The American western genre has been canonized in song, film and most importantly the novel- we see this by Louis L’Amour’s 89 books that have been in print for over 50 years.
However, in comic books, it never seemed to catch on with the same amount of fervor. Jonah Hex has been unevenly involved in the DC universe since the ‘70s. He has also made several appearances in the animated series of Batman and most notably in the two-part time traveling episode from the Justice League Animated Series, which aired in the ‘00s. Soon, there will be a movie coming to the big screen starring Josh Brolin as Hex. In light of this, DC has released Jonah Hex as a series of motion comics that is supposed to lead up to the film.
In “Two-Gun Mojo,†from the beginning Jonah Hex has a problem. It seems he’s about to be hanged by a gang of wanted men. It’s a good thing that Slo-Go Smith comes around to help him with the unpleasant situation. Arriving into town for Slo-Go to collect his bounty they inform the sheriff that the town killed the wrong crew. While waiting in Mud Creek for the money a slew of other mishaps occur in the town.
This motion comic has all the tropes of a great western, the anti-hero, a witty sidekick, a damsel in distress and quick wit faster than a man can draw his gun. It’s the dialogue that makes this comic come to life. Between Hex’s (Jim Cummings, voice of Winnie the Pooh) gravel-intense voice and the well written words of Joe R. Lansdale, this story will have you coming back to find out what will come out of Hex’s mouth next. As for the artwork of Timothy Truman, it’s low-grade compared to Maleev’s work on Spider-Woman. However, it does have an old-school charm. For anyone who remembers the Captain America/Thor/Incredible Hulk cartoon of the ‘60s that was replayed in the ‘80s with Spider-man and his Amazing Friends it has that stop-motion flavor.
But this story based on the graphic novel of the same name art-wise is a reinterpretation of the novel and does not take away from enjoying the unfolding storyline. Instead it enhances the plot particularly at the end of the episode. Slick artwork in this case just wouldn’t do for that kind of shocker. Besides, that scar of Hex’s is one thing that couldn’t be done wrong and Truman is on point with it. In close-up it strikes just the right amount of fear. And that’s a rare thing for an animation.
How will Slo-Go fare in the next installment of Jonah Hex? You should tune in to find out.
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