Jonah Hex #91 "Sweetheart of the Rodeo"

Jonah Hex #91 June 1985
"Sweetheart of the Rodeo"
Michael Fleisher, story - Gray Morrow, art - Ed Hannigan & Mark Texeira, cover (Layout by Neal Adams)

Jonah is riding across the west searching for clues to the location of Emmy Lou. He comes across a lovely woman trick riding but her horse is suddenly spooked by a rattler and she is thrown, however her foot is caught in a stirrup. As she is being dragged, Jonah overtakes her horse, jumps upon it and brings it to a stop. He helps her to her feet and much later fixes her dinner around the campfire.

Jonah learns that the young woman's name is Carolee and she is 21 but Jonah thinks she is closer to 18 and that she has run away from home. Carolee says that she ran away from home because she wants to be a trick rider in Rory Starbuck's Wild West Show. Hex asks if that is show opening up in a couple days at a nearby farm. Carolee mentions that it is.

Jonah says that he has a friend that is working as a stock handler and maybe they can her an audition. Carolee is very grateful and starts showering Jonah with kisses. He tells her to hold off, he's old enough to be her father and she responds...

The next afternoon Jonah's friend gives Carolee an audition and the owner of the show hires her on the spot. As Jonah & Carolee are heading to the barn to get their horses & head into town, they discover that the barn is on fire. Jonah tells Carolee to run & get help. Jonah starts to toss sand onto the fire but he notices someone sneaking up on him. He turns in time to use the sand bucket to deflect a bullet and then hits his attacker with the bucket and then punches the man's lights out.

Before the rest of the Wild West show can arrive, someone hits Jonah in the back of the head and drags his attacker off. Jonah is rescued from the barn and the show folks save the barn.

That night, Jonah is recovering from his attack & is talking with Rory Starbuck. Starbuck says that the men responsible had worked for him, but were discovered stealing livestock. The men went to prison but are now out and aim to settle the score. Starbuck hires Jonah Hex to keep the men from succeeding.

Meanwhile, Emmy is leading her horse through the darkness, trying to escape from Brett. She stops at a stream to get a drink and when she starts to stand back up she sees Brett on the other side. She grabs a handful of gravel and slams it into Brett's eyes. Before Brett can recover, she grabs a rock and smashes it across the side of his face. Jumping on her horse, Emmy rides off as Brett fires a couple of shots after her.

Back in town with Jonah & Carolee in their hotel room, Jonah is regretting having gotten involved with Carolee. He mentions that she is just 17 and he is more than twice that. Carolee doesn't mind and she grabs Jonah in her arms, the scene fades to black.

The next morning, Jonah is trying to pick up some sort of trail on the guys that burnt the barn. As he is riding along, one of the jaspars takes a shot at him & Jonah topples from his horse. Then said jaspar walks up, Jonah sits up unharmed and shoots jaspar dead. However, the dead jaspar has some friends up in teh rocks and they open fire on Hex.Jonah moves to some rocks and returns fire as a strange ray falls from the sky, hits the dead jaspar, causing him to vanish.

Jonah is able to chase off the other two men but when he turns around, the dead man is gone!

Several hours later at the Wild West Show, Carolee is working on her act. Jonah realizes that the men terrorizing the show won't show up again as long as he is around. A couple of rodeo clowns walk by and Jonah hatches a plan. Starbuck is talking to Carolee about how she is going to be a big star and that she will soon be their #1 attraction!

Meanwhile, Emmy realizes that she is going to need a fresh horse and as she dismounts to walk the horse for awhile, she suddenly falls into a covered pit.

That evening we find Jonah Hex in clown makeup watching the crowd, looking for the thugs threatening the show. He also notices Carolee and Starbuck doing some heavy duty lip locks behind the scenes. Jonah starts to put an end to it but another rodeo clown grabs Jonah and pushes him into the arena in order to distract the bulls from the bullriders. Jonah ends up diving into a barrel and having a bull knock him around the arena for awhile.

The two leftover thugs show up and draw on Starbuck & Carolee. They herd both of them towards the payroll wagon but Jonah jumps out of the barrel, scales the fence around the arena, grabs a rope and swings to the rescue. Thus the two thugs are beat to a pulp by the most bad-ass clown that ever lived!

Jonah then demands to know why Carolee was spit-swapping with Starbuck. Carolee says that it was Jonah's idea. Jonah had said it wouldn't work between them & she should find a younger man. Jonah stomps off to remove his clown makeup and ends up busting the mirror in the makeup tent in frustration.

Meanwhile, Emmy Lou can find no way out of the pit she has fallen into.

Statistics for the Issue

Men killed by Jonah - 1
Running Total - 424
Jonah's Injuries - none
Timeline - This issue seems to pick up where the last one ended. It covers two days. Let's say it is the very end of July 1878.

Again, I don't care for Morrow's work on this one. Everything seems so murky and wooden. The story is not a great one either. Jonah falls for Carolee way too quickly and gets burnt by her just as fast (of course, she is only 17!) Not much develops with Emmy Lou and we get nothing of Mei Ling and we will never see Adrian Sterling again. I also disliked the Laurel & Hardy clown joke. Kinda cute, but outta place in a western book. For me the best part was the cover.

Next Issue: Emmy Lou & Brett's final confrontation, Jonah gets involved with an even younger woman, and that mysterious ray appears once again.

Jonah Hex #89 "Blood Legacy!"

Jonah Hex #89 Feb 1985
"Blood Legacy!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Mark Texiera & Dennis Jenke, art - Ed Hannigan & Tony DeZuniga, cover

Jonah Hex is in bed at Mrs. Crowley's Boarding House with the local doctor telling him to take it easy. The doc has dug the bullets out of Jonah that Emmy put there and is demanding that Hex stay in bed, have only a bland diet and no cigars. Hex continues to protest, but the doc hears none of it & Mrs. Crowley is determined to carry out the doc's orders.

Back at Brett's hideout, Emmy is in tears but Brett keeps telling her it was either Hex or her that would have been dead. The girls finally tell Emmy that they are the only family she has left now.

Dinnertime at the Crowley house consists of chicken broth & rice and a very irritable Jonah Hex. Mrs. Crowley literally throws her arms across the door, barring Hex escape to the local saloon.

That night, Jeremy Ashford, the son of the Gray Ghost, is camped outside of town & is starting to realize the size of the oath he swore on his father's deathbed. He doubts that he will be able to carry on the life of the Gray Ghost but he does acknowledge that he will kill Jonah Hex.

At the same time, Jonah, locked in his room, decides to tie bedsheets together and shimmy out the window and walk into town. He finally makes it to the saloon, orders dinner and starts working on a bottle of whiskey. At the bar, a thug named Quaid, takes an instant dislike to Hex and starts making trouble. He throws down on Hex only to be staring at the muzzle of Hex's pistol long before his own leaves the holster. Just then Mrs. Crowley storms into the saloon and demands that Hex holster his weapon, drop the whiskey and get back into bed this instant! Hex falters for a moment, hangs his head and complies.



Several miles away in another saloon, Adrian Sterling is fending off the advances of a very drunken cowpoke who is getting very irate that the waitresses aren't bestowing enough affection to compensate for the water:whiskey ratio in the drinks. Finally he starts to get rough and Adrian busts him across the chops with her cane. Several of the cowpokes buddies decide to get even but then a local card shark steps up and soundly trounces both men.

The next afternoon, the Jeremy Ashford, son of the Gray Ghost (sans costume) arrives at Mrs. Crowley's boarding house, since the local sheriff told him that is where Hex is staying. Crowley & Hex are playing gin rummy on the porch as Ashford walks up the steps. Suddenly Hex notices a rifle barrel pointing from an alley across the street and he jumps up, knocking Ashford down out of line of gunfire.

Jonah hotfoots it across the street and rushes into the alley, shooting and killing the gunman, the thug from the saloon the previous night. Ashford arrives shortly, helps Jonah to his feet and walks him back over to the boarding house. Ashford introduces himself and learns that the man who just saved his life is Jonah Hex.

That night in his room, Ashford is putting on the costume of the Gray Ghost. He is bedeviled by the fact that the man he has to kill is the man who saved his life. His whole new life has been thrust upon him, he never asked for this but what kind of son would not carry out an oath sworn to his dying father. Ashford walks down the hall to Hex's room and decides that once he kills Jonah Hex, the Gray Ghost will disappear for good.

In the room, Jonah Hex is asleep and racked by a nightmare. He is being pursued by three horsemen and he can't escape. Suddenly one of them appears in front of him and when Hex reigns in his horse he is suddenly ensnared by a lasso. Yanked from his saddle, Hex fights the ropes but the other two horsemen surround him and lasso him as well. The horsemen dismount, drawing their pistols, ready to kill Hex. They remove their hats and...



Ashford walks into Hex's room and stands over Hex. Standing over the helpless Hex, Ashford realizes that shooting a sleeping man is a an act of a coward and so is hiding behind a mask. He decides that he will kill Hex tomorrow, face to face and man to man.

In that saloon many miles away, the card shark, Mr. Erdnase, is escorting Adrian home after another night of work. She thanks him and he makes a lunch date with her for tomorrow. Adrian is still bothered by her amnesia and quietly walks up to her room for the night.

Next morning finds Mrs. Crowley tucking blankets around Jonah Hex while he rests in a glider swing in the front lawn. Hex is sitting there when Ashford walks up and sits in the swing. Ashford starts to tell Hex about what brought Ashford to town and that he is the Gray Ghost. Hex explains that he already knows. When Hex knocked Ashford down yesterday, he saw inside Ashford's bag and recognized the mask. Hex knows that Ashford isn't old enough to be the Ghost, therefore..

Ashford suddenly pulls a pistol on Hex and announces that he has to kill Hex. Jonah calmly tells Ashford that there ain't no life in what is about to happen. Hex has spent his entire life in blood and guts and killing and that is all he has known & all he will ever know. He tells Ashford to throw away the Gray Ghost and live his own life. Ashford says that Hex is only saying these things because he is scared to die.

Hex, gun barrel to the eye, states that is isn't afraid of death. Ashford cocks the hammer and then jumps up, storming away. Cursing Hex for saving his life, Ashford runs into the boarding house shouting that he has failed his father. Hex slowly pulls out a pistol from beneath the blanket and quietly drops the hammer.

Up in his room, Ashford is convinced he is an unworthy son and places the pistol to his own head and then ends his torment.

Statistics for this Issue
Men killed by Jonah - 1
Running Total - 422
Jonah's Injuries - Recovering from bullet last issue.
Timeline - This one covers three days. I would say that we are nearing the middle of July 1878.

A pretty good story, one about honor and the turmoil that it can cause when two types of honor conflict within an individual (Ashford) when he tries to keep his word to his father, honor Hex for saving his life, yet retain any of his own identity. The end where Ashford ends it all is particularly effective.

The Texiera art is a lot cleaner that what we were used to with DeZuniga and gives us a preview of what we'll see in Hex. Some of the characterization of Jonah was rather lacking. Having him buckle so quickly to Mrs. Crowely was uncharacteristic. The nightmare scene was one of the best parts of the book.

Next Issue: The return of JD Hart, the return of Mei Ling, more of Emmy Lou and Gray Morrow taking over the art chores.

Jonah Hex #88 "The Saloon Girl ... and the Outlaw Queen."

Jonah Hex #88 Dec 1984
"The Saloon Girl and the Outlaw Queen."
Michael Fleisher, story - Tony DeZuniga, art - Ed Hannigan & Tony DeZuniga cover

What was lost is now found!! I located issue #88!
The story starts off with Jonah Hex holding a wanted poster of Emmy Lou. The sheriff asks if Jonah knows the girl and Jonah declares that he has never seen her before. Leaving the sheriff's office Jonah is called out by four tough looking dudes who immediately open fire (they should have kept their mouths shut & just killed him.)

Jonah dives behind some crates and then shoot one of them in the throat. The others get a bright idea, lighting a newspaper on fire, tossing it across the street & setting the crates on fire. Jonah realizes that his cover will soon be gone, so he tosses a few bullets into the fire and ducks into the hotel right behind him. The bullets go off, leading the crooks to believe that Hex is still behind the crates.

Inside the hotel, Jonah Hex runs up the stairs, barges into a naked woman's room stating that he is with the hotel and he is gonna exterminate some muskrats on the roof. He climbs out the window, onto the roof, jumps onto another roof and manages to work his way across the street (?!?!) until he is on a roof on the same said of the street as the crooks. When they cross the street to check behind the crates, Jonah gets the drop on them & takes them in.

Meanwhile, Brett and the girls are having some target practice. Brett figures now that Emmy has her face on a wanted poster, she had better learn how to protect herself.

Elsewhere, at another gang's hideout, the leader of the gang (Lew) has gotten a brilliant idea. He has purchased a blonde wig and the smallest guy in the gang will wear it during their next robbery so that folks will be looking for Brett's gang instead of his.

Of course, the following day everything gets real complicated. Adrian Sterling is on a train heading west and she is talking to Temple Starr (this will be important later, trust me.) They discuss how men are the reason they are that train. Adrian is looking for her man and Adrian is leaving her man. She shows Adrian her locket that has a picture of herself & her man in it. Adrian admires it & asks if she can try it on. RABBIT TRAIL: Why do women do this? Men never say "That's a neat hat. Can I try it on?" They just ask "Where'd ya buy it?" END OF RABBIT TRAIL!

While this is happening, we see Lew & his gang jump on top of the train from an overhanging ledge. Inside, Temple is explaining that she is leaving the bar in Philly where she worked and has a job out in Willow Springs and produces the letter of the job offer she received.

Lew & his gang burst into the passenger car demanding money. One of the gang is wearing a the wig. One thug grabs Temple's handbag, she resists and they shoot her right in the face. Adrian starts screaming and they pistol whip her unconscious.



Back in town the telegraph operator gets word of the holdup, writes out the message and sends a runner after the sheriff. Jonah, sitting on the porch of the telegraph office, overhears the robbers consist of a bandit with yellow pigtails and he hightails it out to the scene in order to save Emmy from the oncoming posse.

Miles away in a doctor's office, Adrian Sterling awakens only to learn that she doesn't remember who she is or where she was going. The doc explains what happened on the train and informs her that her name is Temple, Temple Starr. He knows of this by the engraved locket around Adrian's neck and the letter offering her a job. Adrian thanks him for his time and wanders, dazed, out into the street.

That evening, back at Lew's hideout, the guys are congratulating themselves on a great haul when Jonah Hex walks in and shoots the wig wearing thug in the arm. Jonah mentions that he can't believe it "Pushin' forty like ah am, ah must be goin' soft tuh shoot him in the arm like thet."

The next morning finds the local sheriff taking the four men into custody from Jonah Hex. Jonah mentions that there never was a woman bandit and they can tear up Emmy's wanted poster. However, some men burst into the office announcing that the gang with the blonde pigtails just robbed the stage between "here & Pine Butte."

That evening, Adrian is sitting in her hotel room, trying to gather her past and determine what she will do since she doesn't even have any money to pay for her hotel room.

The next morning Brett and the girls are on the run and planning their next job. They are heading for Red Dog to rob the assayer's office & folks won't expect another robbery so soon. However, Jonah is on their tail, watching through some binoculars. Jonah acknowledges that Brett is smart for laying down a false trail that confused the posse, but that is for the best since it will allow him a chance to rescue Emmy.

Back in town, Adrian walks into a saloon to look for a job. The barkeep mentions that she is walking with a cane but Adrian begs for a job. The barkeep gives her a costume and tells her to try it on.

Right then, in Red Dog, Brett & the girls bust into the assayer's office and commence with the robbing. Jonah is right outside the window and is waiting for Emmy to be far enough away from everyone else before he makes his move.

Back at the bar Adrian walks out in her new costume and the barkeep almost passes out. Adrian gets the job at fifty cents a night plus tips and she can make extra money on her own time anyway she sees fit.

In Red Dog the robbery is going well. Brett and the girls head out the back to load up, leaving Emmy to cover them. Jonah kicks in the front door shouting "EMMY!" Emmy spins around startled and shoots Jonah square in the chest. As Jonah drops to the floor, Emmy panics and leaves out the back door.

Statistics for this issue
Men killed by Jonah: 1
Running Total: 421
Jonah's Injuries: Shot square in the chest (& possibly dead. Yeah, right!)
Timeline: This issue covers three full days. I would place it still in July 1878. Jonah mentions that he is "Pushin forty." This would jive with Jonah's birthdate of Nov 1, 1838.

This story jumped back & forth a lot, trying to set up a storyline for Adrian, that would allow us some closure without just leaving her dumped in New Orleans. We get Emmy & Jonah back together, with terrible results and thankfully, we don't have Mei Ling tossed in to really muck things up. I liked that Jonah has guys just gunning after him and he doesn't ask who or why, he just shoots them & takes them in.

Next Issue: More Emmy, More Adrian, and the Return of the Gray Ghost!

Jonah Hex #87 "Resurrections"

Jonah Hex #87
"Resurrections"
Michael Fleisher, story - Tony DeZuniga, art - Ed Hannigan & Dick Giordano, cover

We have cheesecake, yes we do. We have cheesecake, HOW 'BOUT YOU?!?!?

Well, if you have a copy of Jonah Hex #87, you have enough cheesecake to open a factory and name it thusly. Our timely tale opens with Jonah Hex packing his bags while Adrian is lounging in an 'easy on the eyes' nighty in an obvious attempt to have Megan Fox portray her in the upcoming film.

Adrian wants to know why Jonah is suddenly leaving and Jonah finally fesses up that he doesn't want to be a lap dog to some high society debutante. Jonah does offer to take her along with him, back to the wild west, but Adrian is hesitant to leave her family and Jonah walks out with a slam of the door.

Meanwhile (and there will be a lot of that word being used this issue), Brett is reading in the Orleans Daily (even though they are 100's of miles to the west) about the bank robbery that was almost ruined by Emmy Lou. They get into an argument with Brett reminding Emmy that he alone is responsible for her safety and then grabs her and starts with the smoochy-smoochy. And of course, that is the moment the other two women in Brett's gang return with supplies. AWKWARD!!!

Several days later Jonah has hitched a ride in the locomotive of a westbound train. The engineer is slowing down to let Jonah off but then he sees something on the tracks ahead. Of course, it is several sticks of dynamite that blows the train to Hell & halfway back. Four hardcases swoop down on the wreckage and start looting the train.

Jonah, battered & bruised, manages to pull himself out of the twisted steel but manages to get spotted by the looters. He ducks and runs off into a nearby swamp.

Meanwhile, in the town robbed last issue, the sheriff returns with his posse, having not found hide nor hair of Brett and the girls. However, the banker's daughter has drawn up a fantastic likeness of Emmy Lou for the wanted posters.

Back at the swamp, the four corpses-to-be's are still tracking down Jonah. Sadly, slogging through the swamp has jammed Jonah's pistols with mud, so he has to rely on his wits to get out of this mess. He grabs his knife, some scrawny trees and gets to work.

Meanwhile, back at the cheesecake factory, uh, I mean, Adrian's, she is still prancing around in her nighty-nights and realizes that if she wants Jonah Hex, she will have to go get Jonah Hex and after a stiff drink, that is just what she does (after she gets dressed, of course.)

Meanwhile, back in the swamp, one fool steps into a loop of vines, causing a branch to swing loose and slam him into a tree with a knife tied to it at heart level. His death spooks two of the survivors but the boss isn't deterred. It is obvious that Hex's guns aren't working and his knife is gone.

Just then one of the goons spots Hex, takes a couple of potshots and then gives chase. Sadly, he steps onto a covered pit and quickly lands on the bottom of the spike-filled pit.

Back at Brett's hideout, the two girls want to have a word with old Brett. He tells Emmy to hold tight and Brett and the girls take it outside. They think that Brett is showing too much attention to Emmy and he starts laughung that they are jealous. Of course, he starts handing out hugs and kisses and everything looks like it's gonna be alright for Brett and the girls.

Night has fallen on the swamp and the two survivors have built a fire, planning their next move. Just then Jonah leaps down from a tree above them, kicking the loving crap outta both of them. The boss grabs his rifle and Jonah grabs the other goon as shield. The boss fires anyway and Jonah jumps the boss and pummels him senseless.

Just outside New Orleans in a doctor's office, The Gray Ghost lays on his deathbed. His son, Jeremy, comes in and the Ghost hands over the uniform of the Ghost and has Jeremy swear a solemn oath to continue the work of the Gray Ghost. Jeremy does this and the Ghost, dare I say it, actually gives up the ghost. Jeremy, swears that he will avenge his father's death by killing Jonah Hex!

Next morning, Jonah turns the three corpses and the surviving gang boss to the local sheriff. The sheriff pays out the bounty and tells Jonah that he would be very thankful if there are any other hardcases up on the board that Jonah would want to apprehend. That is when Jonah spies a wanted poster for...

EMMY LOU HARTLEY!!!

Statistics for this issue
Men Killed by Jonah Hex - 3
Running Total - 420
Jonah's Injuries - none
Timeline - This one covers two days from last issue. No telling how much time elapsed between issues. I would say we are still in July 1878.

Not a bad issue. Jonah's killing of bad guys isn't advancing the plot here, just adding action. The plot now is mostly Jonah coping with Adrian and Emmy coping with Brett. We have seen no sign of Turnbull, Mei Ling, or JD Hart for some time now, but they will be returning. It's hard to review these issues as standalones, because they are chapters in a sweeping saga that will pretty much continue until issue 92 when things take a dramatic change.

I'll be posting more scans of this issue later, just wanted to get some color/flavor in there for now.


Next Issue: Copycat crimes, a bloody train robbery and the death of Jonah Hex!!!

Jonah Hex #86 "The Slaughterhouse!"

Jonah Hex #86 Aug 1984
"The Slaughterhouse!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Tony DeZuniga, art - Ed Hannigan & Tony DeZuniga, cover

Jonah is all duded up while he and Adrian Sterling step out into the New Orleans nightlife. Adrian is walking with a cane, much like the doctor predicted last issue and as she and Jonah are seated in the fine French restaurant, Jonah overhears the folks in the booth next to them.

Of course, this being a French restaurant and it being in New Orleans, the patrons are bad-mouthing other customers within earshot. Jonah calmly dons his hat, walks over to the table and assists the patrons with their meal...








The staff of the restaurant don't take kindly to this ruckus so Jonah grabs a nearby cart and serves up a side helping of whoop-ass casserole.

Meanwhile, several hundred miles away, The Gray Ghost finally makes it back to his cabin & his son. The horse ride has reopened his wounds and he makes his son swear that the Gray Ghost will never die.

A week later, back in lovely New Orleans, papa Sterling is having a row with his hard headed offspring regarding her choice of man-friends. Mr. Sterling brings up that Jonah is still married to a Chinese woman but Adrian counters that Jonah hasn't seen her in quite some time. Finally papa Sterling asks if Adrian loves Jonah and she honestly says that she doesn't know and despite everything Jonah, uncomfortable and confused in New Orleans and tracked by the Gray Ghost, is still better for her than the cowardly Clifford Mapely who engineered her kidnapping.

During all of this, Jonah is riding back to Adrian's grandmother's house (where he & Adrian are shacking up) and as he crosses a rope bridge he suddenly spies the Gray Ghost atop a hill on the far side. The Ghost opens fire, forcing Jonah off his horse and returning fire. The Ghost manages to shoot one of the ropes holding the bridge and as Jonah stands there shocked, the Ghost pierces the other rope, sending the bridge swinging, Jonah's horse swimming, and Jonah hanging on for dear life.

As Jonah tries to climb up the bridge, the Ghost nails Jonah Hex in the left wrist, sending Hex right into the drink. Jonah stays underwater for as long as he can and manages to elude the Ghost.

And, of course, at that same moment, several hundred miles away, Brett is planning his next bank robbery with Camille, Sandy, and Emmy Lou. As they head out for the robbery, Brett hands Emmy an unloaded rifle and before they leave Brett reminds Emmy of the possibility of her getting locked back up in the closet and then seals the deal with a lingering lip-lock.

Also at that time, Adrian finally comes home from her talk with papa and she finds the front door ajar. She walks in calling out Jonah's name but the Gray Ghost grabs her from behind and drags her away.

Shortly thereafter, Jonah returns to the mansion and finds...


We suddenly switch to a bank holdup, already in progress. Brett is forcing the teller to hand over the cash when an overly brave customer suddenly grabs Emmy's unloaded rifle. Emmy cries out and her bandanna falls, revealing that she is a woman. Brett quickly solves the problem by killing the customer and the entire gang rides out of town as hard as they can.

That night, back in Louisiana, Jonah is approaching the only slaughterhouse in the area. He decides to not use the front door and scales to an upper window. As Jonah sneaks inside, the Ghost appears out of the darkness and pumps two slugs into him. The Ghost closes in on Hex but Jonah suddenly grabs the Ghost & they topple through a railing into the packing crates below.

The Ghost grabs a meat hook and as he raises it over his head, Jonah whips out his pistol and pops the Ghost a good one. As the Ghost tries to flee, he throws a crate at Hex and Jonah administers another lead pill, knocking the Ghost backwards amongst the crates. Jonah finally finds Adrian and unties her. When they go to drag the Ghost's dead carcass back to town they find......

Statistics for this Issue
Men Killed by Jonah - 0
Running Total - 417
Jonah's Injuries - Shot in the wrist and shot once in the gut.
Timeline - This one covers a week plus some. I'm not sure where it falls regarding last issue since the doc said it would be some time before Adrian was up & about and I'm not sure how long it takes an injured man to ride several hundred miles. Let's say that amounts to another week, so this issue covers 15 days. That would place into July, 1878.

There was a lot of hopping around in this issue, Fleisher has a lot of subplots to keep going. I'm glad he didn't throw in Mei Ling, that would have been way too much. The ending seemed quite rushed with the sudden vanishing act pulled by the Gray Ghost, but we all know that we will be seeing more of him (father & son).

I've been slowing down on my reviews and I think it's because there are only six more issues of Jonah Hex left before the switch to Hex. We'll still have a lot of stories to go through with Hex, the Vertigo titles and then into the new ongoing series, but it's just bittersweet as we wind up the run on this book. I know my mood will change as we move on. I'll try to keep the tears to a minimum.

Next Issue: More Emmy Lou! More Adrian! and just for fun a train gets blown to Hell!

Jonah Hex #85 "Behold the Gray Ghost"

Jonah Hex #85 June 1984
"Behold the Gray Ghost"
Michael Fleisher, story - Tony DeZuniga, art - Ed Hannigan & Tony DeZuniga, cover

Well, this story has no exclamation point in the title, so you know something is wrong! What's wrong is that Jonah Hex has gone bi-monthly with this issue and it is also the 100th Jonah Hex story penned by Michael Fleisher. So what happens in this bitter-sweet issue?

For starters a bunch of guys in Confederate outfits are burning Jonah Hex in effigy, shouting death to the traitor, Jonah Hex. But then they come to their senses & realize that they'll probably never have revenge on Hex. Just then Quentin Turnbull emerges from the shadows, chastising them for being so spineless. He has actually done something about Hex. Turnbull has hired the Gray Ghost!!!!

Several days later we get our first glimpse of the Ghost as we are witness to a wedding that is rudely interrupted by a hooded Confederate officer. The Ghost claims that the groom betrayed Confederate troop movements and that the Ghost will carry out the death sentence. The Ghost draws his pistol and shoots the groom right in the middle of the service. The Ghost backs out of the doors and hightails it but the men inside are unable to give chase because the doors were blocked.

When they finally bust out of the church they spy an older gentleman and ask if he saw the Ghost ride off. The old man points them out of town and the posse mounts up and heads out as the old gentleman gets on his horse and rides the opposite direction literally whistling Dixie.

Needless to say, the posse doesn't find the Ghost (because he was the old gentleman) and the posse start asking the sheriff if he knows who the Gray Ghost is. The sheriff replies that all he knows is that Ghost was a Confederate officer whose family was butchered during Sherman's March to the Sea (late 1864). When Gen. Lee surrendered, the Ghost didn't, he continued slaughtering Union soldiers and kill former Confederates on a list that he made of traitors to the South.

A week later, on the outskirts of New Orleans, Adrian and Jonah Hex are getting ready for a dinner party. Jonah is looking pretty dapper in formal dinner attire, but he ain't none too happy about it. It's only been two weeks since he met Adrian and they have been living in her Grandma's former house. Adrian puts a liplock on Jonah and as they get ready to leave they encounter Clifford, Adrian's former fiance.

Clifford, berated throughout all of New Orleans, is there to win his honor back and he pulls a pistol on Jonah. In one swift move, Jonah disarms Clifford, breaks his arm and then throws him out the door like last weeks trash.


Elsewhere, Brett and his two female cohorts have decided to let Emmy Lou out of the closet where they have imprisoned her. She can stay out on one condition, she help rob their next bank. She refuses but quickly changes her tune when they start to shove her back into the closet.

Several hours later, Jonah Hex and Adrian are returning home from the dinner party, via a fancy buggy. They happen upon an old gentleman carrying a small bag & a saddle. The man explains that his horse stumbled and broke a leg and he asks for a ride. Jonah & Adrian oblige. During the ride, Adrian learns that the man's name is Gray but suddenly a shot rings out and a bullet grazes Gray's scalp, knocking him unconscious.

There are three men on a hilltop taking potshots at the buggy. Jonah hands the reins to Adrian, grabs his rifle and quickly sends one of the men to his final reward. Jonah manages to wing another in the leg before they hightail it off into the darkness.

Adrian checks on Mr. Gray and finds that he is alive and offers to take Gray to her house to help him recover from his wound. Back at the house, Adrian does a fine job of doctoring Gray and she tells him to spend the night in an upstairs bedroom.

Back in town, Clifford is disgusted to learn that the three men he hired to kill Jonah Hex not only failed, but killed an innocent man in the bargain (Mr. Gray). The two thugs tell Clifford to shut up and get ready with the ten thousand dollars they were promised because they are going to finish the job tonight.

The next morning at Adrian's house, Jonah is in bed and Adrian is already up when she decides to check in on Mr. Gray to see if he needs anything. What she doesn't know is that Mr. Gray has donned the garb of the Gray Ghost and is getting ready to carry out Turnbull's orders to kill Jonah Hex. Adrian walks into Gray's room and sees the Gray Ghost. He tells her to be quiet because he has never harmed an innocent but she scream out for Jonah.

Jonah hears the gunshot and leaps out of bed and heads for the stairs. The Ghost is standing over the body of Adrian and vows to make Jonah Hex pay for Adrian's life (he has some serious issues with responsibility!). Jonah shouts from the bottom of the stairs that he has found the death warrant that the Ghost had for Jonah and Jonah & the Ghost end up in a Mexican standoff at the top and bottom of the stairs.

The Ghost realizes that he can't kill Jonah, at least not tonight, and decides to cut and run by bailing out a second story window. Just as he is getting ready to vault off the balcony, who should show up but Clifford's goons. They spot a Confederate figure on the balcony and open fire, knocking the Ghost to his death.



Jonah heads up the stairs and finds that Adrian is only wounded. The next day, the local doctor tends to Adrian's wounds and states that in a month or two she will be fine. When Jonah questions the doc about the Ghost, the doc stammers that the Ghost died while the doc was attempting to dig out the bullets.

As the doc heads away from the mansion, he is stopped on the road by the Gray Ghost. The Ghost thanks the doc for patching him up and telling Hex that he is dead, then hands over a fat wad of bills. The Ghost and the doc go their separate ways.

Statistics for the Issue
Men killed by Jonah - 1
Running Total - 417
Jonah's Injuries - none
Timeline - This one must start right after last issue. It takes 'several days' from the start of the story before we are introduced to the Gray Ghost and then it is the 'following week' that Clifford gets his arm broken. I will place this finishing up around the middle to end of June, 1878.

Adrian is one heck of a woman. Last issue she kills a guy, this issue she smirks as her former fiance gets his arm broken, she takes a bullet and is still going. She's fairly bossy, dragging Jonah all around New Orleans; fairly spoiled, partying non-stop; and completely into the scar-faced bounty hunter.

I laughed at the start when the Fort Charlotte brigade realized they are a bunch of losers! The ending seems fairly rushed with Jonah finding the death warrant that the Ghost dropped and Adrian surviving her gunshot wound. But we now have another lunatic hunting down Jonah Hex. And I'm sure that we'll be seeing more of him.

One last thing, do you like Jonah Hex all fancied up?



Or ready for......?


Next Issue: Emmy Lou in a bank robbery gone bad, the Gray Ghost returns, and Jonah Hex visits a pastry bar!!!

Jonah Hex #84 "Carnival of Doom!"

Jonah Hex #84 May 1984
"Carnival of Doom!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Tony DeZuniga, art - Ed Hannigan & Tony DeZuniga, cover

Jonah Hex is in the gunsmith shop of one R. Hayes, shopping for new firearms. Mr. Hayes is completely baffled that Jonah would throw away his matching dragoons. Jonah explains that they 'fell' into the lake and ends up deciding to purchase a Colt Peacemaker and a Smith & Wesson Schofield .45. The gunsmith admits that they were previously owned by a man who was gunned down when one of them hung in his holster.

Jonah concedes that he can understand why that happened, since the sights are so huge. He grabs a hammer and knocks the sights off both of the pistols (how he does it without damaging the pistols is a mystery to me). The store owner is writing up Jonah's purchase when two thugs burst into the store and grab the strongbox the owner has. The thugs start backing out the door and state that they can't leave no witnesses. Jonah draws on them, killing both.

The owner is aghast. He states that one thug has a bullet right between the eyes and the other has a hole over his right eye. Jonah agrees that the Smith & Wesson does pull to the left and takes the robber's money as payment for his saving the shop owner's life.

Out on the street Jonah is hailed by a telegram boy who delivers a telegram from New Orleans. Jonah makes mention that he has been invited to Mardi Gras.

Okay, let's stop here for just a second. Mardi Gras normally ends on Ash Wednesday which occurs 46 days prior to Easter. Looking at the dates for Easter in the 19th century, (new style, Catholic) for 1875-1878, they all land in April. Now, in the books we have established that we are in 1878 and by counting days that have passed we are at the end of April or possibly the beginning of May. Suddenly we are to believe that Jonah is going to make it to Mardi Gras? The book states that two weeks pass before he gets to New Orleans. So, if Easter of 1878 falls on April 21, 58 days prior (46 plus two weeks) puts us at Feb 22nd. And that is just so Jonah can make the last day of Mardi Gras! (on a side note, the 1879 Mardi Gras was canceled due to Yellow Fever.)

Meanwhile, JD Hart is talking with Mei Ling and he starts to tell her about his feelings for her. Suddenly Jason runs in with a wooden sixgun and 'shoots' Hart. Mei Ling scolds Jason, demanding where he got the toy pistol. Hart confesses that he made it for Jason along with a small holster. Mei Ling demands the gun from Jason and he shouts NO!

Hart tries to calm Mei Ling down, but she turns on him, saying she doesn't want her son to be a gunfighter and Jason runs from the room crying. In this scene, Jason not only shouts 'no' but also says "bang bang Marshal Hart! You're dead!" Jason has just turned two since he was born in the Spring of 1876 (?)

But enough about that, two weeks pass and we are now in New Orleans and Jonah is being addressed by a wealthy man in a large mansion. The man is Mr. Sterling and he wants to hire Jonah to protect his daughter Adrian from a kidnapping scheme. Jonah is stunned to meet Adrian, a beautiful young lady. Upon meeting Jonah Hex, Adrian states "I'm delighted to meet you, Mr. Hex. And may I say I feel safer already."

Jonah stammers back "Ah only wish Ah could say the same thing Ma'am"

Just then Clifford Mapely, Adrian's fiancee, enters. Sterling states that Hex will be their bodyguard for the next 5 or 6 days. Clifford doesn't think that it is needed but relents to Sterling's wishes.

A thousand miles away (putting us in New Mexico or far western Texas) Emmy Lou is screaming and pounding on the door of the room that Brett has locked her in. Brett opens the door and Emmy starts crying about how poorly she has been treated (tied up and locked up). Brett says that she can be freed if she promises not to escape and to also join his gang. She screams that she never will and Brett slams her back into the room, muttering that she'll come around very soon.

Back in New Orleans a cloaked woman knocks on a door and is allowed entrance to the home of Mr. St. Pierre. It is Elsa, the maid of the Sterling household! She reveals that Adrian will be at a private party at 10 PM in the Latin Quarter at 33 Rue Madeleine (don't bother looking, it ain't there!). Elsa explains that Adrian's fiance, Clifford will be escorting her and they will both be accompanied by Jonah Hex.

Later that night Jonah & Adrian are at the aforementioned party and a very snobby party goer is having a good laugh at Jonah's expense. He makes snide remarks about the war and how Jonah Hex belongs with the drunken revelers in the costume out in the street. Adrian tries to reprimand him but Jonah calmly grabs a drink, tosses it into the man's face, punches him in the gonads, lifts the man over his head and throws him the length of the buffet table. Several men decide they can take Jonah Hex on and Jonah pulls his pistols and drops a huge chandelier into the middle of the room.

Needless to say, Adrian, Clifford and Jonah shortly end up leaving the party. As Adrian & Clifford walk the streets of New Orleans (with Jonah closely behind), three men in skeleton outfits are stalking them from a nearby rooftop. Suddenly the three men jump down into the street and shoot Jonah Hex and start to grab Adrian. Clifford runs like a deer (getting help, he says!) and as one of the skeletons draws a bead on the unconscious noggin of Jonah Hex, Adrian shouts that he is her fiance. Rather than try to untangle the mess, the skeletons abduct Jonah along with Adrian.

Quite some time later, Jonah regains consciousness to find that he and Adrian are tied up in a wine cellar somewhere in the city. Adrian explains what has happened, including her tells the thugs that Jonah was her fiance. Jonah asks why she did that & she confesses that from the first time she saw Jonah, she knew that he WOULD be her fiance.

Upstairs, Mr. St. Pierre and his thugs suddenly hear a scream from the wine cellar. They run downstairs and open the cellar to find Adrian standing in front of them. She is untied and they demand to know how she got her ropes loose. She calmly replies "My friend over there has a bowie knife." Jonah then quickly tosses said knife into the throat of one of the thugs and then dives behind the wine casks.

As thug number two searches for him, Jonah sneaks up behind him and then knocks him out with a wine bottle. Just then St. Pierre emerges behind Jonah with a pistol aimed at Jonah's back. Adrian steps forth brandishing a pistol and demands in a stuttering voice that St. Pierre drop his weapon. St. Pierre says he won't because Adrian doesn't have what it takes to shoot hi... BLAM!!!!!!!

Adrian has killed St. Pierre and she drops the pistol and runs to Jonah where they get into a a post-pistol-packing lip lock.

Much later (5 AM by the clock on the mantle) Adrian and Jonah get back to the Sterling mansion. Adrian explains to her dad how great Jonah was and Hex explains that the maid was in cahoots with the kidnappers. Mr. Sterling says that he is happy that Adrian is safe, even though Clifford 'fought like a tiger' to save Adrian. She suddenly interrupts her dad and tells Clifford to leave & never comes back.

The p-whipped Clifford sulks out of the house and Mr. Sterling asks "what about the engagement?" Adrian grabs Jonah arm and as they leave the house she says that there may still be a wedding but Clifford won't even be invited to it.

BLAM!!!

Statistics for this Issue
Men killed by Jonah Hex - 3
Running Total - 416
Jonah's Injuries - Shot (hard to tell where. The shoulder? A grazing of the scalp?)
Timeline - Whew! It's Mardi Gras but it's May (or possibly even June by now with the extra two weeks to travel to New Orleans). The only thing I can say is that Easter takes place at an entirely differently time in the DC Universe.

A pretty good story advancing the emotional complications of Jonah Hex and his women. Adrian looks to be a pure firecracker, knowing what she wants and knowing how to get it. Jonah had better watch his step around this one.

The storyline with Emmy is getting a little hairier with the psychological abuse that Brett is throwing at her.

I find it strange that Jonah Hex is now in New Orleans and that is where the bulk of the Jonah Hex movie was filmed. Was Michael Fleisher psychic?

Next Issue: Turnbull decides to make good on his promise... to kill Jonah Hex!!!

Jonah Hex #83 "Blues in the Bottle Stopple in My Hand!"

Jonah Hex #83 Apr 1984
"Blues in the Bottle....Stopple in My Hand!"
Michael Fleisher, story - Tony DeZuniga, art - Ed Hannigan & Tony DeZuniga, cover

Last week I said that this would be the end of Matching Dragoons. It is & all will be explained later.

The title is from an old Blues song, according to Mr. Fleisher (who is now also the editor, having taken over from Ross Andru) and we'll learn how it fits in right quick. But first, Jonah is still beating the crap out of J.D.Hart (this issue backing up just a few minutes before last issue finishes. This seems to be a new pattern here.) After Jonah finishes up and gets yelled at by Mei Ling, he rides off into the night. But he is being watched by two thugs who follow him into the darkness.

The next afternoon, Jonah rides into town, mentally griping about Mei Ling and looking forward to finding solace in the arms of Emmy Lou. However, when Jonah gets to the hotel, he learns that Emmy has left for St. Louis and in his anger, he stomps off to the saloon.

Several townsfolk watch Jonah head for the bar and one of them asks the sheriff what HE is going to do about Jonah. The sheriff wisely says that he can't do anything until the law is broken.

Meanwhile, many miles away, Emmy Lou and her kidnappers finally stop to set up camp. That is when Emmy notices that two of her abducters are female. The ring leader, Brett, tells Camille to start cooking and Sandy to lay out the bedrolls. He orders Emmy to get some firewood and when she refuses, he slaps her right upside the head and demands she get the wood.

Back in town, Jonah is getting more & more drunk, bottle after bottle. At one point a cork is jammed in a bottle so he smashes it across the table and pours out the remainder. Suddenly there is a shout from the street. The two men that have followed him are calling him out. Well, one of them is calling Hex out, the other is telling the first one that they should wait for their boss and the rest of the gang.

The brave/stupid one knows that Jonah is drunker than a skunk and figures that the two of them can take him on. Jonah staggers out with a bottle in his hand and takes a long draw on it. He wipes his mouth on the back of his hand and outdraws both men, dropping them in the street where they stood.

Much later that night, Emmy is convinced everyone is asleep so she slowly starts to sneak away. Just as she starts to run, she is suddenly lassoed and Brett hogties and gags her before he goes back to sleep.

In town, Jonah, unable to obtain a hotel room, is continuing his drinking binge in th eloft of the local livery. Sinking deeper into a drunken stupor, Jonah doesn't hear the locals leading out the horses as they prepare to torch the entire structure (promising the owner that they'll all picth in to build him a new one). The place lights up like the fourth of July and Jonah is awakened by the heat and smoke. He manages to jump out a window on the lower roof, locate his horse, jump on it and take off, but not before kicking the ring-leader into a large puddle.

Later, Jonah is resting near a lake, still drunk, still bemoaning his life. He's the fastest gun in the west and what good does it do him? He has no woman, no money, no family, just a big fat nothing. He takes his matching Dragoons and heaves them into the center of the lake (see? I told you it was the end of Matching Dragoons! What? You thought I was...what? hee hee). He grabs a bottle that he has brought along and following in his father's footsteps, drinks himself unconscious.

The next morning, Jonah is suddenly and rudely awakened by one Catherine Rebecca Smollett, owner of Christian Temperance Farm, a place for men driven to the squalor of liquor to dry themselves out and find redemption in the Lord Jesus. Smollett picks up Jonah's hat and reads his name in the hatband. She notes that Jonah, in the Bible was swallowed by a great fish. Hex appears to have been drinking like a great fish!

Still groggy from his previous day and night, Jonah staggers up onto her wagon and allows Catherine to take him to the farm.

Back in town, the friends of the dead gunmen show up and demand of the sheriff which way Jonah Hex went. The sheriff tells them that he has no idea, but they head out to find Hex anyway.

Back at the farm, Catherine & Jonah pull up. Catherine tells Jonah that it's about suppertime and he can clean up in the bunkhouse. Jonah goes inside and pulls a small bottle out of his pocket. As he takes a swig, another resident of the farm grabs the bottle from him, telling Hex that Catherine works hard to keep that terrible poison out of their bodies. He tilts the bottle back and Jonah tosse s left hook into his jaw, sending the bottle sailing through the air. Jonah dives for the bottle, just as Cathering enters the bunkhouse. She takes the bottle and announces that dinner is ready.

Over the next few days, Jonah dries out at the farm, repairing fence, splitting wood, fixing wagons until finally the three men that have been searching for him come riding up to the farm. The bunkhouse buddy comes running to tell Jonah about the three men just as they show up using Catherine as a human shield.

Jonah raises his hands in surrender, grabs his knife and buries it in the chest of the first thug. The other two open fire and Jonah goes running for cover among the out buildings on the farm. The two thugs decide to split up, one checking the bunkhouse, the other checking the toolshed. The first looks into the bunkhouse window and...

that brings the second one running, who fires into the bunkhouse. But, Jonah Hex is not IN the bunkhouse, he is on top of it and... Jonah proves that he can be pretty violent even without his pistols.

Shortly thereafter, Jonah is mounted up and bidding farewell to Catherine. She says that she wishes Jonah could stay, but for the sake of the Farm, she feels that he should go. She wants him to stay long enough to be truly saved and Jonah replies that he is pretty nearly saved, least as he is ever likely to be.

Statistics for this Issue:
Men killed by Jonah: 5
Running Total: 413
Jonah's Injuries: none
Timeline: I would say this one covers about a week. So we are probably still in April 1878. I know we are because I read the next issue, but I'll cover that then.

A nice gruesome issue, pitchfork to the face, sickle to the head, ya know, fun stuff! Ed Hannigan starts designing the covers and I have to tell you that the next 9 covers are some of the best in the entire series. The perspective through the whiskey bottles, the antagonistic blurb at the top, the gruesome glare of Jonah's eye...perfect!

The story overall was a good one. Catherine Smollet reminded me of Katherine Hepburn in Rooster Cogburn and the Lady. I don't know if it was intentional, but it was a nice touch with a few slightly comedic elements thrown in when Jonah first arrives at the farm.

Next Issue: Jonah's life gets even more interesting as he ends up in Mardi Gras!!