Billjohn’s back. Heck yeah.

I’ve been missing Billjohn and Bunn and Hurtt reveal he’s back in the first couple pages this issue.

This issue finishes the “Bound” arc and shows how complicated Bunn’s plotting is on The Sixth Gun. While nothing big happened–except Drake’s disappearance–the reader learns a great deal about Becky and Gord. Bunn waits until now to reveal another layer to the whole picture as well.

He’s got to have some kind of outline.

There’s more action than in the last couple issues here, with Gord fighting himself (sometimes literally) as he struggles to deal with a devil. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

And then Becky has her big moment, along with a quieter one where she discovers more powers of the Sixth Gun.

This arc gives Bunn and Hurtt a lot more toys and somehow revitalizes the series, even though it didn’t need to be.

It’s excellent.

I can see now why Bunn put all the action at the beginning of this arc. It’s not about action, it’s about the calm following the action.

For example, the scenes with the most action this issue are Gord’s flashbacks. Except it’s not exciting Western action, it’s the terrible things Gord went through. And it’s all off-panel. Hurtt either shows the lead up or the results. It keeps the issue active, but calm and dreary.

Bunn also comes up with some more great flashback tools. Becky’s father is able to look in on her from the past, which provides some necessary foreshadowing, makes the issue subtly tragic.

The issue, overall, is a complete downer. Gord remembers bad things and Becky discovers bad things (and people). As usual with Sixth Gun, it’s difficult to predict where Bunn is going.

Particularly great Hurtt art at the end closes the issue well.

Anything after last issue was going to be a letdown and, while this issue isn’t as strong, Bunn and Hurtt are being very deliberate and careful. They’re slowly revealing the past of Gord and Becky. The beauty of The Sixth Gun being a supernatural Western is Bunn doesn’t have to use flashbacks.

Instead, he gets to use ghosts. In Gord’s case, the haunting is a little more literal for the most of the issue. While he’s walking through his past, conjuring up people long gone, Becky is getting acclimated to the weird monks protecting her.

She’s also pining for Drake, who’s missing (but not suspected dead).

The monks live in this huge castle and I really hope Bunn explains a castle in the Old West. I don’t doubt he’d explain it well, I just really want to read it.

Hurtt’s art is calm and quiet, silently majestic.

Gun‘s reliably strong.

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.