Overjoyed and over-Jonahed


What a great King of Days it has been for me. (King of Days, to the uninitiated, is Wednesday when the new comics arrive.) I’ve got several reasons to be happy.

First off: Teen Titans #30 has me in 1980s La-La-Land, with the first real Captain Carrot story since 1986’s Oz-Wonderland War, PLUS the first real look at Kid Devil in ages (aside from one every-teen-hero-imaginable grouping that was in Young Justice).

Sure, Captain Carrot gets glimpsed here and there, with a sliver of time in “The Kingdom #2”, a page in the out-of-continuity “World’s Funnest”, as a painting on the wall of Lyta Trevor’s apartment in Infinity Inc., etc. But a genuine story, with the characters I’ve missed for 20 years finally moving and talking. Oh, it warms my heart and takes me back to those days when comics were fun to read instead of just wall-to-wall death, heartache and no-holds-barred-villainy…even if it’s in the form of a Captain Carrot comic book that is clearly following the same comic book trends, with dead teammates, tragic backstories and an alcoholic, chain-smoking Roger Rodney Rabbit hiding from the world in a grotty apartment.

The only really bad thing about this is that it’s in the form of a comic within Teen Titans instead of a mini-series of its own like it deserves to be. Not that I’ve anything against Teen Titans, one of the better books DC publishes. I’d be pretty happy if Kid Devil reappears with some new powers of his own and joins the Titans.

Here’s something I didn’t think I’d ever say: kudos to Judd Winick. I know, I know, he’s the writer everyone I know loves to hate, but at least he’s the FIRST writer in a year and a half to actually use the word “rape” in referring to what Dr. Light did in Identity Crisis #2. That was last month in Green Arrow #57, which ended with a terrific cliffhanger. (That page of Conner Hawk standing ready for battle is a memorable scene.) It’s great to hear Dr. Light say what I’ve been thinking for over a year: that while the League’s been tearing itself apart in angst over an old not-that-big-a-deal mindwipe, Dr. Light isn’t all that bothered by it, he’s amazed the JLA let him live.

Finally, anyone who loves plain ol’ fun comic books needs to be buying five copies of the new Jonah Hex. Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are doing stellar work in telling stories that fit the modern comic book sensibilities but … get this, okay … the stories are 22 PAGES LONG and then THEY END! None of this dang “writing for the trade” nonsense, no Infinite Crisis crossovers, no mega-stories, no endless breastbeating about mind-wiping a rapist, no huge backstory that leaves you feeling like you need a Secret Files and Origins to get all the continuity changes that happened while you were away. Just a snarling bounty hunter with a heart and a sharp wit who sometimes helps the downtrodden and always kills the bad guys. If you missed issue #1, guess what? IT DOESN’T MATTER! You can pick up issue #2 and start there. Isn’t that truly amazing? When was the last time there was a comic book that was so approachable you could just start reading from whatever issue happens to be on the rack? Comic books used to be like that all the time; now it’s a curiosity that needs to be in a Ripley’s Believe It Or Not cartoon.

I’m actually about Jonah Hex’d out because last month I read through the Showcase Presents Jonah Hex book (HIGHLY recommended, and I wish I’d mentioned it earlier in the Christmas season as it’s a great gift for a comic fan). I’d never heard of writer John Albano before but I came away impressed with his writing skill. Those “Weird Western Tales” stories from the early 1970s read like a modern comic that could be published this month. Then I moved on to reading the three Vertigo Jonah Hex mini-series by Tim Truman and Joe Lansdale, Two-Gun Mojo, Riders of the Worm and Such and Shadows West, all of which I’d bought off of Scott Beatty. Three great minis, and I wish all of them were in TPB format so I could recommend them to you, though I imagine “Riders” will stay buried due to the lawsuit by The Winter Brothers.


3 responses to “Overjoyed and over-Jonahed”

  1. Totally agree with you about Jonah Hex. It blew me away that not only were these stories that stayed faithful to one of my favorite gunslingers, but that the story concluded in the first issue. Likewise, the second story was done by page 22, but I didn’t feel like i was rushed. And I really like the subtle touches to show Jonah’s character, such as his not taking any money at the end of issues 1, but not explaining himself either. GREAT stuff.

    Now if only they could bring this quality to a revamp of HEX. 😛

  2. I’m absolutely loving the new Jonah Hex. Even though the stories are single issue ones there seems to be the slightest hint of an on-going sub-plot (although it doesn’t affect the enjoyment of a single issue story). It should be interesting watching it develop.

    I’m still working my way thru the Showcase Presents Jonah Hex Vol. 1. But you can definitely tell by the tone of the stories when the writers changed. I think I enjoyed Albano’s stories more. I’ve only read 2 of the new guy (I’m blanking on his name) but their tone just isn’t the same as Albano’s. And let’s not forget the artwork. The artist’s (again blanking with the name) work looks absolutely fantastic. I can just imagine how good it looked colored and how much better it’d look colored with today’s techniques.

    I’m not a big fan of the Vertigo Jonah Hex mini’s. I read Shadows West but it just felt more like a horror story set in the Old West rather than a Jonah Hex story. The artwork was really good though.

    R.B.

  3. Yeah, I loved seeing the Zoo Crew again. I remember Wizard ran a story about Geoff Johns and Phil Jiminez restarting the title. Of course, it was an April Fools issue but I guess they did get half of the creative team right. Yeah, I agree that it probably should have been on it’s own cause I’m not really seeing the parallel between that story and the Titans. Besides, I only really cared about the Crew part of the comic.


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