Written by Andy Diggle
Illustrated by Davide GianfeliceTimes may have changed since the days of the Old West, but in the war-torn South American state of San Diablo, the law of the gun still holds sway. When former hero-for-hire Maria Vasquez, alias Tarantula, finds herself wanted for murder south of the border, Texas Rangers Division lawman “Tex” Dawson is assigned to bring her in. But they’re on a collision course with the outlaw Black Riders biker gang, who plan to make sure she never makes it to trial alive…
Wednesday saw the release of the new Marvel mini-series Six Guns by writer Andy Diggle and artist David Gianfelice. A modern day western that updates some of Marvel’s classic old west characters, Six Guns gets off to a strong start in an story filled with the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly remains of some awfully unfortunate bikers.
There’s plenty of revenge-fueled swagger after the jump, so saddle up and let’s do THIS!
These days, anytime a publisher puts out a new comic they’re taking a big chance. And despite its historically being one of the most popular genres in the medium, choosing to make that comic a western doesn’t help their odds one bit. In an industry dominated by superheroes, westerns rarely have the same kind of staying power as the muscle-bound adventurers they’re challenged to share shelf space with. And as a guy who absolutely loves a good western (and more than a few bad ones), that’s something that’s always kind of surprised me. It’s not like capes are inherently cooler than cowboy hats. A great gun fight can be just as exciting as any of the umpteen slugfests that dominate the new comics wall each week. At the end of the day, cowboys and superheroes aren’t that different. They wear costumes, talk tough, and usually work through their problems with violence of some kind or another.
The good news is that comics like Oni’s The Sixth Gun (no relation to our subject comic, I promise), and DC’s Jonah Hex which recently rebooted as All Star Western, have proven there’s a place for westerns in today’s crowded marketplace. But these books also know you better bring something different to the genre if you want people to take note and hang around a while. And I’m happy to say, I think Six Guns has figured that out too.
Plenty of people can tell a cowboy story. But the real hook to Six Guns is that it’s set in the present day Marvel Universe, and stars a bunch of 21st Century gunslingers who don’t necessarily call themselves “the Western Kid”, but who embody that same kind of spirit and rebelliousness in a world that usuall prefers its good guys slightly more invulnerable. There aren’t any big references to Spider Island or the Washington Blitz, but we do get some name-dropping at the very beginning, and a mention of San Diablo (a small South American town first seen in Journey Into Mystery #84) let us know that this book definitely takes place in the 616 (Marvel Universe).
I’ve always been intrigued by the outlying areas of the Marvel U, and the world that exists outside Manhattan; more or less, the world we live in. They might’ve visited the big city now and again, but Ghost Rider mostly kept to the Arizona desert, the Man-Thing roamed the Everglades, and Howard the Duck spent his days chilling out in Cleveland. And now, on a highway somewhere in West Texas, you might very well get ambushed by a gang of psycho killer bikers called the Black Riders, like we see happen in the opening scene of Six Guns. Where’s Spidey when you need him? He’s not in Six Guns, I’ll tell you that.
Andy Diggle nails this first issue. It’s a quick read, but it doesn’t feel empty or under paced. The characters are solid, and while some of them fall into place a little too easily, they don’t really spend too much time on the page, which gives you the feeling there’s a lot more to them than we’re seeing here. I will say that Six Guns is not entirely unlike Andy Diggle’s Vertigo series The Losers. The Losers took DC’s classic war comic about a group of failed soldiers and reimagined them as a team of special ops badasses in a post-9/11 world. Two or three of you might’ve seen the movie they made about them last year. And while The Losers was a great book, with Six Guns, I really hope he doesn’t just do the same kind of thing, and only change the setting from war comic to western.
If you’re like me, and a fan of Vertigo’s Northlanders, then you’ll recognize the incredible Davide Gianfelice, who just kills it on this issue. Not only are his characters beautifully fluid and fun to look at, but he’s an amazingly talented storyteller. It’s worth noting how many motorcycles and cars there are in this first issue, and Gianfelice does a remarkable job selling page after page of high speed road-play and makes it look easy.
This isn’t Marvel’s first attempt to do a western with a modern aesthetic. I went in expecting Six Guns to read a lot like John Ostrander and Leonardo Manco’s Blaze of Glory, and Apache Skies mini-series. While I enjoyed those quite a bit, I was in no way looking forward to reading somebody else do another comic that’s just like those. But Six Guns turned out to be much better than I thought it would be, and I’m genuinely excited about reading the second issue next month. If Diggle and Gianfelice keep things this entertaining over all five issues, then my cash’s on the barrelhead, son.
Final Verdict: 8 — Put this’un in yer satchel, Partner
