Both Guns Blazing As The Sixth Gun Is Silenced

You may not know it, but 6 years and 50 issues later the fantasy epic The Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, and Bill Crabtree is coming to a close. With the release of the final issue coming soon, we wanted to take a moment to discuss the end of the series with creators Bunn and Hurtt, to hear their parting thoughts on the book that was an integral party of the Oni Press family.

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PREVIEWSworld: Cullen, you finished writing the last script, more or less, in October. What was it like writing the words "The End" on that final issue?

Cullen Bunn: It was bittersweet to say the least. Here were all these characters that I’ve come to love dearly over the years (despite how cruel I am to them) and saying goodbye stings quite a bit. At the same time, though, there are few creator-owned series that last these many issues these days, and there’s a sense of excitement in reaching the 50 issue mark and wrapping the story on our terms. This is the ending we’ve been planning all along, and I don’t know that I could be more proud of the story we’ve told.

PREVIEWSworld: Brian, what was it like reading that last script and later how did you feel when you finished drawing the last page of the issue?

Brian Hurtt: It was an odd feeling reading the script because it was probably the script that I knew the most about going in. Cullen and I had discussed this ending as far back as before we did issue one. It was something that came more and more in focus as we drew closer. So there ended up being a level of surreality to reading that final issue. Like, I wasn’t really grasping that this was it.

Drawing it was similar. On top of that, I was tackling 60-plus pages in one big lump. It made it feel like something I couldn’t quite get my arms around. Normally, when I work on an issue I start with page one and work my way to the end. For a few different reasons I ended up jumping around with this issue. The end result was the last page I drew wasn’t even the last page of the book. To be honest, I was so exhausted—probably in a fugue state—that I don’t even remember what I drew last. I really wasn’t struck that it was all over until a day or two after I finished and I found I had no more pages to draw. In the end, I don’t really feel bittersweet about it at all.

Just a great pride in accomplishment — both Cullen and I setting out to take on this epic story and then being able to see it through to the end. I’m really proud of the story we told.

PREVIEWSworld: How different is The Sixth Gun at its end compared to how you guys envisioned it from the start?

Cullen Bunn: You know, I feel like the conclusion is pretty close to what we originally envisioned. This is the story we set out to tell from the very first arc.

There are certainly new characters and locales that have surfaced over the course of the series. There are ideas that surfaced in the few limited series we did that ended up getting incorporated into the finale. But the framework of how the story would wrap up has always been pretty much the same.

Brian Hurtt: Every story takes on a life of its own to some degree, but I agree with Cullen that the heart of it has remained pretty true to what we had envisioned. The things I couldn’t have predicted from the outset was the expansion of the supporting cast and, honestly, that we wouldn’t be able to squeeze in all the cool stuff we wanted to do over the 50 issues and the mini-series! So many good ideas were left out because, in the end, they didn’t serve the story we were telling.

PREVIEWSworld: How has your collaboration evolved across these 50 issues? Cullen, how has your writing changed over the course of the series? Brian, how do you feel about your art now 50 issues later?

Cullen Bunn: It would be easy, I guess, to say that Brian and I could shortcut the creation process after working together for so long. But we still work in a fairly traditional way — pretty much the way we worked together since day one. I feel like we have the same sensibilities in terms of what makes for a great story, so the partnership is pretty easy-going. Personally, I think I’ve improved a great deal as a writer over the years. I’ve tried new things, pushed myself in new directions story-wise and tried some different things in terms of format (such as issue 21’s silent story). I also feel like working with a talented collaborator like Brian has helped me improve as a writer overall.

Brian Hurtt: As far as collaboration goes I think Cullen and I have a pretty smooth working relationship. Including our series The Damned, we’ve done about 60 issues worth of material. It’s always been a fairly drama-free partnership. We are on the same page about so much stuff as far as storytelling goes but different enough that we still challenge one another.

As for my art, I think I’m a pretty typical artist. I like it as I’m doing it but give a day or two and I’ll hate what I’ve done and be unable to look at it (laughs).

I definitely feel like my art has grown a lot over the course of the series from both a storytelling and a draftsmanship point of view. But it may be the sort of thing that only I can see.

PREVIEWSworld: Finally, now that the series is roaring to its epic conclusion, are there any parts of the universe you wish you had more time to explore?

Cullen Bunn: Definitely! One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about The Sixth Gun is the world-building. There are places and characters and secret organizations that we’ve only barely touched upon. It’s actually something I think readers of the book will get a kick out of. They can read and re-read the series and find new ideas and hidden corners of the world!

Brian Hurtt: I wouldn’t know where to start! From the beginning, we have always been aware that there is a story down every dirt road in this world but we had the road we had to stay on to tell this particular story. I like to think that, in time, there will be ways for us to return to this world and tell more stories set here, in some form or another.