Cannibals in ALL-STAR WESTERN #6

Comic Book Review: ‘All-Star Western’ #6

By Scott West‘All-Star Western’ #5 left bounty hunter Jonah Hex and his unlikely partner, Doctor Amadeus Arkham, trapped in a cave beneath Gotham City. Hounded by a cannibalistic tribe of natives and facing monstrous subterranean creatures, all will be lost if the pair can’t find their way back to the surface.

As the issue opens, Hex is facing off against the enormous prehistoric bat that attacked at the finale of last issue. The vicious killer makes short work of the flying rodent. His victory earns him the respect of the cannibal tribe and the natives lead Hex and Arkham back to an opening to the surface.Confirming that the "natives" are Indians:

ALL-STAR WESTERN #6Jonah Hex fights a giant bat to the death! But even with his winged foe slain, will he and Amadeus Arkham survive being trapped in a cave with the lost tribe of Miagani Indians?Comment:  How many stereotypes can we find in these brief descriptions?

1) A lost tribe of cannibal Indians. Not in Central America but (presumably) in the New York area where Gotham City is located.

2) Living underground because they're creatures of darkness and mystery. Like, well, bats. Unlike people, I guess the "Miagani" don't need the surface with its food and sunshine.

3) Probably fearing and worshiping the giant bat. You know, the way natives supposedly worshiped King Kong, volcanoes, and anything else they didn't understand. Because they're ignorant and superstitious--unlike civilized white men.

4) From the cover, it appears they're half-naked and wearing bat hoods. Because barbaric cannibals wouldn't think of climbing out of their holes and joining the world of 2012 with its cars and computers. No, they're happier living in perpetual blackness and eating people.

Sheesh. How come it's never a sophisticated Indian with technology and a PhD who discovers a primitive race of Caucasians? Oh, yeah...because that would contradict our dominant American narrative and make white people uncomfortable. Never mind.

For more on the subject, see BATMAN INC. #7's Cover and Anthro in RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #1.