The Sixth Gun. Book 1, Cold Dead Fingers

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"This volume collects issues #1-6 of the Oni Press series The sixth gun"--T.p. verso.
"During the darkest days of the Civil War, wicked cutthroats came into possession of six pistols of otherworldly power. In time, the Sixth Gun. the most dangerous of the weapons, vanished. When the gun surfaces in the hands of an innocent girl, dark forces reawaken. Vile men thought long dead set their sights on retrieving the gun and killing the girl. Only Drake Sinclair, a gunfighter with a shadowy past, stands in their way"--Publisher web site.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Great concept. Awful execution. submitted by eknapp on July 29, 2012, 10:26am The idea is terrific, an Old West tale about six magical pistols, each with a unique power. Three are just deadly: they strike like a cannon shell, spread the very flames of Perdition, and kill by spreading a flesh-rotting disease. The fourth can call up the spirits of those it has shot down. The fifth grants it's bearer immortality (I was surprised that this wasn't THE gun, the focus of the series). The final gun, the eponymous Sixth Gun, gives visions, knowledge of current and future events. There are echoes of Fred Saberhagen's Books of the Swords here.

This all comes wrapped in a thin story about a pair of treasure-hunters pulling an innocent young woman into a fight against an evil undead Confederate general and his minions.

The art is serviceable, if not particularly great. The character illustrations are glaringly two-dimensional, often reminding me of old 60s newspaper comic strips.

I wonder if I'd appreciate the art more if it weren't for the writing. The narration is straightforward and dull: first this happens, then this happens, then this happens... The Old Westy dialogue is stilted and forced, painful to read. There are bad sound effects printed in the panels, like in the Adam West Batman TV show. Kapow. K-blam. Wh-thump. B-doom. Just, ugh. And one of the henchmen actually goes by the name Bloodthirsty Bill. *rolls eyes*

Plus-one star for concept. But while I have volume 2 checked out from the library, I'll be returning it unread.