By: Cullen Bunn (writer), Brian Hurtt (art), Bill Crabtree (colors), Douglas Sherwood (letters)
The Story: Drake and Becky deal with a Wendigo.
Quick review (with SPOILERS): I only recently picked up The Sixth Gun after a recent Comixology 99-cent sale. Last issue (#25) was my first reading the comic monthly and while it was a good issue, it wasn’t “great”. In that issue, the art was at it’s typical level of greatness, but the story didn’t have that snap I recalled from gorging on the first 24 issues in a week’s time. In the back of my mind I worried a little that I might not enjoy this series as much in single issues….
Turns out that fear was unfounded. This issue #26 gets right back into the supernatural stuff that has made TSG such a great comic. For a few issues, Drake and Becky have been plagued by a Wendigo who is manifesting as a giant white wolf. It’s been interesting, but the last few issues have come off as more of a Godzilla comic than something more nuanced: The wolf chases them, they shoot at it, nothing happens, they hide, the wolf finds them again, repeat…..
A flashback treated us to the concept that the Wendigo can manifest in various forms and that the Wendigo’s power is anchored to a still-living, but magicked, human. In the flash-back story, it was a nasty old outlaw…and it wasn’t sad at all when flashback Drake killed the outlaw and thus vanquished the Wendigo. But in this current story, it turns out the unfortunate hosts for the supernatural spirit are the women and children of the fort. Our cliff hanger is seeing Drake find these poor, innocent folks and sets up very nicely for next issue: Will Drake shoot them? Will he find another way?
The flashback was interesting as well because it introduced a young, attractive female character named Abigail. She seemed to be a former employer of Drake’s on some bit of nasty business in the past. I wonder if she’ll show up anytime soon and cause romantic friction with Drake and Becky? Hmm…
Hurtt and Crabtree are again just stellar on the art this month. Hurtt is almost never going for anything showy. He’s just grinding the story in with panel-after-panel of cartooning excellence. I don’t even really know who to compare his style to. It’s just kinda classic cartooning. The coloring is outstanding as well. I usually feel like I have a better vocabulary for describing why I like the art in a comic, but you’ll just have to trust me this time: it’s simple elegance.
Conclusion: A wonderful issue that shows off the excellence that has been a hallmark of the series.
Grade: A-
– Dean Stell
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Conclusion