Review: All Star Western Vol. 3- The Black Diamond Probability

April 8, 2019 ComicBookWire

Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline manages to capture the same levels of action and tension seen in previous volumes. The artwork looks good throughout the book and complements the story.

Cons: Almost all of the secondary characters end up being rather disappointing. One of the subplots never develops properly and is dropped just as it starts to get interesting. The backup story is lackluster.

Overall: The third volume in this series is alright and manages to capture some fun but fails to do anything truly special. The book’s primary successes come from Jonah Hex’s ability to get into exciting situations, which are then enhanced by some solid artwork. However, outside of this, the book falters a lot and is disappointing in a number of places. Readers already interested in Jonah Hex will likely enjoy this collection but newer readers may want to start out somewhere else.

Story

All Star Western Vol. 3: The Black Diamond Probability, by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, does not quite live up to the instant appeal of its two predecessors. This collection has action, suspense, and plenty of classic moments from Jonah Hex. However, nearly all of the secondary characters underperform and some of the subplots fail to develop into anything more than a distraction from the main action. Even the backup story feels a bit subpar, especially when compared to the backup stories in previous volumes. In the end, this book is still an enjoyable showcase of Jonah Hex as a character but isn’t a great book overall.

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The main storyline in The Black Diamond Probability is just as thrilling as the storylines in the previous two volumes. It has killer clowns, insane Gotham citizens, and a cannibalistic version of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. Specifically, this storyline gets really tense when Jonah is crippled by Mr. Hyde. He is forced to spend an agonizingly long time in a cast and is, eventually, approached once more by Mr. Hyde. Having Jonah Hex at his most vulnerable and forcing him to face down an incredibly powerful villain makes for a tense moment and is probably the highlight of this comic.

However, The Black Diamond Probability suffers from rather disappointing performances from the secondary cast members. In previous volumes, watching Jonah Hex bicker with Amadeus Arkham or flirt with Tallulah Black was a major part of the appeal. However, in this volume, Amadeus only gets a few entertaining moments and Tallulah leaves the book before contributing much of anything to the plot.

Alongside this, a new character, from the backup story in All Star Western Vol. 1 (Review) shows up and brings an entirely new subplot with her. However, this subplot is never actually followed up on and only serves to escort Tallulah out of the main plot. It is a frustrating distraction that does not fit well into this collection.

The Black Diamond Probability also closes with a backup story centered around Native Americans fighting against the ever-expanding threat of American colonization. It is a tale that does a great job in shining a light on the atrocities committed against the Native American peoples by America’s early generations. However, as a story on its own, this tale isn’t all that entertaining or unique. It fails to truly define itself as something worth reading and, by the end, feels pretty unremarkable.

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Art

Once again, Moritat proves more than capable of handling the artwork for the All Star Western series. In The Black Diamond Probability, the exotic locations and beautiful cityscapes from previous collections are left behind in favor of the not-so-subtle horror seen throughout this volume. Already tense scenes are made five times more frightening by a couple of shocking splash pages from Moritat. These go hand in hand with the rest of the creepy artwork seen here and really complement the tone of the main narrative in this collection. It also helps that Moritat’s style is still visually pleasing and makes all of the characters look great.

The volume also contains a backup story with artwork from Phil Winslade. This switch in artistic styles complements the radically different tone seen in this backup story. Winslade is able to capture the gritty realism and brutal action one would imagine seeing in a war fought between two groups of people who hate one another. This change in visuals helps enhance this portion of the book and is definitely a plus for the collection as a whole.