All-Star Western #17 Review

The longer All-Star Western goes on, the harder it is to understand why Jonah Hex doesn't pack up, leave Gotham, and return to the lawless frontier from whence he came. This new arc that kicks off in issue #17 doesn't even feel much like a Hex story, as both he and Arkham are little more than quiet supporting players. However, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray find success in exploring the colorful history of Gotham and the ancestors of contemporary Gothamites.

This issue is notable for bringing Vandal Savage into the picture. This is a far different take on a late 19th Century, Gotham-dwelling Savage than the one seen in Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne #4. He's a lot more cheerful, for one thing, as well as somewhat more morally ambiguous in the beginning. The writers focus mainly on the first meeting between Savage and Alan Wayne, with an outbreak of cholera in the Gotham slums serving as a backdrop to the conflict. Again, not much of a Hex story, but it's entertaining regardless. And Moritat's artwork is more consistent and detailed than it has been of late.

The main problem with this issue is that both the pacing and writing style are fairly haphazard. Early pages feature an excessive amount of omniscient narration that eventually just vanishes without a trace. Once Hex and Arkham are called upon to carry out their newest mission, the narrative hops all about and fails to provide clear transitions between scenes. Readers are just asked to accept the fact that cholera victims are suddenly behaving like zombies. The latter half of this issue could have benefited from the more methodical pace of the former.

The backup feature is a bit more well-rounded. Here, Palmiotti and Gray introduce readers to the 19th Century incarnation of Stormwatch. The star of this opening chapter is that era's Century Baby, Jenny Future. As much as this backup could be viewed as a rehash of Demon Knights in a different time period, all that really matters is that it offers a fun blend of Wild West adventure and steampunk aesthetic. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this version of Stormwatch take shape in subsequent chapters.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

Source : ign[dot]com