Story by Cullen Bunn
Art by Tyler Crook
After the cliffhanger ending of issue #13, the latest issue of The Sixth Gun steps away from the main storyline to give us a glimpse at the origins of our newest villain, the 9-foot living mummy known as Asher Cobb.
Anything that builds the mythos of The Sixth Gun’s world is a welcome addition. Cullen Bunn deftly weaves his flashback tale into the current storyline, giving us even more insight into the events that preceded the current issue. After reading #14 I couldn’t help but re-read the current arc, and found a whole new layer to the events that unfolded on the Hidden Railway.
The world that our heroes inhabit deepens with each bit of canon that Bunn builds into it, which ratchets up the tension at every turn. Even though the issue doesn’t really address what’s happened to Drake at the end of the train battle, it calls into question much of what we’ve seen in the Bound storyline, setting up a fascinating left-turn in the plot.
Tyler Crook (of Petrograd and B.P.R.D fame) takes over artistic duties from Brian Hurtt for this issue. While I enjoyed Crook’s style here, I feel that it lacked some of Hurtt’s dynamism at times. Overall I think his art is well-suited to the storyline, but some of his looser renderings felt a bit awkward. Maybe Hurtt’s art has just become so synonymous with the series that I honestly have trouble judging Crook without direct comparison.
Issue #14’s detour was an oddly welcome one. Normally I’d be bothered by stepping away from the main story at such a crucial point, but in this case it adds depth and intrigue to Drake and Becky’s adventure.
