Cullen Bunn And Brian Hurtt’s Supernatural Western, The Sixth Gun #1

The very first issue of Eisner Award nominated The Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn (The Damned, Harrow County, Venomverse) and Brian Hurtt (The Damned)!
During the darkest days of the Civil War, wicked cutthroats came into possession of six pistols of otherworldly power. In time, the Sixth Gun-the most dangerous of the weapons-vanished. When the gun surfaces in the hands of an innocent girl, dark forces reawaken. Vile men thought long dead set their sights on retrieving the gun and killing the girl. Only Drake Sinclair, a gunfighter with a shadowy past, stands in their way. The Sixth Gun is a two-fisted adventure set in the mysterious and supernatural corners of the old west.

Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt met at a comic shop they both worked at many years ago. They used to pass the time kicking around comic ideas they would someday work on together. A little over a decade ago, they pitched The Damned to Oni Press, who wisely snapped it up. The Sixth Gun is the second project Bunn and Hurtt put together for Oni, and it ran for six years. Oni Press’ Square One program brings you issue #1 (originally released on Free Comic Book Day 2010) for just a buck.
The first chapter opens with the legendary Pinkertons scouring the Earth for powerful mystical relics. The mysterious Mrs. Hume has hired the world’s greatest detective agency to locate Screaming Crow’s Head, Asher Cobb’s corpse, The Fool’s Lantern, The Tarot de Lamarliere, The Sixth Gun… That last one, the titular artifact, apparently it’s pretty important, because the agency that never sleeps aren’t the only folks seeking it.
Cullen Bunn demonstrates his flair for the metaphysical in The Sixth Gun. His style of writing takes period tropes and superimposes supernatural elements in a way that engages readers almost instantly. There’s this tension, a sense of impending doom throughout this first chapter, like everyone involved has bitten off more than they can chew, and no one is quite up to the task at hand.
Brian Hurtt is just showing off in this one. Pulling art, color, cover, and letter duties, he doesn’t skip a beat. Character design, set pieces, color, lighting… It’s all so well done, you you forget you’re reading a comic by the third or fourth page.
If you’re a fan of Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt’s other period collaboration, The Damned, or if you want to see The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly smashed up with Indiana Jones (except way, way cooler), grab this first issue for a buck. The Sixth Gun TP Volume 1 Square One edition is also available for $10.

The Sixth Gun #1, Square One edition is available 04 October 2017 for $1. Published by Oni Press, written by Cullen Bunn, art, colors, letters, and cover by Brian Hurtt.