Jonah Woodson Hex is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is scarred on the right side. Despite his poor reputation and personality, Hex is bound by a personal code of honor to protect and avenge the innocent.
Hex has been substantially adapted in other media, including animated television series and films. Bill McKinney, Adam Baldwin, Phil Morris, and Thomas Jane, among others, have voiced the character in animation. Furthermore, Josh Brolin and Johnathon Schaech portray Hex in a self-titled film and Legends of Tomorrow respectively.
Publication history
Debut
The character first appeared in a full-page in-house ad for All-Star Western #10 which was published in various November/December 1971-dated DC comics, including a few of DC's war comics line, as well as a half-page version of the same house ad in Batman #237. This house ad contains the first published images of Jonah Hex, as well as two dialogue-filled comic strip panels not used in his first full-story appearance.
His first full-story appearance was published a few weeks later in volume two of All-Star Western #10 (February–March 1972),[1][2] which was renamed Weird Western Tales with its twelfth issue. Jonah Hex headlined the new title through issue #38, at which point Scalphunter took over the spotlight while Jonah Hex moved into his own self-titled series in 1977. The series lasted for 92 issues with Michael Fleisher as the main writer and Tony DeZuniga providing much of the art.
In a 2010 interview with Filipino journalist Anna Valmero, DeZuniga described the moment he first conceived the image that would become Jonah Hex: "When I went to my doctor, I saw this beautiful chart of the human anatomy. And I saw the anatomy of the figure was split in half, straight from head to toe. Half his skeleton was there, half his nerves and muscles. That's where I got the idea it won't be too bad if his distortion would be half.[3]"
Hex
Jonah Hex was canceled during the publication of the mini-series Crisis on Infinite Earths—in which Jonah appeared, along with Scalphunter and other western heroes, in issue #3—but in the same year Jonah moved to a new eighteen-issue series titled Hex, also penned by Michael Fleisher. In a bizarre turn of events, Hex found that he had been transported to the 21st century and became somewhat of a post-apocalyptic warrior,[4] reminiscent of Mad Max. The series had mediocre success in the United States but was critically acclaimed and well received in Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Japan.[5]
Limited series
Three Jonah Hex miniseries have been published under DC's Vertigo imprint. These series, written by Joe R. Lansdale and penciled by Tim Truman and inked by Sam Glanzman, fit more into the western-horror genre, as Hex interacts with zombies ("Two-Gun Mojo" #1–5, 1993), a Cthulhoid monster ("Riders of the Worm and Such" #1–5, 1995) and spirit people ("Shadows West" #1–3, 1999).
Jonah Hex vol. 2
A new monthly Jonah Hex series debuted in November 2005[6] (cover date January 2006), written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti with interior art by varying (and occasionally recurring) artists. In assorted postings on their message board,[7] Gray and Palmiotti have stated their intent was to depict various adventures from across the full length of Hex's life and career. The main artistic difference is that the series is published without the external restraints of the Comics Code Authority which allows for harder-edged stories without having to keep with the Vertigo imprint's dark fantasy themes. Tony DeZuniga, the original Hex artist, returned to pencil two issues of the book (#5 and #9). John Higgins drew issue #28[8] and J. H. Williams III provided the art for Jonah Hex #35,[9]
All-Star Western vol. 3
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. With this change, Jonah Hex volume 2 was canceled and Jonah transitioned as the lead story in All-Star Western volume 3 (November 2011). While Jonah Hex vol. 2 consisted of standalone stories, All-Star Western features an ongoing story arc that finds Jonah in Gotham City during the 1880s, teamed up with Amadeus Arkham.
Fictional character biography
Origins
Born on November 1, 1838, in northwestern Missouri to Woodson and Virginia Hex, Jonah and his mother were regular victims of physical abuse inflicted by his father, an alcoholic. Virginia eventually left Woodson with a traveling salesman, planning to return for Jonah after becoming established elsewhere, though she ultimately became a prostitute to survive. 1851, Woodson sold his son as a slave to a local Apache tribe. They worked him constantly until he saved their chieftain from a puma; in gratitude, the chief took Jonah as his adopted son, but this angered his own son, Noh-Tante. Noh-Tante shared Jonah's affections for a young girl named White Fawn, so he betrayed his adopted brother during their manhood rite at the age of 16 and left Jonah to die at the hands of a party of Kiowa Indians.[12] A patrol of American cavalrymen came to his aid, but when they saw him trying to help the Kiowa, the soldiers shot him as well. Jonah survived only when an old trapper scavenging the site found him clinging to life and nursed him back to health. Returning to his tribe's camp, he found that they had already left, leaving him without a family once again.[13]
American Civil War
Powers and abilities
In most of his stories, Jonah Hex displays no supernatural or superhuman powers; however, he does possess some exceptional abilities, acquired through a combination of talent and training.
Despite being blind in his right eye on account of his disfigurement, Hex is an outstanding marksman who rarely misses his target, having been trained by the legendary Windy Taylor.[24] He is extremely fast on the draw and can be seen in many stories gunning down multiple foes before any of them can get off a shot, and can wield two guns at the same time with equal proficiency. He is also a resourceful combatant, often relying on stealth, tricks, and improvised weapons and traps to defeat enemies, similar to DC comics character Deathstroke (who is also blind in his right eye). His reflexes are strong enough that he has proven to be faster on the draw than both Wild Bill Hickok[65] and Batman.[86] Already an experienced horseman, Hex became an expert at driving various motor vehicles during his time in the 21st century.[87]
In the DC Universe, he is known as having almost superhuman-levels of skill and marksmanship with 19th-century weapons, such as revolvers and double-barrel shotguns.
Supporting cast
As he was not a traditional superhero, Jonah Hex never amassed a "rogues' gallery" comparable to that of other costumed comic-book heroes such as Batman or the Flash, though he had a few adversaries who returned from time to time. The first and most notable of these to date was Quentin Turnbull, who was initially known only as the "man with the eagle-topped cane". Turnbull was the father of Hex's oldest friend, Jeb Turnbull. During the American Civil War, Jonah, then a Confederate cavalryman, surrendered himself to the Union forces after the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, but he refused to betray where his fellow-Confederates were camped. A Union soldier was able to determine the location of their camp anyway by examining the dirt in the hooves of Jonah's horse. Jonah's comrades were all captured and then later massacred during the "Fort Charlotte Massacre", including Jeb. Believing the false rumors that Jonah had helped plan the massacre, Turnbull swore to avenge his son.
One such scheme involved Turnbull hiring an unnamed stage actor to impersonate Hex to try and frame him as a murderous outlaw. This actor, naming himself "The Chameleon", was eventually hideously scarred in a fire started by Hex, and he also swore revenge on the bounty-hunter.
El Papagayo was a Mexican bandit running guns. Hex was hired by the United States Secret Service (actually a man hired by Turnbull to pose as a Secret Service agent) to infiltrate El Papagayo's band and bring him to justice. Hex was unsuccessful, and he and Papagayo met several more times over the years until Hex finally stabbed him dead in a confrontation.
Jonah Hex also had a number of allies and supporting characters during many of his adventures, but most wound up getting killed in the course of helping him. An exception is Tallulah Black, a character introduced in 2007. As a young woman, Tallulah was savagely raped and mutilated by the men who murdered her family. She was saved by Hex, who helped her gain vengeance.
Appearances
Core series
The following are publications in which Jonah Hex is the central character.
- All-Star Western (Vol. 2 #10–11; 1972)
- Weird Western Tales (#12–14, #16–38; 1972–1977)
- Jonah Hex (Vol. 1 #1–92; 1977–1985)
- DC Special Series #16 (1978/Fall)
- Hex (#1–18; 1985–1987)
- Secret Origins (Vol. 2 #21; 1987/12)
- Jonah Hex: Two Gun Mojo (#1–5; 1993)
- Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such (#1–5; 1995)
- Jonah Hex: Shadows West (#1–3; 1999)
- Jonah Hex (Vol. 2 #1–70; 2005–2011)
In other media
Television
Live-action
- In 2000, 20th Century Fox developed a one-hour adaptation based on the character Jonah Hex to television with producers Akiva Goldsman and Robert Zappia involved, but the project never made it into production.[91]
- Jonah Hex appears in media set in the Arrowverse, portrayed by Johnathon Schaech:
- Hex makes a cameo appearance in the TV series The Flash episode "Welcome to Earth-2".[92]
- Hex appears in the TV series
Lawsuit
In 1996, musicians Johnny and Edgar Winter filed suit against DC and the creators of the Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such limited series, claiming, amongst other things, defamation: two characters named the Autumn Brothers in the series strongly resemble the Winters.[103] Writer Joe Lansdale said on the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund site:
"It was our intent to use the Jonah Hex comic book series as a vehicle for satire and parody of musical genres, Texas music in particular, as well as old radio shows, movie serials and the like. We feel within our rights to parody music, stage personas, album personas, lyrics, and public figures.[104]"
The judge agreed and ruled in favor of the defendants, saying parody was covered by the First Amendment. The briefs were refiled in June 2002 through the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation and while the decision was upheld, the comic was deemed not to be "transformative" raising possible future problems for parody.[103] In 2003, the Supreme Court of California sided with DC.[105]
Reception
IGN ranked Jonah Hex as the 73rd Greatest Comic Book Hero of All Time, stating that "his distinctive appearance and engrossing adventures set Hex apart from the rest of the cowboy crowd".[106]
See also
- Jonah Hex: No Way Back
- Bat Lash
- Loveless
- High Moon
- Weird West
External links
- Ongoing reviews and recaps of Jonah Hex appearances in various comics
- Ginger Mayerson's Jonah Hex reviews at Sequential Tart Jonah Hex reviews from All-Star Western #10 and up
- House ads with Jonah Hex's 1st appearance
- Winter v. DC Comics 2002
References
- All-Star Western #10 at the Grand Comics Database^
- Michael McAvennie. DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle Dorling Kindersley, 2010^
- Anna Valmero. 'Jonah Hex' creator is a hero for Filipino comic book artists loqal.ph, Filquest Media Concepts, Inc., July 2, 2010, retrieved May 11, 2012^