Susan Hillwig
Staff 
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Jan 10, 2006 14:28:45 GMT -5
 "A woman? Who digs Jonah Hex? Kick ass!" That was an e-mail I got a couple weeks ago, after I had a letter published in WIZARD -- I had written the guys about what I felt was an error in their price guide, and my gender and interest in Hex apparently took some folks by surprise. This isn't the first time, of course, I've been getting reactions like this for years, but in the past year I've become a bit more vocal in my Hex-nutiness, thanks to the Internet, and it has led to some folks asking me outright, "Why Jonah Hex?" Well, I'll be honest: it's an absolute fluke.
When I was a wee fangirl, my dad worked for a toy company that held a DC license. Due to that, they'd sometimes get free comics sent to them, and around 1984, Dad started bringing some home. So here I am, ten yers old, constant doodler and voracious reader, seeing superhero comics for the first time...I got hooked through the bag. Batman, Superman, Legion of Super-Heroes, various odd 80s titles like Atari Force and Sun Devils, I read 'em all. This went on for a year or so, getting new, totally random books every couple months, then one day, there's 2 issues of Jonah Hex in the comp package. I pick 'em up, flip through 'em...and put it right back down. At the time, my Western exposure was "Blazing Saddles" and old TV shows like "Zorro" and "The Virginian", but beyond the looks, I didn't get it -- I don't think I had an awareness as a kid that this represented an actual time in history, to me these were just guys that rode horses and shot off guns. Add to the fact that I could only understand one word in five Jonah said, and I just got more lost...but there was something, enough of a something that I kept those 2 issues instead of trading them off at school like I did the other books I didn't like.
Cut ahead to 1991. I began picking up comics on a regular basis a year or so before, and had gotten pretty caught up on what I missed when the freebies stopped coming, which occurred not long after those Hex issues fell into my hands. I was also getting an interest in the Old West in the historical sense, thanks to having a Civil War reenactor as a history teacher. I'm reading books, trying out Clint Eastwood flicks, and getting an itch to maybe try writing a Western-style character. I had no interest in wading through Louis Lamour or any of those sort of novels, but I knew I wanted to see how that sort of character should be handled, writing-wise. Then I remembered Jonah Hex. I dug out the issues, looked them over again, and thought, "Still tough to read, but it'll do." I went off to the shop to find more, and managed to luck out -- you'll have to understand, this is 4 years after HEX was cancelled, and 2 more until the Vertigo revamp, so the man's not exactly high-visibility -- and went home with three or four books. It took some time until I could read the stories with any sort of ease (learning Jonah-speak is almost like learning a second language!) but I soon discovered that this wasn't like all the capes I read week after week. Somewhere along the line, our relationship moved from "buying for reference" to "going to visit with an old friend", and I went full-tilt bozo, scouring cons and bugging dealers for anything and everything Hex. Lucky for me, they were happy to oblidge.
I think the key to the character is simple: Jonah Hex, despite some of the crazy things that have happened to him, could have been a real person living in the 1800s. He moves and reacts and talks (albeit in a heavy accent) like a real person would, he gets drunk when he's in a bad mood, he got married and had a kid, he has regrets about what he's done in the past, when he gets injured it isn't some scratch he laughs off, he doesn't stand there and make speeches or act like he's a hero because even he knows he's not someone to be admired...and that's why I admire him, probably why a lot of other folks have admired him over the years, and why, of all of DC's Western folk, he's the one that keeps getting the second chances at life. I've come to learn about the other cowpokes through Jonah, but he's the only one that gives me a thrill when I spot him in a comic, even if it's just his name, because it means the world hasn't forgotten him yet, like I almost did over 20 years ago.
So there you have it: I owe my newfound fanfic career to a fluke, a random dropping of 2 books into a comp package. If that hadn't happened, I may have never gotten into the guy, which means that WWQ wouldn't exist, and you fine folks may have never found out about him either. With that in mind, the next time you're in the comic book store or at a con, ask the dealers for some old Hex books, learn about him the way I did, one story at a time. Let them ask you, "Why Jonah Hex?" And you can tell them:
"Because he kicks ass."
- Susan Hillwig
MORE HEX FOR THE HEX-NUTS: In the last lettercol, one of the posters said I should tell you guys about the Roundyard Saloon. It's a bar I originally set up on the DCMB to call attention to the new Jonah Hex series, and it's since blossomed into 2 locations (click on the last two links below) The Paperfilms one is more sedate, and the original DCMB location...be prepared for madness, that's all I gotta say. |
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Post by HoM on Jan 10, 2006 14:32:18 GMT -5
You rock, Mrs Hilwig!
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Post by deadshot042 on Jan 10, 2006 17:21:53 GMT -5
You are awsome! I can't wait to see the next issue. Hopefully, more death and the acrid smell of gunsmoke.  |
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Post by deadshot042 on Jan 10, 2006 21:26:56 GMT -5
Good god that was amazing!!!  I enjoyed every second of this story and I can't wait for the next issue. Great story telling complied with a great story. This was so much more than a good, old fashion western. It was a real dramatic piece about the forming of a young man. I really LOVED this piece. |
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Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Jan 11, 2006 1:21:34 GMT -5
There's something I should make clear before the praise gets out of hand: about 75% of "Death and Gunsmoke" is/will be based on flashback scenes and bits of information that were presented throughout Jonah's comics career, nearly all of them written by Michael Fleisher. The other 25% is my attempt to put all that information into a cohesive, linear format, making connections and filling in the blanks when necessary. If you want me to separate the fact from the fic for you, let me know and I'll clarify. Until then, I'll keep mum and let you enjoy.
Also, let's hear it for Ramon for delivering a made-to-order cover! And Brandon's coloring ain't bad, neither.
- SH
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Post by brigante133 on Jan 11, 2006 1:35:22 GMT -5
ummm thats MY coloring, brandon did the logos and stuff though.
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Post by starlord on Jan 11, 2006 11:40:02 GMT -5
This was an amazing and personally unsettling issue. Nothing gets my blood boiling more then the mistreatment of children, so I was actually rooting for Jonah to pull that trigger! You did an excellent job bringing it all together. And the cover was exceptional!
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Post by Admin on Jan 11, 2006 22:48:23 GMT -5
This was simply amazing storytelling. Susan connects her characters to the reader in an almost visceral way--- Never in a million years would I have thought that I would become such a fan of a character I have previously had zero interest in! This story engaged me on multiple levels, from the gritty sawdust reality of the fully realized settings and atmosphere, to the compelling, heart-tugging story of the boy who would become Jonah Hex.
Just goes to show how a good writer can bring out the potential in a character who's been mostly neglected for 30 years.
How does Hex grow into the man of issue 0? I can't wait to find out what happens next!
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Post by HoM on Jan 12, 2006 11:47:55 GMT -5
Me neither, does it really have to be Quarterly?  I loved it. I liked Bart Mallory too. Cool character that was removed from the story too soon IMO I love your writing, and I love the characters, so I'll be popping back up in three months! |
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Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Jan 12, 2006 23:53:01 GMT -5
WWQ is quarterly so I have time to have a life -- sorry, but it takes me a while to write, even when I do have previous stories to guide me.
The abuse of young Jonah upsets me as well, especially having to write it, but it's the truth: Woodson Hex was a drunk wife-and-child-beating bastard, and if you think what he did here was bad, wait until #2.
The incident with Bart Mallory is based on JONAH HEX #27 ("The Wooden Sixgun") although the titular object was removed from my version -- Mallory died at the end of the original as well, and though he was a great character to write, he served the story better as a corpse instead of letting him live this time. Two major changes I did make were adding Texas Ranger Antonio "Tejano" Ramirez (who appeared in a non-Hex backup story in JH#53-55) and having Jonah pull that gun on Pa -- in the original, he hides the gun and takes the whuppin' without a word, which just struck me as unrealistic, considering all the abuse he suffers.
-SH
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Post by mtpspur on Jan 15, 2006 15:00:12 GMT -5
Congratulations on your writing gig. I've just registered. I'll be checking your work out later. Again congrats.
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Post by markymark261 on Jan 17, 2006 13:33:04 GMT -5
Brilliant first issue, wonderfully written. Especially liked the birth scene and the heartbreaking bit where his mother left. Also liked the John Albano reference (although it had me thinking at first that the Doc was Jonah's real father) and the "drop that hammer" line. There were a few distracting typos that I'll list here purely to be pedantic. "his mother rise off the soap" should presumably have been "his mother rinse off the soap", "Reckon thet rabbit" had a space after the opening quotation mark so that the opening quotation mark was on a separate line (I'm even amazing myself with my pickiness here), "a minimal of fuss" should have presumably been a minimal amount or a minimum of fuss, "take you four bits" should have been "take yuh four bits" (it's a tribute to your accent writing that this stood out), and, finally, "He tried to stay clam" should have been "He tried to stay calm". Also, the title "Weird Western Quarterly" should have been "Weird Western Monthly". No? Hey, it was worth a shot.  |
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Post by goldk on Jan 17, 2006 15:06:51 GMT -5
I can't wait for Jonah too start whipping some ass! And I hope that at some point he comes in contact with all the people who gave him so much $*#& growing up and they "git" theirs!
I'm with Starlord! SHOOT! SHOOT!
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Post by Admin on Jan 17, 2006 16:19:16 GMT -5
Brilliant first issue, wonderfully written. Especially liked the birth scene and the heartbreaking bit where his mother left. Also liked the John Albano reference (although it had me thinking at first that the Doc was Jonah's real father) and the "drop that hammer" line. There were a few distracting typos that I'll list here purely to be pedantic. "his mother rise off the soap" should presumably have been "his mother rinse off the soap", "Reckon thet rabbit" had a space after the opening quotation mark so that the opening quotation mark was on a separate line (I'm even amazing myself with my pickiness here), "a minimal of fuss" should have presumably been a minimal amount or a minimum of fuss, "take you four bits" should have been "take yuh four bits" (it's a tribute to your accent writing that this stood out), and, finally, "He tried to stay clam" should have been "He tried to stay calm". Also, the title "Weird Western Quarterly" should have been "Weird Western Monthly". No? Hey, it was worth a shot. WOW! Hex fans are sharp! But to be fair, as Susan's editor, I take all the responsibility for the distracting typos--- actually, Susan is a joy to edit, so the errors are harder to find! Mea culpa!And as for Weird Western Monthly--- I'd be the first to sign the petition! All we have to do is find Susie a job that requires her to stay at home all day and write! |
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Dr Dread
Staff
The Odious-1
Posts: 1,547
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Post by Dr Dread on Jan 19, 2006 21:45:46 GMT -5
Just felt compelled to send a Happy B-day to DC2's resident Hex writer.
Hope you had a happy. (I have no idea what that means.)
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Post by brigante133 on Jan 19, 2006 21:56:30 GMT -5
Yeah, me too but as neither you nor I are staff or mods or anything, we shall say it here.
happy birthday susan!
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Post by deadshot042 on Jan 19, 2006 23:09:21 GMT -5
Have a happy Birthday! ;D
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Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Jan 20, 2006 11:57:59 GMT -5
The birthday was very happy, thank you kindly. I spent it mostly going out to eat and buying new comics -- I'm 32 now, can't party too hard!
Mark, you caught a mistake that wasn't a mistake, believe it or not! I decided when I began writing Hex-fic that Jonah and his father would be the only ones with a full-on "accent", and other characters are kind of pick-and-choose -- since we have no visuals beyond the cover, I wanted to make sure you could distinguish Hex from all the others by voice alone, especially if it's not immediately stated as being him. When I wrote the scene with the kids bullying hin, I intentionally wrote most of the kids' lines "straight", so that their lines wouldnt get muddled with Jonah's. Go back and look at some of the other folks, you'll see that quite a few don't talk like Jonah (especially the women, I just can't picture a woman talking that way and not sounding silly), most notably Doc Albano, Bart Mallory, and the Texas Ranger.
-SH
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Post by markymark261 on Jan 20, 2006 16:57:12 GMT -5
Actually I have to say that I thought the bullying kids' accents seemed a lot like Jonah's (looking back at least one of them said "yuh" and the one I thought should have said "yuh" immediately followed it with a "tuh"). Then again, maybe they were just talking like that because they were making fun of Jonah's accent and that's why they seemed inconsistent. Anyway, enough of my criticising your characters for talking properly, and on to the important stuff - happy birthday (it might seem like I'm a day late, but I'm actually 364 days early). I'll also mention that I can't wait for April and issue 2 when, yet again, I'll get a chance to poke holes in perfection. |
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Post by artteach on Mar 4, 2006 9:41:39 GMT -5
We will have to thank that history teacher, Excellent work!  |
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Post by Admin on Mar 4, 2006 11:33:48 GMT -5
Let the countdown begin for Weird Western Quarterly #2!
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Post by deadshot042 on Mar 4, 2006 13:28:56 GMT -5
12....4....3....25....Hold on a second, how many days is it unitl WWQ #2?
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Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Mar 5, 2006 15:55:14 GMT -5
WWQ#2 is coming out April...something. Yes, April-something. Sadly, I'm still polishing up the end of it -- I've been sick lately, not to mention a dozen other mishaps the past few weeks. Seeing Artteach's lovely rendering makes me want to work harder, though! And my history teacher Mr. Gibson has never been properly thanked by me, I'll admit, but I do think of him (and look for him) whenever I see TV programs about reenactors. He does this great Civil War demo for his students every year, capped off by firing a small blackpowder cannon over the school's baseball field. Now that's what teaching needs: more explosions!
- SH
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Post by Romans Empire on Apr 11, 2006 10:51:15 GMT -5
As I stated last week I came in on this late.
I didn't know what to expect when I sat down to read this wonderful tale this morning. It's kind of cool and gray outside which put me in the mood early for what turned out to be the breaking down of a young boy. I know Jonah will grow into a man and his experiences as a child will shape that (the fear of water mentioned in iss. 0 for example). What I didn't expect was to be treated to what I call the one-two punch a truly great writer needs to have. The first punch is having a story that needs to be told. Having great ideas and being inspired to tell them is a great place to start. Do not sell yourself short because you partly adapted previous Hex tales! The second punch is taking your idea and telling it well. It sounds simple but some of the best writers really have nothing to tell. Same as some of the best ideas are written so poorly that it makes the original idea seem terrible. A great plot alone isn’t enough sometimes when the execution is so poor. Not everyone who writes should be a writer!
With all that said, I can truly see myself curled up in blanket on a day like today, reading a novel with your name across the front!
Some of the highlights this issue:
I almost expected to find Jonahs mom in a more compromising situation when Jonah came home early from school, making the kids at school correct. Was that intentional?
Sure Jonahs Dad is the ‘bad guy’ but I like the way you portray his character as a misunderstood man who crosses the line and isn’t strong enough to break the patterns in his behavior. This is not a man you want to hate. This is a man you want to use as an example of what you could become if you compromise your character and ignore your core values.
I am glad that Jonah didn’t pull the trigger this time. Though I don’t see his father changing any time soon. I fear Jonah will continue to be misguided by his fathers example leading to the conclusion he for saw at the end of this tale!
Thank you Susan!
On a side note: I told my wife she needed to read this. She said
“A story set in the DC universe with no capes?”
I told her yes,it’s a western type story.
“ A western? In the DC universe?”
I said yes it’s written by a woman named Susan Hillwig.
“A chick that writes a western with no super heroes?"
I again nodded yes.
"Finally something I can read that doesn’t involve crazy people who can fly and shoot fire from their ass! Print it out for me!”
So there you go Susan. I guess you got both of us now!
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Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Apr 13, 2006 20:46:11 GMT -5
Thank God I don't have a web-cam, 'cause I'm blushing. Glad to see I've still got you hooked -- sorry I left no response to your #0 note -- and I find some of your analysis interesting.
On a fear of water: that's actually based on numerous moments over the years when Hex would get dunked in a river or whatever, and would immediately start bitching about it. He usually states it as hating water as opposed to fear, but either way, he's vocal about it ("Yuh never know when a frog up an' vomited in it", he once said) but there's never been an explanation. Seeing as how he does sometimes (albeit rarely) bathe, it seemed that it wasn't the water so much as the dunking, so I figured that perhaps he'd almost drowned at some point as a child, and all he remembers now is not liking being in the water.
On Jonah finding his mom in a "compromising postion": the scene is a vast elaboration on JH#57, in which Ginny does leave with the dear Mr. Dazzleby. The original scene, from discovery to leaving, is almost the same, and I didn't think we needed to add anything more explicit to it. I did feel that we needed to build on the idea that Ginny Hex may not be the most faithful of wives...and with a husband like that, could she be blamed? That's the question hanging over the scene, and the one burned into little Jonah's head.
On Jonah's dad: he's a sonovabitch. I'm not writing him with anything approaching sympathy, just that he's a conniving, self-centered bastard that does his best to manipulate people -- as he likes to say, he's the craftiest Hex. If you see him as misunderstood, I won't argue, but I'm not intentionally writing that into the character. As for using him as an example of what NOT to do, Jonah only seems to reflect on that when he's really, really drunk: "Now Ah'm just like muh Pa", things like that.
Glad I hooked your wife with my "no capes" story, and you can tell her that there's more hard-ridin' cowpokes where Jonah came from!
- SH
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Post by chris on Oct 20, 2006 22:42:01 GMT -5
I am very late in reading this so I'm sorry. I have never read anything about Jonah. The most I've seen of him was the time travel episode if JLU. I loved it. In #0 he was just flat out cool in that bar. In #1 the whle racoonj thing just made me cringe. I read it the whole time just waiting for him to realize what he was eating and the thought of him enjoying the taste was brillaint foreshadowing. I can't wait to finish the rest of the story.
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I loved it. I liked Bart Mallory too. Cool character that was removed from the story too soon IMO 
