5 out of 5

After last arc’s intense and grandiose setup, how could the conclusion possibly hold up?  Wisely: by not trying to compete with what came before, but instead focusing on properly completing the story.

Thus far, Sixth Gun should stand as Bunn’s magnum opus, as well as a prime example of long-form storytelling.  Even though the conclusion somewhat caught me off guard with its double-sized final issue – I was sincerely hoping / expecting for one more arc before the big bang – after reading it, I appreciate what was accomplished here and agree that, thematically, it was the right time to end.  To prolong things at this point would only be dragging our heels.  But of course, it’s our travels here that should be held aloft as a teaching tool: witnessing Bunn’s fits and spurts as a storyteller, and how his stylistic hiccups simply could not hold back the great idea at Sixth Gun’s core; watching Hurtt and Bill Crabtree design a visual language together, and seeing how Keith Wood’s design seemed to infiltrate / work with that, resulting in a book that felt cohesive at every point along the road.  Certainly we can even extend the appreciation to Crank!’s lettering, sifting through an occasionally obtuse narrative and complicated page layouts to deliver panels and bubbles that never felt disruptive, and Charlie Chu’s invisible – in a good way – editing, i.e. I can’t remember any clear story-telling blip or typo that caused the reading experience to stumble.  Most importantly, though, and why I would consider Sixth such a complete epic, is that we got our full circle experience that often feels shorted in even the most highly regarded comics.  Watchmen is a frequent reference, but setting aside that title’s reverence, I do think something Moore excels at – and part of why his classics are classics – is that the beginning, middle and ends feel fully considered, with room for interpretation but with a sense that you’ve reached the end of the story on the final page.  Other big names like Y the Last Man and Preacher don’t, by my opinion, hold up as well: Y is incredibly wandering when you read it as a whole, leaving the ending feeling a bit tacked on, and Preacher is a lot of entertainment and a lot of rants, but a pretty simple story at a high level.  Sixth Gun brought its own mythology – influenced by the normal end-of-the-world tropes but using them as a springboard for a wholly new take on the idea – and a scatter of characters I would consider anything but typical, and whose evolutions we actually got to experience, often with the character.  Drake, Becky, and the lot grew with us.  There were secrets to be discovered, but these weren’t used as the pivot for plot machinations – which is an unfortunate fallback a lot of writers use which can lead to the retrospective “but if we knew that from the start…” criticism.

What’s satisfying about all of this praise is that it stands out from Bunn’s other works.  Harrow County is just getting started, so I’m hoping that with Sixth’s conclusion, Bunn can bring the same awesomeness to that title, but time will tell.  For now, the other works of his that I’ve read have elements of the inventiveness and depth of this series, but come nowhere close overall, and often suffer from narrative indulgences that Bunn learned to keep in check within Gun’s pages as time went on – but again, that’s the benefit of a great idea motivating us to read past those blemishes on occasion.  I suppose this is a backhanded compliment, but the reason that’s satisfying is because it’s an exception.  I often take in or discard writer’s works as a whole, so it’s a nice kick in the pants when I can’t rely on that rule; when someone shows me that it’s worth keeping an open mind.

Anyhow.  Boot Hill.

What else is there to say at this point?  Everyone meets up in Hell for the end of the world.  The end of the world is going to come, is supposed to come, it’s just a question of how; this is another great concept the series built up to: that it’s not about an 11th hour happy ending, rather figuring out who should have influence over what that ending will mean or portend.  And on the one hand, we have our heroes, and we can suspect how things will turn out.  Fair enough.  I don’t think Boot Hill is surprising.  On the other hand, it’s a payoff, and a graceful one, which is what that double-sized issue allowed for: half a book of a contemplative travel down a river of blood to our titular hill, and half a book for everyone to square off.  And those I final few pages.  I love that we had to wait for The Grey Witch; I love that a fully white splash page doesn’t feel like a cheat, given the brilliance we’ve seen our artists demonstrate.  This relatively short arc is all about that balance between an ENDING and an ending.  We’ve had 47 issues of blood, sweat and tears; there’s no need to ante up or rush at this point.  The Sixth Gun team let their story come to what feels like a very natural conclusion.  While great tales always come with a dash of “I wish there was more” remorse upon reaching that final page, I’ve rarely felt this pleased – and without any niggling “but what about so-and-so” questions – with an ending.