The Good
This is the 100th issue of Jonah Hex that writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have worked on together. They've redefined this character for the modern age, and overall, they've done an amazing job with this character and the two series they've written, starring Hex.
Hex fans, you may get a bit sad here because like the cover shows, he gets his face all fixed up. Don't worry though, it plays extremely well into the overall story. Here's a character who had his faced scarred for a chunk of his life and now it's back to normal. We get to see how other people treat him now that he's healed up. There's small little moments where people don't look at him like a monster and "normal" conversation for Hex with strangers is a bit odd. Maybe I'm over-reading into it though.
Because of all these changes (mild spoiler alert coming up), Hex finds himself in a situation where he wishes he had that scar again. Obviously, this doesn't take place in current day. It takes place in the past. While it was a great ride to see Jonah in current times, it's nice to see Jonah back where he belongs in the past.
Staz Johnson and Fabrizio Fiorentino take over on art with Mike Atiyeh on colors. They collectively do a fantastic job on this issue, especially in the final scenes, with Jonah back in the Old West. Atiyeh's colors really shine here, and the color set he uses is fantastic. Johnson and Fiorentino do a stellar job at telling a story visually here. There's one specific page that really stands out, told in 10 small panels, featuring Jonah waking up from his coma. We get really caught up in this small moment in the book, but this art team (along with the writers, obviously) really takes the time to get the reader into that moment. That's what I love about this book and overall series.
The Bad
On page three, there's one particular panel that really bugged me because of the overall layout of the page. The 4th panel overlaps the 5th panel, and because of this, it overlaps a pretty dialogue heavy panel, and an actual bubble. This normally doesn't bug me, but the word "Sure" is pushed over and aligned left, then there's a new line and the rest of the dialogue aligned center.
This is more personal preference than anything else, but I really don't like dot shading. It feels very 50s/60s pop art and doesn't fit the tone of the book for me. Plus, the shading work and color work, outside of the dot shading are fantastic and said dotting takes away from it.
The Verdict
ALL STAR WESTERN is still fantastic and still a series you should be reading. Palmiotti and Gray have a lot of love for this character and it shows in every issue. Hex finally makes his way back to the past, but the trip there is a lot of fun. Johnson and Fiorentino do a great job with the art and Atiyeh's colors are fantastic. This book is nothing but fun, and thanks to Gray and Palmiotti for 100 issues of Jonah Hex. Overall, I highly recommend this issue and series.