The most recent DC comics film to grace the big screen this year is Jonah Hex. It's being well promoted, with a moderate (by today's standards) budget of at least 50 million, but is being propped up as the next big budget hit for Warner Bros. By now you must have heard it all: Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, her bustier, where she keeps all those weapons, her glistening sweaty skin, her sexy voluptuous lips and-- errr excuse me. Well, you must have seen the trailers by now and have a vague idea of who Jonah Hex is, but do you really know who Jonah Hex is? The movie trailers and website may be doing a good a job (maybe too good) of telling us about the movies storyline and what to expect, but as far as the history of this character, and how it is based on an acclaimed comic book tale is another story.

Jonah Hex was created by John Albano & Tony DeZuniga in 1972. The first appearance was in a full-page in-house ad for All-Star Western #10 in Nov/Dec of 1972. Of all the DC comic book superheroes, the Jonah Hex story is one of the more provocatively strange comics let alone westerns to grace a comic book page. It became so popular that editions were published internationally in places like Sweden and Brazil. It's a throwback kind of story from not just the times of your parents, but a time before comic books, the old adventures that were out of small little books read by your grandparents and great grandparents. Jonah Hex exists out of temporal range from the main DC Universe characters. He's different from your traditional DC Superhero not just that he exists in a different time period, but also he's a non-heroes hero, one of the first popular anti-heroes in DC. In the comics Hex found himself in many extraordinary adventures including time travel, finding himself delved in mysticism, being brought back from the dead, fighting all sorts of wild beasts and larger then life bad guys. It's a change in pace from a traditional DC comic book story in that it existed not in Gotham, or Metropolis, or some made up city but in historical America and mirrors a historical time in our distant past. He's a Civil War veteran that becomes a bounty hunter. The original Jonah Hex stories take place around the time of 1879.

He was a hero to some, a villain to others...and wherever he rode people spoke his name in whispers. He had no friends, this Jonah Hex, but he did have two companions: one was death itself...the other, the acrid smell of gun-smoke...

The cover of All-Star Western #10, Jonah Hex's first appearance.

There are different versions of the Jonah Hex story. One has him in In 1883 son to Jonah Woodson Hex was born to Wooden Hex and his wife Virginia "Ginny" Hex. Jonah grew up in a violent abusive home due to the alcoholism and the physical violence his father inflicted on his son and wife. His mother ends up running away with a traveling sales man. His father sells him as a slave to an Apache indian for either a pile of pelts (Jonah Hex vol. 1, #7) or safe passage through Indian land (Jonah Hex vol. 2, #14). There are different versions of the Jonah Hex story. As of right now, neither of which are the mainstream version. So, even Jonah Hex' comic book history is more like Legend. It just depends on which one you choose to follow. Whatever suits your fancy partner.

At age fifteen, Jonah saves the Apache chief from a Puma. In his gratitude the Chief adopts Jonah as his second son. Jonah eventually exceeds the chief's own son- Noh-Tante. (Jonah Hex vol. 1, #7). Jonah and  Noh-Tante become rivals and in a tribal ritual of manhood, are set out to raid a nearby Kiowa village to steal ponies. Noh-Tante betrays and sabotages Jonah and leaves him to the Kiowas and tells his father that Jonah is dead. Two different versions say that Jonah is 'rescued' by scalphunters who slaughter the Kiowas and shoot Jonah, who is saved and aided back to health by a trapper (Jonah Hex vol. 1, #7), or Jonah manages to defeat and escape the clutches of the Kiowa Indians, yet doesn't return to his home in the Apache village. (Jonah Hex vol. 2, #14). Years later, Jonah is engaged to Cassie Wainwright who is herself killed by Indians the day before their wedding. Jonah Hex as years pass by has a number of confrontations with Union forces, getting and escaping capture.

In 1866, Jonah finds his old tribe and tells the chief what Noh-Tante did years before. The chief decides that this must be settled the old fashioned way-- by a bloody, furious tomahawkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomahawk battle to the death (yeah!)! Noh-Tante (being the wormy cheat that he is) secretly sabotages Jonah's trusy tomahawk so that the handle breaks at the most inopportune moment. During the battle out of understandable desperation, Jonah pulls a knife and shanks Noh-Tante to his deserved bloody doom. As punishment for not tomahawking Noh-Tante like he was suppose to, Jonah is tied up and the chief presses a friggin super hot tomahawk to the right side of Jonah's face giving him the legendary "Mark of the Demon." (ooOOOoooh!). Then to add insult to injury Jonah is banished from the tribe. They probably kept the broken Tomahawk too. (Jonah Hex vol. 1, #8).

From then on Jonah becomes a Bounty Hunter. Many adventures await Jonah Hex and he ends up facing some memorable villains including a Mexican Bandit named El Papagayo and Quentin Turnbull, or as they call him the man with the Eagle Topped Cane. Later in one of the Jonah Cannons he is transported to 2050 in the year 1878.

All in all, Jonah's reputation has him killing 336 people. He's ambidextrous and is not much different then Clint Eastwood in "Man with no Name". He once had a special Horse named General which was killed by a bullet. Since then he uses whatever horse he can get his hands on. Jonah Hex is a throwback hero, and his stories were well written and very dramatic. Regardless of how you might feel about the movie. The Jonah Hex comics and graphic Novels are worth a look to say the least. Pick up some and check them out for yourselves. You may be surprised at what you find. It's one of those stories that may stick with you.

Duran R