Gray: What stands out initially is the great artists we've had the pleasure of working with, very talented people with wildly varying styles, which happens to be another phenomena with Hex. All we set out to do was deliver a quality comic on time every month. You know, keep our heads down, do the work, tell interesting stories and love the job.
Nrama: You guys have certainly attracted a lot of top-level artists. Why do you think so many artists are drawn toward Hex?
Palmiotti: Well first, they owe me some favors. Others, we have photos. And last, a lot of artists need a break from the same old superhero routine and really get a thrill in digging in for an issue and getting to illustrate a good, classic, Western comic. It never ceases to amaze me the level of talent we get approached by asking to do an issue.
Gray: Everyone has different reasons for joining us on the book. For some artists, it's a chance to stretch their muscles and work in a completely different genre. Some love the character. Some are crazy enough to enjoy working with us.
Nrama: What artists are coming up next in the comic?
Palmiotti: As you may know, Jordi Bernet is our go-to guy. We get as many books as he can illustrate a year, and we are blessed to have someone with his talent aboard. Issue #54 out now was Jordi featuring Starman. Issue #55 features the art of classic Jonah Hex artist Vincent Alcazar and it's just beautiful. And that cover features the work of my good friend Walt Simonson.
Issue #56 sports a Darwyn Cooke cover with stories by C.P. Smith and Phil Winslate. Issue 57 is by Jordi once again and features an all-star line up of DC classic Western characters.
After that we have a Brian Stelfreeze issue, a special issue by Nelson Decastro - one of my favorite people in the world - and have a bunch of guest spots we are not allowed to speak about yet.
Nrama: How involved were the two of you with the film? Are you being made aware of the premise or anything about the screenplay? And is there anything you can tell us about what you know (even if it's only to calm fears of Hollywood ruining a beloved comic character)?
Palmiotti: Not a lot. We visited the set for one day and saw them shoot two scenes that were fun to watch. We also had a few calls from the director and the producers asking about the history of the character and certain details that we hope are going to be used in the film.
Once or twice we sent them some comics as well, as reference to a scene or idea. We also got to read the original screenplay, but since then, it has gone through changes and additions and such, which is common in Hollywood.
At this point, when we watch the trailer and the film, we're going to be like the rest of you. It will be the first time. We've heard the film is different than the comic for sure. It's a bit more fantastic, has some supernatural aspects and it pushes in places exclusive to the film. What I can say is I think Josh Brolin is a great pick.
Gray: Yea, Josh is amazing as Hex and has the swagger, grit and complexity to pull it off.
Like Jimmy said, we flew down to the set in April of '09 and met Jimmy Hayward, Josh Brolin and John Malkovich. We watched them shoot a few scenes and had some fun observing the process of a night shoot. They're all great guys.
Josh was concerned about how he looked as Hex and if we felt he was the right for the role, which is the sign of an actor that truly cares about representing a character. The crew was also amazing and embraced us with a real affection for our run on the book, and in particular, they loved issues #16 and #17.
With regard to the negative connotation that Hollywood ruins books or comics or whatever, that depends on the perspective and what you're trying to achieve. There's a tremendously supportive and loyal but admittedly small fan base that has embraced what we've done, and believe me, we love those fans and everyone who supports our run on Jonah Hex. Sadly, there's a hell of a lot of people that have no idea the book or character exists. For a majority of moviegoers this will be their first exposure to Jonah Hex, and it is most likely designed to appeal to as possible.
As Jimmy said, we haven't seen it, but we know it is action-packed and there are great people working on it, so I while I have high expectations, I also want to go into it with a fresh set of eyes.
Nrama: Have you seen the Jonah Hex animated short on the Batman: Under the Hood DVD? Anything you can tell us about it?
Palmiotti: We are very excited about the animated short. It's written by the brilliant Joe Landsdale and loosely based on our issue of Jonah Hex #19 that was illustrated by Phil Noto. I can't wait to see what Joe and the crew at Warner animation has done to the story, and overall, I am really excited about the idea of these shorts. I cross my fingers that they do one on Power Girl and use Amanda on it. How cool would that be?
Gray: That would be very cool. As far as I'm concerned, there cant be enough attention directed at Jonah Hex because it will hopefully translate into comic sales and that's where we do our work in growing the mythology of the coolest western comic character ever created. I love Landsdale's writing and I'm a huge fan of Bubba Ho-Tep.
Nrama: What's coming up next in the Jonah Hex comic? And what will we see after Issue #56? Any new characters or new stories that people might want to look out for?
Palmiotti: This is the year of Jonah Hex - I say that every year - and with that, we have a lot of exciting guest starts showing up in the book - and on the book - that we think will bring the readers back for the book each time. Honestly, we do our best day-in and day-out to bring excitement to the title and keep the talent pool full of not only the top artists, but to experiment a bit as well with the medium.
Gray: Tony Harris has us flexing our creative muscles for his issue I can tell you that we've had some fun exchanges about the story he's illustrating, and it should be a lot of fun to read.