123-460: 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. The character
246-435: A garbage man a 'sanitation engineer' - and second because a 'graphic novel' is in fact the very thing it is ashamed to admit: a comic book, rather than a comic pamphlet or comic magazine". Writer Neil Gaiman , responding to a claim that he does not write comic books but graphic novels, said the commenter "meant it as a compliment, I suppose. But all of a sudden I felt like someone who'd been informed that she wasn't actually
369-438: A trade paperback ( Pocket Books , March 1978), which described itself as "the first graphic novel". Issues of the comic had described themselves as "graphic prose", or simply as a novel. Similarly, Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species by writer Don McGregor and artist Paul Gulacy ( Eclipse Books , August 1978) — the first graphic novel sold in the newly created " direct market " of United States comic-book shops —
492-447: A UK best-seller list. Outside North America, Eisner's A Contract with God and Spiegelman's Maus led to the popularization of the expression "graphic novel" as well. Until then, most European countries used neutral, descriptive terminology that referred to the form of the medium, not the contents or the publishing form. In Francophone Europe for example, the expression bandes dessinées — which literally translates as "drawn strips" –
615-520: A brief appearance in the Batman Universe series. He also is mentioned a few times by his great-great-granddaughter, Virginia "Jinny" Hex, who appears in Batman Universe and Young Justice , having taken up a career as a hero after learning that she inherited her ancestor's exceptional abilities. In most of his stories, Jonah Hex displays no supernatural or superhuman powers; however, he does possess some exceptional abilities, acquired through
738-430: A category in book stores in 2001. The term is not strictly defined, though Merriam-Webster 's dictionary definition is "a fictional story that is presented in comic-strip format and published as a book ". Collections of comic books that do not form a continuous story, anthologies or collections of loosely related pieces, and even non-fiction are stocked by libraries and bookstores as graphic novels (similar to
861-560: A collection of Frank Miller's four-part comic-book series featuring an older Batman faced with the problems of a dystopian future; and Watchmen (1986-1987), a collection of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons ' 12-issue limited series in which Moore notes he "set out to explore, amongst other things, the dynamics of power in a post-Hiroshima world". These works and others were reviewed in newspapers and magazines, leading to increased coverage. Sales of graphic novels increased, with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns , for example, lasting 40 weeks on
984-403: A coma for over a month. Upon awakening, he finds that the doctors used 21st century medical technology to repair his ruined face and eye along with his injuries from the accident. Discharged from the hospital, Hex and Gina encounter Booster Gold, who is eager to undo his mistake. Although Hex tries to dissuade her, Gina insists on travelling with him to the 19th century. She soon dies while crossing
1107-419: 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. 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
1230-447: A corrupt lawman who tried to frame him. The mayor of a small town tried to have Hex hanged as a rapist to hide the incestuous rape of his mute daughter, but the townspeople lynched the politician instead when they learned the truth. While escorting a bounty on Christmas Day, he got into a gunfight, killing a dozen men who wanted to murder his quarry. In the town of Salvation , he met a local gang who disguised themselves as nuns to hide from
1353-553: A cyborg for his "utopia" of artificial life, but Hex escaped and wiped him out along with his creations. His next challenge was an anti-sin cult called the Sin Killers, whom he dealt with while rescuing the kidnapped daughter of a local man. Borsten was later revealed to have survived the explosion. Briefly, Jonah met the Legion of Super-Heroes while they were travelling in their Time Bubble. New York City's leading crime syndicate,
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#17327765944021476-452: A doubly talented artist might not arise and create a comic strip novel masterpiece". Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin's Blackmark (1971), a science fiction / sword-and-sorcery paperback published by Bantam Books , did not use the term originally; the back-cover blurb of the 30th-anniversary edition ( ISBN 978-1-56097-456-7 ) calls it, retroactively, the first American graphic novel. The Academy of Comic Book Arts presented Kane with
1599-467: A giant worm in the desert. He teamed up with the inhabitants of a local ranch who'd been under attack by the creatures. It turned out that the monsters were actually sentient, the half-bred rape children of an underground race and a human woman, and that they called themselves the Autumn Brothers. Hex rallied the ranchers to take the offensive. He led them in an assault on the tunnel system where
1722-400: A great deal of money to star in his "Wild West Revue" show, but Hex angrily turned him down, not wanting to spend his final years as a carnival attraction. Hex's last bounty was the gang of bank robber George Barrow; Barrow survived, and swore revenge. Playing cards in a Cheyenne saloon, Hex was murdered by Barrow with a double-barreled shotgun while fumbling to put on his spectacles. His death
1845-623: A greedy landowner who was organizing robbers to prey on travelling pioneers, and avenged the victims they had left to die. The Lord of Time assembled a team, known as the Five Warriors from Forever, when he believed that his time-machine, the Eternity Brain, would end all existence. This team included Jonah Hex alongside Black Pirate , Enemy Ace , Miss Liberty, and the Viking Prince ; to make them powerful enough to become
1968-485: 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
2091-503: A heated tomahawk. With the mark serving as proof of his wickedness, Jonah was banished from the tribe. Years later, when he and his partner Henri d'Aubergnon sought to rescue a white woman held captive by the tribe, Jonah saw the man he once considered his real father shoot White Fawn for trying to protect him. Without hesitation, he gunned down the elderly chieftain and slaughtered most of the Apaches. Hex soon took up drinking to deal with
2214-497: A heinous crime. Finding an escaped psychopath on the run, he killed the man after learning that he was a famous murderer known as the "Gentleman Killer". Fort Lang was seemingly attacked by an Indian tribe, but Hex saved them after uncovering a conspiracy by railroad interests to force them off their land so it could be illegally seized. When some bandits Hex had been pursuing injured an old lady who had shown him kindness, he paid for her medical treatment before chasing down and butchering
2337-409: A hooker; that in fact she was a lady of the evening". Responding to writer Douglas Wolk 's quip that the difference between a graphic novel and a comic book is "the binding", Bone creator Jeff Smith said: "I kind of like that answer. Because 'graphic novel' ... I don't like that name. It's trying too hard. It is a comic book. But there is a difference. And the difference is, a graphic novel
2460-487: A man named Terry White from starvation in the desert and saved his life, but when White stole from him and fled, Hex hunted him down and killed him. Jonah befriended a wolf named Iron Jaws when he failed to stop white settlers from slaughtering the peaceful band of Pawnee Indians who had owned him. Gunfighter Windy Taylor, who had taught Hex everything he knew about shooting, asked him to help find his son, Tod Taylor, who had turned outlaw. Tod gunned down his father and Hex
2583-485: A modern-day Gotham City in which Western-themed superheroes act as law enforcement officers. While Superman was attending to a badly wounded Batman, Jonah Hex tracked them down and managed to kill the Man of Steel using Kryptonite bullets. Although Superman wasn't really killed, it was heavily implied that this was done primarily because in that story arc, the only way for Superman and Batman to be transported to another timeline
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#17327765944022706-424: A perfect time to retire terms like "graphic novel" and "sequential art", which piggyback on the language of other, wholly separate mediums. What's more, both terms have their roots in the need to dissemble and justify, thus both exude a sense of desperation, a gnawing hunger to be accepted. Author Daniel Raeburn wrote: "I snicker at the neologism first for its insecure pretension - the literary equivalent of calling
2829-515: A periodical titled Graphic Story Magazine in the fall of 1967. The Sinister House of Secret Love #2 (Jan. 1972), one of DC Comics ' line of extra-length, 48-page comics, specifically used the phrase "a graphic novel of Gothic terror" on its cover. The term "graphic novel" began to grow in popularity months after it appeared on the cover of the trade paperback edition (though not the hardcover edition) of Will Eisner 's A Contract with God (October 1978). This collection of short stories
2952-445: A plan to use the shaft to sneak all of them out. What Hex did not realize was that the "escape tunnel" was a trap. The commander had run out of food to feed his captives, and had ordered the shaft to be dug in secret knowing that the prisoners would use it to try and escape. In an event that came to be known as the "Fort Charlotte Massacre", Union soldiers ambushed and gunned down nearly all of the fleeing Confederates, including Jeb. Jonah
3075-681: A process that Northrop Frye called the fictional "center of gravity". This movement indicated a literary change in heroic ethos from feudal aristocrat to urban democrat, as was the shift from epic to ironic narratives. Huckleberry Finn (1884) has been called "the first antihero in the American nursery". Charlotte Mullen of Somerville and Ross 's The Real Charlotte (1894) has been described as an anti-heroine. The antihero became prominent in early 20th century existentialist works such as Franz Kafka 's The Metamorphosis (1915), Jean-Paul Sartre 's Nausea (1938), and Albert Camus 's The Stranger (1942). The protagonist in these works
3198-492: A relationship with a young woman named Gina. After several adventures where Hex encounters other heroes such as John Constantine , Swamp Thing , and Superman while trying to find a way back home, Hex is horrified when he and Gina discover his preserved corpse on permanent display in a Wild West exhibition at the Metropolis Museum. Despodent and depressed, Hex is involved in a severe DUI accident that leaves him in
3321-420: A revival of the medieval woodcut tradition, with Belgian Frans Masereel cited as "the undisputed king" of this revival. His works include Passionate Journey (1919). American Lynd Ward also worked in this tradition, publishing Gods' Man , in 1929 and going on to publish more during the 1930s. Other prototypical examples from this period include American Milt Gross 's He Done Her Wrong (1930),
3444-482: A similar format. Columnist and comic-book writer Steven Grant also argues that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko 's Doctor Strange story in Strange Tales #130–146, although published serially from 1965 to 1966, is "the first American graphic novel". Similarly, critic Jason Sacks referred to the 13-issue "Panther's Rage"—comics' first-known titled, self-contained, multi-issue story arc—that ran from 1973 to 1975 in
3567-504: 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. A patrol of American cavalrymen came to his aid, but when they saw him trying to help
3690-546: A special 1971 Shazam Award for what it called "his paperback comics novel". Whatever the nomenclature, Blackmark is a 119-page story of comic-book art, with captions and word balloons , published in a traditional book format. European creators were also experimenting with the longer narrative in comics form. In the United Kingdom, Raymond Briggs was producing works such as Father Christmas (1972) and The Snowman (1978), which he himself described as being from
3813-544: A threat, they were each energized with a special force. Their purpose was to fight the Justice League and Justice Society to strengthen their resolve through defeat, which they succeeded in doing. Eventually, the Five Warriors rebelled against their master and assaulted the Palace of Eternity. Hex got into a gun-fight with a T-Rex , but he and his teammates were defeated and eventually returned to their own times using
Jonah Hex - Misplaced Pages Continue
3936-574: A wordless comic published as a hardcover book, and Une semaine de bonté (1934), a novel in sequential images composed of collage by the surrealist painter Max Ernst . Similarly, Charlotte Salomon 's Life? or Theater? (composed 1941–43) combines images, narrative, and captions. The 1940s saw the launching of Classics Illustrated , a comic-book series that primarily adapted notable, public domain novels into standalone comic books for young readers. Citizen 13660 , an illustrated, novel length retelling of Japanese internment during World War II ,
4059-774: A year after A Contract with God though written and drawn in the early 1970s—was labeled a "graphic novel" on the cover of Marvel Comics' black-and-white comics magazine Marvel Preview #17 (Winter 1979), where Blackmark: The Mind Demons premiered: its 117-page contents remained intact, but its panel-layout reconfigured to fit 62 pages. Following this, Marvel from 1982 to 1988 published the Marvel Graphic Novel line of 10" × 7" trade paperbacks—although numbering them like comic books, from #1 ( Jim Starlin 's The Death of Captain Marvel ) to #35 ( Dennis O'Neil , Mike Kaluta , and Russ Heath 's Hitler's Astrologer , starring
4182-473: Is a novel in the sense that there is a beginning, a middle and an end". The Times writer Giles Coren said: "To call them graphic novels is to presume that the novel is in some way 'higher' than the karmicbwurk (comic book), and that only by being thought of as a sort of novel can it be understood as an art form". Some alternative cartoonists have coined their own terms for extended comics narratives. The cover of Daniel Clowes ' Ice Haven (2001) refers to
4305-426: 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 and Batman . Already an experienced horseman, Hex became an expert at driving various motor vehicles during his time in
4428-507: Is also extremely tough and has been known to continue fighting even after suffering torture or severe injury. Jonah Hex has a reputation throughout the West as a ruthless and prolific killer, but like Batman , he is bound by a personal code of honor to protect and avenge the innocent, as well as protect women and children no matter the circumstances. On many occasions, his reputation by itself has proven enough to deter potential foes. Knowing that
4551-405: Is an exceptional tracker, able to follow trails several days old through rain and mud in spite of his quarry's best efforts to cover their tracks. He possesses a keen danger sense which warns him of ambushes and traps. This is not a supernatural ability, but rather an instinct honed through years of experience as a bounty-hunter and by fighting enemies much more powerful and deadlier than himself. Hex
4674-410: Is an indecisive central character who drifts through his life and is marked by boredom , angst , and alienation . The antihero entered American literature in the 1950s and up to the mid-1960s as an alienated figure, unable to communicate. The American antihero of the 1950s and 1960s was typically more proactive than his French counterpart. The British version of the antihero emerged in the works of
4797-402: Is for them to die. Jonah Hex has, in many timelines, met and fought Batman. In Superman/Batman #16, Hex overpowered Batman in hand-to-hand combat (albeit Batman had been heavily wounded and thus couldn't fight back with his usual ability). In Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne , Hex and Batman face off in a showdown. Even though he has experience in disarming gunmen with his batarangs, Batman
4920-521: Is highly contested by comics scholars and industry professionals. It is, at least in the United States, typically distinct from the term comic book , which is generally used for comics periodicals and trade paperbacks . Fan historian Richard Kyle coined the term graphic novel in an essay in the November 1964 issue of the comics fanzine Capa-Alpha . The term gained popularity in
5043-412: Is that 'graphic novel' just came to mean 'expensive comic book' and so what you'd get is people like DC Comics or Marvel Comics—because 'graphic novels' were getting some attention, they'd stick six issues of whatever worthless piece of crap they happened to be publishing lately under a glossy cover and call it The She-Hulk Graphic Novel ..." Glen Weldon, author and cultural critic, writes: It's
Jonah Hex - Misplaced Pages Continue
5166-469: Is that the antihero is doomed to fail before their adventure begins. The second constitutes the blame of that failure on everyone but themselves. Thirdly, they offer a critique of social morals and reality. To other scholars, an antihero is inherently a hero from a specific point of view, and a villain from another. This idea is further backed by the addition of character alignments , which are commonly displayed by role-playing games. Typically, an antihero
5289-620: Is the focal point of conflict in a story, whether as the protagonist or as the antagonistic force. This is due to the antihero's engagement in the conflict, typically of their own will, rather than a specific calling to serve the greater good. As such, the antihero focuses on their personal motives first and foremost, with everything else secondary. An early antihero is Homer 's Thersites , since he serves to voice criticism, showcasing an anti-establishment stance. The concept has also been identified in classical Greek drama , Roman satire , and Renaissance literature such as Don Quixote and
5412-500: Is used, while the terms stripverhaal ("strip story") and tegneserie ("drawn series") are used by the Dutch/Flemish and Scandinavians respectively. European comics studies scholars have observed that Americans originally used graphic novel for everything that deviated from their standard, 32-page comic book format, meaning that all larger-sized, longer Franco-Belgian comic albums , regardless of their contents, fell under
5535-578: The Black Panther series in Marvel's Jungle Action as "Marvel's first graphic novel". Meanwhile, in continental Europe, the tradition of collecting serials of popular strips such as The Adventures of Tintin or Asterix led to long-form narratives published initially as serials. In January 1968, Vida del Che was published in Argentina, a graphic novel written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and drawn by Alberto Breccia . The book told
5658-585: The English poet Lord Byron . Literary Romanticism in the 19th century helped popularize new forms of the antihero, such as the Gothic double . The antihero eventually became an established form of social criticism, a phenomenon often associated with the unnamed protagonist in Fyodor Dostoyevsky 's Notes from Underground . The antihero emerged as a foil to the traditional hero archetype ,
5781-613: The picaresque rogue. An anti-hero that fits the more contemporary notion of the term is the lower-caste warrior Karna , in The Mahabharata . Karna is the sixth brother of the Pandavas (symbolising good ), born out of wedlock, and raised by a lower caste charioteer. He is ridiculed by the Pandavas, but accepted as an excellent warrior by the antagonist Duryodhana , this becoming a loyal friend to him, eventually fighting on
5904-408: The wrong side of the final just war . Karna serves as a critique of the then society, the protagonists, as well as the idea of the war being worthwhile itself – even if Krishna later justifies it properly. The term antihero was first used as early as 1714, emerging in works such as Rameau's Nephew in the 18th century, and is also used more broadly to cover Byronic heroes as well, created by
6027-627: The " angry young men " of the 1950s. The collective protests of Sixties counterculture saw the solitary antihero gradually eclipsed from fictional prominence, though not without subsequent revivals in literary and cinematic form. During the Golden Age of Television from the 2000s and into early 2020s, antiheroes such as Tony Soprano , Gru , Megamind , Jack Bauer , Gregory House , Dexter Morgan , Walter White , Don Draper , Nucky Thompson , Jax Teller , Alicia Florrick , Annalise Keating , Selina Meyer and Kendall Roy became prominent in
6150-587: The "bottomless abyss of strip cartooning", although they, along with such other Briggs works as the more mature When the Wind Blows (1982), have been re-marketed as graphic novels in the wake of the term's popularity. Briggs noted, however, that he did not like that term too much. In 1976, the term "graphic novel" appeared in print to describe three separate works: The following year, Terry Nantier , who had spent his teenage years living in Paris, returned to
6273-592: The 128-page digest by pseudonymous writer "Drake Waller" ( Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller ), penciler Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin proved successful enough to lead to an unrelated second picture novel, The Case of the Winking Buddha by pulp novelist Manning Lee Stokes and illustrator Charles Raab. In the same year, Gold Medal Books released Mansion of Evil by Joseph Millard. Presaging Will Eisner's multiple-story graphic novel A Contract with God (1978), cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman wrote and drew
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#17327765944026396-618: The 1880s in The New 52 , psychologist Amadeus Arkham is recruited by Detective Lofton of the Gotham City Police Department to help solve the case of the Gotham Butcher. GCPD chief John Cromwell finds Arkham's theories of the crime repugnant, as well as his decision to recruit Jonah Hex, who had recently caused a stir by coming to town. Even so, recognizing Hex's experience as a tracker, Arkham suggests that
6519-594: The 21st century. 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. After Jonah Hex is transported to the future in Hex , he acquires a pair of Ruger Blackhawk .357 Magnums, largely because they are single action revolvers of the kind that he's familiar with. Even with such outdated weapons, he still manages to outshoot foes armed with more modern weaponry. Hex
6642-513: The Combine, sent Hex after their greatest enemy, the Batman , by framing him for Stiletta's murder; the two men fought and nearly killed each other. Realizing that they were on the same side, Hex helped Batman stop the Combine from unleashing their war machines on the innocents of the city. Stiletta was discovered to still be alive, having been brainwashed and trained as a professional wrestler, under
6765-585: The Cosmic Treadmill. He later encountered the Justice League separately, with several other Western heroes including Bat Lash , Cinnamon , and Scalphunter . The Lord of Time sent members of the League back to the 19th century as part of an absurd plot to rule the world. Jonah met an amnesiac Hal Jordan in the desert and nursed him back to health. The two teamed up with Elongated Man , Flash , and Zatanna to take down some robotic gunfighters while
6888-550: The Court Of Owls, Vandal Savage , and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde . He also rekindles his love affair with Tallulah Black , another bounty-hunter. After ending things with Arkham and preparing to return to the western territories, Hex encounters a semi-amnesiac Booster Gold and is accidentally thrown into the 21st century where he is initially put in Arkham Asylum, believed to be a delusional imposter who has adopted
7011-518: The Jason Crowley gang and collected their bounties. He then found Stoneham, confined to a wheelchair after losing the use of his legs. Although he was tempted to take revenge, Hex instead shared a drink with Stoneham and left him in peace. Hex was then hired by the town of Paradise Corners to kill the outlaw "Big" Jim. Hex grew fond of the town and decided to settle there, but the locals, disgusted by his appearance, forced him to leave. He rescued
7134-614: 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. Jonah eventually returned to American civilization, becoming a cavalry scout in the United States Army . When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Jonah, feeling that
7257-718: The League dealt with an anti-matter asteroid that threatened to destroy the Earth. In the present, Superman defeated the Time Lord and restored things to normal. Hex became involved in the first Crisis when he was summoned, along with several other heroes, to fight for the Monitor . Jonah Hex fought against the Shadow Demons alongside Bat Lash, Cyborg , Firebrand , John Stewart , Johnny Thunder , Nighthawk , Psimon , and Scalphunter . Alex Luthor and Harbinger gathered
7380-753: The Living Gargoyle as her trusty steed. Jonah Hex was reanimated during Blackest Night as a zombie member of the Black Lantern Corps , wielding a power ring. He returned to plague Quentin Turnbull 's last living descendant, Joshua Turnbull. Joshua attacked Hex with a rocket launcher, but failed to destroy him. The young man pleaded for his life to Hex, joined by a Black Lantern version of Quentin Turnbull, but Turnbull gunned down his descendant in cold blood. Both men were returned to their eternal rest when Hal Jordan defeated Nekron. During
7503-547: The South was justified in seeking independence, joined the Confederate States Army and earned a commission as a lieutenant in the 4th Cavalry. It was during this time that he made his first friend, a fellow-soldier named Jeb Turnbull. As time went on, Hex found himself increasingly torn – he had become close with many of his fellow-Confederates, but having once been a slave himself, he was unwilling to fight for
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#17327765944027626-574: The United States and formed Flying Buttress Publications , later to incorporate as NBM Publishing ( Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine ), and published Racket Rumba , a 50-page spoof of the noir - detective genre, written and drawn by the single-name French artist Loro. Nantier followed this with Enki Bilal 's The Call of the Stars . The company marketed these works as "graphic albums". The first six issues of writer-artist Jack Katz 's 1974 Comics and Comix Co. series The First Kingdom were collected as
7749-431: 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 , illustrated by Tony DeZuniga . In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. With this change, Jonah Hex volume 2
7872-430: The audience considers morally correct, their reasons for doing so may not align with the audience's morality. Antihero is a literary term that can be understood as standing in opposition to the traditional hero, i.e., one with high social status, well liked by the general populace. Past the surface, scholars have additional requirements for the antihero. The " Racinian " antihero, is defined by three factors. The first
7995-407: The backlog catalogs of Casterman and Les Humanoïdes Associés . Some in the comics community have objected to the term graphic novel on the grounds that it is unnecessary, or that its usage has been corrupted by commercial interests. Watchmen writer Alan Moore believes: It's a marketing term... that I never had any sympathy with. The term 'comic' does just as well for me ... The problem
8118-531: The camp with Spotted Balls and the squaw because he did not like the way things were run and feared that Will would try to exploit the Bear Boy. This infuriated the showman, who sent an armed posse led by Long Tom after them. Jonah killed most of his pursuers using carefully set traps, but Spotted Balls died in the final shootout. He was able to return the squaw and her cub to its father and his spirit people. Returning to Will's camp with Long Tom's corpse, he swore to
8241-405: The chieftain, but the accusations were denied and it was decided that they would settle their dispute through combat. Noh-Tante sabotaged Jonah's tomahawk so it would break, forcing Jonah to stab him with a knife. Enraged that Jonah had killed his son and broken the rules of combat, the chieftain had him restrained and disfigured with the "mark of the demon" by scarring the right side of his face with
8364-457: The clay from the shoes of Jonah's horse. The Confederates were caught by surprise, and all of them were captured. The commander, humiliated by Jonah easily penetrating the fort's poor security, falsely praised him for his "assistance" in the attack. Hex punched him and was sentenced to solitary confinement. Jonah discovered a shaft beneath his cell and used it to find where his comrades were being held. With Jeb's help, he rallied them and worked out
8487-496: The comics community after the publication of Will Eisner 's A Contract with God (1978) and the start of the Marvel Graphic Novel line (1982) and became familiar to the public in the late 1980s after the commercial successes of the first volume of Art Spiegelman 's Maus in 1986, the collected editions of Frank Miller 's The Dark Knight Returns in 1986 and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons ' Watchmen in 1987. The Book Industry Study Group began using graphic novel as
8610-436: The corrupt promoter that if he ever saw him again he would kill him. When a rich family hired him to track down their kidnapped son, Hex found the boy had become part of an underground dog-fighting ring and was forced to put him down when he contracted rabies. In a conflict involving a stolen gold crucifix, he burned an entire mining town to the ground. Bat Lash, a travelling gambler and vigilante, helped him take revenge against
8733-485: The dead to serve him, even reanimating the corpse of Wild Bill Hickok to be his personal bodyguard. Cross sought to do the same to Hex, but he escaped and confronted the Doc. Jonah put Hickok down again by beating him on the draw, then avenged his friend by leaving Williams to die a slow, brutal death at the hands of the Apaches whose dead he had desecrated. After killing outlaw Stove Belly Jack and wiping out his gang, Hex met
8856-450: The deputy gave him the bounty. Intrigued by the idea that he could get paid for killing bad men, Hex scattered his reward on the streets as he rode out of town. He then picked up his first job: hunting down an old army buddy named Eddie Cantwell. The job quickly went south when Hex was intercepted by Arbee Stoneham, a veteran manhunter who killed Cantwell, disarmed Hex, and stole his guns. Eight years later, they met again after Hex brought in
8979-410: The desert, and all Hex can do is bury her and move on. Soon after, Hex once again meets Tellulah Black, and discovers that he has been missing for about a year, during which time another man with similar injuries as his original appearance has taken on Hex's identity and has been using his notoriety to commit crimes and form his own gang. Realizing that this is the same man whose preserved body he saw in
9102-462: The end of the 19th century (including such later Franco-Belgian comics series as The Adventures of Tintin in the 1930s). As the exact definition of the graphic novel is debated, the origins of the form are open to interpretation. The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck is the oldest recognized American example of comics used to this end. It originated as the 1828 publication Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Swiss caricaturist Rodolphe Töpffer , and
9225-517: The first to use it. These included the Time magazine website in 2003, which said in its correction: "Eisner acknowledges that the term 'graphic novel' had been coined prior to his book. But, he says, 'I had not known at the time that someone had used that term before'. Nor does he take credit for creating the first graphic book". One of the earliest contemporaneous applications of the term post-Eisner came in 1979, when Blackmark 's sequel—published
9348-450: The four-story mass-market paperback Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book ( Ballantine Books #338K), published in 1959. By the late 1960s, American comic book creators were becoming more adventurous with the form. Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin self-published a 40-page, magazine -format comics novel, His Name Is... Savage (Adventure House Press) in 1968—the same year Marvel Comics published two issues of The Spectacular Spider-Man in
9471-554: The future, Hex adopts the identity of "George Barrow", the man who has been on record as Hex's killer, and kills "Hex" before letting a pair of carnival showmen run off with the body. He and Tallulah then ride off into the sunset together. A robotic/alien version of Jonah Hex appears on a planet called Leone-5, modeled after the Wild West. He is introduced in the mini-series Adventures of the Super Sons , issue 9. Jonah Hex made
9594-502: The grave. Many years later, a supermodel and actress who happened to have the surname Hex seemed to become possessed when her right eye was cut out by members of a group called the Agenda. She assisted Superboy and displayed psionic powers when she repeatedly fired an unloaded energy weapon, but this change in consciousness seems to have been temporary. Eventually, she decided to become a bounty-huntress like her predecessor, riding Grokk
9717-504: The group was betrayed by a robotic duplicate of Stiletta and none survived except for a Cpt. Stanley Harris. Hex took a job as a guard for a drug dealer named Barnaby Blossom. When he discovered that Barnaby was getting kids hooked, he killed the man. The real Stiletta tracked him down, and they became stranded in the desert together without water after a roadside ambush. They survived by walking twelve miles to an oasis and fighting off killer mutant worms. Having attracted negative attention from
9840-502: The heading. Writer-artist Bryan Talbot claims that the first collection of his The Adventures of Luther Arkwright , published by Proutt in 1982, was the first British graphic novel. American comic critics have occasionally referred to European graphic novels as "Euro-comics", and attempts were made in the late 1980s to cross-fertilize the American market with these works. American publishers Catalan Communications and NBM Publishing released translated titles, predominantly from
9963-410: The heroes of several Earths to discuss strategy, and Hex was present in the crowd to witness Pariah 's warnings. Jonah Hex disappeared in a flash of light one night at a saloon in 1875. He was abducted from his own era by the villainous Reinhold Borsten (and with a little unintentional help from Access), who transported him into a post-apocalyptic Seattle , Washington in the 21st century. His intention
10086-430: 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. 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
10209-475: The idea of a "drawn novel" in a letter to the newspaper Le Figaro and started work on a 360-page wordless book (which was never published). In the United States, there is a long tradition of reissuing previously published comic strips in book form. In 1897, the Hearst Syndicate published such a collection of The Yellow Kid by Richard Outcault and it quickly became a best seller. The 1920s saw
10332-399: The identity of the historical Jonah Hex. After taking the current administrator, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, hostage to escape the asylum, he convinces Jeremiah that he is indeed the same Jonah Hex who knew his great-grandfather, and after helping to take down a crazed gunman attacking a crowd of people, secures the legal assistance of Bruce Wayne to get released from custody. He also meets and forms
10455-528: The infamous Jonah Hex is pursuing them often unnerves Hex's targets so badly that they make fatal mistakes, such as wasting ammunition, falling into traps, or turning and engaging Hex in a desperate stand-off that enables him to finish them easily. In Superman/Batman #16 when the timeline of the DC Universe was changed by the Legion of Super-Villains , Batman & Superman ended up being catapulted to multiple alternate timelines to restore everything back in its original order. In one timeline, they end up in
10578-541: The law; Hex took them down when they tried to kill him. Jonah Hex continued to work as a bounty-hunter until he retired at the age of 66 in 1904, having settled down with a Native American woman named Tall Bird. By then he was a living legend, with others amazed to see the greatest gunman of the Old West still alive in an era of airplanes and automobiles. A journalist, Michael Wheeler, visited Hex to write his biography. The entertainer L.B. Farnham also showed up, offering Hex
10701-622: The manner in which dramatic stories are included in "comic" books). The term is also sometimes used to distinguish between works created as standalone stories, in contrast to collections or compilations of a story arc from a comic book series published in book form. In continental Europe, both original book-length stories such as The Ballad of the Salty Sea (1967) by Hugo Pratt or La rivolta dei racchi (1967) by Guido Buzzelli , and collections of comics have been commonly published in hardcover volumes, often called albums , since
10824-616: The men who had hurt her. During a hunt for criminal Blackjack Jorgis, Hex was ambushed by ex-Confederates sent by Quentin Turnbull, father of his deceased friend Jeb. Hex escaped death, but his friend and mentor, Hank Brewster, was shot dead and his first horse, the General, was killed by stray bullets. Briefly hired by the U.S. Secret Service, he toppled an assassination conspiracy against Ulysses S. Grant . Temporarily blinded from his injuries, he managed to take down an entire gang without his sight. He fought corrupt army officials in league with
10947-537: The most popular and critically acclaimed TV shows. This rise of the modern antihero zeitgeist may explain contemporary political outcomes, such as the popularity of non-traditional populists including Donald J. Trump . In his essay published in 2020, Postheroic Heroes - A Contemporary Image (german: Postheroische Helden - Ein Zeitbild) , German sociologist Ulrich Bröckling examines the simultaneity of heroic and post-heroic role models as an opportunity to explore
11070-512: The name "Blonde Spitfire". Briefly, Jonah was captured by two cannibals and forced to escape through the sewers. He then began hunting down members of the Combine. The Road Reapers were captured by a group of warriors called the Dogs of War, who pressed them into slave labor for their master, an alien named S'ven Tarah. Jonah was forced to fight Stiletta, but he was able to free her from her wrestler persona after knocking her out. Tarah revealed that he
11193-485: 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
11316-401: The pain of his tribe's betrayal. One day, he stumbled out of a saloon to see a man beating his wife. Believing that the man was his father, Woodson Hex, Jonah shot him. A lawman informed him that the man was, in fact, Lucas "Mad Dog" McGill, an outlaw with a massive bounty on his head that no one had dared try to collect. Acknowledging that Hex had drawn his gun faster than any man he'd ever seen,
11439-544: The past, Hex found comfort knowing that someday he would get to go home. Jonah Hex met another bounty-hunter, Slow Go Smith, who became his friend and partner. Smith was killed by gun-toting zombies in a barn, and Hex was framed for his murder. Fleeing from the law, Hex investigated the origins of the zombies and learned that they were given life by snake oil merchant Doc "Cross" Williams. Williams, using his knowledge of voodoo from his travels in Haiti , had created an army of
11562-547: The place of the heroic in contemporary society. In contemporary art, artists such as the French multimedia artist Thomas Liu Le Lann negotiate in his series of Soft Heroes , in which overburdened, modern and tired Anti Heroes seem to have given up on the world around them. Graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form work of sequential art . The term graphic novel is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice
11685-496: The preservation of slavery. In September 1862, after learning about the Emancipation Proclamation , Jonah made up his mind and decided to surrender. He deserted his post and went to the nearest Union camp, Fort Charlotte, sneaking into the commander's quarters to surrender directly. He refused to tell the commander where his unit was stationed, but one of his aides was able to determine their location by studying
11808-662: The radio and pulp fiction character the Shadow , and released in hardcover). Marvel commissioned original graphic novels from such creators as John Byrne , J. M. DeMatteis , Steve Gerber , graphic-novel pioneer McGregor, Frank Miller , Bill Sienkiewicz , Walt Simonson , Charles Vess , and Bernie Wrightson . While most of these starred Marvel superheroes , others, such as Rick Veitch 's Heartburst featured original SF/fantasy characters; others still, such as John J. Muth 's Dracula , featured adaptations of literary stories or characters; and one, Sam Glanzman 's A Sailor's Story ,
11931-427: The rest of the worms lived, slaughtering them as they went and blowing up their queen with dynamite. Jonah became a member of Buffalo Will's travelling Wild West Show after a trick-shooting midget named Long Tom saved his life. He reconnected with an old friend named Spotted Balls and met a local prostitute who gave birth to a Bear Boy. She claimed to have given birth after mating with a bear spirit. Hex decided to leave
12054-640: 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. 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
12177-521: The story of Che Guevara in comics form, but the military dictatorship confiscated the books and destroyed them. It was later re-released in corrected versions. By 1969, the author John Updike , who had entertained ideas of becoming a cartoonist in his youth, addressed the Bristol Literary Society, on " the death of the novel ". Updike offered examples of new areas of exploration for novelists, declaring he saw "no intrinsic reason why
12300-647: The term "graphic novel" in Capa-Alpha #2 (November 1964), a newsletter published by the Comic Amateur Press Alliance, and again in an article in Bill Spicer 's magazine Fantasy Illustrated #5 (Spring 1966). Kyle, inspired by European and East Asian graphic albums (especially Japanese manga ), used the label to designate comics of an artistically "serious" sort. Following this, Spicer, with Kyle's acknowledgment, edited and published
12423-685: The two of them join forces, performing a separate investigation into the case. Together, they uncover Gotham City 's sect of the Religion of Crime, and its relation to the Butcher case. The solution of the Butcher case (revealed to be a conspiracy by several prominent Gotham citizens belonging to the Religion Of Crime) was simply the first of many dangerous cases the two approached in their partnership. During his time in Gotham, Hex runs afoul of
12546-542: The underworld organization known as the Conglomerate by disrupting their drug operations, Hex and Stiletta were hunted down by a mercenary named Chain, who they defeated in a confrontation in a junkyard. The Conglomerate then changed tactics, enlisting Hex to help them take down Borsten, and he allowed himself to be captured by Borsten in a fight, planning to use his time-travel technology to return home. Stiletta and Harris broke into Borsten's complex to help him and Harris
12669-590: 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). A new monthly Jonah Hex series debuted in November 2005 (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, Gray and Palmiotti have stated their intent
12792-469: Was a mature, complex work focusing on the lives of ordinary people in the real world based on Eisner's own experiences. One scholar used graphic novels to introduce the concept of graphiation, the theory that the entire personality of an artist is visible through his or her visual representation of a certain character, setting, event, or object in a novel, and can work as a means to examine and analyze drawing style. Even though Eisner's A Contract with God
12915-403: Was a true-life, World War II naval tale. Cartoonist Art Spiegelman 's Pulitzer Prize -winning Maus (1986), helped establish both the term and the concept of graphic novels in the minds of the mainstream public. Two DC Comics book reprints of self-contained miniseries did likewise, though they were not originally published as graphic novels: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986),
13038-452: Was actually one of the Dogs of War, and enlisted Jonah's service. They fought against the Xxggs for the future of humanity and succeeded, but Tarah admitted that he was unable to return Hex to 1875. Hex chose to spend Thanksgiving Day with Stiletta. They went to a long-abandoned amusement park, where Hex found his own stuffed corpse in a display. Realizing that the body was from his own time in
13161-407: Was also a time-traveller and that his slave camps were building a machine to thwart an alien invasion from the Xxggs. Hex was attacked by his old enemy Chain again in revenge for their last battle, but defeated him a second time. Having been made a slave by Tarah's ally Manta, Hex organized his fellow-captives to escape and fought an enforcer named Starkad on his way out. Stanley Harris revealed that he
13284-493: Was called a "graphic album" by the author in interviews, though the publisher dubbed it a "comic novel" on its credits page. "Graphic album" was also the term used the following year by Gene Day for his hardcover short-story collection Future Day ( Flying Buttress Press ). Another early graphic novel, though it carried no self-description, was The Silver Surfer ( Simon & Schuster/Fireside Books , August 1978), by Marvel Comics' Stan Lee and Jack Kirby . Significantly, this
13407-619: 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 . Born on November 1, 1838, in northwestern Missouri to Woodson and Virginia Hex, Jonah was a regular victim of physical abuse inflicted by his father, an alcoholic. In 1851, Woodson sold his son as
13530-666: Was first published in English translation in 1841 by London's Tilt & Bogue, which used an 1833 Paris pirate edition. The first American edition was published in 1842 by Wilson & Company in New York City using the original printing plates from the 1841 edition. Another early predecessor is Journey to the Gold Diggins by Jeremiah Saddlebags by brothers J. A. D. and D. F. Read, inspired by The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck . In 1894, Caran d'Ache broached
13653-400: Was forced to kill him. Iron Jaws died after venturing into the desert to rescue Hex after two criminals tied him up and left him to die of exposure. Hex dealt with a corrupt sheriff defrauding his constituents in one town, and then a corrupt hanging judge at the next. He was hired by the manager of a sideshow attraction to act as his bodyguard, then murdered the man when he tried to frame him for
13776-417: Was given to a taxidermist to be put in a gaudy outfit for display; Farnham and his associate were both killed by the "accidental" discharge (at point-blank range) of Jonah's hair-trigger guns while setting up the display and thieves stole the body after recognizing Hex. For years, the corpse changed hands and was moved by various owners, before finally ending up as a dummy at a Western-style theme park. Tall Bird
13899-413: Was immediately avenged by his friend, sheriff Hank Crawford, who gunned down the unarmed Barrow in cold blood. In his dying moments, Hex reflected on the life that he had lived. Tall Bird and Wheeler attempted to give Jonah a proper Native American burial, but they were robbed at gunpoint by Farnham and an accomplice. Farnham had Wheeler shot and set fire to Tall Bird's house, leaving her to die. Hex's body
14022-626: Was portrayed by Josh Brolin in a self-titled film , Jim Cummings in the Jonah Hex Motion Comic and Johnathon Schaech in Legends of Tomorrow as well as voiced by Thomas Jane in DC Showcase: Jonah Hex . 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
14145-531: Was published by a traditional book publisher and distributed through bookstores, as was cartoonist Jules Feiffer 's Tantrum ( Alfred A. Knopf , 1979) described on its dust jacket as a "novel-in-pictures". Hyperbolic descriptions of longer comic books as "novels" appear on covers as early as the 1940s. Early issues of DC Comics ' All-Flash , for example, described their contents as "novel-length stories" and "full-length four chapter novels". In its earliest known citation, comic-book reviewer Richard Kyle used
14268-425: Was published in 1946. In 1947, Fawcett Comics published Comics Novel #1: "Anarcho, Dictator of Death", a 52-page comic dedicated to one story. In 1950, St. John Publications produced the digest-sized , adult-oriented "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust , a film noir -influenced slice of steeltown life starring a scheming, manipulative redhead named Rust. Touted as "an original full-length novel" on its cover,
14391-432: Was published in 1978 by a smaller company, Baronet Press, it took Eisner over a year to find a publishing house that would allow his work to reach the mass market. In its introduction, Eisner cited Lynd Ward's 1930s woodcuts as an inspiration. The critical and commercial success of A Contract with God helped to establish the term "graphic novel" in common usage, and many sources have incorrectly credited Eisner with being
14514-450: Was sent home, but the equipment was destroyed before Hex could use it. He and Stiletta escaped as the building exploded, and Borsten apparently died in the blast. Resigned to his fate, Hex got his hands on more advanced guns after he won a competition at a dangerous live-shooting gallery, but Stiletta was abducted and seemingly killed while he was distracted. He was then captured by a scientist named Dr. Adamant who planned to convert Hex into
14637-526: Was shot himself, but managed to kill the treacherous commander before escaping. A handful of survivors, believing that Hex had betrayed them, returned home and told everyone they could find that Jonah Hex was a murderer and a traitor. Now hunted by both sides, Jonah patched himself up and moved out toward the Western territories to start over. Jonah came across his old tribe and found that Noh-Tante had since married White Fawn. He revealed Noh-Tante's betrayal to
14760-508: Was still outdrawn by Hex, and Hex shoots him in the stomach. However, Batman at the time was suffering from amnesia and lacked most of his skills, including his hand-to-eye coordination. Antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero ) or anti-heroine is a main character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism , and morality . Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions that most of
14883-480: Was then revealed to have survived the fire; now an old woman, she protected her husband's body from further violation by claiming it for burial. While speaking with a young historian to fill in the missing details of Hex's life, a corrupt Western memorabilia collector threatened them, hoping to take the body for himself. The evil collector suddenly died after being shot from behind, and it is implied that Jonah Hex's vengeful spirit returned to protect his wife from beyond
15006-607: 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 and J. H. Williams III provided
15129-531: Was to force the legendary Hex to fight for him, but instead Jonah escaped and met a motorcycle gang named the Road Reapers. They immediately took him in after he rescued their warrior Stiletta, and he obtained a zonesuit to protect himself from radiation by killing their cowardly leader, Falcon, in self-defense. His next companions were a group of time-travelers , a unit of soldiers from the Vietnam War ;
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