I have a fairly limited experience of the character having only read the first trade of the Palmiotti/Gray run and a few odd issues (including some of the old school stuff) here and there.
This, then, is my take on events that played out in Jonah Hex Spectacular.
PAGE TWENTY TWO: A tier of two panels followed by a wide panel and a final tier of two panels.
Panel One
We OPEN on a CLOSE UP on a pair of SPECTACLES as they're being cleaned by a pair of weathered looking hands holding a grimy, frayed handkerchief.
In the reflection of the spectacles lenses we can see a vision of JONAH HEX in his prime, guns blazing, mouth snarling.
NB: All of Jonah's captions use a handwritten style font, as if they are taken from a journal or manuscript.
CAPTION (JONAH): No, I'm not afraid of dyin'.
CAPTION (JONAH): It's been thirty eight years since I got this face.
CAPTION (JONAH): Thirty eight years since I killed a man out of desperation.
Panel Two
PAN slightly to the hands-- weathered but strong, dirt and oil under the nails.
CAPTION (JONAH): Killed a lot of folk since.
Panel Three: Wide panel
CUT TO a MEDIUM CLOSE UP on an elderly JONAH HEX (he's in his mid sixties now) sitting at a wooden round table in a Cheyenne saloon (the same one featured in Jonah Hex Spectacular).
Jonah continues to clean his spectacles, a hand of cards face down on the table in front of him.
A number of other players are seated around the table, all with their own cards.
CAPTION (JONAH): Loved and lost.
CAPTION (JONAH): Thirty eight years with death at my side.
Panel Four
CUT TO a tight shot of Jonah putting his spectacles back on.
CAPTION (JONAH): So, when I see him comin' for me...
Panel Five: Fixed panel
Jonah looks up slightly, squinting to focus. A man's SHADOW has fallen across him.
CAPTION (JONAH): ...I'll meet him with a smile and say "What took you so damn long?"
CAPTION: Excerpt from an unpublished manuscript found in Laramie, Wyoming.
CAPTION: Author unknown.
I never read the Spectacular, so, going into your page blind, I'd say you have a pretty sweet set-up for a great story of your own. It's subtle, and well paced. Plus, I always was fascinated by the "aged gunslinger" archetype, like Will Munny in "Unforgiven".
ReplyDeleteReal nice page.
For the last issue in their run (before the New 52 where it was pointlessly retitled All-Star Western), Palmiotti and Gray also tried retelling the story of Hex's death.
ReplyDeleteYou all know how much I love Hex from how I've been singing his praises all week, and that's due to P&G's amazing run; one of the best in modern comics, in my opinion.
So it is not lightly that I say this is a much better version than theirs.
Well, with the backups it's less of a Hex book than a kind of general Western book, so it's not an entirely pointless change.
DeleteCrikey. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea P&G had done their own take on it.
The scene is basically just Jonah's last moments before he's killed juxtaposed with his own thoughts about death.
Yeah, I dig the ageing gunslinger archetype too.
Oh, man, I thought I'd already thrown my two cents in here. Love this page, Dan. Like J.D. says, your take on Jonah's last moments are top notch - far better than what P&G offered (no offense to them). Great stuff.
ReplyDelete