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Friday Recommendation: The Sixth Gun

By | November 25th, 2011
Posted in Columns | % Comments

If you read the site at all, you should know that this is a popular book among everyone here. We ran an Off the Cape on the book some time ago, and we recently started a feature called Haunted Trails, dedicated exclusively to discussing The Sixth Gun and what it’s all about. We even cast them in our Multiversity Casting Couch feature a couple weeks back! As you can tell, we all really love The Sixth Gun. If somehow, for some reason, you read those, and are still not convinced, or even worse, didn’t read those, here’s yet another opportunity to talk about how great this series really is.

Read on for more!

The Sixth Gun is as familiar as it is unique. Often described as “Lord of the Rings in the Old West,” it expands upon those simple characteristics and becomes something all its own. Drake Sinclair, one of the protagonists in the story, isn’t your Aragorn/Frodo all around good guy doing this for the good of mankind. He’s more closely described as a scoundrel, much in the same way Han Solo is. He’s not, strictly speaking, a very good guy, and that’s exactly what makes him the best type of character for the role. As much as I love virtuous characters, if he were simply virtuous, the story would be very one dimensional and boring. The idea that he’s a not so good guy put into a situation like this is part of the draw that makes it as good as it is. When you pair him with a character like Becky, who is very much a Princess Leia archetype; strong, independent, and not at all a gentle flower, it makes for a classic dynamic between the two of them. The other characters, like Gord, are just as three dimensional as Drake or Becky. Gord himself actually plays an important part of the book, being a Black character in the Old West. He brings a different sort of weight to such a time, especially because Drake, and the villains, for that matter, are mostly former Confederate Soldiers vying for control of the six weapons.

Cullen Bunn, the scribe in this team of creators, really hit the ball out of the park on this one. I’m not expressly a fan of westerns, but this book hits all the right spots because of the chemistry between the characters but also because of the rich world he’s created. There is a rich history to the six guns that goes back as far as history goes. And as far back as these guns go, so do the forces that are looking to use them for their own personal gain. Drake and crew navigate these waters pretty much perfectly.

The art, which is illustrated by Brian Hurtt, is absolutely some of the best in indie comics today, and even in comics al together. The rich lines and colors provide a stark dichotomy to the horrific nature of the book, but do not detract from it. In fact, it emphasizes the moments when they happen; especially when there’s all manner of Hell trying to come for all six of these guns. There’s also a subtle brilliance to the character designs, as Drake doesn’t look like your stereotypical John Wayne cowboy. Instead of the classic handkerchief, chaps, and ten gallon Stetson; he looks more like an antagonist in any of those movies, dressed to the nines, complete with bowler hat. It helps sell his character very well.

Aside from that, this book is actually a perfect jumping on point for comics in general. You doubt me? Let me tell you a little story. My mother is a big reader. She loves to read anything, but I was never able to get her to read comics because continuity was too complicated. It made comics nearly impossible to follow. I did however; get her to read two books: Tiny Titans and The Sixth Gun. While the idea of those books being the lone books in a fans saver is enough to caused confused looks at best and outright laughter at worst; she absolutely loves both books.

If the past articles haven’t done it yet, maybe this one finally will. This book is fantastic, and you should be reading it. Here’s a link to the first and second trades, with the third on its way soon, there really is no reason why this shouldn’t already be in your pull.


//TAGS | Friday Recommendation

Gilbert Short

Gilbert Short. The Man. The Myth. The Legend. When he's not reading comic books so you don't have to, he's likely listening to mediocre music or watching excellent television. Passionate about Giants baseball and 49ers football. When he was a kid he wanted to be The Ultimate Warrior. He still kind of does. His favorite character is Superman and he will argue with you about it if you try to convince him otherwise. He also happens to be the head of Social Media Relations, which means you should totally give him a follow onTwitter.

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