Jonah Hex vs. Wild
Something I haven't talked about much when reviewing this series, but should not go unappreciated, is the wide variety of accents portrayed. Different classes of people have different slang or shortenings. Lots of extra apostrophes and shortened words really bring the dialogue to life, especially when Jonah Hex, Amadeus Arkham, and some big thug are all having one conversation. The voices ring loud and clear in my head with such brilliant variety, it really helps me gauge what they sound like by demonstrating the different accents.
There's yet another different kind of battle going on in this issue, instead of one of the many varieties of western combat, we get a more intense and harrowing battle of Man vs. Nature as our heroes are sent tumbling into an underground river. Arkham panics, while Hex does all the heavy lifting. We get to see even more insight into the rugged bounty hunter ad he displays such amazing tenacity in the face of certain death, and yet surprising acceptance of the inevitability of death when literally ALL hope appears lost. It's not QUITE as amazing as the mind blowing Daredevil #7 in the snow, but it has a similar sense of intensity in the man vs. nature area.
There's also another look into a hidden corner of Gotham City's history, albeit a more recently established one. The Miagani tribe from Return of Bruce Wayne make a comeback as Gray and Palmiotti continue to build Gotham from the ground up in the past. All-Star Western is really feeling like an expansion of many of the loose elements from Return of Bruce Wayne, or at least a big melting pot of Gotham history and I love it.
In Conclusion: 5/5
This series continues to explore all sorts of different territory under the Western banner, as well as all sorts of angles in Gotham history; not to mention that Jonah Hex is an endlessly entertaining character and the plotlines are deep and intriguing. All-Star Western is one of the greatest things to come from the New 52, and makes me regret not picking up more of the pre-Flashpoint Jonah Hex series, but I have to get around to it at some point if this is any indication.
