Post by Susan Hillwig on Feb 17, 2009 13:14:36 GMT -5
The whole time I’ve had this gig at WWQ, I’ve done my best to pay attention to what the readers want, and to fulfill their wishes when I can. Over the years, however, there has been very little in the way of requests (beyond “please go monthly”, I mean), so I’ve pretty much been doing whatever stories struck my fancy...but with this issue, I shall begin to fulfill one long-standing request.
Despite my love for Jonah Hex and my natural gravitation towards telling tales about him, I never planned on covering his relationship with Mei Ling to any large degree. I figured that there wasn’t much I could add regarding that, but I noticed that a few people kept asking me if I would do something with her. Even Jimmy & Justin got requests to cover her in the “official” book, and they have mentioned her in a couple stories, but only in fleeting ways. So as I got back to work on WWQ after my little hiatus, I decided that, yes indeed, it was time to bring in Mei Ling.
As you’ll see in coming issues, she really made a mark on Jonah’s life, both personally and in regards to his character history. Up until that point in the original series, Jonah never had a girlfriend that lasted more than two issues: they would get killed, or they’d turn out to have ulterior motives for wooing him, or whatever. Basically, he had a lousy track record. So here comes this lil’ China girl that pretty much changes Hex’s whole outlook on things, and we’re not talking about an issue or two this time, we’re talking a whole year (both in real time and comics time) of the two of them having serious relations. After a few months of this, fans started writing in to the book and asking (to the effect), “How long until she gets killed?” I don’t think it was that anybody disliked her, it’s just that they all knew Jonah’s track record, and they were waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I’m telling you this because, if all goes as planned, this story arc will be running in WWQ for close to two years. It’s not that it’s a long story, it’s just the quarterly schedule spacing it out really far. And I reckon that, as time goes on and you begin to see how Jonah and Mei Ling’s relationship plays out, you might start to wonder yourself when the other shoe is gonna drop. So consider this forewarning: yes, it will drop, and it’s gonna drop hard. It won’t be exactly the same as it was the first time around, but it’s still gonna leave Jonah in a world of hurt.
Just remember, kids, you asked for it.
- Susan Hillwig
"IT'S BAT-HOMBRE!": For those who haven't been watching "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" over on Cartoon Network, ol' Jonah made a cameo recently (just a quickie thing in the teaser, not the whole episode, sadly). Don was nice enough to send me a link, and since we're starting up a new Hex arc, I thought I'd share it with y'all.
www.comicbookresources.com/?page=video&show_id=60088
