The issue ends with a very peculiar turn of events. So much so the issue feels incomplete, like Bunn forgot to resolve something. He changes up Sixth Gun’s status quo in the second issue of an arc… it just feels funny.

The issue’s pacing is also funny. It’s an all-action issue (but none of those awesome Hurtt double page action spreads), with the protagonists literally putting the brakes on everything at the finish.

The great big mummy (he’s actually not so much big as super tall) proves an interesting foil for the issue, even though he doesn’t have any real dialogue. It’s a strange presence in the already strange situation of zombie cowboys after the protagonist.

Bunn’s got the tone right, Hurtt’s got the art right, but something’s missing. The cliffhanger is too quiet, too soft… the issue really needs some bite.

It’s technically excellent… but, again, something’s missing.

Is there anything not to love about this comic book? I mean, it ends with this beautifully paced reveal of the big villain–and I quote–a “giant mummy.” In the Old West. It’s just fantastic how Bunn and Hurtt pull off these fantastical reveals and make them work perfectly.

Speaking of Hurtt, this issue features some more of those wonderful Sixth Gun double page action spreads. It’s a great approach to action sequences, though I think Hurtt doing the art makes it work.

Bunn opens the issue–the first of a new arc–with a little recap, something Gun hasn’t had before. He works it nicely into the story, giving the issue a gradual start. Things get disturbing pretty fast, though Gun‘s handling of the supernatural is always somewhat genial.

If the book were too disturbing, it would overshadow the Western feel.

It’s truly an exemplar comic book.

Bunn has taken the reader’s expectations—or at least, Bunn’s perception of the reader’s expectations—and reversed them. It means he gets to end this issue, and its arc, in an unexpected place. Gord, who’s been sort of a seventh wheel around The Sixth Gun for a while, is apparently bowing out for a bit and Becky and Drake are off to a new adventure.

The issue itself is mostly action, with some surprises as far as plot points and guest stars. It’s all very competent, very genial and very pleasant. Even with all the supernatural stuff.

The last five issues, however, become nothing more than a transitional phase in the series. All the changes and revelations of the arc could be summed up in two paragraphs of dialogue. Hurtt’s artwork makes the series beautiful to read, but there’s not much point to the story itself.

It’s well executed padding.

If Bunn feels he needs to redeem Becky in some way, he’s sure taking his time about it.

There’s some awesome looking awful stuff this issue—Hurtt reminds, more than once, of he and Bunn’s previous series, The Damned, with the supernatural elements—but also of important has to be Billjohn. Well, Billjohn the clay golem. He seems to have more to do than just stand around.

About half the issue follows Becky as she wakes up and realizes Kirby isn’t such a good guy… oh, but wait, she can’t raise her hand against him. Bunn has made her a truly boring character this arc and one hopes Drake will somehow liven her up again.

As for Drake, he spends the issue talking again. The talking is interspersed with those supernatural scenes; it’s interesting, but one can’t help feel like Bunn’s putting Drake on the back burner.

Still, it’s good.

Ho hum. Bunn does the exact thing I was really hoping he wouldn’t, but he aggravates the situation by accelerating Kirby and Becky’s friendship into a sexual relationship immediately this issue.

Well, not immediately, because Gord and Drake sit around and talk about the six guns possibly being even more trouble than they imagined. Then we get to a post-coital scene with Kirby and Becky… and it occurs to me, thinking about it, Drake hasn’t seen him yet. So maybe there’s a surprise waiting for when Drake does finally see him.

The issue is mostly focused on action. Someone’s after the guns, causes some trouble for the cast. It’s a lot of great Hurtt action art, page after page of it. The art makes up for Bunn’s revelation.

I’m not exactly disappointed—it’s not a bad twist—it’s just a predictable, pointless one. I wanted more from the series.

Things are still developing, but while they do, Drake gets into a bit of trouble and we get to see Hurtt do a man versus giant alligator scene. It’s a fantastic few pages from Hurtt, who’s otherwise not doing a lot of action this issue. There’s some talking and some more of those discreet little motions in panels the reader needs to heed… like I said, things are still developing.

Bunn also hasn’t quite given the reader enough information about Kirby yet. I’m hoping he’s not bad, just because it’ll make Becky seem like a fool. Their friendship is one of the other percolating elements, though Drake does find out about him this issue.

I love how Gun is never melodramatic, even with the fine New Orleans setting and so on. Bunn and Hurtt somehow manage to get through the issue without even the hint of a misstep or stumble.

Twice in this issue, Hurtt and Bunn have these little actions—Becky clutching her arm, later going for the gun in her purse—and they’re silent moments in small panels. The reader needs to pay attention to The Sixth Gun, or he or she is going to miss something.

Most of this issue is just prepping for whatever’s coming next. It establishes the new ground situation for the series—Drake is drunk and solitary, Becky is waiting for him to not be either. Then come this issue’s two developments—Drake goes after something he’s had Gord looking into and Becky meets a fella. The fella is a gunfighter, but that occupation doesn’t seem as important as him being a competitor for her affections. Though Drake hasn’t declared himself.

It’s an excellent comic; Bunn and Hurtt are a great team. It’s been a while since I read Gun. I’ve missed it.

Almost the entire issue is horizontal, meaning the pages are read across. It must have been a lot of work for Hurtt, but it’s done to excellent effect. The issue is another all action issue, but it’s this huge, layered battle scene. There’s an epilogue to it (The Sixth Gun, I believe, was initially a limited series ending here and so the epilogue makes sense as a teaser for what could come next). The epilogue is on regular, vertical pages.

What’s so good about the issue isn’t particularly the battle–though Bunn does plot it rather well. The ending is unexpected and there are some really nice smaller sequences, like Becky going up against Mrs. Hume.

But what’s best about it is how much Bunn infers instead of explains. The Sixth Gun‘s lack of overall exposition should be the standard, not the exception.

It’s a fantastic finish, better than expected.

Okay, it’s Drake, Becky and Billjohn. Can’t believe I forgot Billjohn.

No real action this issue, not even during the last quarter, which means Bunn wasn’t establishing it as an regular formula the first few issues, it’s just how he played them.

Or maybe this issue, with General Hume raising a graveyard of zombies to attack our heroes, didn’t need the tension raised.

We get a lot of backstory this issue, including some backstory on new characters. Bunn introduces a new character–a black insurgent (I can never figure good terms for these things) who fought the Confederacy. I hate to be obvious, but it’s like Lando Calrissian shows up or something. And we get backstory on him. More than we’ve gotten on Drake–we’re hearing a lot more about him being a somewhat evil man, but it’s not a clear definition.

Bunn’s giving Sixth Gun a lot of depth.

The girl’s name is Becky. It’s mentioned twice this issue, so maybe I’m not the only one who was confused.

This issue is Bunn’s take an all action issue. There’s the main event, the bad guys against this huge, electrically charge bird monster. But Drake and his sidekick–who definitely has a name, but I’m not aware of it–have to get to the fight, which brings in some backstory. And then there’s the girl–sorry, Becky–getting to the fight too.

Some great artwork here. Hurtt’s not a guy you really except to do heart-stopping visuals–I love him, but he doesn’t tend to do the stupendous visuals. Well, except here, of course–he’s got this panel of the giant bird monster’s wings peeking out of a canyon and it’s just incredible.

The series just keeps getting better.

Bunn’s inventiveness in a presumably tried genre is constant pleasure.