Welcome to Haunted Trails, Multiversity Comics’ column exploring the mythology of Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt’s The Sixth Gun. The series is currently in its penultimate arc, so understandably, big things are happening. This month I’ll be talking to Cullen Bunn about various revelations and ongoing mysteries explored in The Sixth Gun #43 and The Sixth Gun: Days of the Dead #2.
There was a feeling of inevitability to it though. You’ve been brewing this one for a long time, haven’t you?
Cullen Bunn: I was particularly proud of that beginning, because I think it really shows that you never know what to expect when reading The Sixth Gun. It all came about while I was meeting with Brian Hurtt to discuss upcoming projects, and he popped Lawrence of Arabia into the blu-ray player. That inspired those opening few pages.
To answer the question, yes, this is something that has been brewing for a while. The battle between the Knights of Solomon and the Sword of Abraham had to come to a head at some point… and that ending was bound to be bloody. The real question is, have we really send the end of their confrontation?
It was a fantastic idea to begin that sequence half a world away. It really drove home the scale of what was about to happen.
And I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the Sword of Abraham just yet. After all, there’s a small group left, trapped in the spirit world with a wendigo…
CB: That’s right! Brother Roberto and his crew are still trapped in the spirit world, and I wouldn’t forget about them, would I?
There’s a reason the Days of the Dead mini series focuses on Jesup and Roberto. I want to keep Roberto fresh in the minds of readers as we barrel toward the final few issues.
I assumed that was the case. Speaking of Brother Roberto and Days of the Dead, I’ve been enjoying seeing this other side of him. In The Sixth Gun he’s an upstanding member of the Sword of Abraham. In Days of the Dead he’s done things that would have him expelled from the order and executed. We’re getting a taste of how far he’s willing to go when he’s desperate. And I imagine when he returns in The Sixth Gun he’ll be very desperate indeed.
CB: That’s true. Being trapped in the spirit world would have a way of changing someone. But, yeah, with Days of the Dead we wanted to show a younger, more rebellious version of Roberto, before he had been fully indoctrinated into the Sword.
It’s not just Brother Roberto you’ve been exploring in Days of the Dead. Jesup Sutter, Abigail Redmayne, even Drake Sinclair makes an appearance, with the story circling ever closer to a crucial moment of his history with Jesup. What I find interesting is how you’ve chosen to make the stories point of view characters Roberto and Abigail. It seems whenever we explore the history of this world, it is always through the eyes of the supporting cast (with the exception of Becky’s ghost dance). Especially in the case of Drake, it’s allowed us to see some very different sides of him.
CB: I think that’s something I might’ve picked up years ago while watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. One of the things I always loved about that show is that we almost always saw Buffy through the eyes of the Scoobies. As you said, it allows us to see many different sides of a character. It also lets us show how one person can be seen in many different ways by the people that surround them.
In Drake’s case it’s allowed us to see him through the centuries, even so far as to appear as a caveperson to guide Becky during her ghost dance. One of the early moments in the series that clicked with me was when Becky used the Sixth Gun and saw a vision of the past with Drake among General Hume’s men. But Drake is a central mystery in this story, even to himself. In the silent issue, when he saw the mediaeval depiction of himself, he got to see himself as a stranger for a moment.
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For someone who appeared in issue one to be so sure of himself, even he is vague on the details of who he is and what he’s apparently done. And I think it’s what has allowed you to keep those secrets for so long without it feeling like a cheat. It’s honest to the character’s experience.
CB: We’ve had to play the mysteries of Drake’s character very carefully. Buy, yeah, the fact that Drake is quiet about his past has helped quite a bit. That said, there’s only a few issues left, and we’re going to spell out exactly what is going on with Drake… and Becky, for that matter… soon. The answers should be pretty surprising.
Becky’s an even bigger mystery, I think. We don’t even know what she is. You kept a lid on there being anything mysterious about her for a little while though. After all, we’ve seen so many fantasy stories with orphaned young heroes growing up on farms and then going on to explore the world, no one even questioned that there may be more to her backstory.
I look forward to seeing how you surprise me.
Before you go, I figure those wandering the Haunted Trails would be interested in this…
This is the line art for the cover of the second The Sixth Gun hardcover collection coming out Spring 2015. Brian Hurtt posted it on The Sixth Gun facebook page yesterday along with a bunch sketches. You should definitely check it out.
The Sixth Gun: Days of the Dead #3 will be on sale on the 15th of October with The Sixth Gun #44 on the 22nd, then catch us here at the end of the month for more Haunted Trails.
