Six Gun Gorilla
Long Days of Vengeance #1-2
Written by Brian Christgau
Art by Adrian Sibar
Letters by David Sharpe
Cover by Wes Huffor with Derek Dow
http://www.sixgungorilla.com/
Release Date: June 12, 2013
Cover Price: $1.99
Written by Brian Christgau and drawn by Adrian Sibar, Six Gun Gorilla is a delightful revival of an old serial tale from Wizard magazine. True to its Pulp origins, Christgau and Sibar crafted a simple and plausible back story to their utterly fantastic protagonist: One 800-lb. silverback mountain gorilla. No seriously.
Six Gun Gorilla #1 opened with the unlikely scene of a poncho-wearing gorilla with a cowboy hat and custom-made six-shooters executing an unrepentant villain (with the villain drawing first, of course). The story quickly moved back in time to show a baby gorilla taken from his mother’s arms by an English poacher, who quickly loses his prize trophy to a slick-witted Irishman in a card game. (If there were any justice, the Mc was cheating.)
Six Gun Gorilla #2 expands the story to show you how our fantastic hero grew up in the slick-witted Irishmen’s Wild West show and circus, naturally. Together with his redheaded daughter, Abby, who refers to our hero Kumba as Brother, they travel the West teaching the gorilla to read and shoot massive handguns with precision accuracy. But as in the first issue, our hero, Kumba, suffers yet another loss of a parental figure.
This second issue brings in a handsome Italian stranger who was wounded from an epic chase by a posse of bad guys led by the obviously evil Mr. Gravesend in search of a mysterious letter. When our quick-witted Irishman discovers the Italian stowaway and tends his wounds, he involves his Wild West show in a deadly mystery that changes Kumba’s life.
Will Kumba lose his adoptive family? Will the Italian stranger return to help his poor but honest saviors? Will Kumba take the revenge his age denied him so long ago in Africa? Your questions and mine will be answered in issue #3, “Massacre Time.”
This isn’t a review so much as a synopsis. Is there an opinion associated with the comic? Did you like or dislike things about it? What was the art like? How was the writing? Was it believable?
Comment by Jordan Ledwell — March 18, 2014 @ 1:44 pm
Howdy Jordan! I’m the author of said comic and it would be wrong for me
to toot my own horn (not sure I can even bend that far), but here’s what
other critics have said about it:
Six-Gun Gorilla is a well-crafted western that just happens
to have a gun-toting gorilla as the main character. If you like westerns,
gorillas, crazy concepts, or just plain ol’ good comics, then this is one worth
checking out. 4/5 – COMIC BOOK THERAPY
“It don’t get much better than this, Pal. A rootin–tootin’ six-gun shootin’, Western adventure that makes me run off at the adjectives. Wonderful stuff.” – Joe R. Lansdale
“Cartoonish by only a pinch, the story does a great job
of walking that line of being too fantastical, yet has just enough realism to
make you understand that this is a story with heft and emotion… (an) indie
powerhouse of a book.†– AIN’T IT COOL NEWS
“Read this comic book. I’m dead serious. Find it, buy it, and enjoy how SIX-GUN GORILLA: LONG DAYS OF VENGEANCE succeeds as any good comic book should.†– COMIC BASTARDS
Comment by Brian Christgau — March 18, 2014 @ 11:22 pm