I’ve
heard good things about The Sixth Gun
from Oni Press. Why I’ve waited this
long to review it I have no idea, but here we go.
Cover:
The
cover gimmick, using the title to separate two different, but related, images
is a great effect. I don’t remember
seeing it utilized quite in that way. In
fact the closest I can think of is some of the more recent (and by recent I
mean in the last two years or so) Invincible
covers where Ryan Ottley would draw the primary image on the cover and leave a
square for Cory Walker to draw a separate image pertaining to the part of the
story that he was drawing (or vice versa).
That was part of the plan though as they each drew a separate story
within that universe, Ottley drawing the adventures of the titular hero while
Walker drew (if I remember correctly) a story involving Robot and Monster Girl
in a different dimension.
What I
am trying to say is that I have seen the cover gimmick used in a fashion but
not quite in this way, and I really like it.
Artist Brian Hurtt and colorist Bill Crabtree do an excellent job of
setting a mood for the comic while also telling a story on the cover at the
same time. It’s not readily apparent whether
the evil characters of the top panel are chasing the female figure in the
bottom, but you can kind of assume that they will be. The fact that the movement in each panel is
going from left to right helps (and I shouldn’t have to say that but there are
some covers/panels that get that wrong.
Hurtt situated everything perfectly so that no pertinent information is
lost by the large logo (which I am quite fond of) and nothing is obscured. Of course, he’s been doing this for 31 issues
so far, I would assume that he’s got this down to a science by now.
While
the cover tells a story, it leaves quite a bit of mystery as well. Who are the evil characters in the top
panel? For that matter, who is the girl
in the bottom panel? I assume that it’s
the main character, but you never know. Also, what is the shadow in the
cave? So much mystery and honestly, more
story than you find in some comic books contained right on the cover.
The art
itself is top notch. I love the framing
using the silhouetted trees in the bottom panel, and hiding half of the girl in
the shadows, as if she’s emerging into a clearing to go to the ominous red cave
(why would anyone willingly go into the red cave?) I will get into this more when I talk about
the interior art, but Hurtt has a certain quality about his work that reminds
me of Jeff Smith. Maybe it’s the locale
brings to mind the setting of Bone,
but from the first few pages I was hooked.
The only complaint I have (and it’s minimal) is that the blue of the logo
is a little too similar to the purple of the rock. Where the top panel separates itself from the
logo, the bottom panel tends to blend in a little too much.
9/10 – Hurtt can teach a class on mood, storytelling and
composition based on the cover work alone.
Crabtree (as always) delivers a well-colored, expressive piece.
Story:
This is
issue two of the “Ghost Dance” storyline.
That being said, I had a bit of dread in the back of my mind when I
picked it up. Being thrown into the
middle of a story usually means that the reader is lost in terms of the
characters and the story. Compound this
with the fact that the we are on issue thirty-one, and it was double
dread. Hey look, there’s a recap page
that also has a handy character guide.
Cullen Bunn, you’ve thought of everything, haven’t you? Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s see how the rest of the book stacks up,
as a good comic is not made from just a solid recap-page.
The
first thing I noticed (in terms of the writing at least) is how old-school this
felt. Things were explained, character’s
names were thrown about freely, introducing everyone organically within the
flow of the story, but definitely introducing them nonetheless. There were even narration boxes! This is like seeing a tiger in the wild. You hear that they are out there but until
you see one yourself it’s all speculation.
Bunn also creates a decent balance as in the beginning, when exposition
is needed, it is given in spades. When
the action starts toward the middle of the book, the writing starts to fizzle
out, to give way to the action. It’s
almost as if Bunn and Hurtt had an agreement where each got half the book to
showcase their talents. You can
definitely see the two creators working in harmony, each with a respect for the
other’s individual talents.
I was a
little confused as to the inclusion of dragons on the last page as (main
character) Becky is journeying through the spirit world, but I have absolute
faith that this will be explained next issue.
Bunn has done a stellar job of building a world and giving it weight and
consequence.
9/10 – I’m already kind of a sucker for westerns, so the
score was probably going to be inflated a bit because of that. I honestly enjoyed the comic though. It did one thing that many comics nowadays
fail to do which is pull a new reader in in the middle of a storyline by
providing a solid issue that doesn’t take an intimate knowledge of the
characters to understand and appreciate.
Art:
As I
stated above, Hurtt’s artwork has a very Jeff Smith quality to it in terms of
the pacing and the storytelling. The
artistic style itself is reminiscent of the Bone
and Rasl creator and I have a feeling
if the color was removed it would feel even closer to that. The characters all have their own personalities;
no one is a throwaway, cookie-cutter type and you can see that in the way that
they are illustrated. Each individual is
just that, from their height to their facial features and expressions, you can
see that time was spent in crafting these characters instead of just giving one
a black hat and one a brown hat.
Hurtt
handles both the text heavy first half and the more action oriented second half
with equal amounts of ease and professionalism.
With some artists you can tell that they either do the action sequences
first because it’s more fun, or they just put more effort into them because
they know that those pages will sell better (and for more) as original art than
a bunch of talking heads would. I don’t
get that vibe from Hurtt (at least on this issue) as he treats each panel and
each page as if it is the most important one in the series, much less the book
itself. This is how it should be,
obviously, and the fact that Hurtt is not only an incredible talent, but
obviously a professional about his artwork puts him well above many of the
other artists out there that probably have much higher-profile jobs.
I also
want to mention Bill Crabtree on the colors.
I’ve known about Crabtree for quite some time as he was the colorist of Invincible for a long time, and he has
always been great at his job. The Sixth
Gun seems to offer even more for him to play with in terms of creating a mood
using color (especially in this issue).
Between switching between the two worlds as well as using more “traditional”
light sources such as fire and natural light, it creates a different, weightier
aesthetic than his traditional superhero work did. I haven’t been witness to Crabtree’s entire
career arc, but I would venture a guess that this is some of the best work of
his career.
Is it just me or does that look like a zombie George Washington?
This is probably my favorite beat of the whole comic, and what really reminded me of Bone
Just look at the characters represented here and tell me that Hurtt doesn't have a knack for unique character design.
This is a great page. It doesn't require dialogue to tell the story because Hurtt does an incredible job of showing us who Becky is and her true character.
10/10 – Absolutely superb.
In the hands of a less-capable couple of artists, this would be a hard
book to like, but Hurtt and Crabtree do an astounding job of not only telling
the story, but showcasing their talent at the same time.
Overall: 9/10 – Go buy
this book. In fact, go buy issues one
through thirty as well. I have a feeling
I will be doing so very soon.
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