem and that all the gold they have ain't gonna do a lick of good if they are dead. Cully, the ringleader, gets an idea and hollers back to Hex that the brains behind the heist ( and who killed a Pinkerton earlier) is already dead and that they are surrendering. Hex tells them to throw down their arms and step out and they obey.
Three women; Daisy, Annie, and Kimiko, are trying to get their back pay from Clayton, the man who owns the circus (?) they work for. They try sweet talking and reason but Clayton grabs Daisy by the hair and slams her face into the desk. Annie draws her pistols and puts one bullet through Clayton's hat and the other through his sleeve. Daisy throws an uppercut to his jaw and Kimiko has her eagle attack just as Clayton draws his sidearm. His shot goes awry, shattering an oil lamp and setting the tent on fire.The ladies raid the cashbox before hightailing it out into the night.
Hex has delivered the three men from earlier to the local sheriff, but the sheriff explains that he hasn't got the bounty, it should be in on tomorrow's stage. Hex states he ain't patient and that he better have the money by morning and heads down the street. We see Betsy crossing the street to the jail and she is delivering food for the prisoners. The sheriff inspects the tray of food and gets a little flirty with her. As she hands the tray to the prisoners, Cully grabs the knife that was taped underneath the tray, grabs Betsy and holds her as a hostage.
The three men and Betsy then grab horses and take off out of town. As they are riding away, they come across the three female performers from the circus. They take note of each other when one of the men makes a snide comment. The women arrive at the jail and find the sheriff gagged and tied to a chair. They untie him and he explains what happened and how Hex brought them in once already. He is gonna get a posse together to retrieve the escapees. Daisy asks if he has a picture of the crooks and the sheriff produces a wanted poster. Daisy said they just saw them headed east. The sheriff says he is gonna grab Hex and head out but Daisy offers to get Hex while the sheriff gathers the posse.
Kimiko wonders why Daisy lied to the sheriff about the direction the men were headed. Daisy explains that the bounty on these men would put them in tall cotton but Annie knows about Hex and he wouldn't fall for an easy deception. She has a better plan to keep Hex occupied.
Annie strolls into the saloon with a very revealing top and starts flirting with Hex. Shortly thereafter, we see them in Hex's room upstairs having, ahem, finished round one. Just then there is a knock on the door and a man tells Hex that the prisoners have escaped and the sheriff took a few hours ago. Annie keeps clinging to Hex, trying to drag him back to bed, but he is having none of it. Annie finally has to resort to cracking him on the skull with an oil lamp.
Some time later Hex comes to, gagged and tied to a chair. He smashes the chair and confronts the man from earlier in the hallway. The man tells Hex he saw the woman heading south and Jonah heads out of town.
Cully and his two men are robbing a stagecoach. His partners aren't wanting to add murder to their list of offenses and the family on the stage say they'll keep quiet if Cully leaves them with the stagecoach and some cash. A lawman on board explains that he will testify that they were robbed by Indians and they took the family and the coach (explaining why they are no longer around) and he'll do it for half the money the lawman has on him. Cully ain't keen on the plan, but his partners are trying to sway him with some money is better than all the money weighed down with murder.
High above on a cliff is Daisy and Kimiko, watching on with binoculars.They are trying to figure out a plan of action to save the folks down there when Hex shows up with Annie bound and gagged and tossed over his shoulder. Kimiko tells Hex to put her down or her bird will kill him. Just then the eagle attacks Jonah from behind causing Jonah to discharge his shotgun. Everyone in the valley below hears the blast and Cully and his men decide to take off.
Kimiko calls off her eagle and Daisy unties Annie. Annie, enraged, rushes Jonah, he sidesteps and she tumbles over the edge. She ends up catching a tree sticking out of the cliff face but they can't reach her with rope or a whip. Finally the two women and Hex team up to form a human chain and along with the whip, pull Annie to safety.That's when Jonah looks into the valley and sees the bandits riding off.
Jonah and the women arrive in the valley and the family explains...
Jonah and the women part company.
Some time later we see the miner holding a lantern aloft when he encounters Jonah in the mine. Jonah explains that what happens in the mine doesn't leave the mine and he lifts a blanket to display several pouches of gold? Money? and asks if that would help the mans family. The miner states that it certainly would and Jonah walks off, reminding him that he can't say a word to anyone, EVER.
Men Killed by Jonah - 2
Jonah's Injuries - Knocked out with an oil lamp.
