Writer – Michael Fleisher
Artist – Keith Giffen
Inker – Carlos Garzón
Colours – Bob LeRose
Letters – Augustin Mas

If there is one thing that fans will notice with this issue, it is that Keith Giffen takes over pencilling duties for Mark Texeira and to say they are not in the same league is stating the obvious. That is not to say that Giffen is a bad artist, for his work does somewhat fit this chaotic future environment that Hex finds himself in, but to have it switch from one penciller to the other with such a difference in style is a little abrupt and creates a disjointed reading experience. As it is, Jonah and Stiletta are off to look for the Dogs of War because Hex has heard that they might be in possession of a time machine or at least know where one is. Back from the past is the man named Chain who has a definite beef with Hex, what with having been defeated by the man in an earlier issue and while The Conglomerate has no need of Chain anymore, neither does Chain of them who kills his former masters quite succinctly. As one can guess, Chain comes into contact with Hex later on in the issue and the two have quite the battle, but as with the last meeting between them, Hex once again comes out on top. Elsewhere in the book, author Michael Fleisher looks at the alien who has been enslaving the dregs of society to work for him, courtesy of the Dogs of War who he supplied with all the incredible technology that they now sport. Readers are made privy to an extraterrestrial threat headed to Earth which pertains to the ongoing machinations of the unnamed alien and it then segues into his origin which in itself is quite familiar as it has to do with Borsten. Additionally, as most readers will know by this point, Stiletta was drugged quite heavily when she was made to be a fighter and it looks as though there has been some damage to her mind as was feared, though whether it turns out to be permanent remains to be seen. While this issue featured a fair bit of action involving both the Dogs of War and Jonah Hex, the artwork held it back from being a truly excellent book.

3.5 out of 5