The Sixth Gun Vol 1: Cold, Dead Fingers (Oni Press)

The Sixth Gun Vol 1: Cold, Dead Fingers

Oni Press

Writer: Cullen Bunn; Art: Brian Hurtt

Jun 16, 2011 Web Exclusive By Jeremy Nisen

The Sixth Gun primarily concerns mystical weapons —six pistols, each of which granting its wielder a unique set of powers—and the cast of characters who either wield or covet them. Taking place in the proverbial post-Civil War Wild West, this first volume collects issues 1-6 of the series and introduces us to Drake Sinclair, a smartly dressed scoundrel, his friend Billjohn, and Becky, the inheritor of the most powerful of the pistols, a most dubious gift.

The true stars of this series are the concepts and designs. From the Gallows Tree, where Sinclair seeks information from a host of hanged specters, to the characters and their guns, to the general drapery of the world (costuming, buildings, landscapes), artist Brian Hurtt and and writer Cullen Bunn set an atmosphere that's compelling and immersive. Pistol-wielding priests, epic villains that promise to rise again and again from the grave in the form of Oliander Bedford Hume and his wife —this is a world and a universe worth more exploration, even beyond the main characters.

The amorphous end of the world scenario that the mystical guns seem to be the key to unearthing feels a little played out and flat. Would that the plot points and dramatic moments be worthy of the characters enduring them and the stage upon which they happen, this would be a can't-miss book.

As it stands, it's a good tale, satisfying on many levels, and, as is most important for serialized fiction, carries the promise of payoff with continual reading.

(The Sixth Gun, at Oni Press)

Author rating: 7/10

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Average reader rating: 5/10