It’s amazing to me just how many great stories Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray can do with Jonah Hex. They’ve been writing the character for about seven years now, which is practically unheard of in today’s world of comics. With that time they have been able to mold a character into their own words and anytime I see Hex written by anyone else it just doesn’t feel right. Even with this new ‘relaunch’ of a title, the boys haven’t missed a beat. What goes around Hex though, that’s a different story.

The biggest culprit of this title is the pacing, and it’s been noticably bad since the book started. In this issue the boys, for some reason, crams about five story beats in this issue which would normally take more then an issue to finish. It’s like they are being told to go at this fast pace when they clearly work better at a leisurely pace. That’s what made the old Hex issues so damn great. The boys took their time with every issue and used each page to their advantage. Now, with two less pages these days, the boys are rushing to tell these stories of Hex and it’s hurting the series for me. Now that isn’t to say what’s in here isn’t good, it’s very entertaining. Hex fighting bandits, or fighting a giant fucking bat is fantastic. But they get such limited time that they quickly have to go from piece to piece with no one saying ‘STOP!’. It makes it funny in some cases because, as Arkham proclaims in this issue, Hex fought a giant bat and dealt with cave people and NOTHING is commented on. I even love it they told the Wayne’s about it on the next page and it’s quickly forgotten. I guess in the DCU, wild natives are commonplace in major cities.

What’s making this awkward pacing bearable is the art by Moritat. Ever since he got Gabriel Bautista to color for him the book has been consistently great to look at for the past three issues now. I love how sketchy and ‘dirty’ this world Moritat draws. When you see the caves it feels dank and damp; or when you see the giant fucking bat it’s glorious and beautiful to behold. But then you see a panel of a gorgeous mansion or the riverfront of New Orleans you see just how beautiful his world’s can be. I would love to see a book by him on skylines of America, that could be an amazing art book. Characters are good too, although sometimes a little wonky. I do like he makes all the men gruff and imposing while the women are insanely gorgeous and almost ‘sparkling’ like a cartoon.

The back up story is pretty good too and Phil Winslade’s style matches the old-western feel. Although it suffers from the main story’s issue of pacing and it ends way too abruptly. I’m sure the boys are going to continue the Barbary Ghost’s tale in the future, but for now it just ends too quickly for my tastes.

Again, if you look at these individual set pieces in the issue they are great. It’s typical Jonah Hex and by that I mean it’s fun and entertaining blood baths you’d normally get from Palimotti/Gray. But put it all together and the issue just reads way too fast and the transitions are clunky (sometimes with hilarious results). The art is what saves both the main and back up story from Moritat and Winslade. I just hope with the new location and story arc starting next month, we slow things down from here on out.