All Star Western #29 Review

Written by: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray
Art by: Cliff Richards
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 26, 2014

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

Jonah Hex's vacation in the present day DCU got him a new woman and a new face.  Both returned to the past with him, but I wondered how long both would last.  This issue answers half of that question, but not much else.  In a bit of a slip for such a consistently good book, this issue falls flat as filler that doesn't do much to move the narrative forward. 

All Star Western #29 main narrative is a story-in-a-story about revenge and racism.  Jonah tells Gina the story of a bounty gone wrong.  The bounty in question is a man with a hatred of Indians.  That hatred has led him to kill and in turn, led him to be a wanted man.  He tells Jonah some lies and half truths to explain himself, but in the end he is pretty much a racist piece of crap.  He looks at Jonah as a man who should agree that white males are in danger of losing power and should fight back, but our antihero ain't got no time for that.  

The story itself isn't bad, it just doesn't feel necessary.  The whole future hopping event did a good job showing "even in the future, nothing has changed", so why do we need to be reminded that the past hasn't changed either.  We get it, most people are horrible, but Jonah is a good man. The story did do a good job of getting Jonah a little cuddle time, though.

The ending was also a bit strange.  We'll have to wait a month to see if it sticks, but if it does I'll be a bit disappointed.  It was a little too sudden and takes away a part of the book that I thought could be very interesting.  I trust Palmiotti and Gray so I'll hold my judgement for now.

One thing I will judge right now is Cliff Richards' art.  I didn't like it much.  It was too clean for the story, and Jonah looks far too young.  I know the guy has a new face, but he looks like a teenager in some of the panels.

Bits and Pieces:

All Star Western #29 was a unusual slip in an otherwise stellar title.  Palmiotti and Gray give us filler as they try to regain the momentum of the book now that it's back in the Old West.  I didn't like Cliff Richards' art and the ending seemed rushed and ill advised.

6.0/10