Jonah Hex V2 #45 "The Six Gun War, Part 2"

Jonah Hex V2 #45 Sept '09

"The Six Gun War Part 2"

Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti - story, Cristiano Cucina - art and cover

Devils's Night

We open on the town seen last issue. Dogs roam the streets, eating the corpses. Suddenly there is a burst of supernatural flame from the jail and El Diablo appears. He kicks Hex awake and Jonah scrambles away saying "Ah ain't ready yet!". Diablo states that he is not here to collect Hex but he needs Hex's help. Diablo points to the unconscious Lazarus Lane in the cell and says that Diablo can't touch him.

Diablo instructs Hex to carry Lane to the hotel, there are dangers to deal with.

The Woman is Insane

Mexico

It is night and El Papagayo walks up to his men standing guard outside of a barn. He asks if the men have been enjoying themselves with the captive woman and they hesitate. Papagayo chides them but Sanchez says that they do appreciate it but..... none of the men can bring themselves to do it. Other men have done things to her that they cannot do. Papagayo calls them children and cowards and goes into the barn. As he closes the door, he tells them they will be hearing her loud and painful screams shortly. 

Moments later, Papagayo exits the barn and we can hear Tallulah mocking Papagayo's manhood. Papagayo tells the men to have the whores dress Tallulah and then lock her away with Bat Lash. He walks away as as Tallulah starts laughing maniacally.

Back in Texas, Diablo tells Hex that Papagayo must pay for his crimes and Hex agrees. Diablo says that Hex must take Lazarus with him to Mexico but Hex refuses. Diablo then lifts Hex by the throat and tells him exactly how this will play out because Diablo HAS to avenge the town. As Diablo leaves Hex swears that some day he will figure out how to kill Diablo.

Hex then picks up Lazarus, carries him outside the hotel and dumps him into a horse trough. He tells Lazarus they are going to find horses and then ride for Mexico.

Meanwhile, in Bat Lash's cell, Tallulah is thrown inside and Bat starts weakly laughing. She asks what is so damn funny and Bat relates how he overheard then men talking about her being the first woman to actually strike fear into Papagayo. She says she will kill Papagayo for killing Hex, once they make their escape. Bat figures they have a snowball's chance in hell of getting out but Tallulah figures as old as the place it they should be able to wiggle the bars out of the clay walls before sunup.

Next day Jonah and Lazarus are making their way south across the desert. Lazarus asks how well Jonah knows Turnbull. Jonah replies "Too well" and Lazarus keeps prying as to why they are going there. Jonah says it's not a bounty, but he is gonna settle a war that has been brewing since before the states reunited.

As they are riding in a canyon, they are surrounded by Comanche and Hex recognizes Blue Eagle. Blue Eagle says that he and his warriors are on their way to kill the Mexican and the other men who allowed the women and kids of the tribe to die in the tornado. Blue Eagle says they have heard of the white man owning mines in Mexico. Hex says that Blue Eagle and his men are welcome to ride along, but killing Turnbull falls upon Hex and Hex alone. 

Blue Eagle agrees to the terms and explains that the Mexican also has two prisoners, a yellow haired man and the angriest woman he has ever seen.

With dawn breaking over the mountains, Bat and Tallulah manage to wrest the bars out of the cell window and then climb down the wall to freedom....only to find themselves face to face with four of Papagayo's men. They start joking about how ugly Tallulah is and she rushes them, kicking one in the teeth and grabbing his gun, she then opens fire, killing all four.

More men come rushing out and surround them. Bat asks Papagayo if they could come to some sort of agreement. Papagayo says that he will agree to shoot them and they can agree to die. He puts them against a wall as his riflemen line up. Papagayo raises his arm and shouts "Ready....Aim....FIRE!"

Statistics for This Issue
Men Killed by Jonah - Zero
Running Total - 767 (432 past, 55 future, 15 Vertigo, 265 V2)
Jonah's Injuries -None this time
Timeline - Possibly one night and the next morning. For the whole story thus far, two weeks
Rape Percentage -  25% (11 of 45)

For the second entry in a six part tale, this one isn't too bad. We had the driving conflict in the prior issue and here we are still gathering all the players (El Diablo and Blue Eagle). I'm very happy that J&J introduced a new character with Blue Eagle, lazier writers would have shoe horned in Scalphunter into a story where he didn't fit.

Some of the time frame didn't seem to fit. While the sun was low in the east when Hex and Lazarus met Blue Eagle, it seemed earlier in the day when Tallulah and Bat escaped. Maybe not, with the sun having to make it over the mountains....but then again we have next issue to deal with.

And let's address the situation between Tallulah and Papagayo. While she is one tough bird I don't really see Papagayo turning tail and running as easily as he did. But, then again, they did have Tallulah stripped naked and hung like a piece of meat in the barn. Seeing what had been done to her may have been too much to him. Dunno.

But the story does clip along at a good pace and is never boring. I DID appreciate the slight nod to the Princess Bride, you can never go wrong with that.

Next Issue: The first round of retribution, Turnbull amasses his forces and FLASHBACK!!!