Comic Book Resources

Personally, I don’t get it either, Hex is one ugly motherfragger.

Darwyn Cooke left a comment in the feedback section. Interesting stuff.

Maybe it’s DC paying these artists the big bucks to get more readers onboard?

Perhaps the character gives the opportunity to artists to work in a different approach to superhero comics. I remember that Carlos Pacheco, for example, asked to draw the “western” characters of both companies: He did so in Avengers Forever and in Superman/Batman, so I think it not only extends to ol’ Jonah.

I always get sketches at conventions of Grim Jack. In many ways he is the spiritual cousin to Hex. Ugly, rough, mean sumbitches. Most artists I’ve gotten a sketch from seems to comment about how much they love drawing these types over the standard, clean shaven, chisled, musclemen that populate most comics. There is a story to tell in those scars, stubble, age lines, and gaunt features. They just have more character.

Someone at DC needs to find a spot in Tony Moore’s schedule to do a JH issue too.

The original appearances of Jonah Hex are some of the most beautifully illustrated comics DC published in the 1970s. First by Tony DeZuniga, then by someone named Noly Panaligan, the art on those issues is detailed, gritty, stylish, atmospheric… just eye-popping. Maybe today’s artists recognize that Hex is a character with a particularly rich artistic heritage and they want to honor that.

I can’t remember highly enough the Jonah Hex Showcase volume.

The same reason so many actors make/want to make westerns, I imagine.

Does Jonah Hex sell well internationally? I know Westerns in general are a stronger selling genre in Europe, but do Europeans just read their own homegrown Westerns, or is there room for Hex too? (And perhaps Jordi Bernet would be a big sales draw in Europe?)

What other western titles are out there if an artist wants to draw some cowboys?

Not many. And none of them sell as well as Jonah Hex, even with the limited sales of that title.

Suedenim :

I live in sweden and are a big fan of Jonah Hex. I know from LCS that we see many other westerns than Hex,other american ones.

Over we grew up on Lucky Luke,Blueberry and other french-belgian western comics.

About Hex its not surprising great artist want to work on him, there is no better western comic these on any language ! Hex is also uber cool looking.

Jordi Bernet was actually unknown to me before Hex. I love his art now ! It would be impossible to read him before Hex, since his spanish comic work like Torpedo we can only get when some american company translate it.

By the way for Jordi Bernet fans if you didnt know IDW publishing will realese translated version of Torpedo with art of Jordi Bernet in 2009. Palmiotti is the translator.

That relates to the comment I made last week to the effect that dark, damaged characters are intrinsically more interesting.

Ha! I just re-read my comment above. That was supposed to say “I can’t RECOMMEND highly enough the Jonah Hex Showcase volume.” That’s funny. That’s what I get for posting right after I wake up.

Given his popularity with artists, you’d think more of them would actually know how to draw him. I stopped reading Jonah Hex a while ago, after feeling that Palmiotti and Gray really didn’t get him, at least as he was portrayed originally (and I bought almost all his original issues when they came out). But that’s a topic for another time. Nonetheless, every so often I look at the book and am surprised by how many artists (like Luke Ross and Phil Noto) draw him as basically a handsome guy with a leetle, tiny strip of flesh bridging his upper and lower lip – maybe there’s something wrong with his eye too. Take a look at how Tony de Zuniga drew him, guys – Hex is grizzled (though yes, he was certainly handsome once).

Y’know who needs to draw an issue or two of Hex? Bill Messner-Loebs, that’s who. Bring some more attention to that IDW Journey collection.

From my interviews, it didn’t seem as though the artists in question were getting higher-than-usual rates to illustrate Hex. Furthermore, in terms of sales, they said it sells well in trades rather than at the individual issue level.

Why?
cuz hes cool.

I’m only a couple of trades in, but in what I’ve read, the issue by Tony DeZuniga stands out a mile. That guy’s art is fantastic.

Tony DeZuniga coming back to draw him was amazing! I was reading through the B&W phonebook reprints (Showcase?) and a couple of months later I spotted his signature on the cover of the current series! His work seems to have improved even more!

Hex is also that much closer to Clint Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” – grizzled – dangerous – moral..

Though my (guilty) favourites are still the Tim Truman/Joe Lansdale minis – Two Gun Mojo, Riders of the Wyrm, etc…

I liked the supernatural mix… It worked with established Hex…

i second the Lansdale version of Jonah Hex. Still makes me smile to think of the running joke about how his face got that way. “Damn razor slipped,” or “Bit myself eatin.” It’d almost be worth it to look like Jonah to be able to pull off a line like that.

This book is what keeps me in comics. I’ve been reading comics since the early eighties and some of my most prized issues were the 1975-1981 Hex comics. After getting burned out in the late nineties I stopped collecting until I just happened to see the new Jonah Hex on a newsstand. They pulled me right back in and I have to say that of all the books I pick up on a semi-regular basis this one always delivers. I haven’t missed an issue yet. The humor is just enough to keep it from being another Punisher title and I’m glad it operates under the radar of the mainstream DCU. Palmiotti and Gray NAILED this character. He hasn’t been this gritty or unpredictable since before Michael Fleischer took over the original run. I wish they would settle on one sort of regular artist, though. Jordi Bernett is terribly overrated to me and not suited for this book at all. Darwyn Cooke’s art was the only thing to me that kept that particular issue from being perfect. A book like Jonah Hex needs less cartoony art IMHO. Luke Ross was perfect, as is Tony DeZuniga.

Brian:

Left side of face doused in acid or gas in explosion turns you into a schitzophrenic criminal with a two headed coin fetish.

Right side of face melted and seared with scalding hot tomahawk turns you into old west vigilante.

Artist: “Well, if I can’t draw a Batman book with the cool looking villain, I’ll draw the old west vigilante. I just wanna draw that damned cool facial design…”

Is the mystery solved now?

test

Yay – the old ‘blockquote’ thing works!

i second the Lansdale version of Jonah Hex. Still makes me smile to think of the running joke about how his face got that way. “Damn razor slipped,” or “Bit myself eatin.” It’d almost be worth it to look like Jonah to be able to pull off a line like that.

That running joke was the only thing I liked about Two Gun Mojo TBH.

Darwyn Cook said it best.

Its not only about drawing a dangerous,ugly looking guy like Hex. Its about drawing a high qualiy written comic that happens to the best western in this bizz today. Without Palmiotti/Gray Hex would only LOOK cool.

Its not about drawing any western either cause there are many other out currently but still the famous artist choose Hex.

Blackjak is right Hex is the comic version of Clint’s famous western anti-hero. Dynamite might have the license but Hex is the real one in qaulity stories,coolness.

I’d love to see Tim Truman drawing Hex again…
or John Cassaday…

Or weirdly… Ben Templesmith…

Or Joe Kubert…

Ben Templesmith would really weird on Hex just because of that it would be nice to see.

Although i wouldnt want to see Cassaday and artists with similar style. I like my Hex gritty Bernet,Zuniga and art that is different from what you see in superheroes.

I’m with Libaax on that one.

That’s why I thought of Cassaday to be honest… I really don’t think of him as a “Superhero artist”… He does scars and grit with realism really well… Look at some of his Planetary work… Like Doc Bronze’s legs and others…

I actually don’t like the stuff he did on Astonishing X-Men all that much…

If anyone wanted to try for a hyper-real look for a story, I’d rather they used Cassaday than someone like Luke Ross (or, G_d forbid, Greg Land!)

And yeah, that’s exactly why I’d love to see Templesmith do it… His weirdness would really suit a more twisted Hex story…

“That’s the beauty of doing a single-issue story format; it allows an artist to dive into a project that is short and sweet.”–Yeah, that’s the spirit! Let’s ENCOURAGE creators to not invest themselves whatsoever in lengthy storytelling! Let’s ENCOURAGE the trend of creators leaving in less than six issues! Because we all love that!

I actually don’t like the stuff he did on Astonishing X-Men all that much…

Neither do I (his Emma Frost looks like Celine Dion), but I don’t think he’s all that good at realistic stuff either. Where I think he really excels is in things like Giant Insects – which makes him the perfect artist for The Planetary and not much else.

Love Jordi Bernet…without him Jonah Hex would suffer big time…
Also like Darwin Cook
I prefer artist who draw semi-cartoony and not too realisticaly as Luke Ross as in general it looks too staticky as they use too much photo reference…very few artist can draw realistaically and make it work…this is why Alex Ross great painting technique suffers as he cannot draw without art being too much staticky…Therefore I like artists such as Bernet who can make up panels on their own.
I cant wait [finally] Jordi Bernet’s Torpedo HC collected editions soon to be reprinted by IDW…awesome

I also recommend Spaghetti bros by another excellent artist Mandrafina from IDW. [also check out his book Big Hoax printed by dark horse comics few years back…still awailable….would love that to be reprinted together with The Iguana which was also printed by DH as it is the same continuing story all in one HC book. That would be great.

maybe IDW should print Torpedo in monthlies? There are 15 volumes of Torpedo and each book is about 50-60 pages [in Europe printed at magazine size]…I think since the panels are large and not condensed it can easily be reduced to US standard size comic [even though this often does not work...I think it would in this case. Therefore from each original volume we can have 2 comics [15 covers are already done originally by Jordi Bernet and other 15 or more can be given to artists that adore Jordi Bernet's art [there are many] and let them have a crack at a cover. Then maybe after all this is done have a HC omnibus [with Jordi doing new cover for it] one huge book as it was done in France collecting all of them [600 pages?].