Issue 174 – Jonah Hex
Anthony: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Capes on the Couch where Comics get Counseling. I’m Anthony Sytko.
Doc Issues: And I’m Dr. Issues.
Anthony: This is Issue 1 74. Good grief. I every number it gets higher and higher and I just, I still can’t get over it. Anyway, we are talking. Jonah Hex, not the horrific movie, but the character upon which that movie was ostensibly based kind of.
I’m just glad Josh Brolin didn’t have such a terrible experience from that movie that he opted out of comic book movies forever, because then we wouldn’t have gotten Thanos or Cable, but mostly Thanos. Before we get into that, though, we have fantastic news. If you didn’t get a chance to see our social media pages, we will be doing our first ever panel appear.
At a convention, we have been selected by the heads of [00:01:00] PuchiCon in Atlantic City to give a panel on Sunday, May 14th, and we are going to be taking our first ever dip into the world of manga. And as famously, I know little to nothing about Manga, I said to Doc, who’s a character that we should do a panel discussion on.
And you chose.
Doc Issues: Vash, the stampede from Tri Gun, which has a better anime than Manga, but I got introduced to the Manga first, so it counts.
Anthony: Yep. I found out about this convention through Extra Life, who longtime listeners know, is a charity that raises money for children’s Miracle Network and their affiliated hospitals through video games.
And I was on a conference call. The other leadership from New Jersey and the hospital rep said, oh, and we’re looking to have a table set up at, at PuchiCon in Atlantic City. And I said, oh, I, [00:02:00] I’ve never heard of that convention before. And I looked it up. And here’s the thing about PuchiCon. It’s largely anime and, and manga focused, but the organizers make it very clear that this convention is specifically set up to be a safe space.
Women, people of color, minorities, LGBTQ plus community, that they have a strong focus on mental health and very much establishing that there are portions of this community, of the fandom community that go underrepresented and it’s very much playing in the same sandbox as us and they were taking panel applications and I said, well, we might as well give it a.
And so I said, but if we’re gonna do this, let’s do a manga character. And that’s when I reached out to Doc and he picked Vash, the Stampede. And then we just found out not that long ago that we got selected. [00:03:00] And I actually, I scared my wife and son because I got the email and I just started yelling excitedly and they had no idea what was happening.
So I had to explain that my wife understood, my son didn’t really. What I was trying to explain to him and I just said, I get to talk to people and try and help them. And then he said, cool. And he gave me a high five and a fist bump. So thanks buddy. I appreciate that. My daughter obviously has no idea what the hell’s going on, but whatever.
So we will have links to the convention and the show notes. So if you are in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware. Maryland area and you are available for that weekend. We would love to come see you. We’re gonna have giveaway stuff there. Not exactly sure what yet, but we’ll get something to give away and hopefully we will come away with some new fans.
It’s gonna be very different [00:04:00] than our usual fair, but that’s what makes it enticing and intriguing. But in any case, before we get to PO Con, let’s talk about Jonah X.
So let’s get into the background. Jonah Hex, created by John Albano and Tony Dega in all Star Western number. In February, March of 1972. So Jonah, hes is born in 1838 to an alcoholic father who sold them at age 13 to Apaches as a slave like you do.
So he gets betrayed by his adopted brother in the tribe and left to die. Years later when he encounters the tribe, once again, he reveals the betrayal to the rest of the tribe. This involved a woman to the surprise. Nobody cuz that’s how they were gonna write it. So he’s forced to battle his brother. But his brother sabotages the tomahawk during the battle and he’s forced to stab him with a knife.[00:05:00]
And in response to the chief who’s the, whose father of the boy who was killed, he scars his face with a heat of tomahawk and exiles him. So then he goes off to serve as a bounty hunter. Your average Jonah Hex story is very serialized because it’s very much he wanders the old west, searching for bounties, or he’s in a situation where stuff goes sideways and his reputation precedes him.
And so now they’re hoping that the incredible gun slinger Jonah, hes can save them. He is sought out by other people who have heard about how great he is with a gun and they say, I don’t think you’re all that. I’m gonna take my shot at you. And then Jonah has to defend himself. [00:06:00] Those are basically the three flavors of Jonah.
Heck, stories that exist, lather, rinse, repeat. So most of his stories do stay in his own time period, but he has been brought forward a handful of. The Lords of time compile a team to battle the Justice League and the justice society, and that includes Jonah, who was also incorporated into crisis on infinite earths to battle the anti monitor.
At one point, he gets kidnapped and brought to posts apocalyptic 21st century Seattle to fight for the man who kidnapped him, but he escaped and continued to rove the country, looking for a way to return home. Now, despite the fact that he is horrifically disfigured, he still manages to have relationships.
Several women, including at least two marriages. The first one to the first one was to a Chinese woman named Mayling, and that ended when she became pregnant and then ran off with a child, Jason, who wasn’t in Jonah’s life until [00:07:00] Jason was an adult. And Jonah was an old man, and the second marriage was to a Native American woman named Tall Bird.
And this was later on in his life. After he gets killed by a man who survived a bounty hit, his corpse was sold and put on display several times as like a, Hey, we’ve got the body of Jonah Hex, like a traveling sideshow type deal. Until tall bird acquired and finally managed to give him a proper burial, she was like a hundred by the time all this happens.
As I said, there are only a handful of different stories. That you can tell about Jonah Hs. And that’s why I’m not going to really delve into the, the story and, and the arcs because there really aren’t that many. I mean, I’m doing a disservice and I’m sure there are a lot of, there are some Jonah Hs diehards out there who are going to say, oh, what about this arc?
What about that arc? Et cetera, et cetera. What about t Trumbo and a handful of the,[00:08:00] enemies that pop up consistently, but by and. Those are your flavors of Jonah Hex stories.
So we’re gonna get into the issues, and the theme is walking to the beat of your own broken drum. So the first one is, we said at the very beginning of the background, he was abused by his alcoholic father. His.
Didn’t do a lot to get him out of that situation. And eventually she left because she abandoned Jonah when he was around 10 because her husband, Jonah’s father was such an abuser that she said, I can’t take it, but didn’t bring Jonah with. Just left him there for the abuse. And then Woodson, as I said, proceeded to sell him off into slavery.
So really great Father that Woodson Hex was, [00:09:00]
Doc Issues: yeah, oh boy. This is bad. I know we’ve had several characters that have dealt with abuse.
In this case it’s, it’s abuse without sense of protection, meaning for many other characters, you can understand how a person, because that is the one biologically responsible for your life. Finding some way to justify why they’re being treated the way they are. Either they start to incorporate the idea that something is wrong with them or that they, if they just do a little better things will improve.
Or if this person is doing something like this, well they’re not that way all the time and they try and look for the positives in the parents or, or whatever. Jonah’s got none of that. Jonah got really screwed over and. Forget the idea that you’re [00:10:00] trying to look for the silver lining. You’re looking to live, you’re looking to actually survive.
And we are back to square one of the hierarchy of needs, and as brutal as we say, regardless of, I know for the story’s sake, it says slavery. It could be the foster system. If people feel that’s more relatable it, it can. An ongoing abusive household, whatever all of those things are gonna impact the idea that if you take it the wrong way, you can lose your complete sense of agency.
But as we see with the character of Jonah, it really doesn’t happen that way. It’s more that I have lost my sense of trust in anything lasting. So the way he ends up surviving is, He takes it upon himself to do what he can. And regardless of age, if a person is willing to put that out [00:11:00] there and bet on themselves it can work.
It’s an incredibly difficult way to do it. It leaves a person emotionally stunted and distant. But yeah, you’ll live another day and it can lead to a person having a very short-term mindset because. You’re not going to worry about tomorrow if you don’t even survive today. So there are really lasting ramifications for that and until proven otherwise.
The real common sense answer to this though is I don’t have anything to disprove my evidence. So it’s not. It gives justification as to how a person is treated when they’re abused. If a person is able to last that long, then it, it just becomes more fuel for the fire. And, and boy, there’s a, there’s potentially a lot of fire, a lot of anger, a lot of rage and [00:12:00] clearly in Jonah’s case, a lot of violence.
Anthony: Yeah. That anger and rage is 100% justified, as we would say in my family. He has really big feelings. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know what to do with them appropriately because we’ve talked about on this show many times, he didn’t have anybody to show him. Woodrow certainly wasn’t gonna show him, and Ginny, his mother wasn’t around long enough to instill that because her primary focus, again was survival.
So he never. Modeling for what a healthy relationship was supposed to be like. He never got a model for what anger management or emotional management was going to look like. I don’t know what Woodruff’s backstory was [00:13:00] prior to fathering Jonah, but I imagine if he’s dealing with it through alcohol and abuse, probably wasn’t good on his end.
And so it’s just an unfortunate situation. The cycle perpetuates. You know, until you get someone who’s strong enough to break that cycle or show you how to break that cycle. It’s just gonna continue and we’ll get into that a little bit with the third issue. But insofar as his bad track record with family goes, we’re going to continue that with the second issue, which is that he was betrayed by his adopted brother in the tribe.
Now he sold into slavery. And he’s worked like a slave accordingly until he manages to save the chief from, I believe it was Puma. It’s a warthog, no, it’s it’s Puma. Wow.
Doc Issues: Red versus blue. Really?
Anthony: Yeah. Yeah. Red versus blue season one. [00:14:00] Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Hey, Griff was a achu thingy, so. But, but in all seriousness so he, he saves the chief in’s life and the chief is like, now you’re my adopted son, and this is my actual son.
And that didn’t sit well with him. And then they both fall in love with the same woman, and the adopted brother says, I need to get rid of this white man by any means necessary. And so, as I said, he betrays him and leaves him to die. So Jonah once again gets screwed over by.
Doc Issues: And this is once again, what we come to with evidence-based thinking for humans.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool Twice with the don’t get fooled again. Sorry. That’s George W. Bush reference. But no, the, the whole idea that if you didn’t think you were able to develop trusted people before and you actually did [00:15:00] something right. And you are going to get rewarded for it even more.
And someone that in theory should be happy for you is not, and you almost die for it. What’s the lesson that you should learn? Don’t trust anyone. So, okay. That’s one way to go about it. And once again, does that allow him to survive? Does it lead to more death destruction? Yes. Does it lead to more anger for the people that he continues to cause pain for because pain was inflicted on him?
Yes. Hurt people hurt people. I don’t wanna sound too idealistic though. I don’t wanna make it sound like he should have turned the other cheek when he had the opportunity and just have a sit down. The chief and the brother and all that, like [00:16:00] that wasn’t going to happen. But even just finding a way to get out of the situation if you can, without continuing a conflict, can be a less problematic resolution.
And I know for some people, yeah, even right now, some people think that that’s blasphemous to. As if every single battle has to be one that is fought and you just die on that hill no matter what, because that’s what life is all about. I get it. I can understand it, but if you notice that your own pattern of behavior is adding to the pain of other people’s abusive behavior, then one side of the coin has.
Really look at what’s going on and, and stop it because we’re not just talking now about a cycle of abuse. We’re talking about [00:17:00] an entire ecosystem of abuse that is much more destructive for multiple. And, sorry to say, while one person can make a difference, usually the biggest difference they can make is extracting themselves.
And yet, The most common reaction to it is to double down and to just dig in more. Because you know, we have basically, it’s like a sunk cost fallacy. Like, okay, well this is the way it’s been for so long. If I do anything else, then all of that previous effort will have been wasted. That’s a fallacy in terms of logic, but it’s very common.
What I like to do instead is I like to look at these situations. Forget the circumstances that led to the relationship, be that biological or circumstantial. If you had to start from scratch right [00:18:00] now and you don’t have the same obligations that you do, because I don’t want to say heaven forbid, it’s, it’s a marriage or something like that.
I’ll not say, throw away your relationship with the children, throw away your job. All that stuff. I’m not, I I just wanna make it clear I’m, I’m setting, you know, artificial boundaries here. But if you had that from jump, like from the start right now, starting fresh, would you be willing to put in the effort for this particular relationship?
And you have to be honest with yourself, and the other person has to be honest with themselves. If there’s a mismatch, you could try and work it out. If both sides agree, then you might wanna have to, if both sides. Then there is a good chance that going with the mutual decision would work.
So I’m not saying that if you have a relationship that’s been problematic or [00:19:00] troubling and it’s family related, that you need to just separate and you need to let it go. I’m not saying that because someone is family, that you automatically have to constantly fight and bond together. I’m saying. Both sides can come to rational conclusions that are better if they are able to look at it as a whole and try and flip it around and look at the other person’s perspective, rather than just this idea one way or the other.
Like no matter what, I just have to keep doing exactly the way things have been for my entire existence. Cause doing that just means that. More than likely the same painful results.
Anthony: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I was going to say with respect to relationships,
it’s not a foolproof thing, but it helps if you can frame it with the other person as us versus the problem rather [00:20:00] than me versus you. If you do that, if you, if you come at the problem. Me versus my partner, one of us has to win. One of us has to lose a zero sum mindset. Then it’s going to cause problems.
It’s going to cause friction. If you can come at it though, as us versus the problem and have that communication, then the odds are it’s not guaranteed, but the odds are that you’re going to end up with a. Satisfactory resolution, but you have to be able to have those conversations. You have to be honest with the partner about that, and you also have to be willing to hear the honesty from the other person.
And at least, you know, speaking as, as a married man, that’s something that I’ve been doing my level best to, work on [00:21:00] over the, the course of my. But it’s the same thing with a sibling as well, if you’re talking to your sibling and you’re saying, Hey, listen, I feel like we’re constantly, at each other’s throats.
So we’re constantly arguing over this, that, and the other. Like, what can we do to resolve this so that we’re not always fighting? Because the fighting doesn’t make me feel good. The fighting doesn’t bring me closer to you. The fighting doesn. Strengthen our relationship, then you know, that’s where you have to be honest with the other person and be willing to deal with the outcome of whatever it is.
That is said that if, to your point, if you can’t find that mutual decision, then maybe that’s a situation where you have to say, either I’m gonna walk away or I have. Continue to live with and maintain this relationship with the understanding that it’s always going to be this way. But you have [00:22:00] to try and have that discussion first.
And again, it requires a level of honesty. It requires a level of self-awareness, and it requires a level of acceptance that not everybody has, just speaking frankly. But if you can get. By and large, over time, the relationships that you do manage to, to hold onto and maintain will be that much stronger. A lot of people, and, and we’ve all been there at various points where you’re saying, well, it’s not perfect, but it’s better than being alone.
And that comes from insecurity of. That comes from societal pressures, is a whole host of things there. If you can get to that point where you are secure enough in yourself to say, I will not [00:23:00] stand for this anymore, and put up those boundaries and hold them and maintain them, it’s gonna cause some pain in the beginning, but in the long run, overall, you’ll be a lot happier and healthier.
And it was kind of you know, a a bit. Tangential way, and it wasn’t exactly related to what it, some of the things that you were discussing, but you know, when, when you talk about conflict resolution among family members and among relationships and things of that nature I can speak from experience on that because I spent a lot of my life avoiding conflict because it was just easier to just grin and bear whatever.
And now I find that as I’ve gotten older my desire to put up with bullshit has drastically reduced. So I go, listen, I’m gonna put up these boundaries, and if you don’t like it, that’s a you problem. So that’s kind of my advice. So learn from my experience so you don’t have to [00:24:00] go through 40 years of nonsense before finally coming to these realizations like I did.
Doc Issues: Right. I, I agree with everything you said. I. I just wanna point out that the one difference is that the things that you were pointing out have to do with the idea that you are put in a situation where you want that type of relationship, or at some point that relationship has cons is considered a positive thing.
The way I was approaching it was that, Jonah’s situation was negative from the start. And if you, if you’re at that starting point, it’s a little different because that’s where extraction can often be the first thing to look at rather than the last, you know? Sure. So, so that’s just to clarify why I was coming from the angle where I was coming from.
Cause everything you said makes perfect sense, no question about it, you know, so.
Anthony: Yes. I wasn’t thinking of it like that because I wasn’t put in a situation where I didn’t wanna be there or whatever. There is a, a difference there [00:25:00] where it starts.
So speaking of relationships that you really weren’t put in there where you wanted to be. Let’s talk about the third one. His son, Jason, he didn’t really know Jason. Jason was an adult, and then Jonah essentially wanted nothing to do with him because he said, I, you know, your, your mom left because I didn’t wanna change, and that was her call.
So I got nothing to say to you. And it’s a shame because here was a man who was so abused by his own father. And he had an opportunity. I’m not saying he had to welcome him with open arms, but he, he didn’t really learn his lesson. Maybe he did in that he didn’t beat jason.
Doc Issues: So if the lesson, and let’s, let’s really tie this together cuz it’s building [00:26:00] upon, building upon building.
You learn from an early age that people that are in positions of supposed authority and. Can cause significant amounts of pain to you. You learn that people that are supposed to be on par with you as a peer and actually as, as a person that’s supposed to share a bond with you, can cause incredible amounts of suffering and potentially destroy your life.
And while you may know, I’m almost gonna sound like a preacher here. While you may know the physical enjoyment of others’ company and the pleasures of life, be it just hanging out, you know, whatever other forms of entertainment you know, having physical relationships, all sorts of different things.
Let’s bring it to our world, having a job, creating a family, [00:27:00] all these other things. May in theory be the positive things because you didn’t have that base to begin with. It’s really much more difficult to make those types of connections. And I think the most telling thing is when, in this case, your own wife pretty much says, oh, this ain’t gonna work.
I’m out. When, when the once again, similar to what I was saying, where Jonah may have had that opportunity to do that with his brother. His wife does that to him. And it’s unfortunate where, in theory that is the, the situation where Anthony’s description was very apropo and should have taken that form.
And unfortunately both parties didn’t even really get that opportunity and it extends down once again to another generat. I am not putting this obviously on Jason anymore than I’m not putting it on Jonah when he was abused [00:28:00] or had all the other negative things happen to him. And yet, when you mentioned what lessons are learned, it’s that if in theory I go back to that original statement that hurt people, hurt people.
If Jonah has recognized that he’s still hurt, why would he want to be around someone else? Why? Because there’s a good chance he would end up hurting. Well, maybe he doesn’t wanna spread that hurt. So in a very perverse way, he might be thinking, and I’m, once again, this is speculation, I’m not, I’m not saying this, but lots of people create their narrative as to how things are working.
And in this case, he’s trying to spare the pain, both for himself and for his biological son. If I don’t know you, I can’t harm you. I can’t abuse you the way that my abuse. I don’t even give you the opportunity to experience that. Of course, many of us who haven’t had that experience or have come to different conclusions, even if [00:29:00] we have had that experience, may be quicker to say, right?
But you also have a, an opportunity to rewrite the script. You can really start to have a positive impact on someone else so that the cycle is truly broken as opposed to now there’s an opportunity for a different type of, In this case it would be neglect. Now, is it neglect in the sense of not caring for a, a defenseless child?
No. We’re we’re saying the person is an adult, meaning they may have or may not, I don’t know, but have the skills necessary to survive as society, but maybe there is still an opportunity there for some learning, mentoring, friendship, other things that you don’t always think. As a parent to a child, because the first thing you’re doing is all of the survival stuff and you know, making sure that you have the proper environment nurturing all of the different areas that a child needs to [00:30:00] develop, et cetera, et cetera.
But even if you don’t have that, you have a human being that if they sought you out, may have an interest, even if it’s just to learn about. You can instill the idea like, look, here’s a horrible traumatic history. I’m grateful I survived that, and I’m glad, I hope that you didn’t go through the same thing.
Even that can be a teachable moment, and yet it all gets thrown away. Once again, if anybody’s been in these types of situations, I apologize if, if that was sounding harsh. That’s, that’s not the intention. Everybody has to come from these circumstances with whatever has worked for them. And I really am a believer that people make decisions that they think are going to be the best in the moment based on the information at hand.
Whether or not it turns out to be true is a different story. Maybe because of the lack of [00:31:00] tools or You know, timing was off or whatever. So I, I don’t, I’m not shaming anyone in, in these, in, in these discussions. But at the same time, I would also like to say that for those of you that wonder about these things there’s always an opportunity for new things to happen in life.
Whatever time it’s, so, I, I. Hope that if people have had positive experiences and they can help other people learn, it doesn’t have to be a biological thing. It does, it doesn’t have to go that far, but I, I really do think that cycles of abuse do end. The question is how soon and by whom, and if you have the opportunity to, to end it. I, I hope you take the.
Anthony: Absolutely. It takes a lot of strength to do [00:32:00] that, to break that cycle, especially one that’s perpetuated for generations potentially. But the relief that can come with that and the feeling of freedom that comes with that is in. And it’s empowering. And to just reiterate again what Doc said, I would highly encourage everybody to do what you can.
Take the steps if you are in that type of a situation. We obviously don’t know everyone’s background, everyone’s history, but if you are in that type of situation, take the steps because it’s going to ultimately, To a, a better life, a healthier life, a freer life in the long run. And I’m glad that [00:33:00] in this case, to some of the things that you were saying, doc Jonah chose not to physically abuse Jason.
He chose not to take it out on him in that way. The cycle’s obviously not broken, but it’s stalled and it’s shift. And hopefully at some point Jason becomes a better father to his children than Jonah was. To him, certainly better than Woodson was to, to him. And, you know, maybe by our time chronologically speaking someone in the Hex family has a decent relationship with their.
One can only help. So we’re gonna take a break, plug a couple shows, and we get back, we’ll get into treatment. Stay tuned.
And we’re back. So, treatment in universe for Jonah Hex.
Doc Issues: So I’m actually trying to put [00:34:00] myself in his situation and I’m going to definitely use one that I’ve, I’ve used before. But just.
Maybe a, a little spin on it, and I know this is problematic, please, people like, don’t let your minds wander too much. I wanna be a bounty. I want to be a target for him. Jonah focuses on certain things. If he needs to get the job done, he’ll get it done. Obviously I wanna be taken in alive. Okay? But maybe it’s one of those old Western comedy tropes or whatever and, and make of it what you will.
Although I’ll admit I am very introverted. I think if I had a situation where I didn’t feel like I was being threatened by the person, even if I were captured, I think I could have some conversations. And a guy like that who doesn’t get close to people, I’m sure would be annoyed by me. But as anybody [00:35:00] who has ever dealt with me knows I’m not exactly a threatening person.
And. As long as the conversation isn’t too on the nose, I think I could, you know, do a little bit of therapy. He doesn’t have to know it’s therapy, but might be able to talk some things out in a way that he doesn’t feel is a threat and, and that’s important. What do I mean by that? Because in certain ways a therapist can be closer than any other person in someone’s life, depending on how they decide to.
There are things that some people will tell their counselor well before they’ll tell their spouse. And I’m not advocating that, by the way. Okay. But I’m saying it happens. And if a person does have certain things that they just simply don’t talk to anyone about because they feel like it’s, it’s gone, it’s buried, and all of that, and.[00:36:00]
The consequences of it still show up from their actions and their emotions, then no, I don’t have to dig up every detail of what a person has suffered in terms of abuse or anything like that. But I do think it’s relevant to have the person acknowledge if they haven’t developed the coping mechanisms that might be healthier so that they don’t perpetuate that cycle.
So I think I basically would be that guy that’s tied. You know, in the back, just making these little comments here and there little pithy statements that may or may not tick ’em off in the moment. But then over time, just kind of to, to use Arsenio Hall, like kind of makes ’em go. Hmm. Just
get the ball rolling.
Anthony: Okay. Just hope that you don’t piss ’em off enough that he goes, man, this bounty ain’t worth it.[00:37:00]
Because I’ve seen that movie before, literally. So hopefully that it works out better for you than it did for some of those people. So out of universe then, and here’s the thing about Jonah Hex, he doesn’t have any supernatural abilities in the overwhelming majority of the stories. Every once in a while, if he gets brought forward in time, he’ll be given an ability.
I know that in the movie, Talk to the dead and or reanimate them or something along those lines. Otherwise, his only ability is that he is a really good shot. Yeah. That’s it. Yeah.
Doc Issues: So forget all that. I mean, what, what are we dealing with? We’re dealing with and, and to no surprise to anyone, like we’re dealing with trauma.
That’s what we’re dealing with. I mean, it just goes back to that basic, okay, what are you present? Are you presenting with mood liability? Are you presenting with complaints from others rather than from yourself? Because you’re trying to live your life a certain way and everybody around you seems to complain [00:38:00] about it.
Eh, I think that’s much closer to what Jonah kind of represents here. I have to be that person, or, I have to make sure. Jonah as a patient is not trying to change his style because that has allowed him to survive this long. I need to change his own perception of how that style is impacting others, because usually there’s a lot more pain behind that than people like this are willing to acknowledge.
Their point is, if I’m breath. If I’m working, if I still have all the physical capabilities that I have always had, then you know what? Life is good and, at the most base level, that’s okay. Sometimes it can actually lead at least in the moment to a bit more depression when you introduce the idea or, or expose the [00:39:00] person to ideas that there may be more to life than.
Especially in the relationships category, both with family and friends, and even just basic acquaintances that last a long time. And when the person does that, sometimes that reflection leads to depression because their point is, oh wow, this is lost time. And the idea is not that you’re trying to make them feel bad about how things have gone before, it’s just recognizing that I’m grateful that you still have the opportunity for things.
Continue to bloom in the future and making it very forward focused. As long as that happens, then you can continue to have growth. I think what happens commonly, especially for patients that have significant trauma histories that have never had the opportunity to talk about it with someone in a way that they.
Feel comfortable. They may overshare, they may get to the point where [00:40:00] they’re trying to tell you every single detail of everything that happened. You don’t wanna get to that point because that it, not to sound too crass, but it becomes kind of a waste because now it’s like, all right, I’m not your narrator.
I’m not your encyclopedia. If you wanna do that, write a book, that’s fine. I apologize for, for my tone with that. I’m saying like, that can be a great thing. Write a book. That’s not what therapy’s about. If you want to do things better from this point forward, then yes, we will talk about maybe how you’ve handled things previously and what may work differently now.
But I am not going to try and create a log of every single thing that’s ever happened in your life because it was bad. So some people really need to know that’s not what therapy’s for. So ironically, rather than saying what therapy is, cause I know we’ve done that plenty of times. I’m gonna say, what therapy is
not?
Anthony: That’s a very good point to make. We do focus a lot on the show about what [00:41:00] to do in therapy. We don’t often talk about what not to do in therapy, and I think in many ways that’s just as important because you want to be efficient with it. You don’t have unlimited time. The therapist does not have unlimited.
And to your point, you can’t just unload every single thing that has ever happened to you on this person. Now, for somebody like me, that’s very difficult to find that focus and to be efficient because I’m not an efficient communicator. It’s just not how I’m wired.
Doc Issues: If anybody’s listening to this show, they know that honestly, that’s true for both of us.
So, you know, I think we get it.
Anthony: Fair enough, fair enough. But again, it’s helpful to point it out and it’s helpful to hear, to just take that moment and say, what do I need to [00:42:00] tell this person? What can I maybe tell this person? And then what do I definitely not need to say? What is not important, and it may take a while to get there, but hopefully, fingers crossed, you can even.
Figure that out, and then it helps to, you know, it, it helps move forward with the therapy. So, speaking of therapy, we’re gonna see what happens when we get Jonah Hex on Dr. Ish’s couch.
Doc Issues: Hello, Jonah. I’m Dr. Issues.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): Doc.
Doc Issues: I understand this can be a bit overwhelming, so please feel free to say as much or as little as you need.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): You’re right, there’s a lot to take in, but I’ve been in bigger scrapes. This I can get by,
Doc Issues: if you don’t mind my asking. How did you end up in this time? [00:43:00]
Jonah Hex (Anthony): Truth told, I can’t recall. I just got done beating the hell outta some horse’s ass.
Come to town to cause trouble. Went to saloon to drink away. The pain must have passed out. And when I woke up, I was in the field, took a walk to ask someone what happened, and come to find out I was in the future now, lucky for us and the first time I’ve been in this now, but I never been in this here, in this now.
So best I can. Someone either wants me here to fix something or they don’t want me where I was so they can ruin it either way. I need to find out what it is and go back home.
Doc Issues: That’s an incredible story.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): Doc. If, and you knew half of the things I’ve seen and done, you turned wide, your preacher’s collar, and for you, that’d be quite a feat.
Doc Issues: Vivid. Anyway, that’s not [00:44:00] something I think I can help you with, you know? Any, any hints about what you’re meant to do?
Jonah Hex (Anthony): Nope. Usually, if it’s important, whoever needs to get to me does quick. These time folks ain’t about wasting it,
Doc Issues: but what about wasting yours?
Jonah Hex (Anthony): What do you mean?
Doc Issues: I mean, your time is as valuable to you as mine is to me. I mean, all this jumping around and fighting for, for what?
Jonah Hex (Anthony): I don’t get too attached to that,
Doc Issues: but you do have, oh, fun, relaxation,
Jonah Hex (Anthony): fun, man. You ever get your jaw right over before, right on the scar? I can’t believe, but still hurts like. I’ve been punched.
Doc Issues: Yeah, but not, wait, where are you going with this?
Jonah Hex (Anthony): I’m saying folks in my line of work don’t get cushy jobs. We ain’t got no vacation, [00:45:00] ain’t no benefits if I get a night or a woman. Well, and I heard some of you folks say work hard, play harder.
Doc Issues: You are quite the visualist. How about lasting relat?
Jonah Hex (Anthony): I got boots that ask me a left time. That’s about it.
Doc Issues: Family.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): Next question,
Doc Issues: but
Jonah Hex (Anthony): next question.
Doc Issues: All right. All right. Geezes clearly a source of pain. Is that what gets you the most?
Jonah Hex (Anthony): What gets me the most is noisy people trying to be cute, asking the same question different ways.
Doc Issues: Sharp man
Jonah Hex (Anthony): as sharper, his hunting knife. I always keep handy. You wanna have a look at it?
Doc Issues: I, i, I, I didn’t mean to.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): No man. I mean, you want, look at this craftsmanship here. This sation is flawless on the blade. [00:46:00] Easy to release the flesh on contact. It’s not as good as my usual blade. Better for survival stuff since I ain’t got a fight ride now. Just skin carcasses for Peltz Plus, it does scare the shit outta foam folks looking for trouble.
Doc Issues: Whoa, whoa. Your whole demeanor changed. You’re, you’re bright, you’re engaged.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): What? I never settled down like that. Not again.
Doc Issues: No, no, no. I mean, you’re, you’re showing interest in something and it’s really obvious.
You want me to listen? I, I didn’t expect.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): What the hell am I here for? Then I thought doctors was like, you listen to people, now I want to talk about this and you wanna talk about my family. Just listen to me. Would you? I don’t ever get to do this until I gotta save somebody’s hide
Doc Issues: you, you lonely, man.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): Stop getting soft on me. You hear doc y?
Doc Issues: Yes sir.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): That’s when you [00:47:00] want. I can set up some kind of training for you. It’s clear to me you ain’t no survivalist. If I gotta be stuck here until I get home, you need to be useful.
Doc Issues: Is this your way of bonding?
Jonah Hex (Anthony): Well, I ain’t got any glue. I usually just keep some ROP in my saddle bag comes in handy to keep the bounties in check.
But you know that kinda lesson come with practice. I can learn you something.
Doc Issues: You’re making this awkward. And to be honest, we’re running out of time.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): Oh shoot. We’re just getting. Don’t worry, I’ll, I’ll figure out a way to get you a decent six shooter. Eat new fango guns. He ain’t got the same grip. It just don’t feel right.
A man’s gotta learn to fend for himself. You get me son.
Doc Issues: Don’t call me. Oh wow. You know, I don’t, I don’t think you, you realize
Jonah Hex (Anthony): well, can’t keep talking like that. I gotta find a place to hit the, Hey, I’ll make my way back to you. I’m sure of it. Just keep listening. I don’t get to be this much of a [00:48:00] cease just.
Doc Issues: It’s clear you need it, so I’ll listen again and again and again, but I can’t fill that obvious void you have forever.
Jonah Hex (Anthony): Yeah, just as long as it’s on the job. Nothing else. I’ll stay safe. You’re here.
Anthony: Well, we had someone who commented on one of our YouTube videos, Rose Park Radio, she really liked the penguin voice and she said, let Anthony voice the penguin in DC animation. Now, I don’t know that I’ll get the same work for, for my Jonah Hex, but listen, if James Gunn is listening, I mean you can email us capes and couch gmail.com or find us on any number of our social media sites and I.
Happy to take over the role of any of those characters.
Doc Issues: Yes, please. Yes, please. [00:49:00] Yes, yes, please. Oh my God, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You actually got me excited for something that’s not even happened yet.
Anthony: Yeah. It’s slightly not going to happen if, if we’re being serious here, but I mean, hey, I just appreciate the compliment.
I think it was pretty cool. And so thank you. Thank you, Rose Park Radio. If anybody else listens to it on YouTube or anywhere else that allows you to like, rate, subscribe, please do so. I try and check them as fairly regularly as I can, and I do appreciate the feedback. We, we do love one of our fans. Comment and share that stuff with us.
You can, as I said, leave it on the YouTube. You can join our Facebook. We have a fan group. You can join our Discord, all the links. In the show notes. So check that out and, and engage with the community. Cause we do really appreciate the feedback. I know Matt said when he was listening to the arcade episode, he said, I was not expecting a new jack reference.
So we like throwing those things out [00:50:00] there. It helps keep, keep the listeners on our toes. Sometimes we don’t know what’s gonna come out of our mouths, so keeps it fun for everybody. So recommended reading is the second volume of the Jonah Hack series. This is the Jimmy PO series. This is very much a cereal.
Story. It’s just a, a day in the life of Jonah Xs or, you know, a couple days in the life of Jonah Xs. There’s no arc, there’s no real, you could pick up any issue and read that story and it’s just as valid as the next one. So, upcoming episodes we bring back. One half of a and w Root beer. Alan Dunford co-creator of Grandma Chainsaw.
We talked to him about the Kickstarter for Grandma Chainsaw two. Then we bring back Jeremy Whitley to talk the Dog Knight, his upcoming original graphic novel. And we also bring in indigo the artist on board. And then as part of our May Marvel cosmic theme. [00:51:00] We will be talking Adam Warlock, which will be the week that guards the Galaxy.
Volume three is released, and then the rest of May we will be talking various Marvel cosmic characters. We’ve got some good ones lined up for you there. So as always, we are. As always, all of our episodes are on our website, capesonthecouch.com. We are also proud members of the Gonna Geek Network. Go to Gonna geek network.com and check out all the fantastic shows there.
I just rerecorded my appearance on Play comics with Chris to talk about Cowabunga collection, so hopefully that won’t be coming out in the next couple weeks. We are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at capes on the. So please feel free to like and subscribe. We’re gonna be having some more social media content coming out soon and, and I swear I do mean soon.
I, I have a lot of ideas. It’s just about actually finding the time to get the damn things done. So before we wrap things up, doc,
Doc Issues: so [00:52:00] his name is Hex and that implies some sort of spell of misfortune and if you know his life, that makes sense, but I think some people need to hear this. If you’re worried so much about your own history, having just this permanent shadow of failure, don’t worry about how much you have to pay to get rid of it, because what’s gonna be even worse is the receipt you get from regret of not trying.
Anthony: There you go. For doc issues, I’m Anthony Sytko. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next week.