Mama Jane reads a comic: All Star Western Volume 1 Guns And Gotham

All Star Western Volume 1 contains issues 1-6 written by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, art by Moritat, colours by Gabriel Bautista, letters by Rob Leigh, published by DC Comics and is part of the New 52 collection. I don't read a lot of ongoing DC titles and I've never really fallen in love with any of the titles or characters with one exception. There is one DC character that I always love to read, buy any merchandise they are on and will always have a special place in my heart. I'm talking about Jonah Hex, I love reading about that rough, morally ambiguous, gun slinging bounty hunter and his antics, finding him one of the most interesting, enjoyable and appealing characters.

Look at this badass!

All Star Western mainly follows the story of Jonah Hex but also has shorter ongoing stories about characters such as El Diablo and The Barbary Ghost and while I do quite enjoy The Barbary Ghost comics I want to talk about the star of the show Jonah Hex's stories. The story begins in Gotham city in the 1880's with Gotham being a rapidly growing and developing city. Dr. Arkham (yes that Dr. Arkham) has been employed by the police to help solve the increasingly gruesome murders of several local prostitutes. Despite already being unwanted by the local police chief Dr. Arkham decides to bring in more help on the case and brings in the infamous bounty hunter Jonah Hex to help him traverse the increasingly treacherous underworld of Gotham City. Jonah Hex gathers his information in his own typical style and a few broken bones, bribed prostitutes and death threats later Jonah has his information. Of course because this is Gotham, Hex and Dr. Arkham realise that they are not just searching for a single killer but an evil organisation that follow the "crime bible".

I feel like this message may be for Hex

Jonah Hex is deeply damaged both physically and mentally as Dr. Arkham constantly observes and yet this is part of the character's appeal. Hex is not a hero but not a villain, he is firmly somewhere in the grey area between. And although he does the occasional good such as giving a prostitute money to not work while a killer is on the loose and giving a rich boy a harsh lesson about abusing the poor, a kindness he didn't need to give either, Jonah Hex is really only concerned about his next bounty and his next drink. Despite all his flaws Hex is such a well written character that you want him to succeed and follow him on his journey. Dr. Arkham is completely out of place in Hex's world, being a doctor he usually deals with the aftermath of violence rather than being involved himself. Dr. Arkham often seems more of a hindrance than help throughout the comic but he is written well enough that between his narrations and mannerisms as a bumbling fish out of water he isn't a complete annoyance.

The art of All Star Western uses really thick line work and uses a lot of red, orange and brown tones that fits well with the industrial look of developing Gotham and the overall grim tone of the comic. The scarred half of Hex's face is as gruesome and horrifying as always but overall his skin has a weathered look that you would expect to see from someone who has spent most of his life riding around in the harsh sun. Something I noticed is that the artist seems to really enjoy doing the faces and hair of young women as they are fresh faced and rosy cheeked compared to the harsh lined look of the faces of the men. The backgrounds are wonderfully done, usually with large amounts of detail or using some fantastic colours and textures.

Between the old house and the dead bodies this page just has so much detail

I'm not entirely sure why Jonah Hex appeals so much to me perhaps it is because he is not a black and white good or bad kind of character or maybe because its just enjoyable to read something dark and gritty sometimes. Whatever the reason I can't get enough of the scarred bounty hunter and find it is something I often go back and reread it every so often.