"Chapter 1: A Strange Wind Blows"
Michael Walsh - story, art, cover Variant Covers: Brian Bolland/Julian Totino Tedesco, Hayden Sherman, Javier Rodriguez
The scene opens on a full moon staring down upon the desert. Four men stand in the darkness, waiting. Brennan, the youngest, states that he doesn't like the situation. Another man says he should calm down and not get on the bad side of Old Sam. Besides, it's an easy job, just a coach and then Brennan and his sister can start over someplace new with the money.
The fourth man, on lookout, shouts that there is a lone rider coming. The rider comes over the rise and the men shout demanding to know who he is. The rider lets his pistol answer for him as he guns down first one man and then a second. Brennan is hiding, realizing how bad things have turned. The third man is killed and the rider draws closer and closer. The kid jumps from his hiding space and opens fire.
There, the moon at his back, stands Jonah Hex, several wounds oozing blood. The kid starts to beg and his pleas are cut short. Hex slumps to the ground and dies, choking on his own blood...
Hex jerks awake. He is sleeping on the floor of a cabin and he is very old and very haggard. The captions explain that Hex remembers dying and killing and dying again in a vicious circle. He can't remember how many times he's been killed and how many he has killed. Folks say Hex has been cursed by either crows, witching ones, or the words of the dying. Hex suspects it was God Himself what did it. No matter, Hex had become deathless and he would live through the end of American West and he would be haunted by those he had killed.
We see the ghost of Brennan standing next to Hex. Morning comes and Hex exits the cabin and saddles up his horse, Peanut. He tells the horse that they're going into town to get a drink. As they ride off, the ghost of a dead woman stand in the barn.
Heading into town, Jonah passes the graveyard and as he enters town, some folks are hanging a large bell on a scaffold. Hex hands the reins of Peanut off to a young man named Charlie. Charlie starts trailing Hex asking if all the stuff is true? Was he sold to the Apache? Was he crucified in the war? Did he die and turn into half devil? Did he see an undead Wild Bill and then kill him a second time? Hex turns on the kid and tells him to just watch the damned horse. Hex enters the saloon and we see a large man backhand Charlie into the street.
Hex asks the barkeep for a fresh bottle and he sits at the bar, polishing it off. A saloon girl comes up and makes him an offer but once she sees his scars she has second thoughts. Jonah looks past her and sees a ghost standing in the corner. The large man from earlier walks in and asks Cassy who she is talking to. He shoves her out of the way and gets in Jonah's face, asking if he is the one that bought the Daley cabin with his blood money. The man says that Hex is more ugly than tough and then plants a left hook into Jonah's face.
Jonah goes down and stays down. The barkeep offers Pete a drink if he'll just leave everyone alone.
Hex gets up and staggers out of the saloon, spitting up blood. A young girl, Annie Connelly, walks up and introduces herself. She says that Charlie told her that Hex used to be a hero and a killer. Hex says he was never a hero. She replies that's okay, she doesn't need a hero, she needs the other thing. Hex asks her who needs killing and she says it's her daddy, but it ain't her daddy. Jonah gives her the stink eye.
She swears it's true, something black is in her daddy's skin and is crawling behind his eyes and his bones are too soft and he never used to smile. She is interrupted by her father walking up behind her, holding a hammer and wearing a huge grin. He asks Hex if Annie has been telling yarns and Annie says she has just been selling flowers. She gives one to Hex, saying it will keep him safe and whispers there are shades of the dead following him. Annie and he father walk off with Hex looking after them.
The sheriff, leaning against a hitching post, wants reassurance from Hex that there won't be any trouble. The sheriff says it goes against his gut, letting Jonah comae and go as he please. Jonah says he was just getting a drink and the sheriff says to be sure to keep it that way. The two part company.
Hex goes to the stable and gets Peanut from Charlie's care. Hex asks Charlie what the deal is with Annie. Charlie relates that some say Annie is odd, he mom came from across the Atlantic and brought weird ideas with her. He mom died a few years back, coughing. Folks say she is witchy like her mom, but Charlie likes her. Now her Daddy?... Then the bell tolls very loudly, drowning out Charlie. Hex and the boy stand there staring at a man who has tolled the bell. Everyone in town just stands and stares.
Charlie says it looks like they fixed the bell. The sheriff met a preacher on the road and he sent the bell over so as to bring the Lord to Ashecott. Charlie doesn't cotton to the sound of the bell much, himself. Hex agrees, then mounts up, noting some incoming clouds. A stable hand overheard the exchange and watches Hex ride off.
Late that night, in the Connelly cabin, Annie is asleep, on her back with her mouth open. We hear creaking in the house and what looks like a spider starts to descend into Annie's mouth. She wakes up screaming for it to get out and runs out of her room into the darkness of the house. We still hear creaking all around and she makes her way into her father's room. We see her daddy's skin laying on the bed, hanging over the edge, like a suit that someone has exited and cast aside.
Annie falls to the floor huddled in a corner and a spider like creature starts crawling towards her, whispering "She's the one". Annie finds her courage, jumps up and runs out of the room. She tries to leave through the front door but it is locked and a dark figure walks up behind her. It whispers "It's okay, sweet thing. Daddy's here."
We cut to Jonah in his cabin, axe in hand, smashing up the floor. He uncovers a wooden box and inside is his Confederate coat, boxes of ammo and his Matching Dragoons. He picks up a pistol, there is a creak and he spins, pointing the weapon at the source of the sound. It's the ghost of Brennan, a tear in his eye and a massive hole in his head. Hex stares him down and says..
Then he takes the axe and smashes the pistol to bits, saying "I'm done killin'"
The bell in town tolls and we see a preacher man riding across the red sands on a horse with a skull for a head. The man smiles and says "It's almost time. at last, we will be restored." As he enters the sleeping town, the bell tolls once again.
Statistics for This Issue
Men Killed by Jonah - Four
Running Total - 897 (432 past, 55 future, 15 Vertigo, 391 V2, Next Level 4)
Jonah's Injuries - Punched by Pete and shot in 'the dream/memory'.
Timeline - one day and one night.
Men Killed by Jonah - Four
Running Total - 897 (432 past, 55 future, 15 Vertigo, 391 V2, Next Level 4)
Jonah's Injuries - Punched by Pete and shot in 'the dream/memory'.
Timeline - one day and one night.
When this was announced I had serious doubts. I had been burned and burned BAAAAAAD by the Vertigo stuff, but it is Hex and I'll give it a chance. So let's go over all the pieces.
Art: Well, Walsh does everything on this book and at times when folks do everything that doesn't bode well. Here the art reminds me of Jordi Bernet. Somewhat sketchy, very atmospheric. It isn't disgusting like Two-Gun Mojo. Some of the coloring is weird, all greens and reds but that does lend an odd atmosphere to everything. And the body language of the characters really adds to the story. The panel with Jonah head/bonding with Peanut damn neart had me in tears. I saw an old man, tired of life giving silent thanks to an animal that stays with him without knowing anything of his past or the things that haunt him. So far, I give that thumbs up.
Story: Where does this one fit in with everything else? Charlie mentions several things, including Two-Gun Mojo so this could be in that universe or it could just be wild tales that folks spin. We have an aging Hex literally haunted by everyone he has killed (tossing a nod to Outsiders #8) and we're left to figure out if Hex has really died over and over and over again or if it is all part of his dream.
The town is creepy, just enough. The characters are fleshed out, from Brennan to Charlie to Annie to Pete and the sheriff. The pacing is slow which is good, it lets the weight of the oddness just sit there and makes you feel uneasy. We get folks we care about in the kids even if they are irritating at times. And we have one heck of a weird vibe and some body horror going on.
I somewhat rolled my eyes at a preacher being the villain. Once again, crazy ass preachers and this one smells somewhat of Doc Williams, so I am withholding judgement on that.
On re-reading the book, I'm still trying to figure out who is speaking through the captions. Omniscient 3rd person narrator? The Preacher? Charlie?
The girl at the comic shop said she was going to read it because she wanted something scary to read for Halloween. She knew nothing of Jonah Hex and we chatted for a short bit. And this brings me to another thing. Does this HAVE to be a Jonah Hex story? Could the story have been told with Generic Old Bounty Hunter? What does Jonah bring to the story that GOBH would not have brought?
The girl at the shop is picking it up because it's "scary" and know nothing of Hex, so a win there. She might go looking for the trades of the Vertigo stuff, and might be disappointed in the 'normal' stuff. I'm picking it up because it IS Hex (and truthfully, I enjoy westerns so much I probably would have picked it up anyway. I read the 6th Gun without it being an established IP) so DC gets a win with my purchase. We'll have to determine that once the run is finished.
Next Issue: I have no idea, but it looks to be something with people having an extra mouth on their neck and a dangerous 'preacher'
