History Main / JonahHex

Created in the [[BronzeAge 1970s "Weird" phase]] in comics, Jonah Hex was created as a deliberate subversion of every Western hero cliche you can think. He then ended up being the last headline character of the genre in the comic book medium. He first appeared in ''"All-Star Western''" vol. 2 #10 (February-March, 1972), created by John Albano and Tony [=DeZuniga=] . The title was soon renamed to ''"All-Star Western''", with Jonah remaining its star to 1977. He was then moved to his own series, which lasted from 1977 to 1985.

The character has appeared in ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries,'' ''JusticeLeague,'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episodes. Also, [[Film/JonahHex a feature film]] was released on June 18, 2010 starring Josh Brolin and MeganFox. The results were... less than auspicious, with reviews ranging from mixed to horrible, and a box office that suffered heavily (thanks mostly to competition from ''[[ToyStory Toy Story 3]]''). There is also an animated "DC Showcase" short that serves as a bonus feature for ''BatmanUnderTheRedHood''; interestingly, it's written by Joe Lansdale, who wrote the Hex-starring Batman TAS episode "Showdown".

* AllAsiansKnowMartialArts: The current series of ''Jonah Hex'' gave his wife Mei Ling kung fu skills despite her never displaying any during the original run of the comics.
* TheAmericanCivilWar: Jonah fought for the Confederacy in it, and still wears a Confederate uniform.[[hottip:*:''Jonah Hex'' (second series) #36 explains why.]]
* AmnesiaDanger: In one story, Jonah is buried by a rockslide while dressed in the clothes of a preacher. Digging himself out, he cannot remember who he is. Finding a letter addressed to the preacher in his pocket, he assumes that he is the preacher and takes on the preacher's new posting as an army chaplain.

* CripplingTheCompetition: In ''Jonah Hex'' #11 (original series), a gambler caught cheating by Jonah hires thugs to ambush Jonah and breaks his hands with a sledge hammer.

* TheHashshashin: Jonah fights a Hashshashin brought to the WildWest as part of a {{Carnival of Killers}} during the "Six Gun War" storyline.

* PracticalCurrency: In ''Hex'', the standard currency are Soames: pills used to decontaminate radioactive water.

* TwoHeadedCoin: In one comic, a Frenchman uses this to win a coin toss against Jonah, choosing to stay behind and make the HeroicSacrifice holding off the Indians while Jonah gets the woman they were escorting to safety.

** How {{Badass}}? When Batman and Superman were traveling between universes [[TimeyWimeyBall (sort of)]] and they ended up in a universe where DC's western heroes existed in the modern day he gunned down {{B|eyondTheImpossible}}OTH of them.

The character has appeared in ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries,'' ''JusticeLeague,'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episodes. Also, a feature film was released on June 18 2010 starring Josh Brolin and MeganFox. The results were... less than auspicious, with reviews ranging from mixed to horrible, and a box office that suffered heavily (thanks mostly to competition from ''[[ToyStory Toy Story 3]]''). There is also an animated "DC Showcase" short that serves as a bonus feature for ''BatmanUnderTheRedHood''; interestingly, it's written by Joe Lansdale, who wrote the Hex-starring Batman TAS episode "Showdown".

** Although, interestingly ([[YourMileageMayVary or not]]), not in the movie. It's apparently set in the Wild South, unless Jonah's horse is extraordinarily fast- he travels from the Old-West-style town he's in to the villain's lair in about a day. The villain's lair is an old confederate fort, on the Atlantic coast.

** Hex's final fight with El Papagayo in the graphic novel ''No Way Back''. Papagayo stabs a knife right through Hex's arm. The fight ends with Hex [[spoiler:killing Papagayo with the same knife... whilst it's [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome still sticking through his arm.]]

** Hex's final fight with El Papagayo in the graphic novel ''No Way Back''. Papagayo stabs a knife right through Hex's arm. The fight ends with Hex [[spoiler:killing Papagayo with the same knife... whilst it's [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome still sticking through his arm.]] [[invoked]]

** How {{Badass}}? When Batman and Superman were traveling between universes [[TimeyWimeyBall (sort of)]] and they ended up in a universe where DC's western heroes existed in the modern day he gunned down {{B|eyondTheImpossible}}OTH of them. [[IGotBetter They got better]], but still.

Since then, Jonah makes his living as a bounty hunter, carrying out his hunts with ruthless efficiency, although tempered with a personal code of honor that leads him to defend and avenge the weak and the oppressed in his own brutal way. He's part of the wider [[TheDCU DC Universe]], though long-dead in the present era.

* HeroicSociopath: Jonah is one of these, to a certain extent.

When his original series ended, Jonah was thrown into a post-Apocalyptic future ala MadMax in a title called simply ''Hex''. He had a few miniseries in VertigoComics with a supernatural bent, went on to a new DCU series that, with the ComicsCode having lost any meaningful power, was even {{Darker|AndEdgier}} and [[BloodierAndGorier Gorier]] than before, and eventually came full circle, returning to the pages of ''All-Star Western'' as the main character.