Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Strange find at the local redneck auction-Jonah Hex 76


A few months back I went to the local monthly auction. I rarely buy anything there,mainly cause I have no use for various tools,and household nicknack's. But one seller had a small stack of various comics. Ended up bidding $5 for the lot and won. This issue starts off with our "hero" Jonah out hunting. He manages to kill a nice sized buck and takes it back to were he has made camp. He gets back and some young blond lady is there. She offers to skin and dress the buck. But before she can start Jonah sees a muzzle flash off in the distance. He manages to take cover right before the bullets start flying. Jonah sneaks around and gets behind the people that were shooting at him. Turns out there is 3 of them. He shoots and kills all three,and starts to wonder why they were trying to kill him. Then we jump ahead 10 days,to a mansion in Virgina. There we meet Mr Turnbull. It seems he hired out the three men to kill Jonah. But back to Jonah,him and the girl ride into a town and get lodgings for the night. Jonah is knocked in the back of the head and falls to the ground. When he comes to he is face to face with Governor Phelps. It seems Phelps needs Jonah's help. He wants Jonah to get sentenced to a long term in the state penitentiary. This is so Jonah can be the Governor's eyes and ears on the inside. Phelps assures Jonah that he will get out in about a month and will be paid very well for his time. Jonah agrees,and goes off and robs a train. Oh course he gets caught and is sent straight to jail. We cut to a scene with Mei Ling,who if I recall correctly is Jonah's wife. Her brother shows her in the newspaper the story about Jonah robbing the train. And this causes Mei to wonder if she should have ever settled down with Mr Hex. But meanwhile Jonah is in jail,and he gets to see how the warden is cutting corners. The food that is served to the various prisoner is one small step above pigslop. And all the men seem to be in bad shape. Jonah gets upset about how one of the guards is treating a elderly man,and attacks the guard. This just causes the other guards to attack and overwhelm Jonah. And they brutally beat up Jonah. The issue closes out with Jonah thrown into the hole. The story is by Michael Fleisher with art by Dick Ayers and Tony Dezuniga. I enjoyed the book,but wished it had been a one and done story. Jonah Hex 76 earns a B.