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PALMIOTTI AND GRAY'S HEX OF A BOUNTY HUNTER
by Jennifer Contino (Pulse)
The story may be set in the mid-1800s, but Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are hoping Jonah Hex will strike a chord with today's comic audiences. The busy pair dish some dirt on this scar-faced bounty hunter.
THE PULSE: Does this series feature the Jonah Hex who longtime readers remember, or is this a blank slate reintroduction with nothing of the past coming into play? Why did you choose to use the version of Jonah Hex you did?
GRAY: This is the same Jonah Hex from the 1970s DC Comics series, updated and by that I mean we went in with all the core elements of what makes Jonah Hex, including established continuity for those who can’t live without continuity and we dug out all the good stuff.
PALMIOTTI: We chose the original version of Hex, because that version was the most grounded one. You cannot spit without hitting a zombie comic these days and we wanted to keep hex as the classic misunderstood bounty hunter that is blazing a blood strewn path to hell. As far as a blank slate … its been a whole lot of years since Jonah had a regular book … so we felt a slight introduction was in order and like the writers before us, we figured its our turn at bat to continue the legend by telling the best. We never said we weren’t using anything introduced in the past … we just aren’t committed to using anything. It’s really all up to us. DC has been great in trusting us to do our thing.
THE PULSE: What interested you in working on a character like this?
GRAY: There are about a dozen answers to that question, it’s Hex, it’s a western, it’s about lawlessness and the period in American history before homogenous civilization took over, a time before the social neutering of the American man, its a violent, tragic, hopeful and romanticized era in our history.
PALMIOTTI: For me, it’s a chance to work on a character that I grew up with, and like any other writer in this business, it sometimes comes down to just that simple fact.
THE PULSE: Jonah Hex has been in the mainstream DCU and also in the Vertigo universe. Which universe will this series occur and how does that influence the style in which you're telling the story?
GRAY: Hex is returning to the DCU, which means no nudity, okay maybe partial nudity but, sadly, the word C***sucker will not appear fifty times in each panel. Other than that, adult themes will be explored, people will die bloody and western justice will be served.
PALMIOTTI: The Vertigo books had Vertigo themes … and belong in that line, not in this Jonah Hex series. Hex is an adult themed comic on all accounts and like Justin said, it will not use vulgar language and blatant nudity, because it is set in the DCU … but that isn’t to say we can’t get around that. To me the most violent and sexiest material is the stuff that is written that way without being transparently obvious.
THE PULSE: You said it's a mainstream DCU version, but the series has been plugged as "a dark, bloody, new monthly series," so just who's the target audience? Will there be a mature readers label on it or is the dark, bloodiness just the average that you'd see in a PG 13 type offering?
GRAY: Dark is a subjective term, but this is a book set in the old west so, with no real law as we know it people tend to get a little dark when left to their own devices. We’re not going to be dishing out doom and gloom depression each issue, but we will be exploring the human aspects of these characters.
PALMIOTTI: We are writing this for adults, with adult themes, like the original series was written. Can younger people read it? Hell yeah … anything they don’t understand, they can ask their mom and dad. I would recommend parents reading these comics to their children before they go asleep so it can toughen them up.
THE PULSE: When does this story take place in terms of Jonah's experience? Is this at the beginning of his career or towards the end? Why did you choose this starting point?
GRAY: There’s no chronological order to the book right now. We’re serving up single-issue stories taken from the life and times of Jonah Hex, a sort of All Star, legend building approach that will give people a nice break from the interconnectedness of the rest of the DCU.
PALMIOTTI: He nailed that one!
THE PULSE: How tough is it for each of you to relate to someone like Jonah Hex?
GRAY: Frightening as it may sound, I can easily relate to Hex. Everyone is scarred; maybe not as obviously as Hex, but we all have some traumatic experiences in our lives that we carry with us and alter our perception of the world as a result. Hex is a firm believer in the philosophy of an eye for an eye; brutality should be met with brutal justice.
PALMIOTTI: I am a very fair person till you screw with me, then I will come at you with a sharpened carving knife and slash at you till we both are covered with blood. When I feel I have the upper hand, I will slowly whisper in your blood-spattered ear precisely what I want done to resolve the predicament before us. That said…I can totally relate to Jonah…and respect the way he gets things done.
THE PULSE: From just one image of Jonah, even those who don't know the character will see his hideous facial scars. How did he wind up so scarred?
GRAY: They have to read the book.
THE PULSE: How did he become a bounty hunter?
GRAY: Read the book.
PALMIOTTI: Inspired by a wanted sign and the promise of a pay day … more than that … read the book, like Justin says.
THE PULSE: Many thought the original Jonah Hex was based on some of the western characters Clint Eastwood portrayed, especially his character in A Fistful of Dollars. What's your take on the '70s Hex and how have you "modernized" the character without losing any of that spark that initially glued comic audiences to his adventures?
GRAY: Again we’re looking at a period piece and “modernizing” isn’t our intention. The last modernization of the western was during the '70s when cowboys hung up their guitars and pretty white horses for a more realistic view of history. John Wayne gave way to Clint Eastwood, Native Americans were portrayed as human and not savage beasts to be fought and killed in the great white manifest destiny.
PALMIOTTI: You cannot modernize this kind of material too much; all you can do is demonstrate improved research and present something in a more accurate depiction. The Hex we both love is grounded in the reality of the times and doesn’t need the fantasy aspects of the Old West to make the book work. We are trying to stay away from the usual clichés and keep to events that are more grounded in reality.
GRAY: Oh, and to elaborate on that, we’re not looking to create a western superhero comic where every western character in the DCU is crammed into the pages of Hex. There will be guest stars, but this is Jonah Hex’s comic.
THE PULSE: Jonah Hex never seemed to be a "do-gooder" or concerned that much with anything other than that which immediately affected him. Is the person paying the bills still the main motivation for his actions in this new series?
GRAY: Hex is a complex character that walks the line between good and evil. If something good comes out of his actions he’ll be the first one to tell you it wasn’t intentional. He’s not a hero in the classical sense, but he’s not the Punisher either. One of the most intriguing elements of Hex is you don’t know him, what goes on in his head or what he’s capable of. The man is an enigma, which goes back to the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone with Fistfull of Dollars and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, as well as Sergio Corbucci’s Django and the great silence.
PALMIOTTI: I think Hex is searching for the simple black and white of things … the simple life. Unfortunately for him, the cards dealt to his character have been nasty ones scared with betrayal and homicidal maniacs. Deep down I think Jonah craves the ordinary, but his looks and disposition will never let him achieve these things.
THE PULSE: What was great about Jonah Hex originally was the fast pace and resolution of things in an issue or two max - not long, drawn-out tales. How will your pacing of this series go? Will we get some done in one episodes or will this mostly be written with the "trade" mentality of longer arcs?
PALMIOTTI: For the most part, each issue is a stand alone tale. We do have a three part story planned later in the series, but that is something special that’s too early to talk about. For now, you will be able to pick up any issue of hex and get a complete adventure, beginning, middle and end. Me personally, I wish all comics went back to this format or at least visited it more often … I think we have gone astray from the classic storytelling proficiency in comics over the years . Different projects demand different approaches, so at least for Jonah hex; we get an opportunity to arrange the stories the way we see fit.
THE PULSE: With this series will it be straight western or will elements of the supernatural be present?
GRAY: Straight western, for the most part unless we incorporate some of the oldest souls in the DCU.
THE PULSE: What do you like the best about working on this type of series?
GRAY: Hex is a nice break from superhero fiction, a chance to tackle subject matter from a more literary perspective and an equally nice break from continuity heavy material. I love doing superhero work, I’m had an absolute blast working on Hawkman, but Hex requires a different mindset, which I’m enjoying tremendously as well. I’m grateful to have the chance to work on a book like this so there’s nothing that I don’t like.
PALMIOTTI: The best part about being a storyteller is having the opportunity to tell all different kinds of tales and not be cornered into one thing. Justin and I have done superheroes, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, romance and so on and it’s about time we got a shot at the old west. I really feel at home in this genre.
THE PULSE: The DCU seems to be heading towards a dark place, is that something you view as filled with endless possibilities or something you are apprehensive about as a comics creator and fan? Why?
GRAY: My idea of darkness is probably more unsettling than what people are thinking of in terms of the DCU’s shift toward more personal and down to earth problems for their heroes to face. The point being that I don’t find it all that dark, but I do understand that it becomes increasingly difficult to create true drama when your favorite hero is facing your favorite villain for the 100th time without changing the playing field.
PALMIOTTI: The DCU dark? I don’t see it at all. These books are the same they always have been, but better organized and better written than they ever have. I got to give props to Dan Didio for shaking it up at dc and figuring out what needs to be done up there with these icon characters. If some stories cover the dark side of the characters, well…anyone with a sense of comic history knows that these subjects have been hit on since the early seventies. I just think it’s the short term people thinking its all new and dark. When you have a company like marvel doing a full line of dark comics all the time [marvel knights, thank you very much] then maybe if you compare the line to them, I can see where you might think that…but in reality, that is not the case.
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