Jonah Hex has sent many outlaws to their graves, but now death is finally firing back. In a sleepy Old West town called Ashecott, something horrifying is lurking in the darkness, and it’s one problem Jonah Hex can’t shoot his way out of.
Jonah Hex and the Shadow of Death is a limited series written and illustrated by Michael Walsh that’s DC’s first comic featuring the gunslinger in over a decade. The new DC Next Level title puts Hex in uncharted territory, as he’s forced to deal with the demons of his past in order to stop a threat unlike any he’s faced before. We recently had a chance to catch up with Walsh, who teased some of the things we can expect from the genre-bending new book.
Where is Jonah Hex emotionally at the beginning of Shadow of Death?
At the beginning of our story, we find Hex broken and wasted away. Years of violence, death and guilt have finally caught up with him. He’s living in a small shack at the edge of a near abandoned town, frequenting the saloon and waiting for the end of the Wild West.
In interviews and convention appearances, you’ve spoken about Hex’s relationship with isolation. I would love to hear you expand on that, and how that relationship drives him.
In my view, Hex has always been a lone wolf. He’s had some loose friendships and romances in his past, but those people are all dead or gone. At the start of our story, he is utterly alone save for his trusty old horse, Peanut. In his past, Hex has always moved from one target to the next, but years by himself have given him the space to reflect. The total isolation hasn’t been good for him emotionally.
I’ve had a chance to look through issue #1, and the town of Ashecott almost feels like a character itself. What was it like to build that atmosphere?
Building out Ashecott was an absolute blast. The setting of a story should ALWAYS feel like a character in itself. If it doesn’t, then the story doesn’t feel grounded at all.
Ashecott was a small gold panning settlement. They found the gold mines were panned out, so it was mostly abandoned, save for the unlucky few that tried to keep the town alive. It’s the perfect place for an old gunslinger with a lot of enemies to wither away. Half the town is abandoned, dilapidated and in some cases, completely collapsed—except for the most important establishment, the saloon, of course.
Jonah Hex and the Shadow of Death blends the horror and western genres. What is it about those two genres that seem to work so well together, and how is Hex the ideal entry character for that fusion?
For me, a lot of my favorite horror stories deal with themes of isolation. Films and novels like Alien, The Shining, The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. They are all huge influences on this story. The west is the perfect place to tell these kinds of stories. A vast open landscape filled with dark nights and red skies. A loneliness where your only companion is a bottle and your trusty horse. A small town with strange and mysterious characters who all have their own stories and history to tell.
The west was a harsh and violent place, completely unforgiving and rife with horror potential. It’s also a great avenue to delve into folk tales, horror and heroes. The way people sat around campfires and told stories. The American history of storytelling was a huge part of the culture at that time, and I want to integrate those ideas and play with the way that stories disseminate through time.
How is this threat different from other threats Hex has faced before?
This threat for Hex is completely unknowable, indecipherable and unkillable. What can Hex do when shooting a gun at something doesn’t work? When in order to find your way out of the dark, you have to look inward? It’s a new task for Hex and he’s not sure he’s up to the challenge.
What is the most misunderstood thing about Jonah Hex, and did you learn anything new about the character while writing and illustrating Shadow of Death?
Well, it’s interesting because as much as you know and read about a character, you always learn something new when you start writing them. They jump off the page and somehow start making decisions on their own. A lot of that comes from how they interact with the new characters you introduce them to, and with Hex, I’m finding him to be a bit more paternal and nurturing than I ever expected. I think deep inside him there is still a spark of warmth, and it’ll take everything to bring it out.
Elevator pitch time! If you’re in a short elevator ride with a prospective comic book reader, what do you say to convince them to read Jonah Hex and the Shadow of Death?
Hellboy meets Unforgiven.
This is what happens when the greatest gunslinger in history stops hunting men and starts hunting monsters.
Jonah Hex and the Shadow of Death #1 by Michael Walsh is now available in print and as a digital comic book.
