The 6th Gun: Days of the Dead #1
Written by: Cullen Bunn & Brian HurttIllustrated by: Mike Norton
Published by: Oni Press
Issue one of the 6th Gun opens with a single paragraph delivering the main elements of the story, namely two factions both intent on the same prize: The 6th Gun. The central protagonists to this issue are: Jesup Sutter and Roberto Vargas. The story opens with a fisherman versus whale fable, this is no Captain Ahab pursuit but a full and bloody battle; whale versus hunters – the whale decimates them all… barring one.
This is supposed to be an enigmatic entry to the issue, one that leads into an air of mysticism. Admittedly this plot device is well employed, though there is a discord in the telling of this tale. A little too much time is spent
in the first movement of the book which slows down the flow of the story. Later, the pace recovers and the final section is quite a gallop.
For the most part the characterization is admirable, particularly in the first section of the book but then slows proceedings.
It is evident that the authors attempted to use the first segment of the story to set a tone for the issue, however, had they spent less time establishing that tone it would not have made the introduction of Roberto Vargas such a jarring experience. We meet Robert
o in a scene that effectively sets up his back story, so that we already know a lot of his past. The scene with Roberto’s mother is high on the melodrama scale and then another sudden change and it is on to meeting Jesup.
The concerns over pace and character introductions do detract from the reading pleasure, between the first three parts of the issue feels a little clunky. Where this issue does fly is in the final section. It is in the ending that the various threads start to pull together and which should, hopefully, provide the catalyst for the remaining issues in the series. There are several nice elements to this story, the set up is well thought out so that the book hits the ground running. The art, too, is fitting throughout with good use of panel structure and scene setting. The colors, especially in the whale section, were very effective and quite vibrant in others. The period feel and the mystical elements work well and, with luck, the next issue will expand upon the early promise of the 6th Gun.
