The Sixth Gun

The Sixth Gun is a monthly comic book series created by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt and published by Oni Press.

The Sixth Gun
Cover of The Sixth Gun #1 (May 2010). Art by Brian Hurtt.
Publication information
PublisherOni Press
ScheduleMonthly
GenreWeird West
Publication dateMay 2010 – June 2016
No. of issues50
Creative team
Created byCullen Bunn
Brian Hurtt
Written byCullen Bunn
Artist(s)Brian Hurtt
Tyler Crook (#14, #23, #41)
Colorist(s)Brian Hurtt (#1–5)
Bill Crabtree(#6–#50)
Editor(s)Charlie Chu
Collected editions
1. Cold Dead FingersISBN 9781934964606
2. CrossroadsISBN 9781934964675
3. BoundISBN 9781934964781
4. A Town Called PenanceISBN 9781934964958
5. Winter WolvesISBN 9781620100776
6. Ghost DanceISBN 9781620100165
7. Not the Bullet, But the FallISBN 9781620101414
8. Hell and High WaterISBN 9781620102466
9. Boot HillISBN 9781620102992
Sons of the GunISBN 9781620100998
Days of the DeadISBN 9781620102381
Dust to DeathISBN 9781620102688

Summary

The Sixth Gun takes place in the old west during the late 1880s[1]. The story centers around a set of six pistols, each imbued with dark powers. The wielder of each pistol gains an ability unique to the weapon, and is tied to the pistol until their death. The main protagonists, Becky Montcrief and Drake Sinclair attempt to collect the Six and learn their secrets. Antagonists in the series include General Hume and his four horsemen, the Knights of Solomon, the Sword of Abraham, and the Grey Witch.

Cold Dead Fingers

Drake Sinclair searches for the Sixth Gun, which he believes will grant him access to General Hume's vault, which is rumored to be filled with treasures Hume had amassed during the Civil War. His search leads him to a young woman, Becky Sinclair, who is bound to the Sixth Gun after its former owner is killed. They are pursued by General Hume, and his four horsemen and his wife Missy Hume, each of which carries one of the Six Guns.

As Becky and Drake head to the Maw, where Hume's vault awaits, Drake manages to pick off Hume's four horsemen one by one and claim their guns for himself. At the Maw, the meet Gord Cantrell, who is also trying to gain access to Hume's vault. However, Becky realizes the vault does not contain treasure, but rather unlocks some dark power. It requires all of the Six Guns to unlock.

In a battle at the Maw, General Hume is defeated, but Missy Hume escapes.

Crossroads

Drake, Becky, and Gord try to uncover the secrets of the Six while various agents try to claim the Six for themselves. In the process, they make allies with the Sword of Abraham. Gord discovers the Six may unlock the power to remake the world.

Bound

While trying to transport Hume's corpse to a secure location so that he won't be resurrected, the Sword of Abraham is attacked by undead horsemen sent by Missy Hume. Drake is thrown from a train and separated from the others.

After the attack, Becky is taken to the secure location for Hume's corpse, only to learn she will be imprisoned there too so that no one can get the Sixth Gun from her. By tapping into the powers of her gun, Becky is able to escape.

Gord returns to the now deserted estate where he had once been a slave and learns how the Six where summoned into the world.

A Town Called Penance

Becky's search for Drake leads her to a town called Penance. She gradually learns that the people in the town are unable to leave and are kept so that they can be human sacrifices for the Knights of Solomon.

In a hideout of the Knights of Solomon, hidden beneath Penance, Drake is interrogated and tortured. Becky manages to rescue him, but during their escape, they discover a mosaic mural depicting Drake as a Medieval knight.

Winter Wolves

A wendigo captures Becky and Drake in the Spirit World. Drake suspects he has lived other lives and that the world has not only been remade before, but remade many times. The two manage to escape from the Spirit World, but Becky also unlocks some of the deeper powers of the Sixth Gun, and she feels it is beginning to transform her.

Ghost Dance

Becky is half stuck in the Spirit World after using the Sixth Gun. Drake takes her to a shaman who tries to guide Becky back. In the Spirit World, Becky walks the Winding Way, a path that cuts through all of creation. She sees the different realities the Six have made, and others that may be. She sees Drake in different lives as he seeks to destroy the Six, the most ancient of which is a caveman, back when the Six were clubs.

From inside the Winding Way, Becky is attacked by shamans sent by Missy Hume, but she manages to escape. General Hume's mother, the Grey Witch, tires of Missy Hume's failures, and murders her.

Not the Bullet, But the Fall

The Grey Witch attacks with all her strength and manages to kill all of Becky and Drake's allies and claim the Six.

The Grey Witch

In a flashback, we learn that the Grey Witch serves the Great Wyrms, ancient creatures from the dawn of time. They caused humans untold suffering, and it was this suffering that first called the Six into existence. The first time the humans remade the world, they tried to remake the world without the Great Wyrms, but they had managed to burrow themselves deep into the roots of creation. Each time the world is remade, they fade from it a little more, but since humanity no longer remembers them, the recreation of the world is too inarticulate to precisely weed them out entirely. The Grey Witch seeks to remake a world with the Great Wyrms returned to their former strength.

Hell and High Water

The Grey Witch begins to recreate the world. Becky and Drake pursue her into the Devil's Workshop.

Boot Hill

Drake realizes it was he that remade the world the first time and ever since he has been bound to the Six, recalled to life every time the Six are summoned back into existence. Everytime the world has been remade, it is corrupted by the selfish desires of the person remaking it. The last time the world was remade, Drake attempted to make something that could undo the power of the Six—he created Becky. In the final battle, Becky takes hold of creation and remakes the world one last time. To prevent the world being corrupted by her own desires, she unmakes herself in the process.

Publication History

Issues
Story Arc Issue Release Date[2] Writer Artist Colorist
Cold Dead Fingers 1 May 1, 2010 (FCBD)
July 13, 2010 (retail)		 Cullen Bunn Brian Hurtt Brian Hurtt
2 July 13, 2010
3 August 18, 2010
4 September 8, 2010
5 October 20, 2010
6 November 17, 2010 Bill Crabtree[3]
Crossroads 7 December 22, 2010 Cullen Bunn Brian Hurtt Bill Crabtree
8 January 26, 2011
9 February 23, 2011
10 March 23, 2011
11 April 20, 2011
Bound 12 June 29, 2011 Cullen Bunn Brian Hurtt Bill Crabtree
13 July 27, 2011
14 August 31, 2011 Tyler Crook
15 September 28, 2011 Brian Hurtt
16 October 26, 2011
17 November 23, 2011
A Town Called Penance 18 January 25, 2012 Cullen Bunn Brian Hurtt Bill Crabtree
19 February 22, 2012
20 March 21, 2012
21 April 18, 2012
22 May 16, 2012
23 June 13, 2012 Tyler Crook
Winter Wolves 24 August 29, 2012 Cullen Bunn Brian Hurtt Bill Crabtree
25 September 26, 2012
26 October 17, 2012
27 December 19, 2012
28 January 30, 2013
29 February 20, 2013
Ghost Dance 30 April 17, 2013 Cullen Bunn Brian Hurtt Bill Crabtree
31 May 22, 2013
32 June 19, 2013
33 August 21, 2013
34 September 18, 2013
35 October 9, 2013
Not the Bullet, But the Fall 36 December 11, 2013 Cullen Bunn Brian Hurtt Bill Crabtree
37 January 15, 2014
38 February 5, 2014
39 March 12, 2014
40 May 7, 2014
The Grey Witch 41 June 11, 2014 Cullen Bunn Tyler Crook Bill Crabtree
Hell and High Water 42 August 27, 2014 Cullen Bunn Brian Hurtt Bill Crabtree
43 September 24, 2014
44 November 5, 2014
45 December 3, 2014
46 February 11, 2015
47 March 25, 2015
Boot Hill 48 April 20, 2016 Cullen Bunn Brian Hurtt Bill Crabtree
49 May 18, 2016
50 June 15, 2016

Spinoffs

The Sixth Gun: Sons of the Gun

A five-issue spinoff featuring General Hume's horsemen: Bill Sumter, Ben Kinney, Will Arcene, and Silas Hedgepeth.

Issue Release Date Writer Artist Colorist
1 February 20, 2013 Cullen Bunn
Brian Hurtt		 Brian Churilla Bill Crabtree
2 March 27, 2013
3 April 17, 2013
4 June 19, 2013
5 July 31, 2013

The Sixth Gun: Days of the Dead

A five-issue spinoff featuring Brother Roberto Vargas and Jesup Sutter.

Issue Release Date Writer Artist Colorist
1 August 6, 2014 Cullen Bunn
Brian Hurtt		 Mike Norton Bill Crabtree
2 September 17, 2014
3 October 15, 2014
4 January 7, 2015
5 February 4, 2015

The Sixth Gun: Dust to Dust

A three-issue spinoff miniseries featuring Billjohn O'Henry.[4]

Issue Release Date Writer Artist Colorist
1 March 11, 2015 Cullen Bunn Tyler Crook Bill Crabtree
2 April 15, 2015
3 May 13, 2015

The Sixth Gun: Valley of Death

A three-issue spinoff miniseries.[5]

Issue Release Date Writer Artist Colorist
1 June 3, 2015 Brian Hurtt A.C. Zamudio Ryan Hill
2 July 15, 2015
3 August 26, 2015

Shadow Roads
Story Arc Issue Release Date Writer Artist Colorist
The Crossroads 1 May 5, 2018 (FCBD)[6]
June 27, 2018 (retail)		 Cullen Bunn
Brian Hurtt		 A.C. Zamudio Carlos N. Zamudio
2 August 8, 2018
3 September 5, 2018
4 October 10, 2018
5 November 14, 2018
The New World 6 February 6, 2019 Cullen Bunn (story)
Brian Hurtt (story & script)		 Brian Hurtt Carlos N. Zamudio
7 May 8, 2019
Birthright 8 June 5, 2019 Cullen Bunn (story)
Brian Hurtt (story & script)		 A.C. Zamudio Carlos N. Zamudio
9 July 29, 2020
10 September 2, 2020

Trade Paperback Collections

The Sixth Gun and Shadow Roads have been collected into the following trade paperbacks:

Series Volume Title Material collected Release Date ISBN
The
Sixth
Gun		 1 Cold Dead Fingers
  • The Sixth Gun #1–6
 January 12, 2011 9781934964606
2 Crossroads
  • The Sixth Gun #7–11
 June 15, 2011 9781934964675
3 Bound
  • The Sixth Gun #12–17
 April 25, 2012 9781934964781
4 A Town Called Penance
  • The Sixth Gun #18–23
 November 28, 2012 9781934964958
5 Winter Wolves
  • The Sixth Gun #24–29
 August 23, 2013 9781620100776
Sons of the Gun
  • The Sixth Gun:
    Sons of the Gun     #1–5
 December 11, 2013 9781620100998
6 Ghost Dance
  • The Sixth Gun #30–35
 February 5, 2014 9781620100165
7 Not the Bullet, But the Fall
  • The Sixth Gun #36–41
 September 24, 2014 9781620101414
Days of the Dead
  • The Sixth Gun:
    Days of the Dead     #1–5
 May 20, 2015 9781620102381
8 Hell and High Water
  • The Sixth Gun #42–47
 July 22, 2015 9781620102466
Dust to Death
  • The Sixth Gun:
    Dust to Dust     #1–3
  • The Sixth Gun:
    Valley of Death     #1–3
 December 2, 2015 9781620102688
9 Boot Hill
  • The Sixth Gun #48–50
 October 26, 2016 9781620102992
Shadow
Roads		 Volume One
  • Shadow Roads #1–5
 June 5, 2019 9781620106341
Volume Two
  • Shadow Roads #6–10
 August 26, 2020 9781620106846

Hardcover Collections

There are six hardcover collections, available in both a "Deluxe Edition" (the standard version) and a "Gunslinger Edition" (a limited print version). These collect all fifty issues of the regular series, plus all the spinoffs.[7] The first Gunslinger volume was limited to 1000 copies, whereas subsequent volumes were limited to 500.

Title Material collected Bonus Material Release Date ISBN
The Sixth Gun
Volume One
  • The Sixth Gun #1–11
  • "Them's What Ails Ya!"
  • Introduction by John Layman
  • Cover Gallery
  • Pitch Artwork
  • Production Artwork
 November 27,
2013		 9781934964842
The Sixth Gun
Volume Two
  • The Sixth Gun #12–23
  • Introduction by Jason Aaron
  • Interview with Tyler Crook
    from The Sixth Gun #14
  • Interview with Joe R. Lansdale
  • The Sixth Gun #17 script
  • Cover Gallery
  • Sketch Gallery
 April 22,
2015		 9781620101803
The Sixth Gun
Volume Three
  • The Sixth Gun #24–35
  • The Christmas Story
  • Illustrated Introduction by Chris Schweizer
  • Interview with Bill Crabtree
  • Cover Gallery
  • Sketch Gallery
 November 4,
2015		 9781620102848
The Sixth Gun
Volume Four
  • The Sixth Gun #36–41
  • The Sixth Gun:
    Sons of the Gun     #1–5
  • Illustrated Introduction by Stan Sakai
  • The Sixth Gun #41 script
  • Cover Gallery
  • Sketch Gallery
 August 23,
2017		 9781620104224
The Sixth Gun
Volume Five
  • The Sixth Gun #42–47
  • The Sixth Gun:
    Days of the Dead     #1–5
  • Introduction by Patrick Brower
  • The Sixth Gun RPG comic
  • Mimihqueh: Temple of the Dead
    RPG scenario by Scott A. Woodard
  • Cover Gallery
  • Sketch Gallery
 August 28,
2018		 9781620105245
The Sixth Gun
Volume Six
  • The Sixth Gun #48–50
  • The Sixth Gun:
    Dust to Dust     #1–3
  • The Sixth Gun:
    Valley of Death     #1–3
  • Introduction by Michael Moorcock
  • Interview with Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt by Chris Schweizer
 October 16,
2019		 9781620106655

Critical reception

Awards

Through 2012, The Sixth Gun has been nominated for two Eisner Awards[8] and three Harvey Awards.[9]

Year Award Category Nominee Result
2011 Harvey Awards Best New Series The Sixth Gun
Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt		 Nominated
Best Writer Cullen Bunn Nominated
Best Artist Brian Hurtt Nominated
2012 Eisner Awards Best Writer Cullen Bunn Nominated
Best Coloring Bill Crabtree Nominated

Adaptations

Television pilot

On July 22, 2011 it was announced that The Sixth Gun would be adapted into a six-part mini-series to air on the SyFy channel,[10] however this did not come to fruition.

In 2013 NBC ordered a pilot based on The Sixth Gun, and Laura Ramsey,[11] W. Earl Brown, Graham McTavish and Aldis Hodge were cast. Additional cast included Michiel Huisman as Drake Sinclair,[12] Pedro Pascal as Agent Ortega[13] and Elena Satine as Missy Hume. On May 8, 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that NBC had passed on the series.[14]

Roleplaying Game

In 2015, Pinnacle Entertainment Group published the official role-playing game based on The Sixth Gun utilizing the Savage Worlds rules system. The core rulebook is written by Scott Alan Woodard.

gollark: There definitely is one.
gollark: Easily, even.
gollark: Anyway, *programs can autodownload libraries they need*.
gollark: The skynet client is a *library* which connects to the skynet *web API*.
gollark: Yes you can.

See also

References
  1. Woodard, Scott A. (2015). The Sixth Gun Roleplaying Game (1st ed.). Oni Press. p. 33. ISBN 9781937013875.
  2. "The Sixth Gun". Oni Press. Archived from the original on 9 March 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  3. Long, Aaron. "Colorist Bill Crabtree Discusses "The Sixth Gun"". Interview. Comicosity.com. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  4. Ching, Albert. "NYCC Exclusive: Bunn's Favorite Character Takes Center Stage in "The Sixth Gun: Dust to Dust"". comicbookresources.com. Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  5. Tweedale, Mark. "Haunted Trails: "Hell and High Water" and Beyond". http://multiversitycomics.com/. Multiversity Comics. Retrieved 30 March 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  6. "Oni Announces 'Shadow Roads' Free Comic Book Day Title". Free Comic Book Day. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  7. Hensley, Shane. "The Sixth Gun RPG Kickstarter - Comments section". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  8. "2012 Eisner Award Nominees Announced".
  9. "2011 Harvey Awards". Archived from the original on 2015-09-06.
  10. Hudson, Laura. ""Sixth Gun" Supernatural Western Comic to Become Syfy TV Show". Comics Alliance. Archived from the original on 2012-05-18.
  12. https://www.deadline.com/2013/03/michiel-huisman-to-star-in-nbc-pilot-the-sixth-gun/
  14. TV Pilots 2013: The Complete Guide to What Lives, Dies and Still Has a Pulse
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