Annotations 

Haunted Trails – Issue #24

By | September 10th, 2012
Posted in Annotations | % Comments

It’s busy times for writers of all varieties, but we’re back with another edition of Haunted Trails, our breakdown interviews of Oni’s The Sixth Gun. This superb series from writer Cullen Bunn and artist Brian Hurtt continues its trek towards despair for leads Becky, Drake and Gord, and the issue from a couple week’s back was another superb one. I talk to Bunn about the path this issue starts up as the latest arc, titled “Winter Wolves,” begins with this issue.

This issue opens with Brother Roberto, looking back on his life as he nears perhaps the darkest time in his life and of the Order. It’s an ominous open, and it gives the feeling that Winter Wolves is likely the beginning of a very dark time for everyone who chooses to side with the forces of good (or at least mostly good). Would you say that is an accurate statement?

Yes, I think that’s fair. “Winter Wolves” is something of a turning point in the story. We’ve almost reached the halfway point in the series, and the darkest days of this journey are still ahead of our heroes. This arc, in many ways, represents the coming of the storm, and our characters will suffer greatly… and make great sacrifices… before it’s over and done.

Brother Roberto is someone whom we have seen a lot of but we’ve never known much about him, and with this issue we learn about his legacy within the Order and what happened with his father and grandfather. Going forward, what do you see the role of Brother Roberto being? It feels to me as if this could be the beginning of an upswing in import.

One of the things I love about working on a book like The Sixth Gun is I can take my time revealing details of a character’s past. We’ll be learning more about Brother Roberto’s past as the story progresses… and I think some of it (both in terms of the story itself and in how we’re going to be presenting it) will come as a surprise. Roberto and the Sword of Abraham have an important role to play in Winter Wolves and in the series as a whole. But nothing will play out quite the way Roberto is expecting.

The big moment of the intro, even with all of the fascinating business going on with Brother Roberto, is the return of General Hume (maybe) and the revelation of a new power: Hume’s mother. Is she the bringer of the dark days that Roberto speaks of? And for you as a writer, did you find it difficult to feasibly work in a new character of that sort with so many ties this far into the series?

The General’s mother is… to put it simply… a nightmare. She is most certainly the harbinger of doom Roberto fears… even though he may not fully understand who or what she is. Like I said, Winter Wolves is all about setting the stage for the turning tides in the book, so it’s the perfect time for her to start surfacing. To introduce a major character at this stage of the game can be a challenge, but I’ve been planning on introducing her for some time. In fact, she’s already appeared in a couple of issues of the book. You just need to go back and look for her.

For the last arc or two, our collection of heroes (namely Drake, Becky and Gord) have been separated, but in this issue, they all appear albeit not together. It feels as if they are on a crash course to meet back up after reading this first issue of Winter Wolves. Why now? What is the impetus to start bringing these pieces together now?

Our heroes are definitely moving back toward one another. Between them, they have all the pieces they need to bring about the destruction of the Six. The only thing they’re missing is Missy Hume’s pistol. They’ve always planned on meeting back up, but the circumstances (especially for Drake and Becky) got all fouled up. Now, Gord just needs to find his friends and there’ll be safety in numbers, right? But Gord might need a little help tracking Drake and Becky down. And that kind of help will come from the most unusual of sources.

Continued below

Story-wise, it’s time to start bringing all the pieces together. The locomotive is about to start barreling toward the end now.

Just like our heroes are beginning to unite, it seems like the forces of evil are beginning to tighten the circle around them, if not outright unite. The appearance of Kalfu outside of New Orleans especially seems to indicate this. Is something drawing them out besides The Six? Could it be Hume’s mother?

This is most certainly a time of convergence. Big things are happening in the Spirit World. Whatever it is, it’s important enough that the General, even while imprisoned on holy ground, began to stir again, even for a little while.

When Becky sees Kalfu and asks Drake who he is, Drake omits the answer. Why does he choose to keep pertinent information like that to himself? Also, are these characters just so overwhelmed by recent events that something like that doesn’t even phase them?

Drake is a man of many secrets, and he wields information like a weapon. When he saw Kalfu, he had to weigh how important such a revelation would be to Becky. The girl, after all, has been shaken to the very core in recent days. He didn’t have much time to tell her anyway. The supernatural winter rushed in after them pretty quickly after Kalfu’s appearance.

I think both Becky and Drake are jaded now, yes. Becky would have probably had more of a reaction had she seen Kalfu. Drake, though, given his history, might have felt like seeing such a spirit was just another day on the job.

This issue closes with a new evil in the form of the titular winter wolves, while Fort Treadwell itself has literally been frozen over. What can we look forward to in this arc? It seems, with Gord being followed by persons unknown and Becky and Drake obviously in dire trouble, that our heroes are in a fair bit of trouble, even without the obvious danger of the Widow Hume in the mix.

Drake and Becky are in for the fight of their lives against the winter wolves, but they are going to have a chance to reflect on their relationship with one another, too. Gord will forge some new alliances and encounter some fierce opposition from his enemies. More than one character will make a sacrifice in order to make it out of this adventure alive.

And, yes, Missy Hume reappears in a confrontation with young Becky Montcrief.

And we’ll see the Sixth Gun manifest a new power.


//TAGS | Haunted Trails

David Harper

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