In ‘All-Star Western’ #11, the followers of the Crime Bible had captured Jonah Hex, Amadeus Arkham, and Tallulah Black and were planning on torturing and killing them. Yet somehow Miss Black escaped and was running free somewhere in their compound. Oh boy! This is going to get messy, isn’t it?

This issue kicks off with blood and death as Tallulah kills the Crime Bible followers’ guards and arms herself. I won’t ruin it too much but when Tallulah uses knives and axes, I think I’d prefer she just have a gun if I were going up against her. After getting some pistols, Talluah heads back to free Hex and Arkham. The Crime Bible followers are having none of this and send out their best fighter against Black.

While Tallulah is having her skirmish outside, Hex spills the beans to the Crime followers about a meeting that he had with Alan Wayne a couple of issue back. Hex suggested that, in an effort to get rid of both Crime Bible followers and the Court of Owls, that Wayne should use his considerable wealth and influence to make Gotham into a better place.

After Hex’s tale, the Crime Bible gang are about to finish their killing of Hex and Arkham when the bullets start flying again. By the story’s end, there are more body parts lost, more blood spilled, and some good old fashioned justice is served.

In the epilogue, we’re hinted at the next story when a mysterious figure arrives to procure the services of Hex and Arkham and it looks like this weird west tale is about to get a little more weird.

Of course, that’ll have to wait since next month is DC Comics’ Zero Month, where one-shot issues are going to give side stories and origins. So next up in ‘All-Star Western’ #0 is the new origin of Jonah Hex. I wonder what Gray and Palmiotti are going to do with this one since this story has been told before.

After the main Hex/Arkham/Black story, the backup tale this month continues the adventures of Dr. Terrence Thirteen, the steampunk-inspired man of science. Last issue, Dr. Thirteen was on the trail of a ghostly highwayman who had been robbing local citizens. Dr. Thirteen, being a civilized man, realizes that this “ghost” isn’t all that he seems to be. This issue, he uses his skills of deduction to track down the person responsible for the robberies. It’s a rousing fun story and I can’t wait to see more of the good doctor.

Next month’s #0 apparently won’t have a backup story since the tag at the end of this issue says: “Coming in two months: Tomahawk!” Now there’s a character I haven’t read in a long long time! I love how many awesome western characters are in the company’s illustrious history. Add to that the new characters that Gray and Palmiotti are coming up with and you’ve got a goldmine of storytelling that has barely been touched upon.

Final Score:

 

ALL-STAR WESTERN #12
Story by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Moritat & Scott Kolins
Cover by Rafa Garres