Jonah Hex #17 (1978)

A hot air balloon designer called Doc tries to commission Jonah Hex into flying a hot air balloon from the United States to Europe. After Jonah declines, Doc knocks him out and places him the the balloon. After a struggle inadvertently results in Doc's death, Jonah is left floating in the balloon without any knowledge of how to work it. Over several days, the winds carry him out to the ocean toward South America. An illegal slave ship headed for Brazil spies Hex's hot air balloon, and the captain wrongly believes the balloon is reconnaissance from some unknown authority. They shoot down the balloon and bring Jonah aboard. They interrogate him about who he is working for, but Jonah pleads ignorance. Not believing him, the captain puts Jonah Hex in the ship's hold with the African slaves. Hex befriends the slaves, and together they work free of their chains and escape to the upper deck. As Hex and the prisoners fight the ship's crew, the captain is killed. Without anyone to steer the ship, it crashes into the shoals, sinking the ship and killing most of the passengers. Hex and a handful of the Africans survive and are rescued by cannibals from the Isle of Palms. Hex calls them "blue-faces," because they paint their faces blue. The cannibals appear to be friendly and provide Jonah Hex with a canoe and food, encouraging him to leave. Jonah realizes the cannibals' motives are more sinister, and he tries to warn his African companions that the cannibals want to eat them. The language barrier proves too difficult to communicate the danger, and the Africans walk with the cannibals toward their village. Jonah decides he had best save himself before the cannibals change their mind, and he begins to row toward the Brazilian mainland. (This adventure continues in the following issue.)