The Sixth Gun: Cold Dead Fingers. Cullen Bunn (Writer), Brian Hurtt (Art & Letters), Oni Press (2011)

A great supernatural western that pushes a really strong plot and has a great cast as well. When the undead General Hume is rescued from a well in a monastery by his living henchmen the search for the Sixth gun  heats up. This gun is vital to Hume's plans and he wants it back, unfortunately the gun is bonded to woman, Becky Montcreif who does not understand the nature of the Sixth gun. Drake Sinclair is also looking for the Sixth gun and he helps Becky for reasons of his own. The story unwinds at a great pace, the reveals are cunningly staged and the climatic shoot out is wonderfully staged.
Culllen Bunn has managed to finely balance both genres, plot and cast so that all mesh without cutting across each other. The plot is very strong, it drives the story with force and depth, it never overwhelms the cast however. Becky Montcreif is a very unusual character, she is a positive female who has spirit and will to act for herself in a context where females are much more likely to to victims than actors. Surrounded by a cast who know a great deal more than she does and who are willing to go to great lengths ton get what they want, she is never weak or stupid. Drake Sinclair is a genre stereotype, a mysterious ally who may or may not be a problem or a threath, he has choices to make and agendas to pursue of his own. Cullen Bunn ensures that he never vanishes into the expected, he comes into his own dark life. It is the villains who provide the force in a story like this and there are superb villains in this story. General Hume is a pillar of raging greed for power and blood, his wife is a more silken version who may be considerably more dangerous. The supporting cast are both suitably grotesque and sharply individual.
The art by Brian Hurtt is a pleasure to read, it captures all the elements of the story with flowing ease. The Western context is used with nice effect, the details are consistently used to hold the story down while the supernatural elements are given full reign. The cast move with ease in the environment and respond to their circumstances with strong body language as well as words. The panel layout is used to give a strong focus on the story and the cast, each decision point is given the weight it deserves. A great substantial read.

The Dammed. Volume 1. Three Days Dead.Cullen Bunn (Writer), Brian Hurtt (Artist) Oni Press (2007)

Excellent idea support by a very skillful and effective execution. This very smart story is set in a Prohibition era style America where in the background of the underworld, demons are running the gangs and rackets, with the biggest racket being the trade in mortal souls. The protagonist of the story, Eddie, has been cursed by a set of demons, when he is killed, if he is touched by another that person dies in the same way and Eddie comes back to life, with a fresh scar to mark the passage. Eddie is called back from lying dead for three days by a major demon, Alphonse Aligheri, who needs Eddie to do some investigating for him. Aligheri and his main opponent had proposed a deal, to seal it required a third party, another high ranking demon, who had now gone missing. Eddie was to find the missing demon and that would clear his debts to Aligheri. The story unfolds in a very thoughtful and interesting way, the mix between the supernatural and the grim reality of the mortal world with it mixed cast of demons, gangsters and the cursed being skillfully drawn.

Critically the creative team have captured the cynical, mean-spirited core of the novels by W.R. Burnett as well as the style of the films that were made from them. Eddie is unpleasant man, what makes him work so well as a character is both his self knowledge and his feeling for a woman who has left him. These human traits make him a great flawed hero and give the book enough emotional weight to catch and involve the reader. The art is excellent, a suitably moody black and white that captures the shadows that hang over everyone even in broad daylight. The demons are just differentiated enough from the mortal cast that they could plausibly be existing in the same world, they are not overdone. The differences between most of them and the mortals they deal with is one of degree rather than absolutes. Skillful comics from a very talented team.