A QUICK JONAH HEX WORD WITH PHIL NOTO

[MattBrady]

With this week’s issue of Jonah Hex, artist Phil Noto joined the club made up of artists who’ve breathed life back into DC’s Western icon, along with writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray.

Known for his stylized work on projects such as Beautiful Killer and The New West (both of which with Palmiotti) as well as dozens of covers, Noto has attracted quite a following. And as for landing this gig?

“I just lucked into it after having already done a cover for #3 and Jimmy and I work together well,” Noto said. “This experience was nice in the sense that both Jimmy and I were forced to get stuff done deadline-wise where the Black Bull stuff was little more open ended and free, but I usually do better work under a certain amount of pressure. Adding Justin to the mix this time was great because it was another creative mind in the mix and he had a lot of good notes. Jimmy and Justin just know the character really well, and I also think the stand alone stories have a lot to do with the popularity the book has found. Westerns such as Deadwood and Unforgiven have shown that you can do any kind of story just set in the western genre without it being something about cattle rustlers and Indians. Also, working with Michael [Siglain, edtior] is great too. His notes make sense, which isn’t always the case with editors and he also picks up his phone when you call.”

Par for the course for that Palmiotti and Gray have charted for the series to date, issue #10 was…pretty rough in terms of content, what with the people being fed to gators, women raped, men stabbed and an accidental shotgun blast that blew a mentally-challenged man’s head clean off. For Noto, the extreme content wasn’t a problem.

“It’s actually not as bad as the first version that had gators raped, babies stabbed and the mentally challenged guy being fed to women. Just kidding. One of the things about Hex is that his whole world is violent. The Wild West was just that, wild. It’s more fun to draw a comic that’s like a Peckinpah movie rather than something out of an episode of Big Valley.

For those who notice such things, the original cover (below) isn’t the version which made the final cut (above). “Originally, I had envisioned a larger scale cover, kind of like Jaws,” Noto said. “It was later decided that Hex’s pretty face needed to be a little larger so it would say Jonah Hex and not Steve Irwin.”



The cover, and the above mentioned content, Noto said, were a pleasant change from what he’s usually asked to draw. “Beautiful spy girls are fun to draw, and it’s certainly not the worst thing to be typecast as a good girl artist but I’m glad I had the opportunity to try to break out of that role a bit. It truly does get a little boring drawing flowing hair and big boobs all the time.”



And finally – though he’s ready at the drop of a ten gallon hat to come back to Jonah Hex, when asked, he’s still working with Palmiotti…well, has been for a while, actually. “We’ve actually been working on a book called Triggergirl 6 which will eventually see the light of day.”

[thefellowship12]

Looking forward to reading this issue a lot.

[blinkless]

You probably only need to read it once or twice....

[swoodey]

Much love for Phil Noto's work.

[Charlie Hustle]

love this guy's art

[jdowney488]

Wow Fantastic art...kinda looks like the crocodile ive been hiding in my bath!!!

[martinp]

This issue has great art. It is hard for some artist to capture the right feel for Jonah Hex, but I really like Noto's style. His panels never feel cluttered. Keep it comin'.

[J -]

the linked pages are 1.5 mb each. that gets annoying after the first one

[pop monkey]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

“Beautiful spy girls are fun to draw, and it’s certainly not the worst thing to be typecast as a good girl artist but I’m glad I had the opportunity to try to break out of that role a bit. It truly does get a little boring drawing flowing hair and big boobs all the time.”

God bless you, you poor spoiled bastard.
Seriously, Phil, congrats on the issue (it looks great) and your ever-increasing popularity. You're a great guy, and it's well deserved. Hope to see you soon!

[astronato]

I just read this and wow. I love this series and this was the best issue so far. Damn if Jonah ain't badass and this book wasn't beautifully soaked in blood. Justice can be ugly!

If DC is looking at comics to turn into DVD movies and series, Jonah Hex would be perfect. It's appeal in a comic book store may be dwarfed in comparison to superheroes books but in a different medium like tv or dvd rental, Jonah might appeal to a different (and possibly large) audience.

Anyway, Jonah Hex is DC's best monthly book, in my opinion.

Keep up the good work!

[Drcharles]

With last months # 8, which I meant to post a comment on, but never did, I have placed Jonah on a standing order, its become an easy bk to get through, and actually like, without trying to remember what happened the previous month.
I love Westerns, and its nice to see DC getting back to a mixture of various Genres in their monthly output.
Will this Phil Noto be on Jonah for a while, and what about interior art ? it would be nice to see his art inside also.
I just hope that this title as a long run.
its because of reading this new version, I am thinking of tracking down other back issues from the old series, to see how they compare. Anyone got any suggestions on issues worth picking up ?
I've heard that Vertigos' Jonah was unusual, because he was pitched against Vampires ! sounds pretty cool.
Keep up the great work DC.
Thanks.

[bsmith]

Originally Posted by Drcharles

its because of reading this new version, I am thinking of tracking down other back issues from the old series, to see how they compare. Anyone got any suggestions on issues worth picking up ?
I've heard that Vertigos' Jonah was unusual, because he was pitched against Vampires ! sounds pretty cool.
Keep up the great work DC.
Thanks.

A good place to start is the economical "Jonah Hex" SHOWCASE edition, for under $20 you get a boatload of B&W reprints of Jonah's first stories. The art looks great in B&W too, and you really get an appreciation for Tony DeZuniga's work.

I've read the first Jonah Hex a-la Vertigo mini, "Two-Gun Mojo", and it was a LOT of fun. The writing and art was top-notch and while it isn't the same style as the new monthly, you can totally appreciate it on its own. I don't have the other 2 minis but remember the second, "Riders of the Worm and Such", was also good. You can get the first mini in TPB.

I didn't even mind the 18-issue HEX series, which took place right after the first series ended (#92 or so) and transported Jonah into a post-apocalyptic future. I like him way better in the western environment, but if you sort of close your eyes and look at HEX as a different series altogether it's not bad.

bsmith

[J.D. Lombardi]

Noto rocks! I forgot this was coming out, as I'm not a series collector...I'll be damned sure to put it in the list for next week though. I'm on Hex as long as Noto is.

[Drcharles]

Originally Posted by bsmith

I didn't even mind the 18-issue HEX series, which took place right after the first series ended (#92 or so) and transported Jonah into a post-apocalyptic future. I like him way better in the western environment, but if you sort of close your eyes and look at HEX as a different series altogether it's not bad.

bsmith

Yeah, cheers, I forgot all about this series, This is the one that I had heard about, and its the one that I would like to read the most.

Thanks for that anyway.