"Jonah Hex and any Western is a hard sell to mainstream comic readers," says All-Star Western scribe Justin Gray in an interview with Comic Book Resources, before going on to point out that All-Star Western has been outselling Jonah's previous outing in the pre-Flashpoint title Jonah Hex.
So how does DC celebrate this success? By removing the title's unique period setting and plonking Jonah in the modern day DC Universe through a heavy-handed, and seemingly random, time travel plot twist.
I initially thought Jonah's stay in the contemporary DCU would be a short-term, story-driven affair, but from reading the Comic Book Resources article I now get the impression that this change of locale will be with us for the foreseeable future as Gray says:
"The fun part is watching him interact with people like Booster Gold, Amadeus Arkham, Bruce Wayne, John Constantine and who knows, maybe we can even see what he thinks of a man who can fly."It's a shame then that Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti have spent the last two years developing an interesting supporting cast for Hex back in the 19th Century that we're not going to see again.
One of the things I've felt broadly differentiated the DCU from the Marvel Universe was that DC had a sense that 'superheroes' had been around in some form or another for a long time, whereas in the Marvel Universe costumed crimefighters were very much a modern-day phenomenon.
Of course, recently, DC axed its other 'historical' title, Demon Knights, so I suppose it shouldn't come as any surprise that All-Star Western has suffered such a dramatic tonal shift.
Sadly, I'm not interested in this new "fish out of water" vibe, in the same way that I had no interest when Hex was zapped to post-apocalyptic Earth in the 1980s. I want the character to stick to his historical Western roots... in the Old West (or 19th Century Gotham City, at least, where he was, already, very much the 'fish out of water').
Therefore I shall be voting with my wallet and, regrettably, dropping the title until I hear that Jonah has returned to the 19th Century. Unfortunately, I suspect I might hear that All-Star Western has been culled before that happens.
With the loss of All-Star Western from my pull-list that brings my DC titles down to just Scott Snyder's Batma. This seems a very sorry state of affairs considering that, pre-Flashpoint, DC once accounted for at least a third of my monthly titles and, on occasion, even well over 50 per cent.
I myself have dropped a lot of DC titles after their recent abuse of .1, .2,.etc issues. Same for Marvel. Yes Marvel and DC, people who have said titles in their pull lists will automatically receive them, it's an easy way to make quick money... But it's stupid for long-term, because it quadruples someone's list and makes them wary of this happening again in the future so they cut back on how many comics they buy. DC in particular makes one bad decision after another. They used to be my favorite too.
ReplyDeleteI don't have such a problem with Marvel at present, although maybe I'm just lucky with the particular titles I read.
DeleteThis was the ONLY DC book I was still buying, Emphasis on WAS. I don't want to see Hex in the 21st century, so I'm outta there.
ReplyDeleteIf they're so adamant that a "straight" Western book won't fly, why launch it in the first place and get our hopes up?
DeleteThis really makes me sad since I rather liked All-Star Western. I've never really understood the obsession with taking Jonah Hex out of his element and throwing him into the modern day or the future. It just seems like a weird thing to do when he works best as a Western Anti-Hero.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I shouldn't really be surprised by this decision. DC keeps making stupid decision after stupid decisions and I can't defend them anymore. The inmates are running the asylum and I probably won't buy another book from them anytime soon until they get rid of Didio and the majority of their editorial staff.
On the matter of All-Star Western, I couldn't agree with you more - why launch a Western comic then remove the Western elements?
DeleteAs to the whole DC situation, I try to remain philosophical and believe that these things are cyclical. Eventually an edict will come down from on-high, there'll be another Flashpoint/Crisis On Infinite Earths etc and the status quo will shift. Whether that involves getting rid of people or not depends on their willingness to change.
Unfortunately for us, DC's profits are up since prior to Flashpoint and the New 52. To corporate, this means the current regime is working. They're oblivious to a single title like Hex and only interested in the bottom line. So while things may come back around, it's likely to be a while.
ReplyDeletePlenty of other comics in the sea (to mangle a metaphor) and we can't be the only people dropping DC titles. I would imagine these things take a while to filter through to the numbers. In the meantime, Marvel and the smaller publishers will be getting my money.
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