With the sun behind him... quick thoughts on Jonah Hex #50
I'm putting together notes for my review of Jonah Hex #50 but since I first saw an online preview of the issue a couple of days ago, I've been smitten with the first double page spread in that comic; Hex on his horse, jumping over the varmints he's tracking. Darwyn Cooke may be one of the most cinematic artists working in comics right now. This just has the feel of the finale of a great western movie as our hero finally catches up with the bad guys and puts them in their place, usually using his own trusty six-shooters. The imagehere of the horse, jumping as high as he can, almost weightless and flying, against the cloudy sky, is practically timeless. And you also have the great coloring of Dave Stewart, creating the sunshine halo behind Hex, who's anything but an angel. It's a classic western image but it also reminds me of something that the Wachowski Brothers (siblings now?) did in the Matrix movies and even in Speed Racer-- the way that they just stopped time, long enough for you to realize how cool what they were showing you really was. The image here is perfectly frozen. Going for another movie comparison, and a more apropos movie, this is almost the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where Butch and Sundance rush out of the small, dingy bar to meet their fate. Of course, that's the end of Butch and Sundance's story and Cooke's image is the beginning of Hex's story but both images capture a moment in time perfectly and say everything you need to know about that moment. This is just one of many great moment out of Jonah Hex #50. The last page of the book is an absolute killer scene. And to give some credit where credit is due, writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti have created a classic Jonah Hex story here. They cram a lot of story into this issue but pace everything perfectly. There's a lot of heart and soul in Jonah Hex #50.
