Jonah Hex #62 Review

What better group of people for Jonah Hex to be among than circus freaks, but then again, no matter where Jonah goes, he’s the guy everyone has their eyes on.

Jonah Hex #62

As the story begins, Hex is with four other hired men sent out to procure a most peculiar prize.  As things turn ugly among these not so honorable men, we learn the cargo is a man eating octopus.  A Frenchman, hired to be the custodian of the octopus, and isn’t liked by most of the others because he talks funny, is the first to see the octopus, but his life is snuffed out violently as the beast rips his head off his body.  Hex, because he just didn’t get along with the other hired men, was the next get killed (by octopus or bullet, it didn’t matter for them) escapes and, naturally, kills the rest of the team.  One of the men tries to escape but is captured and returned to the purchaser of the octopus – the owner of a circus looking to use the beast as a new attraction.  Turns out this final person is the bearded lady, and someone who is particularly mean spirited.  For her crimes of trying to betray the circus and nearly killing another performer after stealing everything of value and burning his tent to the ground, she’s turned over to circus justice.  That kind of justice is a vicious beating from the other performers.  That is until Jonah, of all people, teach them something about being civilized.

This is a particularly peculiar issue of the series.  Let’s not take that in a bad way though.  Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti usually spend each issue delving into Hex’ persona.  This time around, he’s merely a spectator.  He does what he’s hired to do – assist in the procurement of the octopus.  However, in this he is more witness to barbarian actions.  First, he watches the ragged foursome abuse Felix, the French custodian, only to delight in how the octopus eventually kills the poor man.  It’s all because they didn’t care for how he talked.  Then, they turn their attention to Hex, who, ironically enough, isn’t well liked because of how he looks.  Killing these men is more a combination of survival and doing the world a favor than his normal reaction of dishing out vengeance or being paid for a bounty.

Then there’s the circus.  While very much liked by the ringmaster and owner of the circus, Hex experiences ugliness everywhere around him.  It’s not the typical ugliness of the performers and freaks, but it’s the basest, inner ugliness.  First, he’s considered an uncivilized man when he goes to the restaurant for food.  It’s funny because he usually needs to be prompted to react in a judgmental way and therefore is far more civilized than given credit for.  But he gets his fill when he attends the trial and execution of the bearded lady.  It’s a vicious beating handed out by the freaks and other performers.  Instead of just executing her quickly, they delight in her pain and act like animals with blood lust.  Even for a hardened man like Jonah Hex, this is too much for him to handle.  Doing yet another favor, this time just for one person, he shoots the bearded lady to put her out of her misery to the dismay and anguish of the freaks.

This is a particularly good issue in the series.  While Hex is mostly a spectator to the ugliness of man, he ultimately plays a heroic role.  First, he takes out the trash, and then, he serves up salvation to one who is happier to be dead than beaten mercilessly.

Tags: Jimmy Palmiotti Jonah Hex Justin Gray