Although the title may be JONAH HEX: LUCK RUNS OUT, luck be a lady for you, the reader, in this six-issue collection of DC Comics’ ongoing Western series. Either you like stories about an ex-Confederate bounty hunter with half a face, or you don’t; I freaking love them, and could read them all day long.
In the first tale, “My Name Is Nobody,” Hex busts a gang of Mexican bandits and ends up meeting his long-lost son in the process; neither are very happy about the family reunion. Next is “Four Little Pigs: A Grindhouse Western.” True to its name, it’s a bloody one, so it’s more along Hex’s normal lines, but with an fairly uncharacteristic villain: women.
“Star Man” finds Hex face to face with an old frenemy, and a flashback affords us a rare glimpse of our antihero at work in New York Harbor. In “Townkiller,” a young man whose teenage pal was brutally killed for no good reason tries to hire Hex to kill the whole damn town out of revenge — men, women and children. When Hex turns him down, the kid takes matters into his own hands. Bad move.
While “Return to Devil’s Paw” may not be the most ingenious of plots — Hex vs. Indians — its art by Rafa Garres is worthy of singling out. It’s rich in colors, packed with action that crosses panel lines, and its style is wildly reminiscent of Marvel’s adult-leaning comic magazines of the 1970s. Finally, in “Luck Runs Out,” a band of outlaws invades a town with a population of six … plus one, in hotel visitor Hex, who intends to even the odds. —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• JONAH HEX: FACE FULL OF VIOLENCE
• JONAH HEX: GUNS OF VENGEANCE
• JONAH HEX: ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
• JONAH HEX: ORIGINS
• SHOWCASE PRESENTS JONAH HEX: VOLUME ONE
Related posts:
- Jonah Hex: Only the Good Die Young
- Jonah Hex: Guns of Vengeance
- Jonah Hex: Face Full of Violence
- Showcase Presents Jonah Hex: Volume 1
- Jonah Hex: Origins
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Ah, I love JONAH HEX. These collections are consistently good. I enjoyed the first SHOWCASE PRESENTS volume as well, and was bummed to hear recently that the second one has been held up.