All Star Western #3

Writers: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artists: Moritat & Jordi Bernet
Company: DC Comics

Violent. Bloody violent. That's what All Star Western is and what it should be. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti have been at the wheel of the character named Jonah Hex for a long time now. They've always put together a solid book, one that embodied who Jonah Hex is and the stories that he usually found himself in. With All Star however, things are a bit different. For the better. Including him in the DCU proper has been one of the best moves yet and essentially teaming him up with a burgeoning Amadeus Arkham allows a whole new take on the character to be seen.


This third issue, which sees the continuation and potential end point to the Secret Society of Gotham City story line falls right in line with its predecessors. The back and forth between our two main characters still has that rapid fire feel, which makes the story stand out. It also keeps up the dizzying pace of action and bloody mayhem. Gray and Palmiotti don't pull any punches and because of that create a very believable constant for this larger than life Western tale while at the same time being very faithful to the character. In fact, Hex's characterization, the bastard wanting only to do his job and nothing more, oozes out of the panels and gives him a very memorable and larger than life persona.

The one downside to the story however is that there are times, mainly between scene transitions, where things have an almost choppy feel to them. It's slightly jarring and makes you feel that some scenes are being rushed through where it may have been more beneficial to have slowed things down. Still, these instances are few and not extremely detrimental to the overall story.

Artistically, All Star Western continues to be distinctive and amazing. Moritat's style is such an attention grabber. There is a starkness to all of it that works two-fold. For one, it throws a spotlight on the harshness of the time period and of this unforgiving maw that Gotham City is. He knows a thing or two about drawing violence and lobs at you panel after panel. And the second reason is that it coincides with the actual character of Jonah Hex. There's also the fact that his anatomy has a very realistic feel yet also has some fluidity and exaggeration to it that allows each person drawn to have a unique and distinct feel.

All in all, these components mixed with a backup story that expands on the Western characters of the DCU drawn by the immaculate and insanely talented artist Jordi Bernet make for a book that shouldn't be missed, especially if you have a love for the genre.