Jonah Hex

This article is about the comic series. For the character, see Jonah Hex (character).

Jonah Hex
Cover to Jonah Hex Vol. 2 #1 (2005) by Luke Ross
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	All-Star Western #10 (Feb.–Mar. 1972)
Created by	John Albano Tony DeZuniga
In-story information
Full name	Jonah Woodson Hex
Team affiliations	Apache and Navajo tribes Confederate States Army United States Army Kiowa tribes Five Warriors from Forever Black Lantern Corps
Notable aliases	The Mark of the Demon
Abilities	Outstanding marksman Ability to quick draw Able to gun down multiple enemies in one draw Peak physical conditioning Expert hand-to-hand combatant Master tracker and detective Honed a danger sense from years of training and experience
Hex
	Hex #1, 1985. Mark Texeira and Klaus Janson, artists.
Series publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	Bimonthly; Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Western
Publication date	(vol. 1) March /April 1977 – August 1985 (Hex) September 1985 – February 1987 (vol. 2) January 2006 – October 2011
Number of issues	(vol. 1) 92 (Hex) 18 (vol. 2) 70
Main character(s)	Jonah Hex
Creative team
Writer(s)	Michael Fleisher, Joe R. Lansdale, Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist(s)	Tony DeZuniga
Penciller(s)	José Luis García-López, Dick Ayers
Inker(s)	Romeo Tanghal
Editor(s)	Ross Andru
Collected editions
Showcase Presents: Jonah Hex, Vol. 1	ISBN 1-4012-0760-X
Showcase Presents: Jonah Hex, Vol. 2	ISBN 1-4012-1561-0

Jonah Woodson Hex is a western comic book antihero appearing in 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 horribly 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. The character is portrayed by Josh Brolin in the 2010 film adaptation of the same name. Thomas Jane provided his voice in a DC Animated short film. He is portrayed by Johnathon Schaech in DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

Character 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), which was renamed Weird Western Tales with its twelfth issue. Jonah Hex headlined the new title right up until 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."

Hex

Jonah Hex was canceled during Crisis on Infinite Earths (in which Jonah also appeared along with Scalphunter and other western heroes in issue #3, 1985), 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, 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.

Limited series

Three Jonah Hex miniseries have been published under DC's Vertigo imprint. These series, written by Joe R. Lansdale and drawn by Tim Truman, 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 January 2006 (cover date November 2005), written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti with interior art by varying (and occasionally recurring) artists. In assorted postings on their message board, Grey and Palmiotti have stated their intent 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 and J. H. Williams III provided the art for Jonah Hex #35, expressing an interest in doing more: "I certainly want to do more issues myself or even a graphic novel if the opportunity and schedule presented itself."

To coincide with the release of the film Gray and Palmiotti wrote an original graphic novel, No Way Back (

ISBN 1-4012-2550-0 ), that was illustrated by Tony DeZuniga.

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.

Supporting cast

Being a "non-superhero", Jonah did not have a "Rogues gallery" comparable to costumed comic-book heroes, though he had a few adversaries who returned from time to time. The first and most notable of these to date was Quentin Turnbull, known at first as simply the man with the eagle-topped cane.

Turnbull was the father of Hex's best friend, Jeb Turnbull. During the American Civil War, Jonah actually surrendered himself to the Union forces after the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, but he refused to betray where his fellow soldiers were camped. A Union soldier was able to determine the location of that camp by examining the dirt in the hooves of Jonah's horse. The Union soldiers captured all of Jonah's fellow soldiers and then later massacred most of them, inexplicably choosing to frame Jonah as a turncoat. Turnbull's son was one of those slaughtered, and Turnbull vowed his vengeance upon Jonah.

Turnbull hired an unnamed stage actor to impersonate Hex and help "destroy" him. This actor, naming himself "the Chameleon", was eventually hideously scarred in a fire started by Hex, and he vowed vengeance.

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.

Tallulah Black is a character introduced in 2007. As a young woman she was savagely raped and mutilated by the men who murdered her family. She was saved by Hex, who helped her gain vengeance. She would go on to become a bounty hunter herself and eventually Hex's lover. Tallulah eventually became pregnant by Hex. However the child, a girl, was killed before being born. (Jonah Hex vol. 2, #50).

Joshua Dazzleby is Jonah's half-brother and is introduced in the graphic novel Jonah Hex: No Way Back. (2010)

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