Jonah Hex Head Injuries #34

The first 33 were in my contest against SallyP, but because readers have demanded it, it shall continue!

Jonah catches a right to jaw, delivered by a man named Tiny! From the double-crossing Jonah Hex #2

Jonah Hex #79 "Duel in the Sand!"

Jonah Hex #79 Dec. 1983
"Duel in the Sand!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Dick Ayers & Tony DeZuniga, art - Ross Andru & Dick Giordano, cover

Jonah stops to offer a stranger a drink from his canteen, unaware that he has been set up by Homer & Wilbur so they can collect the bounty on the head of Jonah Hex. Jonah hears the click of the rifle pointed at his back and he starts to dodge but isn't quick enough. He takes a bullet in the side as he dives from his horse. Jonah swiftly draws his pistol and shoots Homer right between the eyes.

Wilbur opens fire and Jonah is barely able to mount his horse and ride off. Wilbur comes out of hiding and runs to his brother. But sadly, his brother has been shot dead center between the eyes, so he is only able to get out two whole sentences before he expires. Wilbur is racked with grief over his brother's death and vows to make Jonah Hex pay for what has happened.

Meanwhile, back at the state pen, Quentin Turnbull is riding roughshod over Warden Davies, berating him for allowing Jonah Hex to escape prison. Davies points out that even if Jonah gets the letter from the late Gov. Phelps, they can still frame Jonah for the murder of Phelps.

Several hours later, Jonah, wounded, is riding across the desert with Wilbur dogging his trail. Sadly for Jonah, Wilbur has a Sharps 74 long rifle (with a range of 500 yards) against Jonah's 30.06. Wilbur lets Jonah sweat it out under the desert sun and at just the right time Wilbur shoots the horse out from under Hex. Jonah gets tossed into the sand and ends up having to finish off his horse. He grabs his canteen and starts walking.

Meanwhile, Emmy Lou is trying to figure out where Jonah has gone since he left a week ago and she just keeps getting madder & madder.

Back in the desert, Wilbur is conserving his canteen of water and gets the bright idea to relieve Jonah of his supply. Wilbur takes careful aim and just as Jonah is getting a drink, he drills a hole right through that canteen. Jonah claws madly at the sand as his water seeps through his fingers. From a rocky outcrop, Wilbur shouts that he is going to watch Jonah die a slow death. Hex grabs his pistol and fires, but the bullets fall far shy of their target.

Elsewhere, J D Hart has located the body of Homer. He knows of Wilbur & Homer and figures that this is some of Jonah's handiwork. JD realizes that he needs to hurry up not just for Jonah's sake, but Mei Ling's as well.

While the time has passed, a sandstorm has picked up, blocking out the sun and pelting Jonah with stinging sand. Staggering through the blasting sand, Jonah comes upon a water hole. He drops down and starts to drink when he sees the sign indicating that the hole is poisoned. In a wild rage, Jonah grabs the sign, breaks it in half, tosses it amidst the storm and then curses God Himself.

Meanwhile, Mei Ling is lighting candles and praying for the safety of Jonah Hex.

The storm has abated as swiftly as it started and Jonah is crawling across the cracked desert floor. He is begging for water when he hears the voice of his father, Woodson, berating Ginny for giving him such a spineless son. Ginny starts crying about how she has failed her husband and Woodson blames all of his drinking upon his tramp of a wife and his worthless son.

Jonah starts shouting at the hallucination, telling his mother that he can stand on his own two feet and with a strength from center of his being, Jonah Hex stands up in the desert and struggles on.

Meanwhile (yup, we're gonna check up on everyone here), Quentin Turnbull is dining as best he can in a western town. He gloats that Jonah Hex will soon be destroyed and that he can return to his own business. Turnbull makes mention of advising President Grant on inflation and debt (placing this, at the latest, between Jan 1877 & March 4th, 1877) .

Back in the desert, Wilbur is starting to suffer the effects of the sun as well. He has reached the last of his water, following Jonah Hex in the circles of his wandering. Wilbur comes over a rise and finds Jonah Hex dead, next to a watering hole. Wilbur starts laughing at the irony of Hex being dead just inches from water and he starts gulping down the liquid. Suddenly he realizes how foul the water tastes and he starst getting cramps. That is when he sees the remnants of the shattered Poison sign. Wilbur curses Hex for having killed him and then collapses next to Jonah.

The vultures descend to start their feast when suddenly JD Hart runs up, guns blazing...

Statistics for this Issue
Men Killed by Jonah - I can't really give credit to Jonah for the death of Wilbur, but he nailed Homer a good one. 1
Running Total - 408
Jonah's Injuries - Shot in the right side, heatstroke
Timeline - This one happens all in one day and despite the reference to President Grant, I'll still place this one in April 1878 (maybe Grant still needed financial advice even after he was out of office.

From the great cinematic cover to the full page end, this one was one hell of a roller coaster ride. Fleisher kept the suspense up just enough by cutting back to the supporting cast and when Jonah finally had to confront the vision of his dad, it wasn't overly melodramatic, it was just right. Jonah was in a situation where nothing could save him except for his own determination not to die.

The only downside to the story was the length that Homer was able to converse after being shot square between the eyes.

The poisoned water hole had been used once before, but that was by Albano ten years prior. All in all, one of the best stories there was.

Next Issue: Explosions! Electrocutions! Snake Bites! Dehydration! Cheating Hearts!

Hal & Jonah: Head to Head!! Round 33

Sally has thrown in the towel and I can't help but rub it in. (hee hee)



I'm more than willing to keep this thing going, but Sally has a busted scanner, etc., blah blah blah. I'll probably keep on posting these just to make Sally remember that a gun slinger is better than a ring slinger any old day.

This grazed noggin is from the kid-fighting goodness of Jonah Hex #1

Pitchman-A-Go-Go #78

So you're tired of ready comics, it's time to dive into some real literature...for only a buck

Jonah Hex Hardcover?

Wow, I just read this:

In answer to a question from a young Jonah Hex fan, DiDio said that not only
would DC be reprinting a number of classic Hex tales in trade to tie in with the
upcoming movie, but that the company was also going to release an
original hardcover Jonah Hex graphic novel by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and
Tony DeZuniga.

and I can say that I am pumped!

The Many Phases of Jonah Hex - The Tragic Hex

Once we moved past the mysterious bounty hunter and started fleshing out the past and the motivations of the character, the next obvious step is to put that character into situations that test what the character is made of.

Fleisher did the unthinkable for a Western loner, turn him from a loner into a couple and on top of that, give him a child. I, like many other readers at the time, thought that Mei Ling would end up chewing on a lead biscuit, sending Jonah into a vengeful bloody aftermath that would hold us through several issues. Weren't we surprised!? Mei Ling survives, and ends up holding fast to her word that she would leave Jonah if he didn't change his ways.

Jonah had been wounded in so many aspects of his life. Rejected as a child by his mother & father, rejected as a brother by his Apache step-brother, rejected as a soldier by the Fort Charlotte brigade, rejected as a man (branded a liar and coward) by Quentin Turnbull, rejected as a human by most of society. The love of Mei Ling bypassed all of that and accepted Jonah on all of those levels and included those of husband and father. However, Mei Ling could not accept violence, but she and Jonah both failed to realize that violence was not a path that Jonah had chosen.

It was a path that had chosen him. Violence was as much a part of Jonah's life as peace and serenity was ingrained into Mei Ling's. Violence was not something that Jonah could stop doing, it was the only response that he had learned and even though he set down his guns, guns kept seeking him out.

Jonah's life, never one full of sunshine and daisies, takes a tragic turn that is probably worse than if his wife & child were dead. Mei Ling leaving him, rather than being taken away from him via the end of a gun, meant that it was a conscious decision on her part to wound Jonah again and this time in an area of his life that had been wounded before. As anyone can tell you, a wound inflicted consciously hurts so much more than one inflicted by accident. Even though some would say that Mei Ling was justified in leaving and taking Jason, maybe even saying that she had no choice in the matter, she knew what she was doing, and Jonah would perceive it as a selfish act, the same as all of his other wounds.

With Mei Ling and Jason still alive, but forever removed from Jonah's life, he returns to his old life, losing himself in his work, as it were. However, since Jonah's life is one of tragedy, he will be constantly reminded of Mei Ling, crossing paths with her and having his suppressed feelings resurface.

Jonah eventually finds some level of comfort in the arms of Emmy Lou, but that also turns tragic when Emmy Lou is kidnapped (oddly enough, the reason had nothing to do with her relationship with Jonah). Jonah ends up turning from one woman to another in what becomes an almost revolving door of feminine comfort, with one woman leaving his life and then another popping up unexpectedly.

Near the end of his Life, Jonah is reunited with Jason, but refuses to acknowledge the relationship with his only son. When forcefully and violently confronted with it, he does ask about Mei Ling. Her death has sealed the door for any hope of reconciliation on that wound of Jonah's. He drunkenly rides off, never knowing of his grandson.

In his last days, Jonah finally finds companionship in Tall Bird, the last woman he will love and one that will stick with him for decades past his death.

Probably the most tragic part of Jonah Hex's life is his attempts to reconcile his entire life with the concept of God. It's been said that in every man's life there is a God-shaped hole, an emptiness that only God can fill, but man constantly tries to fill it with other endeavors or diversions. Some people dismiss the idea of God and learn to live with that concept, others, like Jonah, look at their circumstances and decide that there is a God and He is one who hates them. All of the rejection in Jonah's life can either be confronted or cast aside. He can deal out vengeance against the offender or busy himself elsewhere, removing himself from the rejection. However, once a man acknowledge the existence of God, he can never truly be alone. And if God is supposed to a be a father, a loving father to us all, how does one who has only known physical & mental abuse from their real father, reconcile that reality into a father who is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient? Most likely their concept of God turns to a heavenly being who delights in the torture of the creation. Of all the wounds against Jonah Hex, this one is probably the most tragic in that no matter what Jonah does, where Jonah goes, he can never destroy or run away from this vengeful God.

He may try to lash out at God; crying into the storm, shaking his fist at the sky. He may attempt to reason with God; silently asking for reasons, striking deals in an attempt at some relief. But Jonah is never able to reconcile with God and find the peace that he yearns for.

Jonah Hex finally ends up being swallowed by grief and tragedy his entire life and even in death, where everyone seeks some rest on heaven's shore, the body of Jonah, stuffed and on display, remains stuck in the "belly of the whale".

Hal & Jonah: Head to Head!! Round 32

Jonah gets saved from a scalping via the help from a mountain man, there is a slight misunderstanding and...


WHAM! Jonah gets his ticket punched for the fast train across the cabin. Appearing in the snow-capped Weird Western Tales #38