Best known for their collaborations on Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, Hawkman, and the new Heroes for Hire, dynamic DC writing duo Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti are following their manifest destiny to a new world lacking in superheroes, but lousy with villains: the Old West.

In November 2005, they took up the mantle of Jonah Hex, the merciless, mercenary gunslinger with a face that only a mother could love. In their new series, they explore the untold tales of the infamous bounty hunter, including an exploration of his origin story in a multi-issue arc that begins in Jonah Hex #13, available in stores November 1st.

The two writers sat down to tell us a little about the man, the myth, and what it’s like to write the legends of a legend.

The stories in Jonah Hex have been mostly self-contained until now, but your upcoming origin tale will span three issues. Are you returning to one-shots after that, or will there be more extended story arcs?

JG: The story formats will vary. We have a two-part storyline that introduces a new character into the DCU’s Wild West and that will be illustrated by Phil Noto. One of the other things we’re looking to do is create single-issue stories that interlock with each other. You’ll see elements of one story pop up in other single and double issue tales. That said we’re still writing plenty of stand-alone tales.

JP: The fans really dictate what we do with the future of the book, so feedback is always welcome at paperfilms.com.

Which type of format interests you more right now as writers?

JG: For Jonah Hex I’m interested in creating an organic structure where nonlinear stories can fit together as a body of work. For instance our first issue and our eleventh issue are directly related, but instead of releasing them back-to-back we waited nearly a year and it still worked if you’d been reading from day one or picked up Jonah Hex for the first time. This isn’t anything new, comics used to work in a similar fashion before the trade mentality surfaced. The difference is we’re not picking up plot threads that were left dangling months or even years earlier.

JP: Personally, I would love the book to be 40 pages a month, something like that where we could expand the stories without making them two parters.

Is there any reason that Jonah Hex wasn’t put out as a Vertigo title? It seems like it would have been a good fit for the imprint.

JG: I don’t subscribe to the idea that the DCU should consist solely of superheroes and Vertigo should consist solely of non-spandex genres. By having Hex in the DCU it makes for a richer history of that universe.

JP: Loveless fills that gap really. Hex has always been a DCU character for the most part and there is no reason we cannot create hard hitting tales without cursing or using nudity. we push the envelope each and every issue and will continue to do so.

El Diablo, a man possessed by a Spirit of Vengeance, recently made an appearance in Jonah Hex #11. What role will supernatural or magical elements play in Jonah’s world? Do they exist, or only in a plausibly deniable sort of way?

JG: Again, keeping in mind that Hex is set in the DCU, there is no reason why certain elements that exist in that universe shouldn’t bleed into Jonah Hex. The trick is to ground those elements in the reality of the times. Otherwise you set up a cartoonish atmosphere that undermines the richness of the character.

JP: I think you have to be careful when dealing with supernatural elements. Nothing is worse than story elements that take you out of the story. If we are asking you to believe something, we have to make sure the elements are deeply rooted in reality. With characters like el Diablo, you can see where someone might take this characters supernatural existence a little too far. That said its fun to mess with these elements and we plan to in the future. The key is making it work within the story so it seems plausible.

Mr. Palmiotti, I know that you’ve been a fan of Jonah Hex since you were young. Is it surreal to be at the helm of a book you’ve loved since childhood, or does it feel natural?

JP: It’s surreal and at the same time exciting as hell. I have very few things I really want in my life, and getting to work with Justin on this book is up there on my top ten list. All I need now is to write Killraven and I am set, LOL.

I noticed that Jordi Bernet’s issue of Solo featured a Western character that bore a bit of resemblance to Jonah. Is Bernet a fan as well? What made him interested in coming on as an artist?

JP: Jordi is a fan of westerns and I am guessing at some time or another, he has seen the book. Really, mark chierello called jordi and made him an offer and we wrote this 3 part story just for him. He did an amazing job and given that I am a huge fan of his work, it couldn’t have come together any better than it did. I thank Steve Wacker, Michael Silglain and Mark for making all this possible.

What kind of responses have you gotten from fans about the book so far?

JG: The response has been fantastic. There are seemingly two kinds of Hex fans. The die hard followers, the people that know his history inside and out are fully supportive of what we’re doing. Then the newer fans are getting a book that isn’t like any other in the DCU and they seem to like it.

JP: We are getting positive reviews in and out of comics, and we are hoping the fans spread the word. Comics are now primed to open the door to different genres and I like to think that Hex is helping with that.

Do you consider Jonah Hex to be historically accurate? How much research do you need to do in order to write the book?

JG: There are elements of the series that play off of actual events without relying too heavily on established American history. We both do quite a bit of research and reading to make sure that when we approach a plot element or environment that it stays true to fact.

JP: Hex could be an amalgam of many people… or the coolest character ne’er written about till now.

Although Hex’s only friends, as we all know, are death itself and the acrid smell of gunsmoke, he and El Diablo were a formidable pair with some great chemistry. Can we expect them to team up again?

JG: Absolutely!

JP: Sooner that you think!

What about Jonah’s erstwhile wife, Mei Ling? Will we learn any more about the woman who once convinced Jonah to give up his guns, or the fate of their son?

JG: We’re holding off on Mei Ling so we can weave her into the book organically. Remember, Jonah Hex the husband and farmer doesn’t exactly embody the character UNLESS it is handled carefully. People need to see Hex in his environment before we can introduce the woman that turned everything upside down.

Despite living in the Old West, Jonah managed to make appearances in Superman/Batman and Batman: The Animated Series. According to the latter, R’as Al Ghul lived in the same era as Jonah. Any chance that he might make a cameo?

JG: You never know.

Do you consider the futuristic “Hex” series to be canonical, or would it just be better for everyone to pretend that it never happened?

JG: There’s a way to handle that part of Jonah’s history and make it cool but now is not the time.

JP: LOL… I thought that was a mistake and still think that. It works more like a “what if” type story, but in reality, I thought it was a reach and a desperate attempt at sales. Given time, they might have made him a woman eventually.

You mentioned in your recent Newsarama interview that you might have a new take on the story of Jonah’s death, but the final pages of JH #11 seemed to confirm his fate as detailed in the Jonah Hex Spectacular. How faithful do you plan to stay to the original story? Does his stuffed body end up at the Planet Krypton restaurant from Kingdom Come or not?

JG: The beauty of Jonah Hex is that he had a complete beginning, middle and end to his story. Unlike some superheroes, Jonah Hex doesn’t bear the weight of having to be revamped and re-imagined for a new generation every twenty years or so. That doesn’t mean there aren’t bloodlines running through the modern DCU universe, but I love the idea that his story ended.

JP: I think it was a tale told about the end of Hex…and not the reality of the end. Hopefully our run will be so long on the book we will both be in our deathbeds writing the last issue and understanding him a whole lot better.