Musings on ‘The Sixth Gun Volume 1: Cold Dead Fingers’

“I want my gun back.”

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Western genre, although there have been exceptions such as Deadwood and Tombstone, both of which I hold in high regard. There are a large number of people out there that see high fantasy settings as endless clones of each other, and I tend to react the same way when stories that take place in the Old West cross my table or TV screen. It takes exceptional writing, acting, or imagery to keep my attention when it comes to Westerns. With that said, though, I may have found myself another exception.

Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt’s The Sixth Gun is a Western blended with a dash of the supernatural. On second thought, less of a dash and more of a cup full of supernatural. The Sixth Gun Volume 1: Cold Dead Fingers collects the first six issues of the ongoing series and introduces us to the main characters, Drake Sinclair and Becky Montcrief. Drake is a mysterious gun fighter with a dark past, and Becky is a preacher’s daughter who finds herself in possession of the titular sixth gun. It’s her acquisition of this supernaturally powerful firearm that sets the events of this story in motion, as she attracts the attention of the antagonist of the story, a real turd of a man named General Hume. The General is the previous owner of the sixth gun, and suffice it to say, he really wants it back. He also happens to be dead, but when has that ever stopped someone from getting what they want.

Bunn‘s writing and the general pacing of the first six issues of the story is quite good, although I did have some issues with the characters. As one of the main protagonists of the story, Drake Sinclair doesn’t actually have a whole lot of weight to him. If this were a movie, I’d say his actor lacked screen presence. All of the elements of a good character are there, but I never found myself caring too much about the guy. When it comes to the antagonists, the General and his wife were a very entertaining part of the story, but his henchmen (who possess four of their own supernatural sidearms) came off as a bit bland and not very memorable at all even with traits that made them distinct from one another. My whining about the characters aside, the story still kept my attention and I found that this story would likely translate very easily to the big screen. It has similar pacing to a feature film and I doubt it would need much editing to work well.

When it comes to the art in The Sixth Gun, Brian Hurtt’s style fits the tone of the story and setting exceptionally well. It has a level of realism to it, but it’s constantly accented with very stylized and cartoonish elements which give the book a very unique flavor. In a way I see this as mirroring the setting itself, which is a tradtional Western setting mixed with a bit of the supernatural. Maybe this mixture isn’t as extensive as what you can find in the role playing game Deadlands (fans of The Sixth Gun might want to check out Deadlands), but it’s definitely in the same ballpark.

So overall I did end up really enjoying the first volume of this series, and I plan on checking out the other volumes that have been released over the last few years. If you are looking to explore outside your typical superhero comic book comfort zone, and want to pick up something that hasn’t been done to death, give The Sixth Gun a try. I’d recommend it even if you don’t like Westerns, because if I was able to get over that Old West hump, I’m sure you guys and gals can as well.