After six issues in Gotham it is now time for Jonah Hex to move on and visit the great city of New Orleans. Of course Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray won’t make him enjoy the Cajun food or get some nice beads; he’s got some work to do. It is amazing how Hex can never have some time off for himself. If this was 1994, and this was published by Marvel, we’d be seeing a special one-shot bathing suit issue. Of course with that image in mind let’s try to get serious with this review.

I will say this continuing story of Hex, instead of the one and done stuff, is starting to get to me. In a good way, because the guys just got enough of Gotham City to make this new setting refreshing. What’s also good about this new setting is that the pace is slightly improved then before. Sure we go from set piece to set piece in this issue, but it’s not as ridiculous as taking a page to go to them. We actually get a back story on Nighthawk and Cinnamon, and no I don’t mean the backup we get in this. But speaking of the backup it was nice to get the origin of one of these guys instead of being in the dark. I would love to see more of the ongoing adventures of the ‘Ghost’ chick from before. But Palmiotti and Gray are making these characters and stories more enjoyable then before.

Moritat’s art is definitely improving as each issue goes on. The opening pages are a visual treat as we see a great landscape of old New Orleans. The French architecture, the wagons moving in the distance, the people that litter the streets; all of it looks so damn good. His style seems very old school in that I think if he did his work in the 60s/70s then he would fit right in. His characters also look great and everyone looks unique in their own way. The backup art by Patrick Scherberger is also pretty good, albeit more cartoony then previous artists for Jonah Hex. To be honest, Scherberger’s style looks like Greg Capullo-lite at least when it comes to the character models. Maybe I wouldn’t want to see him do an entire Hex story, but if he was the artist for all Nighthawk/Cinnamon backups then he would be perfect.

This issue is definitely an improvement over the last couple of months of the title. With a new setting and threat the story doesn’t have to move at Hurricane-like speeds and you still get the same old Jonah Hex gruff you’d expect. The art is also pretty damn good with Moritat improving every month and back-up pencils by Patrick Scherberger fits right in. Even with this Court of Owls tie-in coming very soon, I am very optimistic this issue is the beginning of a good run in the making.