I gotta tell ya: the amount of Hex-related stuff that’s come out in the past 9 months is just crazy. He’s been guest-starring in two of the Walmart-exclusive titles (Batman Giant and Wonder Woman Giant), his newly-discovered great-granddaughter Jinny Hex is part of the new Young Justice team, and then there’s the robotic emulation of Hex that turned up in a couple issues of Adventures of the Super-Sons (which I quickly dubbed “Robo-Hex”). And now, the biggest bombshell of all: next year, DC is releasing Jonah Hex: The Bronze Age Omnibus, Volume 1, a hardcover collection of the first 6 years of Jonah’s existence.
Holy crap! This is the sort of thing people have been waiting years for DC to release (there’s a Facebook group started years ago by Jimmy Palmiotti that’s literally named "JONAH HEX needs a ABSOLUTE EDITION."...yes, the typo is part of the title), and according to the solicit (as seen above), it looks like we’re gonna get it in May 2020. That’s ten months from now, and let me tell ya, that makes me nervous. A whole lot can happen between now and then that could cause this thing to get cancelled, which is why I’ve come here to convince you to put in a preorder for this book RIGHT NOW, and I’m gonna give you some really good reasons why you should...
#1 - THE MORE PREORDERS THIS BOOK GETS, THE MORE LIKELY IT’LL GET PRINTED: I’m lucky in that I finished up my Jonah Hex collection many years ago. There’s one or two very minor appearances I haven’t grabbed (I’m still debating whether or not I should buy a copy of The Kingdom #2 for a mere single panel of Hex’s stuffed corpse), but all the majors, all the self-titled stuff...yep, got it, bagged and boarded and filed away (for the record, the entirety of Jonah’s life nearly fills a longbox). That didn’t stop me from putting in my preorder a couple of weeks ago for the Omnibus, even with a $125 price tag. Why? Because I know that high price means not many places will be preordering it unless a customer requests it. Comic shops take enough of a bath buying extra copies of monthly titles that might end up in their back-issue bins, but a $125 book focusing on a (sorry to say it) niche character? They’re more likely to fill that real estate with something that’s got a better chance of selling. Same rationale goes for regular bookstores, which have multiple other genres to stock apart from comics. I’m sure that’s why DC is soliciting it ten months in advance: they’re gauging interest, and if the interest ain’t there, the book won’t be there either. So I put in a preorder for a book I technically have no need for, to help ensure those who do need the book will have access to it. I advise those of you who are thinking of waiting to buy it after-market on Amazon or wherever to do the same, otherwise you may find the book isn’t available come May 2020.
#2 - THIS IS THE FIRST TIME MANY OF THESE STORIES WILL BE REPRINTED IN COLOR: You may recall DC’s Showcase Presents reprint line, which was discontinued a few years ago in favor of the Omnibus line. These thick volumes were a great way to read huge chunks of stories for a cheap price, with the trade-off of them being printed in black-and-white on non-glossy paper stock. Jonah managed to get 2 volumes in the line before it was discontinued, and the first volume of the Jonah Hex Omnibus will contain the majority of what was in those books , now presented in glorious color (the two Showcase editions got as far as Jonah Hex #22, while the first Omnibus covers up to JH#17). Aside from a handful of DC Digest books from the 1970s/1980s, a Millennium Edition of All-Star Western #10, and the Welcome to Paradise trade from 2010, there have been no color reprints of classic Hex stories prior to this Omnibus edition. Like I said earlier, he’s a niche character, he doesn’t get reprinted ad nauseum like Batman and Superman and the other heavy-hitters (even many of the trades devoted to Gray & Palmiotti’s Hex run are now out of print), so this will probably be the one and only time you’ll be able to snag these tales in reprint form. Oh, and there’s something else you’ll get in this Omnibus that’s definitely not in the Showcase volumes...
#3 - THIS BOOK FEATURES THE TIME JONAH HELPED KICK THE COMBINED ASS OF THE JLA AND JSA: One of the great things about DC's Omnibus editions is that they reprint virtually every appearance of a character. Many people sing the praises of the Starman Omnibus volumes for including not only his self-titled series, but guest appearances and specials as well. And going by the solicit above, it looks like DC will be doing the same for Jonah, as they’ve included Justice League of America #159-160 in this volume. I’m not going to pretend this is a great story worthy of reprinting, ‘cause it’s not, but the fact that DC is putting it in there -- and in the proper timeframe in relation to his regular series, as JH#17 came out the same month as JLA#159 -- just blows my mind. If the trend continues through future volumes, that means we’ll likely also get reprints of JLA #198-199 (a sequel of sorts to JLA #159-160), “The Fawn and the Star” from 1980’s Super-Star Holiday Special, “The Secret Origin of Jonah Hex” from Secret Origins #21, and most importantly...
#4 - CHANCES ARE VOLUME 2 WILL CONTAIN THE VERY FIRST REPRINT OF “THE LAST BOUNTY HUNTER”: If nothing else, we need to guarantee the first Omnibus gets printed so we can get a Volume 2, just so we can finally have a reprint of that landmark tale (and maybe if we’re really good, they include the mini-poster from the inside cover of the Jonah Hex Spectacular!). Considering how many times it’s been referenced in both Jonah’s own titles and in the DCU at large over the past 4 decades, it’s a crime that a reprint hasn’t happened already. Heck, part of the Spectacular has already been reprinted (the Bat Lash tale was included in his own self-titled Showcase volume, along with his backup stories from Jonah Hex #49, 51, and 52), so we’re a third of the way to a reprint of that comic already!
#5
- A SHOW OF SUPPORT FOR JONAH HEX NOW COULD LEAD TO EVEN MORE HEX DOWN THE
LINE: In this case, I’m not referring to just another
Omnibus volume, but to more appearances in general. Let’s be honest, folks, Jonah doesn’t normally turn up
much outside of his own title, so the proliferation of appearances these past 9
months has either been an incredible fluke or DC’s way of gauging interest in a
new Hex project, and there’s two things that -- in this fangirl’s opinion --
make me lean towards it being the latter.
The first thing is previous Hex history, namely the fact that roughly 6
years tends to lapse between the end of one era and the beginning of the
next. The Albano/Fleisher era ended in
1987 with HEX #18, then the Lansdale
era began in 1993 with Jonah Hex: Two Gun
Mojo #1 and ended in 1999 with Jonah
Hex: Shadows West #3. Gray &
Palmiotti got it all started again in 2005 (or 2006 if you go by cover dates)
with a new Jonah Hex #1, and their
era came to a close in 2014 with All-Star
Western #34. I said at the time the
last issue was released that, if the trend held true, we’d get something new by
2020...which is when this Omnibus is supposed to release. The second thing is Jonah’s impending 50th
anniversary in a couple of years, which I know ain’t exactly as earth-shattering as Supes
and Bats hitting the big 8-0, but I’d still love to see DC mark it in some
fashion, even if it’s just a one-shot.
Perhaps a ton of fans laying down $125 for this Omnibus might make them
realize there’s still a market out there for this ugly ol’ buzzard.
So if you haven’t done it already, go
down to your local comics shop and put in your preorder, then start stowing
away about $13 a month for the next 10 months (or maybe a bit less if your shop
gives you a discount on preorders). If
not for the reasons above, than just because it’s Jonah Hex, and there ain’t
nothin’ wrong with a little more Hex in your life.
