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 4, 2006 12:44:43 GMT -5
 Well, folks, Hell must've froze over last month, because in the middle of all this "Infinite Crisis" falderol, DC managed to slip in a tiny reference to Jonah Hex's stint in the future, and implied in the vaguest, blink-and-you-miss-it way that Superboy-Prime banging away on the dimensional barrier is what caused the cowboy to return to his own time. It was the absolute last thing I expected to see, and I keep wondering if I'm the reason they finally addressed it.
Let me start over: back in February 2005, I posted an open letter on the DCMB to Dan Didio on the subject of the (at the time) upcoming new Jonah Hex series. Basically, being the rabid Hex-nut that I am, I had some concerns, and I needed to vent, even though I figured that nobody within the company would respond directly. My biggest beef was the futuristic debacle known as HEX, and how after 20 years, they still refused to acknowledge how Jonah got back to the Old West -- even noting somewhere that the whole thing was retconned would have satisfied me, but DC just plain ignored this gaping hole at every turn. I told them I had a solution, and was willing to virtually give it to them if they'd use it, then followed that up with something to the effect of "If you won't do something about it, I will."
Obviously, I got no response, so I went ahead and made good on my threat -- I think the majority of you here know the result. "The Long Road Home" was cathartic for me, and a lot of the anger I had over the incident was gone by the time I finished. Lucky for me, most of the people out there didn't think I was insane for doing such a thing, and it's led to a whole passel of online friendships. One of those friends even went so far as to tell tell me that he was going to try and get the story into the hands of Marv Wolfman. While I expected nothing to actually come of it, I said, "Sure, go for it!", then promptly forgot all about it. You'll have to forgive me, I've been busy.
So we move on to March 2006, with me plugging away on WWQ and being Jonah's PR agent in general, and I decide to pick up INFINITE CRISIS SECRET FILES. I read through it, sorting out in my head this whole "Crisis wave" ripple thing, when I get halfway through the book and see both Old West Hex and Future Hex reflected in that fractured cystal barrier. I think about ten seconds went by as I stared at that panel, my brain in absolute shock. Don't get me wrong, I'm damn glad they at least nodded towards the problem, and while their solution is a classic example of deus ex machina, it is a solution. The only thing that still bugs me (beyond the vagueness of it) is whether or not my rants and my fic forced their hand.
I know, you're thinking I must be an egotistical jerkweed for suggesting such a thing, especially since they've been planning "Infinite Crisis" for 2-3 years now. Well, I'm not, it's just that there's 2 things tied up in all this that make me think I may have woke DC up. The first is the fact that Marv Wolfman -- who by online buddy said he'd try and get my fic to -- wrote that Secret Files story where the panel in question appears. The second is that, in the panel next to Jonah's, there's an image of Hal Jordan, who played a huge part in my fic -- the guy appears to be looking in Hex's direction, and call me crazy, he's got this little smirk on his face, one of those "I got a secret" smirks.
So until I can track down Marv Wolfman and ask him point-blank, "Did you read the fic?", I'm left wondering if I really DID help get that ol' buzzard home...
- Susan Hillwig |
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Post by HoM on Apr 5, 2006 3:47:10 GMT -5
Oo er! The sly dog!
Loved the issue, you keep me coming back for more! You have a fantastic grasp of the period, and it so blatantly shows. Can't waits for m'next issue!
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Post by Admin on Apr 5, 2006 18:07:49 GMT -5
I would certainly say you had a hand in bringing the old boy home, Susan! It seems to me you are the most vocal fan and supporter of the character on the DCMBs, and perhaps the most talented fanficcer out there devoting her time to Hex (heck, you brought me over to him, and I'm even buying his DC monthly)!
And this issue is another example of why I am a fan (not only of Hex, but of your writing, as well): effortless craftsmanship, superb research of period detail, history and dialect, and consummate characterization--- for as an ornery cuss as Hex is, should I be liking him this much? You have really found everything good bad and interesting about this character, and held it up for the rest of us to enjoy.
I love the chronicle nature of this serial--- I really think you are writing the seminal Hex fic (fan, pro or otherwise), and doing a service to the history of this neglected character. I am so proud and pleased that we are hosting it at the DC2!
Can't wait for next issue, and to see what Hex was up to in the War Years!
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Post by goldk on Apr 6, 2006 9:13:14 GMT -5
Another great story. I really loathe Hex's father.
You piqued my interest with your trail talk and I moseyed on over to read "The Long Road Home"; you are going to cost me my job. I spent the entire day reading the story instead of working! I know that we will see your name on a comic cover or a dust jacket very soon.
Your grasp of all the characters are amazing! In the Long road home, I kept thinking, Hal just take off the stupid mask....but it was spot on that he wouldn't. Love it!
Thanks for letting me do this cover. I am proud to have worked with such an amazing talent!
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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 6, 2006 20:22:54 GMT -5
Thanks as always for the words of praise, guys, and again, I gotta tip my hat to Michael Fleisher, who laid out most of the path before me. If only he'd bothered to lay it out in chronological order instead of a piece here and there! Hell, a great deal of Jonah's experiences in the Civil War (coming next issue!) were detailed years before Cassie Wainwright was ever mentioned, although on the timeline she came before that period. The man rationed out info at an agonizingly slow pace, hence the whole reason I wanted to do this particular story: to lay it all out in one cohesive narrative, in the order it happened, and fill in the blanks...and believe me, there are HUGE blanks in some places.
Sorry I almost made you lose your job, Roy, I'll try to write lousier next time. Writing Hal was fun, especially since he and Jonah don't appear to mix at first glance. But as I was checking background stuff for TLRH, I began to see that the two of them sometimes moved along the same lines: they both think of the law and justice as two separate things, they've both had their devotion to their jobs interfere with their personal lives (sometimes at great cost), and they both get women like nobody's business!
As for liking Jonah despite his faults, that goes back to my last Trail Talk: the guy is about as close to "real" as a comic book character can get, and I think that's part of his appeal. He is not perfect, I'll never try and make him come off as perfect, and in the next couple issues, you'll witness things that are about as imperfect as life can get, but they'll all be true. Well, true in the sense that they're canon.
Speaking of next issue, it should be out in July/August -- I'm in the middle of rewriting a chapter for my novel (and yes, there are Western elements in it!), and I want to get that part done before hitting WWQ#3. Plus as I mentioned before, the next issue will be covering the Civil War, and since that's honest-to-God history, I want to make sure I've got all the bases covered on that point -- I'm not drawing up battle plans or anything, just making sure I'm up to speed on how things worked back then. Despite how it looks, I don't memorize this stuff for the most part, I've just got great reference material.
- SH
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Post by starlord on Apr 7, 2006 11:55:17 GMT -5
Great job Susan! Once again I wanted to strangle his father, but the guy actually ended up doing right by Jonah, although not be his own design. This really was great work and so far, when it comes to westerns, you are the only writer I have ever read and enjoyed. Can't wait for the next one.
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Post by markymark261 on Apr 17, 2006 9:05:08 GMT -5
Great stuff, although I preferred the first issue where the scattered bits of canon worked fine as individual stories, whereas some of the events here never seemed to get resolved (although I suspect they might get sorted out in future issues). I especially liked the ending of this issue (no back-handed compliment intended). I also thought the concept of Jonah helping somebody improve their English bordered on comic genius.
On the picky front, there were a few bits where you seemed to have missed out words, e.g. "Jonah was about spit out", "Jonah had to disciplined", "Jonah began crawl out from the underbrush", "in a couple extreme cases".
Also liked the cover and the way it just showed one side of Jonah's face.
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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 19, 2006 2:03:06 GMT -5
As I told Charlie after he once called me a "Western afficianado", I've never read any Western novels myself, save for a few books (I don't count reference books, that's different). Most of the stories don't appeal to me, just the setting and the history. It would be interesting to get the opinion of a REAL Western-story reader on this (beyond the comic books, I mean) to see how I compare to the normal prose genre.
Some issues in this story will be resolved by the end, Mark, others will not...and a few other problems will crop up soon as well. You'll just have to keep reading.
I hadn't thought about how goofy it would be for Jonah, with his thick accent and all, to be teaching White Fawn English. There are some things that I write and don't realize until someone points them out -- I just figured she'd be picking up his language while she taught him Apache.
Ah, the cover! Let's give Roy a hand for that! He and I were still passing sketches back and forth when David suddenly said we were posting it, but luckily he's quick. I've been pretty specific with the artists on what I want to see, and hiding the right side of Jonah's face on this one was sort-of intentional (if you look at #1's cover, it's obscured on young Jonah there, as well). I know most of you don't know how he got the scar (though all you need is one Internet search for the answer), so I've been playing with that on the covers and in the story.
Don't worry folks, when the moment comes, you'll know it.
- SH
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Post by HoM on Apr 19, 2006 17:52:22 GMT -5
I thought it was a very cool cover, and I too noticed how his face was obscured...  |
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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 Jul 27, 2006 19:17:09 GMT -5
Late-breaking news from WWQ HQ (try to say THAT five times fast!): Due to some sort of "Crisis" going on throughout the DC2 (but not here, 'cause we prefer to stay out of the business of future-folk), WWQ#3 has been delayed until September. Please, stop booing and throwing tomatoes, this sort of thing happens -- Hell, we're still more timely than a lot of official books, so chill out. I must take part of the blame for this, anyhow: my computer had a frickin' seizure a month ago, and I almost lost all the work I'd done up to that point, so I was late handing it in.
The good news is, once #3 comes out, you'll only have one month to wait until #4, which will conclude our lil' story! So smiles, everyone! You wish for WWQ to go monthly will be fulfilled, if only for 2 issues! After that, it's business as usual 'round here, and we shall never speak of these sort of problems again. In the meantime, go re-read WWQ#0-2 so the story stays fresh in your mind. Matter of fact, while you're at it, go out and buy some of the new Jonah Hex comics, especially #3, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 when it comes out next week...and buy the Jonah Hex Showcase trade too...
Oh, and I guess you should read this CRISIS: THE APOKOLIPS IMPERATIVE stuff as well. Figure if they're gonna bump us off-schedule, we should at least look at it...
- SH
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