Jonah Hex movie News - Research for reporters

Hey, all you reporters out there looking for information on Jonah Hex for the Jonah Hex movie, I've decided to make your life easy and here is everything that you need to know about Jonah Hex (even though a lot of it can be found on the Wikipedia entry (that I authored a good chunk of)).

• Jonah Hex was created by John Albano & Tony DeZuniga in 1972.
• John Albano wrote ten (10) stories with Jonah Hex in them.
• David Michilene wrote three (3) Jonah Hex stories.
• Arnold Drake wrote one (1) Jonah Hex story.
• Jos Landsdale wrote thirteen (13) Jonah Hex stories.
• Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti have written fifty (50) stories with Jonah Hex.
• Michael Fleisher wrote one hundred and twenty five (125) Jonah Hex stories.
• Of the 202 books with Jonah Hex as the star Michael Fleisher wrote 62% of them.
• Michael Fleisher created Quentin Turnbull.
• Michael Fleisher created the history of Jonah Hex's scar.
• Zombies appeared in only five (5) issues (or 2%) of Jonah Hex (Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo)
• Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) only plays a part in eighteen (18) issues (or 9%) with Jonah Hex (HEX)
• Zombies are not "iconic" in the history of Jonah Hex.
• Zombies never appeared in the futuristic version of Jonah Hex.
• Jimmy Hayward (the director) has said that there are NO ZOMBIES IN THIS MOVIE!

If you have any questions about Jonah Hex, character or history, feel free to contact me at okiedokiegames AT sbcglobal DOT net.

Jonah Hex #82 "Mortal Enemies - Mortal Friends!"

Jonah Hex #82 Mar 1984
"Mortal Enemies - Mortal Friends!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers & Tony DeZuniga, art - Ross Andru, cover

This issue starts a few seconds prior to last issue ending. El Papagayo is standing atop a cliff overlooking a buggy below, racing away. The buggy carries Jonah Hex and Quentin Turnbull as they try to escape from the Mexican bandit. A henchman hands a pair of binoculars to Papagayo, but they are so out of focus that Papagayo is seeing double when he looks through them.

Meanwhil in the buggy, Turnbull has located a note that Papagayo left in the buggy. It reads "Jonah Hex, my good friend, Adios." Jonah orders Turnbull to jump and forces him and their captured Mexican bandit out of the buggy.

Up above, Papagayo has focused on the dynamite strapped to the bottom of the buggy and sees the buggy blown to smithereens. The henchman starts celebrating that they have killed the "horse-faced" bounty hunter. Papagayo pulls a pistol and sticks it in the man's face, warning him not to speak ill of Jonah Hex.

Luckily, down below, Jonah Hex, Turnbull and their captive have landed on a narrow ledge that they landed on over the edge of the cliff. They successfully escaped the blast, but the ledge gives way underneath the prisoner. He falls and Jonah grabs the man's sleeve, but he is wearing cheap bandit clothing and the sleeve rips, dropping the bandit to his death. Turnbull is aghast at the man's death and Jonah comments on how squeamish Turnbull is for a villain.

Papagayo and his men have come down to gloat over the smoldering wreckage of the burning buggy. The henchman notices Hex & Turnbull climbing down the cliff face and pulls his rifle. He takes a bead on them and El Papagayo shoots the henchman in the back. Papagayo shouts over the cliff edge that Hex has escaped fair and square and that he will have to kill Hex the next time they meet.

Meanwhile on a stagecoach several hundred miles away, Emmy Lou Hartley is on her way to St. Louis. She let's her mind wander back in time, when her family left St. Louis only to end up captured and slaughtered by the Crow Indians. Emmy did what she had to do to survive "Wapati notoma tahani" is Crow for "Bow-chicky-bow-wow!"

and eventually escapes, only to be rescued by Jonah Hex. She and Jonah fell in love but now she is running away in order to save some small part of her heart.

Back at the base of the cliff, Turnbull and Hex have climbed completely down the side of the cliff and start making their way to a nearby farm.

In town, J.D. Hart and Mei Ling have returned from their ride. Hart comments that Mei Ling seems to be hundred miles away but she needs to stop blaming herself for something that wasn't her fault. Hart continues to tell her that folks get into bad marriages all the time. She needs to turn her back on Jonah and continue on with her life. However...



At the farm, Jonah & Turnbull buy a couple of horses from the farmer and head for town. On the ride back Turnbull states that Hex has saved his life more than once. Turnbull is a man who pays his debts, therefore he will file a sworn affidavit exonerating Jonah of any responsibility in the death of Governor Phelps. However, there is nothing that Jonah could ever do for Turnbull to make up for the death of his son Jeb. Turnbull vows to put Hex into an early grave over that situation.

That night, J.D.Hart and Mei Ling are leaving a restaurant when they are suddenly surrounded by five men. The men plan on kidnapping Mei Ling in order to lure Jonah Hex into their trap. Hart attempts to stop them and they unload a bullet into Hart.

Shortly thereafter, Jonah & Turnbull ride into town and see the crowd in front of the hotel where Mei Ling was staying. Jonah takes off and Turnbull shouts that he will file the paperwork and then their feud will renew. Jonah sees that Hart has been shot, but only in the shoulder. Hart quickly explains what has happened and he and Jonah ride off after the men.

Hours later, they track the men to a railroad switching yard filled with train cars. Down in the rail yard, one thug is standing guard on the ground and one is atop a rail car. Jonah climbs up the side of the car and pistol whips the guard. The guard on the ground hears the sound and turns around. Hart slaps a pair of handcuffs on him and punches his lights out. Hex continues running across the rail cars and jumps down, kicking two thugs in the head. The final thug stands guard on the end of the rail car when he is suddenly splashed with... kerosene. Jonah appears next to him and lights a match. The thug starts screaming and when Jonah demands to know where Mei Ling is, the thug points to a nearby caboose.

Hart runs over to the caboose and jerks the door open. He finds Mei Ling and unties her. She jumps up and throws herself into Hart's arms, but just then Jonah walks in and sees them in an embrace. Jonah is mad as hell and starts advancing on Hart. Hex lands a right and a left to J.D.'s jaw and Mei Ling starts screaming that Hart's arm is hurt. Jonah puts his left arm behind his own back to make it even and continues to beat J.D. unconscious and then storms out of the caboose.

The next morning the stagecoach carrying Emmy Lou is stopped by three robbers. They demand that everyone disembark from the coach. The bandit leader demands that Emmy grab her luggage, cut a coach horse loose because she is coming with them!

Statistics for This Issue:
Men killed by Jonah: None
Running Total: 408
Jonah's Injuries: None
Timeline: We are still in April 1878. Just one day has passed since last issue.

Things just keep snowballing. We wrap up the short Papagayo interlude, finish up the Turnbull/prison ploy, and we get an new twist in the saga of Emmy Lou. A ton of stuff was crammed into this one, despite the two page repeat from last issue. Pro's in this issue:

• Papagayo killing his own henchman. That turns him into a 19th century prelude of the Joker (who was always killing his own men). Loved it!
• Turnbull commenting on the weird relationship between Hex and Papagayo and then turning around and focusing on his own obsessive compulsive unforgiveness in order to kill Hex. Dr. Phil would have a field day with these three on his show.
  
• Jonah cutting loose on J.D. right in front of Mei Ling. If that doesn't drive that violence-hating woman into the arms of the Marshall, I don't know what will.
• The cover was really good, staring out of the gun barrel at the oncoming Jonah and the lovely slanted logo.
  

Next Issue: The violence escalates, the truth behind Emmy's kidnapping, Jonah gets saved, and (I hate to say it, but I knew it would come to this) the end of Matching Dragoons!

Jonah Hex movie News - Fassbender photo

I nabbed this photo from Get The Big Picture and shows Michael Fassbender in his tattoo makeup:

This character, for the folks who have never read the books, does not appear in any Jonah Hex book.

Jonah Hex movie news - Interviews with About.com

These three quick interviews at Comic Con with About.com are pretty good.

First is Josh Brolin: He makes mention of the 3 incarnations of Jonah Hex with one looking like "a 70's porn star", no doubt a reference to the futuristic Hex book.

Next is Michael Fassbender: Interviewer Rebecca Murray asks if he drew any inspiration from the books. He doesn't (probably since his character, Burke, doesn't appear in any books) but makes mention of a bowler. The most prominant bowler wearer was Ned Landon.

Finally is Jimmy Hayward & Megan Fox: Hayward is revealing himself as a fan of the book and this bodes well for the movie. Megan? Well, I've never seen a film with her in it and every interview she is saying the same thing over & over & over & over again. Here, I'm not so impressed.

Salesmen of Yesterday!! Thomas Welch

You may scoff at the $6.00 that Thomas Welch earned, but in changing those 1966 dollars into today's currency would net him a little over $37. But sadly, it's not enough to pay for that reconstructive surgery that poor Thomas needs to rebuild his jawline.

Won't someone think of the children?!?!?

Jonah Hex panel interview

I tracked down these two videos that some took at Comic Con. Sadly, embedding is disabled so you'll need to go here to see part 1 and here for part 2.

After watching this, I'm wondering where in the heck some of the reporters get off repeatedly talking about Zombies and the army of the undead even though Jimmy Hayward clearly said that wasn't in the movie.

The video does get a little tiresome with the constant fawning over Megan Fox. I'm thinking she may be the downfall of the film.

Comic Con abuzz with Jonah Hex news

I've been trolling the internet looking for the news on the Jonah Hex sneak peek at Comic Con. The first thing I will tell you is to not click on anything linking to a Jonah Hex Red Band Trailer. Those are all scams & virus downloads. YEEESH!!!

Wired: talks a little bit Brolin's view of Jonah Hex and about the make-up.

CBR: Has more from Jimmy Hayward's view and CBR also posts this little tidbit: Hex started in the ‘70s as a pure western character, but by the mid ‘80s, he had traveled to a post apocalyptic future where he fought zombies with laser guns. It is obvious that CBR writer Ben Matthews never read one single issue of HEX.

Dread Central: hints at a train explosion in the film.

IO9: Tells us this: The footage we saw at Comic-Con was frenetic ala Sam Raimi, with speedy steadycam and monsters that practically vibrated with psychedelic imagery. Our hero Jonah Hex has a hideously scarred face, and has died and come back as some kind of undead mega-gunslinger. The movie is a liberal adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name, and Hayward said he's a fan of the comic but chose not to use its iconic voodoo villains for the flick. Still we get a lot of supernatural imagery, terrific-looking vamps erupting out of the ground and a raven squirming out of Jonah's deformed mouth.
Wow, how many people are going to report on this film like they have been reading the comic their entire lives and get everything wrong?!?!

CBR: also let's know a little bit about the trailer that was shown. This caught my eye: Hayward answered and said that they used a bit of everything from Hex’s mythology – from both his old comics and his newer ones. He even mentioned that current “Jonah Hex” writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray came to the set and gave some input. Brolin seemed pleased to add that the daughter of John Albano (who created Jonah Hex) also came to the set and gave her blessing to the production.

Can you spot what (or who) is missing there? I hope so & I hope that WB is able to resolve that gaping hole.

IMDB: Message boards gives a play by play of the sneak peek. This is probably the best reporting I have seen thus far about this part of the Comic Con panel.

Time: This short blurb: Jonah Hex is a pleasantly gritty para-western, notable partly for the incredibly ugly facial prosthetic Josh Brolin has to wear. Seriously, that thing is hard to look at. I guess I'm just squeamish.

So far it is clear that this movie is not about a zombie Confederacy but there are some supernatural elements to it (Tying in to the Indian heritage that Jonah Hex has, I'm pretty sure.)

Audio reviews of a Jonah Hex comic...

Well, not exactly, but Tom, from Tom vs The Flash started out as Tom vs The JLA and did podcasts of JLA 198 & 199 that starred Jonah Hex (and which I covered here & here. Tom's reviews/recaps are about 10 minutes and are as addictive as cashews (for folks with nut allergies, substitute the words "Tax Free Cash").

He is fast, furious, and funny as hell. I may write in and ask him to review Jonah Hex #73, that would be a hoot and a half. Until then I'm tossing Tom onto my blogroll.

Weekly Wonderous Moment In Comics #53

Back for more Sugar & Spike goodness. In issue 82, Bernie the Brain invents a time ray that allows folks to travel back and forth in time. Well, this story involves Sugar & Spike & Bernie from 1969 as well as Sugar & Spike & Bernie from 1986! At one point in the story, Sugar & Spike end up getting transported to 1986 but find that future Bernie is knocked out and future Sugar & Spike are being abducted by bad guys.

Sugar tries to help, but being a baby can't do anything. Spike comes through with a most ingenious use of time travel that I have ever seen.
In case you missed it, here is the explanation of what has just happened by future Bernie.. and note the Spike with the rolling pin on the bad guy's collar!
The only thing that has come close to this is the novel The Man Who Folded Himself.

Jonah Hex movie news: Poster revealed

Comic con, that wonderful place where all the teasers/pleasers are released. And of course, the teaser poster for Jonah Hex is no exception:

Shamelessly stolen from Big Shiny Robot.

My opinion of this is mixed. Looking at this from a noncomic viewpoint, I want to know what is wrong with his face, how does the girl tie in, is this an old western or a current one?

From a comic viewpoint I want to smash my face on the desk because Megan Fox seems to be the central focus on this poster (but that IS what sells tickets, isn't it?) . The heavy use of blue carries overtones of night as well as supernatural elements. It also makes me wonder if folks will realize that this is a 1800's western? I'm also mixed about the lettering. And is that a knife or a pair of scissors in Ms. Fox's hand? I'm also thinking her waist has been photoshopped to the point of pain.

But at least we are getting a peek. Still waiting for August 2010.

Salesmen of Yesterday!! Cindy Mayr

"Money does not grow on trees but money sure does by selling American Seeds." ?!?!?! Money sure does WHAT?? by selling American Seeds? I think that we may need to run this quote through a Trans-Bizarro-nator to get a proper translation.

"Money am not dying on trees but money sure am not when stealing Foreign Bulbs"

There, that's better.

Added to the side blogroll...

Confessions of a Superman Fan is a nice Superman site coming up on its three year anniversary. It focuses on the earlier Superman, covering some of the bizarre weirded out crap that makes the silver age some of the kicking-est books out there. Drop by, say howdy, and enjoy the deep thoughtful recaps of that Silver Age goodness.

Jonah Hex #81 "The Alliance!"

Jonah Hex #81 Feb 1984
"The Alliance!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers & Tony DeZuniga, art - Ross Andru, cover

The sad thing about this issue is that the first four pages are a recap of the last two pages from the prior issue. Turnbull has just been bitten by a rattlesnake (the snake survived the bite) and Jonah is going to leave Turnbull to succumb to the poison.

Then, suddenly for no reason at all, Jonah changes his mind and does his best to suck the poison from Turnbull's hand. It would have been better if he had done it for Jeb's memory, or maybe realizing that he needed Turnbull to clear him of the Governor's murder, but none of that is stated.

Meanwhile, J.D.Hart is turning in the thugs that he captured last issue. Hart learns about Jonah Hex's escape from jail and then heads for the hotel to get some grub.

Much later, Jonah & Turnbull are heading back to town in Turnbull's buggy when there is a sudden avalanche in front of them. Jonah is able to get the horses stopped and then there is another avalanche behind them. They find themselves boxed in the narrow canyon and that is when the gunfire starts. Turnbull has recovered enough from the venom to beat a hasty retreat to a nearby cave with Jonah close behind him.

Once in the cave, they hear shouting from above them and it turns out it is none other than El Papagayo, seeking revenge. Things aren't looking good at all.

Elsewhere, Emmy Lou Hartley has packed up and decided to leave town to try to get Jonah Hex out of her mind and her heart. On the way to the stage depot she shoved an ignorant goon into a horse trough.

Darkness is now falling on the canyon where Jonah & Turnbull are trapped. Turnbull reasons that Papagayo has nothing against HIM, so he pulls a white hanky, and waving it as a sign of peace, starts to leave the cave. Of course, the Mexican bandit is a bloodthirsty bastard so his band opens fire. Jonah leaps out of the cave, kills a couple of bandits and then drags Turnbull back into the cave, but not without getting a slug in the right thigh first.

Later that night, Hart & Mei Ling are having dinner in town. J.D. is telling his life story, but Mei Ling doesn't want to hear about the guns. Hart reasons with her, telling her that guns aren't evil, they are a tool to be used.

Back in the cave, Jonah has fallen asleep and Turnbull has finally figured a way to make his escape. He will use the derringer in his pocket to kill Hex and then drag the body into the open, proving that he sides with Papagayo. Just as Turnbull is about to pull the trigger, several Mexicans show up at the mouth of the cave and Turnbull shoots at them while shouting for Hex to wake up. Jonah wakes up and kills two of the three men.

Back in town, it is after dinner and J.D & Mei Ling are getting closer under the gaze of the moon.

At the cave, Jonah has rescued the injured Mexican (the one Turnbull shot) and is going to use him as a human shield. Jonah holds a pistol to the man's head and all three of them make their way out to the buggy. They climb into the buggy, make their way around the avalanche and head out. Turnbull notices a letter in the seat that reads "Jonah Hex, my good friend, adios"


Up on the cliff, Papagayo asks a henchman for the field glasses, trains them on the buggy, and despite the bad focusing that the henchmen had put on the glasses, Papagayo is barely able to make out the dynamite strapped to the bottom of the buggy.

Of course, the dynamite goes off and the entire buggy is blown clear to hell.

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah - 4
Running total - 412
Jonah's Injuries - Shot in the right thigh
Timeline - This one takes place in one evening.

Despite the waste of pages up front, this was a good issue. It may have seemed like we were jumping from one character to the next, but it supplied a nice break between the scenes and allowed for the passage of time. Mei Ling and Hart are letting their hearts get entwined, Emmy is running away with a broken heart and if Jonah survives this, he will have a heck of a lot of surprises waiting for him!

Since Turnbull and Papagayo are teaming up in the current Jonah Hex run, it's nice to see that they weren't always so buddy buddy (and it also helps me to place the current story arc into the timeline as well). The cover is a nice one, with the huge shadow of the parrot giving a clue that El Papagayo lurks inside this issue.

Next Issue: A night on the town turns ugly, Hex & Turnbull kiss and make up, and we finally meet Zombie Papagayo!!! (just kidding on that last one!)

Pitchman-A-Go-Go #80

From 1969, the body that you have always wanted to have can be YOURS!!!!

Signage Saturday - La Citta

Route 66 is a goldmine for neon and Tucumcari NM is one of the better towns. La Citta has been in business for decades but has changed hands a number of time. The rotating neon sign is one of the New Mexico neon icons along with the Blue Swallow Motel.

Just sitting and thinking...

Thinking about how I have tried to stay out of the current comics continuity. I've been suckered by Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis and I stayed out of 52. But, damn it, Blackest Night looks to be really really good and on top of that I picked up two issues of Batman & Robin!

My purchases are normally on the fringe; Jonah Hex, Superman/Batman, Sgt Rock, Haunted Tank, Secret Six (which you can enjoy all by itself) but Eldest & SallyP convinced me to start reading Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps and in turn Darkest Night (can't wait for that one)

Will I ever jump back in to reading Batman, Justice League, or even Superman? Probably not. I have too many other things that are calling out to my wallet (like board games and traveling) and I'm happy here on the fringe but I don't mind swirling my toe around in the GL universe just this once.

Salesmen of Yesterday!! Thomas Brophy

Years later, young master Brophy would be involved in Beanie Babies, Furbys, various Elmo incarnations, and Enron. He is currently doing 15-20 in a federal penal facility.

Weekly Wonderous Moment In Comics #52

The Future is Yesterday!!!

Yup, I love the future in the old comics, especially when we've been there/done that and we don't have what they promised back in the day. From Sugar & Spike #82, Apr-May 1969, Sugar, Spike, and Bernie the Brain get a visit from Bernie the Brain from 1986!! He relates a tale of what happened to Sugar & Spike when they are teen-agers. What is the world like in 1986??

Well, there are flying cars....

Fashion had taken a weird turn with capes & sombreros...

but the fashion is easily explained by future Bernie...

Flying cars? Wish they were here. Capes & sombreros? uh, not so much.

Pitchman-A-Go-Go #79

This game looks sooo cool, until you see the actual screen capture in the lower right corner. Yup, those were the video games from 25 years ago. 25 years...sheesh, I feel real old now.

Signage Saturday - Grace Day/Night Cleaners

Grace Cleaners, in business since 1907, is located in downtown Oklahoma City and is open 24 hours. This is one of the few porcelain neon signs left in town.

I really need to get another shot of this one using my tripod so it isn't blurry. But I love this closeup of the S at the bottom.

Jonah Hex #80 "Day of the Rattler!"

Jonah Hex #80 Jan. 84
"Day of the Rattler!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers & Tony DeZuniga, art - Ross Andru, cover

JD Hart runs across the desert sands, sixguns blazing, frightening off the vultures that have started pecking at Jonah Hex's prone form. Hart reaches Jonah and detects a very faint heartbeat. He forces some water down Jonah and after a few minutes manages to get Jonah to his feet and they start heading towards Harts horse. They are suddenly interrupted by the local sheriff and his posse.

Hart identifies himself as a U.S. Marshall but the sheriff says it doesn't matter who brings Jonah Hex in, but Hex will be spending time in his jail.

The next morning, in the aforementioned jail, the local doctor pronounces that Jonah will be a lot better with a few days of rest. Once the doctor leaves, Hart asks the sheriff if he can speak with Jonah. The sheriff allows it.

Hart tells Jonah that he gathered all of Hex's gear but Jonah tells him it ain't that important, he needs Hart to fetch the letter from the Governor. Hart agrees to it and heads out at once. However, Hart doesn't know that he is being watched by Quentin Turnbull, who send out three of his goons to follow Hart and return with that letter.

Emmy Lou Hartley, meanwhile, is mulling over her love for Jonah Hex while she waits at the blacksmith for her horse to get new shoes.

Elsewhere, Mei Ling is leaving Jason Hex with her brother's family as she mounts her horse and rides off to find Jonah Hex herself.

Turnbull's goons lose sight of Hart but they come over a ridge to find his horse alone, grazing in a clearing. As they get closer, Hart suddenly drops from a tree and commences with the severe kicks to the head and the punches to the jaw. One goon manages to pull a pistol, but Hart shoots it from his hand and shoot the weapon four more times before the pistol drops from the sky square onto the head of the goon.

Sadly, Hart was unaware of the third goon, who rides up and pulls a rifle on Hart.

Emmy Lou rides into town and meets Jonah in jail. Jonah tells her not to worry, because Hart is getting the letter and everything will be fine. Emmy says that she loves Jonah and Jonah tells her that he loves her as well. The sheriff is sitting in his chair, eavesdropping and chuckling to himself when through the door walks Mei Ling.

Mei Ling asks if she can see Jonah Hex and the sheriff points her toward the cells, mentally making a note that all the hot blooded women go after the bad men.

Mei Ling walks in just in time to see Emmy & Jonah in a jail embrace. In an awkward moment, Mei Ling starts to leave, Jonah begs her to stay, and Emmy tells her not to go, she will leave, for Jonah has always loved Mei Ling more than herself. As she walks out crying, the sheriff thinks that he might be able to get lucky by picking up Jonah's castoff on the rebound.

Meanwhile, JD Hart is tied up in a cabin and is having to listen to the rants of Quentin Turnbull. Turnbull gives Hart until sundown to divulge the location of the Governor's letter or else.. On that note, Turnbull leaves.

Back at the jail, there is a traveling salesman who is about to unveil his wares. This salesman specializes in selling an electric chair. You merely strap the condemned into the chair and wait for a storm to come up and for lightning to strike the lightning rod that will zap the skull of the prisoner.

Inside the jail, Jonah is starting to get worried about how long it is taking Hart to return with the letter. Suddenly he hears a sound outside the jail. It is Man of Two Bloods. Man of Two Bloods states that a blood brother of a chief cannot possibly be guilty of murder so Man of Two Bloods honor demands that he free Jonah Hex. He quickly pulls several sticks of lit dynamite from behind his back and blows up the entire back wall of the jail.

Inside, the sheriff is rudely startled out of his daydreams about night things in the middle of the afternoon. He runs back into the jail to see the carnage and he unlocks the cell door to view the he in the wall. Just then Jonah steps out and clubs the sheriff over the head. Jonah wasn't going to leave without his pistols, hat & coat.

Jonah runs out and jumps onto a spare horse that Man of Two Bloods has provided and as he rides off, he is spied by none other than Quentn Turnbull. Turnbull gets into his buggy and decides that he shall have to handle this circumstance himself.

Meanwhile, back at the cabin where Hart is being held. hart manages to kick over the stove in the cabin. As the cabin starts to fill with smoke, one goon runs out to get water while the other two attempt to right the stove. During this time, Hart holds his wrists over some coals and manages to burn himself free. He launches into the two remaining goons like a rocket and grabbing a gun from one goon, he shoots the pistol from the hand of the returning goon.

Some time later, Jonah rides up to a stand of rocks. As he advances towards them, Turnbull shows up with a pistol, demanding that Hex stand back. Turnbull reaches into a hole in the rocks to retrieve the letter, but ends up getting bitten by a rattler.

Jonah says that is to be expected when you stick your hand in a snake's nest. He breaks off a forked stick, uses it to hold down the snake's head and gets the letter. Turnbull, his heart racing the venom through his system, begs Jonah not to let him die. Jonah replies that is exactly what he is going to do. As Jonah walks off, Turnbull falls to the ground, clawing at his pistol, his shaking hands taking aim at Jonah's back.....

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah - none
Running total - 408
Jonah's Injuries - none
Timeline - This appears to be the same day as last issue. A few of the panels seem to indicate that it is nighttime, but there is nothing in the text to support it.

This issue is rocking with action and drama and has more supporting characters than any issue yet. I have to give this issue a thumbs up. It keeps the current arc clipping along nicely and has a great cliffhanger.

The only sour note was an artistic one regarding Hart's ropes. In one panel the ropes are near his elbows and two panels later, his wrists are tied.

Next Issue: Turnbull's final fate, and the return of.......

Salesmen of Yesterday!! Patty Korlin

If this doesn't sound like some protection racket, I don't know what does.

Knock Knock.
Door opens
"Don Karlin, I didn't expect you so early this month!"
"It would be a bad thing if the May flowers didn't show up for your April showers, if ya get my drift."
"Of course, of course, I'll 'buy' all your seeds. Here, is that enough?"
"It coitinly is. Now I shall be able to win that wonderful pony. Thanks, and I'll be back...next month."

Hmm, wonder if this would work today?

Signage Saturday - Beverly's

"Dwayne," I hear folks say, "we KNOW that you're dangerously obsessed with the scar-faced bounty hunter, but what do you do when you're NOT trying to construct a workable timeline for Hex?"

Well, one thing I like to do is take photographs of old signs, specifically, neon signs. Something about the old neon glow that is just magic to me. Also, so many of the signs have such a distinctive feel and style to them that you really don't get to see much of anymore.

This is the sign for Beverly's Pancake Corner, formerly on the corner of NW Expressway and Penn in Oklahoma City. Sadly, this sign went away a few years ago and I have been unable to locate any info on where it might be stored.

Here is a closeup of the chicken on the top of the sign

Three years and counting.....

Well, I started this back on July 1st, 2006. It's been three years and we've gone through 79 issues of Jonah Hex and 28 issues of Weird Western Tales. I've been linked to from the Invincible Super-Blog, had banners posted on Progressive Ruin. I have regular readers on five continents (what's wrong with you, Australia?). Gotten into a head bashing contest with SallyP and even interviewed Michael Fleisher himself. It's been a fun three years

What's next? Well, we get to finish up the Jonah Hex regular run, plow through Hex, mull over the Vertigo series and dive into the current run of Jonah Hex. On top of that, I do have a few other surprises that I'm chomping at the bit to unveil, but I have to wait until the time is right.

Thanks go out to all of you; the commenters, the linkers, and the lurkers, from the bottom of my heart.
I'll have to remember to be careful with the birthday candles.