Secret Six #36

Ladies and gentlemen, hats off. “Secret Six” is no more.

Bane knows he and the rest of the Six are going to Hell, and he’s proposed that it’s time for them to re-embrace their villainous natures and either establish themselves as the new rulers of Gotham City or go out in a final blaze of glory. The plan he proposes to Catman, Deadshot, Jeannette, Scandal, Knockout, Ragdoll, King Shark, and their very reluctant ally Penguin, is to break Batman’s will be killing Red Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman, and either Huntress or Azrael. The plan goes awry almost immediately, as they discover that their Gotham hideout comes complete with unexpected hostages — a poverty-stricken family who lives on the island in secret. And worse than that — the Penguin has already secretly summoned help.

So they look out the window and find members of the Birds of Prey, the Justice Society, the Titans, the Justice League, and more outside. Hey, that’s quite a lot of superheroes, but the Six have faced worse odds than that before and come out alright, so — oh, wait, now there are a couple Batmen on the scene, plus Robin, John Stewart, and Captain Atom. Worse odds, but Huntress sneaks into the Six’s hideout and offers to be their new hostage if they’ll let the family go. So the odds are actually improving a bit, with a higher-profile hostage and — oh, wait. Superman’s here now.

Well, that’s it, right? They can’t beat odds like that. They’ve got no tricks or powers that will let them get through firepower like that. Jeannette would rather die than go back to prison and is willing to start tearing Huntress into little pieces if they can’t go free. Catman isn’t willing to let Huntress come to harm, Deadshot isn’t willing to let Catman kill Jeannette, Scandal is willing to kill Deadshot to keep people from shooting. Things are coming to a head fast, but Bane has one final gambit — if they can’t survive, they can at least make sure they give the heroes a fight they’ll never forget.

He has Venom for everyone. And the last four pages are glorious and savage and heartbreaking.

Verdict: Thumbs up. We’re losing something amazing and rare with the end of “Secret Six.” It’s one of the comics that’s getting cancelled and isn’t going to be getting a new #1 issue with the new Reboot. So this is the end of it right here. I hope you got to enjoy it the way I did. If you didn’t, I’m sorry you missed out on this slice of comic book glory that Gail Simone left for us. Go out and get the trade paperbacks. Yeah, get all of them. You won’t regret it.

Hats off for “Secret Six,” everyone.

Jonah Hex #70

And speaking of cancelled comics, here’s the last issue of “Jonah Hex,” though it will at least get a continuation in the Reboot with “All-Star Western.”

This is a weird, hallucinatory comic. We start out in 1904, with scarred bounty hunter Jonah Hex an old man at 66 years of age. He’s finally gunned down by an old foe, and he finds himself walking an old battlefield with his old (and dead) friend Jeb Turnbull, who tells him he died during that old battle during the Civil War. Then Jonah’s back in another saloon, with other Wild West heroes and the mothers of his children, getting gunned down by his own father. And he wakes up somewhere else with a little girl who has facial scars like his, and a basket full of human hearts. And then he’s alive again. Then dead again. Then alive. Is Jonah Hex dying? Is he already dead? Or can he ever die at all?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Well, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti will continue to write about Jonah in the new Reboot — one of the few creators to be allowed to keep working on the same character — but they nevertheless have given this latest version of Jonah Hex a weird, wonderful sendoff. It was also nice to get to see characters like Bat Lash and Tallulah Black one more time…

Hats off for “Jonah Hex,” too.

Our Army at War #1

DC is going to be running a series of one-shots based on their classic war comics, and this is the first one. It’s got a great cover by Joe Kubert, though it’s Mike Marts and Victor Ibanez who put this story together. We get two different stories that parallel each other — first, set in World War II with a kid from the Midwest meeting up with Sgt. Rock and those combat-happy joes of Easy Company, and the second, set in Iraq, where a kid from Manhattan meets up with a modern-day mercenary squad with Easy Company’s level of fame.

Verdict: Thumbs up. I’m trying not to give away any spoilers, but the story gets all its oomph when we find out why our modern-day master sergeant signed up to fight. Besides that, we get some really strong, inspiring artwork. The story comes across as a bit manipulative at times, but there’s no way to deny that it packs a punch.

Jonah Hex #59

Jonah heads into a tiny, lawless village looking to collect a bounty, but he gets caught in the middle of a dispute between two brothers. And there’s also a masked pro-Confederacy vigilante called the Gray Ghost who’s on Hex’s trail because he thinks he’s a traitor to the Southern cause. With all those factions gunning for and around him, how is Jonah Hex going to come out on top?

Verdict: Thumbs down. Just didn’t get the right joy outta this one. The Gray Ghost had the look of an interesting recurring villain, but he doesn’t last very long here, and he even gets offed like a chump. Anyway, this story needed something more to it, and it just didn’t have the right stuff.

Today’s Cool Links:

• David Brothers wonders if comics are too reliant on past glories.
• Winners of the 2010 Hugo Awards!
• Snake robots!

Secret Six #24

Here’s a switch — all of the main characters of the series, including several of their villains, transplanted into the Wild West. Deadshot is a bounty hunter, Scandal Savage a sheriff, Bane is her deputy, Ragdoll runs a puppet theater, Jeannette is the local saloon’s most expensive entertainment, and Catman is a savage trapper. And Ragdoll’s vile sister Junior is the wealthiest woman in the territory, dedicated to killing everyone in town with her hired army of thugs, led by a mercenary gunfighter called Slade Wilson.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A very, very cool change of pace story. It’s great the way all of the Six’s characters fit into the Western’s archetypes. I wouldn’t mind seeing this kind of story more often, even if it’s not in the Wild West — surely these guys would fit well into lots of other genres.

Jonah Hex #58

Jonah gets in the middle of the aftermath of a whole series of crimes — the murder of a homesteader’s wife, leading to the homesteader killing the man he holds responsible, and the accidental maiming of a bystander. Jonah has been hired by the wealthy widow to bring in the homesteader, but she unexpectedly decides she won’t pay. Something fishy is going on here, and it’ll probably end with Jonah shooting more people.

Verdict: Thumbs up. An excellent and moderately complex mystery story, with an interesting framing device in which the bullets fired help narrate the action. Gotta give credit to artist Giancarlo Caracuzzo — he draws the most disgustingly disfigured Jonah Hex I think I’ve ever seen.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Here’s a Japanese manga strip explaining the strategic alliance between Japan and the U.S., in which America is depicted as a kid wearing a hoodie with bunny ears. My only regret is that it doesn’t appear to have been translated into English yet.
• And here are some absolutely gorgeous color photographs of Depression-era America. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in old photos or just old stuff in general.
• It’s depressing that we’ve let people like this and this wage war on Texas schools and schoolchildren for so many years. Depressing that they’ve done so much damage over the years and that their disciples will keep the war going forever.

Richard Stark’s Parker: The Man with the Getaway Face – A Prelude to “The Outfit”

My, my, my, looka here. Here’s how this goes. Darwyn Cooke wanted to adapt four of the “Parker” hardboiled crime novels by Donald Westlake (writing as Richard Stark). He was going to adapt the first four, but there were some of the later novels he wanted to work on more, so he eliminated two, including the second Parker novel, “The Man with the Getaway Face.” But it turned out, he kinda needed that second one, ’cause he needed to make sure readers knew that Parker had gotten plastic surgery to disguise his appearance. So instead of doing a full-length adaptation, he cut it down to just 24 pages, so he could use it as the introduction in his next graphic novel.

And because he’s so nice to us, he and IDW Publishing went and released that first chapter as a stand-alone comic.

And they made it oversized.

And they priced it as two dollars.

Yeahhh.

So what happens? Parker gets his new face to help him hide out from the Mob, but it’s taken out a bunch of his money, so he needs to heist some cash fast. He partners up with some old associates, Skim and Handy, and Skim’s new girlfriend Alma, a diner waitress who clued Skim in on an armored truck that’d be easy pickings for a job. But Parker doesn’t trust Alma — and for good reason. Will Parker be able to grab the dough and get away clean? Or is everyone looking at time in the pen?

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s a short, fast heist thriller, with artwork by the always-brilliant Darwyn Cooke. And it’s only two freakin’ dollars. The only downside? This thing is colossal, and I have no idea where I’m going to store it. Nevertheless, at two measly bucks, it’s more than a bargain. Pick it up, or you’re a stone fool.

iZombie #3

While Claire the vampire sets her sights on Spot’s friend Ashok, the monster hunters stalk her in return. Meanwhile, Spot, in full-blown were-terrier mode, meets with Gwen the zombie and Ellie the ghost to bring them some more evidence in Gwen’s ongoing murder investigation into who killed the last guy whose brain she snacked on. The investigation leads to a spooky old house, and Ellie, trusting in her ghostly status to keep her safe and undetected, goes in to have a look around. Things don’t turn out the way she was expecting. Is everyone about to get their supernatural secrets exposed?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A very fun story and really excellent art. Extra points for Laura Allred’s coloring — she’s going for an old-school comics look, with cool halftone effects. Yeah, Mike Allred’s art is great, but Laura Allred’s coloring is making this one look really unique.

Jonah Hex #57

A lot of our framework in this story comes from a couple of kids telling tall tales about Jonah Hex’s fabled exploits, like killing ten outlaws with a single bullet. They hear that Hex is going to be in a nearby town, so they sneak out late at night so they can see what he looks like. And they get more than they bargained for — namely, a bunch of old DC western heroes, like the Trigger Twins, Bat Lash, Scalphunter, Nighthawk, and Cinnamon. And of course, there’s a big gunfight. And some snoopy kids getting in trouble, but getting their own tall tale they can tell later…

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s one of the lighter Jonah Hex stories I’ve seen, but I really enjoyed it anyway. It’s cool to see all those old DC characters — and most of them aren’t just guest appearances for the sake of renewing the copyrights — several characters get some actual business and plotpoints of their own. It was a good, fun, and pretty over-the-top story — hope we get to see more of these from time to time.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Have I mentioned yet that everything Allie Brosh does is awesome?
• “Big Bang Big Boom” is epic graffiti animation.
• Improv Everywhere finds your lack of faith disturbing.

Jonah Hex #56

Hey, that cover is by Darwyn Cooke! Yay! We all love Darwyn Cooke! And it’s basically Clint Eastwood with a really ugly scar! Yay!

Anyway, we get multiple stories in this issue. In the first, Jonah is hired by an elderly Indian woman to help her with some shady characters who want to buy her home from her. She’s willing to let them use the land to graze cattle, build roads through it, build other houses on the property, but she won’t move, because she’s old, and because her late husband built the house for her. And all she wants Hex to do is sit quietly in another room and make sure her visitors don’t get rowdy. If they don’t cause any trouble, Hex can collect his fee and be on his way. Of course, her visitors have ulterior motives for wanting the old woman’s house, and of course, they’ve got plans for her when she won’t sell… but is Jonah going to do anything about it?

The second story is mostly a retelling of Hex’s youth. He was sold by his father to a tribe of Apaches in exchange for allowing him and the rest of the family to pass peacefully, and his early years were filled with hardship and regular beatings from bullies in the tribe. Eventually, he found favor with the tribal leaders and one daughter of the tribe, but his chief rival’s hatred for him grew every day.

And finally, there’s an interview with comic writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and Jimmy Hayward, the director of the new “Jonah Hex” movie.

Verdict: Thumbs up. The first story really is pretty smack-kapow awesome — great dialogue, excellent plot, and beautifully detailed artwork by Phil Winslade. The second story is fine, too. The interview — ehh, if you’re into that kind of stuff, maybe you’ll like it. I scanned it, didn’t see anything particularly useful. I don’t know about you, but I ain’t holding out a lot of hope for the movie. The horse-mounted Gatling guns are plenty cool, and Josh Brolin seems to be a really good actor… but to be honest, I think the presence of Megan Fox in any movie makes it unwatchable. But we’ll see what the buzz says about the movie…

Daytripper #7

Brás de Oliva Domingos is now 38 years old, enjoying real success with his debut novel. But he can’t stop thinking about his old friend Jorge, who retreated from the world he missed a flight on a jetliner that later crashed and killed all the passengers. Desperate to reconnect with his best friend, he travels to the opposite end of the country after receiving a single postcard from Jorge. Will Brás be able to find Jorge again? And what will they have to say to each other after so many years apart?

Verdict: Another thumbs up for this wonderful, wonderful series. The artwork is gorgeous, the writing is magnificent, the emotional content is genuine. I love this series.

Prince of Power #2

While Amadeus Cho is out trying to acquire the recipe to literal godhood, Vali Halfling, an Asgardian scoundrel who wants the god recipe for much more selfish reasons, pulls off a sneaky attack and takes over the Olympus Groups corporate headquarters — in fact, he wants to be able to destroy all the gods. Meanwhile, Vali already beat Amadeus to Asgard’s immortality-granting Apples of Idunn, but Thor thinks that Amadeus was responsible for the theft. After a colossal fight (Amadeus is able to hold his own because he has Hercules’ magical mace and a forcefield designed by Bruce Banner), Amadeus is eventually able to convince the thunder god that he’s innocent — and that Thor and Amadeus can help bring Hercules back. But Vali Halfling isn’t the only obstacle in their way…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Great action, fun dialogue, wonderful character work. Not much more I can say other than — this series rocks, and youse mugs should go get it.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Top hats off, people. Dr. Demento is retiring. Here’s to the world’s greatest promoter of nerd rock.
• I’ve mentioned this very cool fanfic contest sponsored by John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton, right? Well, PS238 creator Aaron Williams is sharing the story he wrote for it right here. You’ve still got time to work on your entry, too. (I may share my own entry later… but probably not this week — things is too busy, man.)
• This may be the most brain-breaking piece of Lovecraftian horror ever.

Thor and the Warriors Four #2

I’ve never really been into Power Pack. And I freely admit that the entire reason I started collecting this miniseries is because I saw a preview of this cover, which made me laugh like a hyena.

Oh, man, I’m gonna have to explain this for people who aren’t up on their Thor continuity, aren’t I? The big guy there is Beta Ray Bill, an alien who was the first non-Asgardian to be worthy enough of being able to pick up Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer. Odin gave him powers like Thor’s, and both of them consider each other great friends, if not outright brothers. And yes, he really does look like a horsey.

Aaaaaanyway, in this issue, the Power Pack kids make their way to the Rainbow Bridge that leads from our world in Midgard to the home of the Norse gods in Asgard. They meet a kindly peddler who offers them some more appropriate, Viking-esque clothing to help them disguise themselves, then march into Asgard and start their own superheroic careers as the Warriors Four. In time, this gets them a meeting with Thor himself, and the heroes swap stories — Thor’s being properly mythological and heroic, and the Power kids’ being a bit less so. The Powers tell Thor and Bill that their grandmother is dying, and they want to take some of the gods’ Golden Apples to her to make her well. Before Thor can tell them that it can’t be done, a frost giant attacks, and the kids help defeat it. But it’s all part of someone else’s evil plot — the kindly peddler was really Loki in disguise and he uses the kids’ Norse costumes to… Well, that would be telling.

And then there’s the backup story by Colleen Coover, as Hercules and the Power Pack beat the stuffing out of HYDRA, all while Herc tells the kids stories about his Twelve Labors. But can they complete the greatest labor of all — cleaning up the house?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Very funny, very awesome, and much like Mjolnir, very much worthy of being picked up. Outstanding cartooning all around, and great funny lines and situations. Yes, Katie Power drives Bill half crazy by wanting him to be a big magical pony, which is hilarious and adorable… as are the dreadful fates visited upon Thor, Bill, and Odin…

Batman and Robin #12

Damian’s mother has secretly implanted control devices into his new artificial spine, allowing Deathstroke to take control of his body and attack Dick Grayson. The good news is that the neural interface isn’t perfect, and it lets Batman hurt Slade by punching Robin. It takes Deathstroke out of the fight and gives Robin control of his body back. Batman and Robin travel to Talia’s hideout and beat up her goons. Damian tells her that he’s perfectly happy being Robin, and Talia tells him she respects his decision — but she’s disowning him, because she’s growing his clone, who’s going to be her new son. Returning to Gotham City, Batman, Robin, and Alfred discover evidence that Bruce Wayne is lost in time, Dr. Hurt prepares the forces of the Black Glove for more attacks, and Dick Grayson discovers that Oberon Sexton is really… Well, that would be telling.

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s good. It’s really just fantastically good, every step of the way through.

Madame Xanadu #22

As Nimue and mysteriously superhuman detective John Jones hurry to stop Morgana’s schemes in 1950s America, Morgana is enjoying being worshiped by a bunch of mind-controlled cultists. Nimue and Mr. Jones have intercepted one of Morgana’s artifacts — the war helmet of Morgana’s son, Mordred — and her frustration with its loss leads her to gruesomely kill two of her cultists. When our heroes arrive, they have little trouble with Morgana’s cultists, but her spells prove to be a lot more difficult to shrug off.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Again, it’s great fun to see the Martian Manhunter in action here. Heck, even when Morgana is being her most rotten, it’s mainly an irritation that John Jones isn’t front and center, showing off…

Jonah Hex #55

So five years ago, a bunch of saloon robbers tore into a bar, killed the owner and his wife, and got captured by Jonah Hex, leaving little Billy, a explosives-obsessed toddler, orphaned. The kid steals Hex’s gun away and kills the surviving robbers himself, with four bullets and four perfect headshots. Years pass, and another bunch of banditos show up to rob the joint. Billy, now calling himself Billy Dynamite, owns the place now, and he stuffs an oversized firecracker in the leader’s mouth. The rest of the gang set the bar on fire, strap Billy with dynamite, and throw him inside. Hex gets persuaded to do something about it, so he catches the gang, ties ’em up, and leaves ’em suspended over multiple packs of explosives before blowing ’em all to kingdom come.

Verdict: Thumbs down. This story has some serious problems. First, Billy doesn’t really change in appearance over five years — he starts out looking like he’s five, and by the time he’s ten, he still looks like he’s five. And dangit, you don’t take a saloon-owning pre-teen, make him a pint-sized badass, give him a moniker like “Billy Dynamite,” and then just kill him off. That’s a character with some serious personality, and you keep him around so you can use him again in future stories. You do not just cast him aside like he ain’t awesome. And finally, the ending is just too abrupt. Hex captures and kills the gang in just three pages, and he doesn’t even use a gun to do it — just fifty sticks of dynamite. That don’t seem like the Jonah Hex way, sir. So yeah, a rare (hopefully) Gray-and-Palmiotti misstep here.

Batman and Robin #11

Dick Grayson is getting closer to the hidden secrets of Wayne Manor, finding a secret temple, a hidden railway track, a stalactite carved to look like a bat-demon, and… something else. Oberon Sexton, the masked writer/detective, shows up to help Damian against Dr. Hurt’s hired killers, but what is he hiding? Damian has problems of his own — his recent spinal surgery allowed his mother to implant him with control devices that allow her — or her designated supervillain assassin — to operate Damian like a puppet. So when a mysteriously traumatized Dick hauls himself up from the catacombs beneath the mansion, is he going to be ready for Damian’s attacks? And will any of them survive the 99 Fiends?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A wonderfully deepening mystery, nicely tense, some very enjoyable action. If you aren’t getting this, I’ve got to assume that you’re already chock-full of koo-koo-cha-cha sauce, right?

Jonah Hex #54

Jonah’s up to his usual shenanigans — bringing in dead bandits for bounties, giving spoiled dandy lawmen the stinkeye, boozin’ it up, and glowering at pretty saloon girls. The trouble starts when some low-down varmint steals his horse, leading Jonah to, probably unwisely, pursue him on a mangy donkey. The misadventure ends with him bucked off and knocked out, but when he comes to in the morning, he still manages to bag another bunch of bandits. But when he returns to town, he finds the spoiled dandy lawman has been killed, and his spoiled dandy lawman brother-in-law reckons he can get away with framing Hex for the killin’. Can Hex and his few friends beat the rap and even the odds?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Good ol’ fashioned hard-boiled Western fun. DC isn’t paying Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti nearly enough, and Jordi Bernet provides some fun artwork to go along with it.

Crossed #9

It’s the final issue of this epic pseudo-zombie series by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows. Stan and Cindy bury Cindy’s son, Patrick, while Kitrick, Thomas, and Kelly find themselves being stalked by the gang of Crossed who have been after them for the last few hundred miles. And I’m gonna stop describing the story right there — if you’ve been reading and enjoying this series the way I have, I reckon you deserve to find out the final twists and turns on your own. For some of the characters, it’s not a happy ending, and for others, it’s at least not a sad ending.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A great ending to one of the more enjoyable and brutal horror series I’ve read in a while. As I’ve said repeatedly, this isn’t a story for kids — it’s an extremely violent, terrifying comic, designed for grownups who can handle blood, guts, cussin’, and really awful, unromanticized violence. If you’ve been reading “Crossed,” you sure won’t want to miss this last issue. If you haven’t been reading it, and you want to give it a shot, keep your eyes open for the collected edition whenever they put it out.

Jonah Hex #53

Jonah Hex, the meanest, rottenest bounty hunter in the Wild West, hires a dance hall girl — and not for the usual purposes. He’s after the train-robbing Hager brothers and needs her to help him sneak aboard a train in preparation for ambushing the gang. Things go fairly smooth, other than having to kill most of the gang members — until the inevitable double-cross.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Short, simple, clever, and brutal, just like the best Jonah Hex stories.

Justice Society of America Annual #2

The JSA All-Stars get called out to a prison called Haven — a very unusual prison in that it looks like a small suburban town from the ’50s but actually houses the most dangerous mad scientists in the country. There’s been a report of a breakout, with Magog leading the prisoners. While it initially looks deserted, the prisoners soon show themselves and the fighting gets started. Dr. Sivana and a guy named Mind Czar are leading the prisoners, and Haven’s warden is also working against everyone — he’s secretly in cahoots with shady forces who want to kill the prisoners and superheroes and steal all the high-tech toys for themselves. The main JSA team eventually makes its appearance, and it’s not long before it’s everyone on both teams piling on Magog, who is more than willing to try to kill or cripple prisoners and to accidentally shoot his own teammates and then blame them for getting in his way. And by the time it’s all over, Haven’s been destroyed, Magog has gotten the boot from the JSA, and neither team is going to get back together.

Verdict: Thumbs up. The story is fine, and it’s good that Magog is out of the picture, because no one really liked the guy anyway. But it definitely does make me question the stated reasoning for breaking the JSA into two groups. The only reason the teams were ever split was because Magog wanted ’em split — why leave them split now, when most characters have already said they’d like the teams reconciled again? Okay, fine, it’s because DC Comics wants ’em to be on two teams, the better to sell more comics. But dang it, a little logic and decent storytelling wouldn’t hurt nobody.

Jonah Hex #52

Jonah has done got hisself shot, and he makes his way to a small house outside a swamp to try to get shelter and medical attention. The lady of the house is able to get the bullet out of him and his wounds stitched up, and he tells her how he got wounded — he was attacked in the swamp by a little kid hoping to rob his corpse, and he killed the kid in self-defense. Unfortunately, his rotten kinfolk are now after Hex for revenge — and his benefactor now wants him out as quick as possible, to keep from risking her baby’s life. When a trio of the swamp rat’s relatives show up at the door, is there any way for Hex to beat the odds and get away?

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s another cruel, brutal, heartless Western, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I wasn’t 100% thrilled with the art, but I gotta say, there’s one splash page of Hex, gut-shot, soaked in swamp water and blood, covered in leeches, that’s just plain fantastic.

Jonah Hex #51

The West’s meanest, ugliest bounty hunter has been hired by a preacher to track down the men who killed the founder of a small town. Naturally, Hex starts out getting on everyone’s nerves, accusing the deceased’s widow of having something to do with the murder and later needling the preacher about why a preacher would hire a murderous bounty hunter. Meanwhile, the killers return to town and kidnap the widow, believing she can help them use the founder’s divining stick, rumored to allow them to find gold instead of water. Can Hex get to the bottom of the mystery, and will anyone be left alive by the time he gets through?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A nice, razor-edged mystery with a couple of fun twists, plus art by the legendary Dick Giordano. All that plus all the grim fatalism and brutality you’d expect from a Jonah Hex comic.

Weird Western Tales #71

Hey, waitaminute, didn’t DC quit publishing this series clear back in 1980? What’s it doing back again? What’s it doing with the “Blackest Night” trade dress? Holy banjos, you mean the Black Lantern rings are now bringing whole comic series back from the dead?!

Yeah, it’s a gimmick, but it looks like a fun gimmick. DC’s bringing back a bunch of old cancelled comics for “Blackest Night” one-shot issues, but with the original numbering on the cover.

So we got a funky combo of high-tech super-science and retro Western here. Crooked businessman Simon Stagg, his pet caveman Java, and the Ray have captured a Black Lantern ring and brought it to a lab for study — a lab run by Joshua Turnbull, a descendant of Quentin Turnbull, one of Jonah Hex’s nemeses. Turnbull prefers to run around the lab duded out in Western gear, he’s situated his lab underneath an old Western ghost town, and he’s obsessed with rehabilitating the reputation of his disgraced ancestor. Not the most stable guy around, I reckon. The scientists have barely had time to start studying the ring when it summons a bunch of new Black Lantern zombies from the nearby Boot Hill cemetery — including a bunch of DC’s long dead Western heroes, including Scalphunter, the Trigger Twins, Firehair, Super-Chief, Bat Lash, and Jonah Hex himself.

Verdict: I’ll give it a narrow thumbs up. There’s not a lot of logic in this one, Simon Stagg disappears from the scene unusually quickly, we never find out if the Ray survived the battle, and the characterizations and dialogue are purely one-dimensional. And it’s written by Dan DiDio, which is a huge strike against anything. But on the other hand, you got a gorgeous cover by Bill Sienkiewicz, you got Bat Lash looking like a dandy even in death, you got skeletal Jonah Hex looking fantastically badass. And finally, I just can’t bring myself to thumbs-down a bunch of zombie cowboys, so that’s that.