When last we left All-Star Western, Jonah Hex had been transported to modern day Gotham City, and he was quickly thrown into Arkham Asylum. That’s all you need to know you’ll want to read this book.
All-Star Western #22 kicks off with an interrogation by Jeremiah Arkham, great-great-grandson of Amadeus Arkham, founder of the asylum and frequent irritant in the life of Hex back in the 1800s. The young Arkham places no stock in Hex’s story, believing him to be a madman suffering under a delusion. It’s not until Hex invokes his deal with Alan Wayne for 30 percent of Wayne Casino – as seen several issues back – that Jeremiah is prompted to actually contact Bruce Wayne for proof – believing if Hex’s claim can be officially debunked, he’ll start to break through the veneer. When Bruce verifies that claim, it puts Batman on the case. However, Hex isn’t content to cool his heels for long, and he’s soon engineering a breakout, using Jeremiah as a hostage. Eventually, Jeremiah comes to believe Hex’s story, and history begins repeating itself, as Arkham and Hex are once again extremely mismatched partners. That’s when the Mutants attack.
While I like what’s going on with Hex’s continual culture shock, being amazed by radios and learning that cigarettes are bad for people, I must admit I’m a little disappointed that there wasn’t more of a focus on Hex in the Asylum. I was hoping for some interaction with other inmates, but that’s looking quite unlikely now that his doctor has bought his story. There’s still a chance to run into somebody interesting, though. This issue also seems to end awkwardly, right in the middle of a fight, as if writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray just ran out of pages instead of building to a big moment. But it’s still cool stuff going on in this story one might’ve felt was inevitable in the New 52. Moritat, whose art always hits inconsistently with me, does some interesting things here – Hex seems a lot more wide-eyed and nervous than I’ve ever seen him in ASW, and it makes perfect sense that he would be, now that he’s so far out of his element. It’s weird to see Hex looking legitimately scared, even for a fleeting moment.
So far, I’m enjoying this All-Star Western time warp, although I’m holding out hope that J&J will really deliver some truly great moments in a “Future Hex” story, where they’ve really only got one chance to do Hex In Modern Gotham right and proper, before shoving him into the modern-day would feel forced. Or even more forced than the series has felt thus far with Hex in Old Gotham instead of out west where he belongs. I have faith.
