Hedge is definitely mistaken about Elliot being his cousin, but given later events in this storyline, that certainly raises some possibilities...

I would have drawn panel one differently these days. I guess that goes without saying, but I'm specifically referring to the way Hedge's threatening hand is overlapping the rest of him. You wouldn't even be able to see his hand if Hedge were in sillhouette, and that's bad pose design. While there are some important details that will inevitably be obscurred in sillhouette (such as facial expressions from most angles), most of the important details of a well done pose should be discernible even in sillhouette.

In short, he should be turned in such a way so that his hand wouldn't be hidden by the rest of him were he in sillhouette.