thanks Moritat. ( )

Enjoyed the Jonah Hex tales, but the others were meh. ( )

Love Westerns, like Hex, like pre-modern-day Gotham. Only weakness was the backup stories. ( )

All Star Western’s main tale is about Jonah Hex and his “sidekick” Dr. Arkham (who later founds Arkham Asylum, natch) and their adventures in Gotham City, circa 1880s.

Jonah has his own brand of justice and Jimmy Palmiotti knows how to write a good yarn. Lately there have been a lot of early history comics on Gotham involving Batman’s ancestry and this book is no exception.

Loved the early Batcave, with cannibals and ancient Indians plus a prehistoric bat the size of a horse. The book is not really for kids, with villains and heroes taking bullets in a spray of red across the panels. Women shot, blood everywhere.

But Jonah gets his licks in too. Great scenes with guys dressed like the KKK riding in to make an example of Jonah, as Hex greets them with “Evenin’, boys!”.

Decent art by Moritat, but I’ve seen better.

The shorts are pretty entertaining, somewhat original. Also in the same time period we meet El Diablo. Interesting character, reminds me of Spectre (rising from a body he inhabits and gets vengeance), and the Chinese gangs of “The Barbary Ghost” get their comeuppance in a story written by Palmiotti and excellently drawn by Phil Winslade.

Acceptable western entertainment, some blood and mean justice. Great to see DC Comics is not just into superhero comics anymore. Can’t wait for Volume 2!


( )

Jonah Hex rides into 1880 Gotham and ends up working with Dr. Arkham to look for the Gotham Butcher, a serial killer who targets prostitutes. Once that is solved the two are again thrown together when looking for lost children. The two final issues are single stories that are pretty neat. ( )