‘The Sixth Gun’ Rides Again! — A Campfire Conversation With Cullen Bunn And Brian Hurtt
by Anton Kromoff
Welcome to the table,
Now, I’ve always loved a Western story that had more to it than cowboys and bandits. There is a wealth of material that has black hats versus white hats, and some of those are for sure fun, but when you start to fold things in like ghosts, wandering monks, or werewolves you really start to hit on the sweet spot in storytelling for me.
I attribute that fact to my grandfather, who, even in his later stages of Alzheimer’s, spoke highly of the wandering monk from Kung-Fu. Even on the days when he could not recall a single name of family or friend, he believed that “Kung-Fu” (his name for the title character Kwai Chang Caine) could do anything from knock out fifty bandits to kick the lightsaber out of a Jedi’s hand. A man who spent the majority of the time we shared in the land of the living together reading Western dime novels, watching cowboy movies, and doing crossword puzzles was still the biggest fan of a Western story with a little more.
So it was no surprise that when my friends Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt told me many years ago they would be putting out a comic that was a Western with supernatural and horror themes, magic guns, and ghosts, I was all in.
The pure delight came in waves as I got to watch, month after month, this fantastic comic hit the stands delivering some of the most enjoyable storytelling I have ever put my eyes on. I was such a big fan of the work that at one point that the walls of my 20-something apartment were lined with framed issues, original art, and lithographs of the story of blood, bullets, and magic spun by these two talented storytellers.
Now, after nearly 15 years and more than 60 issues, the longest-running creator-owned series in the history of Oni-Press rides again on Kickstarter with a brand-new campaign setting the stage for the return of The Sixth Gun in 2025!
I got a chance to sit down (virtually) with my favorite comic artist and my favorite comic writer and ask them some questions about the series and what is on the horizon.
Anton Kromoff: Hello guys, thank you for taking some time to talk to me about The Sixth Gun and this resurrection project from Oni Press. Before we dive in too deep, I know you both well, but can you please tell our readers a little bit about yourselves and where they may have come across your work before?
Cullen Bunn: Thanks, Anton. So, I’m Cullen Bunn, the writer of a number of creator- owned books, mainly in the horror and dark fantasy space. Some titles (besides The Sixth Gun) include The Damned, Lamentation, Helheim, The Empty Man, Bone Parish, Basilisk, and Door to Door, Night by Night. In other comics, I’ve written Uncanny X-Men, Deadpool, Magneto, Sinestro, and many others.
Brian Hurtt: And I’m Brian Hurtt, a comic artist who has worked mainly in the small press and creator-owned side of comics for the past twenty years. I’m probably best known for my creator-owned work with Cullen Bunn: The Damned, Manor Black, Shadow Roads, and most notably THE SIXTH GUN. The project outside of creator-owned comics that I’m best known for is Steve Gerber’s cult DC Comics series Hard Time.
Kromoff: Now, The 6th Gun series has garnered a dedicated fan base since its debut. What was the inspiration behind creating this unique blend of Western, supernatural, and horror genres?
Bunn: For me, it was a love of Weird Westerns, such as Joe Lansdale’s Dead in the West, and epic dark fantasy, specifically the work of Michael Moorcock. A lot of folks have described The Sixth Gun as Lord of the Rings in the Old West, but I’d say a much more accurate description would be Moorcock’s Corum in the
Old West. But that’s just me. Other than that, the book stems from a desire to tell the kinds of massive, world-building stories that I loved as a younger reader, something that could help me share my love of these kind of tales with other fans.
Hurtt: The inspirations, like our genre interests, are wide and deep. Besides what Cullen has already mentioned, I would say that we’re also inspired by the super-hero comic storytelling of our youth, the toys and cartoons we loved, the films of John Carpenter, and so on. It’s a weird, unique stew of all the things we love about genre storytelling!
Kromoff: With the series running for over 45 issues, with numerous spinoff stories including Dust to Dust, Valley of Death, and the 10-issue series Shadow Roads, how did you keep such a rich and vast landscape of lore and interwoven story arcs organized?
Bunn: Wasn’t easy! We had numerous folders and files and e-mail threads. There were times, it all got a little jumbled, notes-wise. Sometimes, some bit of lore would arise that I’d need to pour over previous issues to verify. For the most part, though, it was easy to keep track of things because this world felt very real to me. It felt like a world I had lived in for a long time, even when I was making something up at the spur of the moment.
Hurtt: I think we might be coming to the time where we need to write an official “bible” for the series just to keep it all straight! But honestly, like Cullen said, we’ve lived and breathed this world for so long that it’s just understood by us. The hang ups are more character based, like who said what to who and when. That sort of thing.
There are definitely world-building seeds that we planted in both THE SIXTH GUN and SHADOW ROADS–blink and you miss them type stuff–that we’ve yet to explore. These are elements of the world that Cullen and I understand but have yet to reveal in story. Yet.
Kromoff: The 6th Gun features a diverse cast of characters, each with their own complex motivations and story arcs. My favorite has always been Asher Cobb, the 9ft tall wizard mummy, do you guys have favorite characters in the series?
Hurtt: Asher Cobb is also one of my favorites–probably in the top three! The tragic mage, Gord Cantrell is also up there. Other faves of mine, in no particular order, are Billjohn O’Henry; the widow, Missy Hume; and that charming, smarmy rake, Kirby Hale.
Bunn: I have many, many favorites. Gord, Nahuel and Nidawi, Becky… but my absolute favorite has always been and will always be the bounty hunter Billjohn O’Henry. I love pretty much everything about him, which is why I was so damn cruel to him in the book.
Kromoff: The concept of the six mythical guns that possess immense power is central to the series. Can you discuss the research and world-building involved in creating the lore and history of these weapons and the abilities they possess?
Bunn: The guns went through several variations. It’s no secret that the original plan for the book was a limited series, only six issues long, in which Drake Sinclair was a vicious cold-blooded killer and villain of the series. In that version of the story, he had five of the guns already, and the powers were a little different. As the series changed, though, the guns changed slightly, too. Brian and I honed the powers of the guns, discussing what powers would serve the story best and what would be the most visually dynamic.
Kromoff: Each of the guns has a distinctive glyph on the handle that we have seen features on the pommels of swords in a brief flashback in the core series. As we look to the future is there a possibility of readers seeing these runes return on other fate-bending items in the future?
Bunn: The guns and their sigils are such an integral part of the series. I will admit, thinking about your previous question, sometimes I lose track of which gun does what, and one of the most often-used documents in my arsenal is a list of the different guns and their powers. I guess I better dust that off. Wait. Did I say that aloud? Ignore me, please. The guns are gone, gone, gone.
Kromoff: The artwork in The 6th Gun is distinctive, visually stunning, and some of my favorite comic work ever. As a writer/artist team, how do you approach collaboration to ensure that both the narrative and visual aspects of the series complement each other so effectively?
Hurtt: It helps that Cullen and I have always been on the same page creatively. It helps that we spend a lot of time talking through the broad strokes of the story, the characters, and the world before we even get started. We start from a place of understanding.
Then, once I get a script from Cullen, it’s my job to tell the story he has written to the best of my ability. It’s never about my art at that point, it’s about what imagery will best bring the reader into the world, set the mood, or convey the heart of a particular scene. My visual storytelling has to be clear, easy to follow and consistent with what Cullen is trying to accomplish in the scene. It’s my job to service the story, not draw attention to the art.
Bunn: I feel like Brian and I have a pretty solid understanding of each other’s strengths and sensibilities as creators, and the collaboration feels natural. It’s not something we really need to think about. I’ve said many times that I think Brian is one of the best visual storytellers in the business, and I trust him to absolutely kill it on every page he draws. Trust is a key part of making great comics, and I trust what Brian brings to the book without question.
Kromoff: Over the course of the series, The Sixth Gun received critical acclaim with multiple nominations for both Eisner and Harvey awards. Did you anticipate this level of success, and how has it impacted your creative journeys since the series release?
Bunn: I knew–and continue to know–that if readers give the book a chance, they’re gonna love it. The challenge with any creator-owned book is, of course, getting readers to take a chance on it. I’ve definitely been so thrilled by the reaction to the book, and it changed my journey as a creator in amazing ways. Not only did it get the attention of readers, it got the attention of editors and publishers. Those editors and publishers, in turn, offered me more work, and that work allowed me to pursue my dream of being a full-time creator.
Hurtt: I had been in comics for almost a decade when we launched The Sixth Gun and it quickly became a game-changer for me. We realized pretty early on that the series was going to be able to sustain itself and that meant for the first time in my career I had something close to job security for a few years. One of the toughest things about working in comics is wondering what that next job is going to be–where that next paycheck is coming for. I ended up working exclusively on The Sixth Gun for over five years–the best years of my career so far–and that was all due to the support of the readers and everyone who boosted the series.
To say that I am grateful is an understatement!
Kromoff: There have been rumors constantly swirling about the series coming to the big or small screen. Are there any plans you can speak of for us seeing our favorite weird Western series taking on life in a medium outside of comics?
Bunn: I don’t think there is much we can say that isn’t already public knowledge. As it stands right now, screenwriter Selwyn Seyfu Hinds has been developing a new take on the series for UCP. I can tell you that Selwyn is an absolutely amazing writer and his plans for the series are ambitious and awesome.
Kromoff: After completing The Sixth Gun and working together for so long, what are some of the key lessons you’ve learned about storytelling and collaboration that you would like to share with aspiring comic creators?
Bunn: Open communication between collaborators is vital to making great comics, and if you’re going to work on a book with someone, make sure they are as invested in it as you are. You can always tell when even one member of the creative team just doesn’t have their heart in it. It comes across on the page.
Hurtt: I echo everything that Cullen just said. Everyone needs to feel invested creatively. Honestly, my collaboration with Cullen over the years has been so good that I’m spoiled for almost anyone else. We have such an easy, open dialogue from conception to story and such trust for each other’s instincts.
I would like to say we worked hard at it but, really, it’s been that way between us ever since our first stories. Before either of us were even making comics we were just two guys sitting around daydreaming about the stories they would someday tell. We were fortunate enough that that became a reality and I don’t think either of us have ever taken that for granted!
Kromoff: What is on the horizon for you both? I have heard some rumors that there is a new collaborative project in the works. Can you tell us anything about that?
Bunn: Brian and I do have another limited series in the works for Dark Horse. It starts up in October, I believe. Other than that, I’m always developing a number of new creator-owned series. There are several on the horizon that haven’t been announced just yet.
Hurtt: As Cullen said, we have a horror mini-series that launches with Dark Horse this October. When I finish drawing that over the next month or two I will be moving on to a longer format series with a writer of some renown. It’s a big canvas, action-packed, paranoid mystery. And that’s all I can disclose about that right now! And finally, I think I’m going to have my plate full come 2025 with a separate longer format series with another writer of some renown: Cullen Bunn.
Kromoff: Before we wrap up, I wanted to take a second to thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. With the rise and fall of so many social platforms where would each of you say is the best place for fans of your work to keep up with your current projects and endeavors?
Bunn: For me, you can always visit www.cullenbunn.com. From there, you can connect to my news and updates. I’ve also got a weekly newsletter that features news, behind-the-scenes secrets, fiction, and all sorts of fun. You can subscribe to that at https://cullenbunn.substack.com/ .
Hurtt: I’m not super active on the socials but the best place to find me–and in this order–is as @brihurtt on Instagram and @brihurtt on Twitter.
Well there you go, friends! Such a cool announcement and I am so glad to have been even a small part of it! Now head on over to Kickstarter and check out The Sixth Gun Deluxe Omnibus Library!
Until next time, you tell ’em I’m coming, and hell is coming with me!
