(Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo #1) - Jonah Hex returned to the Old West era. Hex was ambushed by a Traywick woman, and after he shot her in the head her brothers, the Traywick Boys gang captured him and strung him from a tree. The bounty hunter Slow Go Smith was after the Traywick Boys, which took a while due to his poor eyesight, and after shooting them all, he cut Hex down. Hex told Smith he owed him one, and Smith was disappointed to learn Hex hadn’t heard tell of his exploits. Smith cut off the Traywick Boys’ heads and stuffed them in a bag so he could collect the bounty. Hex and Smith made their way to Mud Creek, Texas, where a local entrepreneur tried to see them a look at pictures of outlaws the townsfolk had just gunned down. Hex disliked his ghoulish business and threatened to make him bleed if he didn’t get away. Smith went to the sheriff's office to get his bounty, and learned that the “outlaws” the townsfolk had killed were innocent men mistakenly identified as the Traywicks. The sheriff didn’t want his constituents mistake getting out, and agreed to pay Smith, but since the original bounty had already been paid and spent the best he could do was give Smith a voucher, telling him to wait a few days. He asked Hex how he got his scars, and Hex replied that he was chewing a toothpick when it slipped. Hex and Smith went to a saloon to grab some whiskey, and they witnessed two men abusing a Native American waitress, telling her to lick up the beer they intentionally spilled. Hex roughed them up, and made one of the men lick the other’s boots at gunpoint. The bartender tried to pull a rifle out, and Smith knocked him out by throwing his pistol at him, admitting to Hex he knew his chances of hitting the bartender with the gun were better than trying to shoot him with it. Hex and Smith found lodgings for the night and shared a room, but Hex couldn’t sleep because of Smith’s incessant snoring and kicked him out, telling him to sleep in the nearby stables. Smith was irritated to find out he’d be sharing the stables with the Price Gang, two of the corpses local paid money to see pictures of. Smith was woken in the middle of the night when one of the corpses came to life and walked toward him. Smith shot the zombie to no effect, and the corpse responded by raising a gun and shooting him.

(Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo #2, 3) - Smith was hit in the side, and saw the arrival of Doc “Cross” Williams, who ordered his flunkies String Bean Jones, Half Pint and Ramona to load the Price Boys up in his cart. He was accompanied by the reanimated corpse of Wild Bill Hickok, who shot Slow Go several more times, fatally wounding him. Hex went to the stables to see what the commotion was, and Hickok shot him, with the bullet razing Hex’s skull. Doc and company rode off, and Hex sat with Slow Go as he died, promising to find who killed him and put a bullet between their eyes. The sheriff and townsfolk of Mud Creek responded to the gunfire, and not believing Hex’s story that circus freaks had killed his friend, he was hauled off to jail to await sentencing. The next day the sheriff explained his theory that Slow Go and Hex stole the Price corpses to make money off them as an attraction, and after an argument he’d shot Smith. Hex pointed out that that story made no sense, but the sheriff didn’t care, and looked forward to Hex being hung after his trial, and collecting the bounty money for the Traywicks for himself. Judge Sam Griffith was at a picnic and didn’t want to leave, so he sent the sheriff a letter condemning Hex, and giving the sheriff permission to hang Hex. The townsfolk set up the gallows and the mood in town was festive, as men, women and children crowded the town square enjoying concessions and looking forward to the execution. The Native American waitress Hex had saved earlier snuck into the sheriff’s office, distracted the lawman by removing her top, and shot him in the head. She freed Hex from his cell, and he thanked her for her kindness. They stole a horse and galloped through the crowd, many of whom drew their guns, with Hex shooting the men selling looks at outlaw corpses because he found their profession distasteful. A man shot Hex’s new ally in the back, so Hex gutshot him and rode out of town. The townsfolk didn’t want to be cheated out of seeing a hanging, so they formed a lynch mob. Hex rode into nearby woods, getting a jump on the incoming posse, and after shooting several of them dead the rest decided to leave him be. The young native woman died of her injuries, and Hex thought that it was typical that anyone he got along with died. Jonah snuck back into town at sunrise, and found Slow Go’s body in the town dump. He put the stiffened corpse on the back of his horse, and followed the tracks from Doc Williams’ wagon to the nearby town of Nacogdoches. Hex found the local undertaker, Neal Barrett, and paid him to put his friend to rest, warning that he’d return and kill the undertaker if Smith wasn’t buried properly. Hex spotted Doc putting on his medicine and magic show for the townsfolk, extolling the benefits of his cure-all “Sweet Brown” Tonic. Doc touted his entourage as regular drinkers of the tonic, and had fat lady Ramona perform acrobatics before String Bean lifted her over his head while Half-Pint juggled. Hex followed them as they wrapped up their show and went to the outskirts of town. Doc opened up his pickling barrel, pulling out Wild Bill Hickok’s corpse, and bringing him back to a semblance of life with one of his potions. Hex knew he had an opportunity to gun everyone down, but his curiosity got the better of him because he was mystified by what he saw. Doc went to sleep in his wagon while Hickok stood guard. Hex snuck past Wild Bill and woke Doc up, waving a gun in his face. Doc said he was startled because he thought Hex was the Devil who was supposed to come for him at some point. Hex refused to believe Doc when he said he’d resurrected Wild Bill, and while they were jawing Hickok got the jump on Hex, and Doc cracked him over the head with a bottle. Doc told Wild Bill he’d have a new friend for him soon and stuffed Hex in a pickling barrel.

(Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo #4, 5) - Doc forced Hex to drink his zombie potion, which he’d learned to make in Haiti. He told Hex that the potion would burn his brain, and within days he’d be Doc’s mindless followers, just like the rest of his entourage. Doc went on to explain that at first he’d need to help Hex eat, use the bathroom, and remind him to sleep, but after a few more doses of the potion Hex wouldn’t have any of those needs anymore. Hex was playing possum, and forced himself to vomit up as much of the potion as he could. Doc kept him in the barrel as he rode to another town, and regaled him with the story of how he’d raised up Wild Bill Hickok after he’d been shot by Jack McCall. When Doc stopped the wagon, and took his entourage to set up camp Hex made his move, kicking his way out of the barrel. Hex ended up tumbling into a river and swept up in the current, but was brought ashore by good samaritan Jeff McGuire and his son Billy. They took Hex in for a few days, and Jeff gave him pistols and a horse when he was ready to light out. Hex was surprised by his hospitality, especially after he learned that Jeff recognized him. Jeff said he was a private at Gettysburg, and after seeing Hex in action knew he was no coward nor villain. Hex tracked Doc from Texas into New Mexico, when he spotted a band of Chiricahua Apache torturing a soldier. Hex shot the soldier to put him out of his misery, which started a firefight between him and the Apache. Hex nearly avoided getting shot, and fell down a hillside, running smack into Doc, his crew, and a division of soldiers. The cavalry sergeant told Hex they were escorting Doc and his side show through Apache territory when they were ambushed and pinned down by Apache gunfire. The cavalry had already lost a number of men, but Wild Bill’s sharpshooting had kept them all from getting slaughtered. Night fell, and the Chiricahua fell back, but still had them surrounded. Hex knew the Chiricahua would most likely attack again in the dead of night, and the sergeant put Hex on first watch. Doc was incredulous that Hex was still alive, and Jonah told him that if the Apaches didn’t kill them he would. As Hex predicted the Chiricahua attacked at night, and Doc was in his wagon, riding full speed and telling his entourage to protect him at all costs. Doc’s zombies took incredible damage, but they did manage to ride off into the night. The cavalry was slaughtered by the Chiricahua, with only Hex and the sergeant surviving. They fled into the desert with the Chiricahua on their trail until the early morning, when the sergeant, dying of his wounds, shot himself in the head rather than have Hex be slowed down by him. Hex finally caught up to Doc. Ramona, String Bean and Half-Pint had taken too many bullets, and were now good and truly dead. Doc was currently roasting Ramona and devouring her corpse. Doc commanded Wild Bill to kill Hex, and Hex managed to shoot out Bill’s eyes and scored a direct headshot. Wild Bill shot blindly, and kept shooting until the last of his brains fell from his skull. Hex told Doc he wasn’t going to kill him, instead he shot both Doc’s kneecaps and left him for the approaching Apache, who Hex knew would spend days torturing Doc to death. With his friend avenged Hex went into town for a drink.

(Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such #1, 2) - <Texas Panhandle, 1870s> Jonah shot some bullies and burned down a town, and despite his explanation that “them folks needed holes in ‘em anyway” the law put another bounty on his head. Hex laid low with Tex Smith, who he’d served with in the Civil War, and his wife Alice. Bounty hunters lead by Stove Belly Jack learned Hex was staying on their farm, and tortured Alice to make her reveal his location. Tex couldn’t stand to see his wife being hurt, and told them Hex was in their barn, but the bounty hunters still killed Alice and fatally injured Tex. Jack and some of his men burst into the barn, but Hex was hiding in a pile of manure and got the jump on them, shooting them dead. Hex tied one of their corpses to two horses, and let them out of the stable, drawing the fire of the rest of Jack’s crew. While they were shooting at the decoy Hex killed them all. Hex staid with Tex in his final moments and gave him a proper burial. Hex rode off on his horse, but he’d been shot in the side during the firefight, and collapsed. Billy the Kid and his companion Ears found Hex. They gave him water, poured whiskey on his wound, and brought him to a shack they were holed up in. Despite their kindness Hex couldn’t help but mock Ear for his oversized ears, admitting to his new friends that he was always full of bad attitude. Billy piled on mocking Ears, and Ears made fun of the Kid for his youth. They proceeded to argue over who had the better success with women. They went to sleep, but tentacles burst from the ground and dragged their horses underground. Ears stuck his head out the window to see what was going on, and the tentacles wrapped around him, ripping him in half. Jonah and Billy staid awake all night with their guns at the ready, and when dawn broke they buried what remained of Ears. They decided to partner up for a bit, and agreed that when they parted company neither would mention that they knew the other, since they were both wanted men. With no horses they made the long walk across the desert under a scorching sun, and came across a group of mutilated cattle whose heads had been torn off and insides ripped out. They met up with a group of cowboys who asked if they knew what happened to their cattle, and the Kid couldn’t help but be a wiseguy, saying all he knew was that the cows smelled worse than an old woman’s diaper. Cowboy Paco took an immediate dislike to them, but after Hex related what happened to their horses the riding boss Hedge said he knew what was responsible, and invited them to meet their boss Mr. Graves. The cowboys rode to their home, the Wilde West Ranch and Music and Culture Emporium. They played some awful guitar tunes that made Hex and the Kid cover their ears, saying Mr. Graves insisted they bring art and culture to the Wild West. Mr. Graves complained that too many of their songs were about body functions or sex, and after greeting Hex and the Kid told them they were invited to dinner, but insisted they take a bath. The begrudgingly agreed, and Hedge told them that what had killed their friend and the cattle were the Worms, a monstrous subterranean race, but Hex was skeptical. At dinner a guitarist sang a tribute to Oscar Wilde, Grave’s inspiration for opening the Wilde West. A Worm burst through the floor, ate the singer and burrowed out of sight.

(Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such #3-5) - Mr. Graves offered Hex and the Kid the job of defending the Wilde West from the Worms, but Jonah said he had plenty of questions he’d need answers to before considering. Graves took them into his office along with Brunhilda, his senior and most trusted ranch hand. Hex took a shine to her because of her curvy figure and gruff sense of humor. Graves first told them the story of how he met Oscar Wilde, and was inspired by him to found the Wilde West. Billy the Kid thought poetry and music wasn’t something he could get into until Graves told him the pay was $35 a week on the ranch. The Kid took up a guitar immediately, but found his rhyme scheme would need some practice. Graves then told them about the Worms of the Earth, a subterranean prehistoric race older than man. They had their own technology, and Graves produced a stone made by the Worms that recorded visuals of their own history. The stone showed the Worms war against Native American tribes, and how the tribes used their weakness to light and fire to force them back underground, sealing off the Worms’ tunnels to the surface. Graves produced a Worm / human fetus in a jar, and told the story of how the land that would become the Wilde West was bought by Errol Autumn. Errol dynamited the stony land, accidentally opening the Worms’ tunnels. The Worms emerged, forced themselves on his wife, and she later gave birth to three hybrids, two of which survived. The surviving Autumn Brothers were responsible for the current trouble on the ranch. Big Worm controlled the Autumns and wanted her land back. Jonah and Brunhilda slipped away to make love, and when he offered her chewing tobacco afterwards she said she was falling for him. Afterwards Jonah went to the mess hall and told Graves they’d been going about it all wrong by just defending themselves from Worm attacks; they had to take the offensive. He proposed that in the morning, when the Worms would be vulnerable to the light outside, they use the hole created by Big Worm to make a raid on the monsters. The Autumn Brothers and their numerous hybrid cousins were also preparing a raid on the Wilde West, and the next morning they put tumbleweeds on fire, lit it ablaze, and crashed the cart into the ranch’s gates, forcing the ranch hands to open the gates and leaving them vulnerable. The Autumns easily took the fort, and got the ranchers to reveal where Hex and company had gone after setting several ranchers on fire. The Autumns and their cousins went underground, looking to ambush Hex and his companions. Hex and company found the underground city where the Worms’ dwelt, and it was filled with mechanical marvels such as motor cars, elevators and mechanical men, but the Worms had long ago forgotten how to create such marvels. Deep in the city the Autumns attacked, but lost in a gunfight with Hex. As the brothers lay dying they admitted that it wasn’t such a big deal because their lives were horrible anyway and no one liked them except each other. Hex and company were attacked my a mob of Worms and Big Worm. Paco sacrificed himself, getting swallowed by Big Worm, but setting off dynamite inside her, and blowing her to pieces. The rest of the Worms lost their will to fight and slunk away into deeper tunnels. Hex dynamited the entranced to the Worms’ tunnels, and enjoyed the adventure so much that he gave his try at a ballad recounting it. Graves, the Kid and Brunhilda found his singing awful enough to make them sneak away.

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