This series has definitely been on a lot of people’s radar and how could it not be. It has a Gorilla with guns dressed like a desperado! Well it caught the attention of enough of us on the site that we made it a group review, meaning the writers/reviewers of Comic Bastards will all weigh in with their thoughts on the issue. They’ll also give a score of: Buy, Borrow or Pass. Of course before we can begin you’ll need to know what the book is about so here’s a blurb from Boom Studios: Welcome to “the Blister” — a bizarre other-world colonized by humans sometime in the 22nd century, which quickly became a hotly-contested source of fertile land and natural resources long ago exhausted on Earth. In this new frontier, a rogue gunslinger and his companion wander across a wilderness in the grips of a civil war, encountering lawlessness, natives, and perversions of civilization in a world at the crossroads between the past and the future. The fact that said gunslinger is a bio-surgically modified silverback gorilla toting a pair of enormous revolvers is neither here nor there.
Dustin: Buy
Buy two. Seriously this book was great. In a lot of ways it reminded me of Cyclops from Archaia, but over the top and not as serious. The beginning can be a little confusing, but it actually does a great job of mapping out how the world works before we get to the plot. The story in general was nuck-and-futs and because of that I loved it. If this was an ice cream it would be wildberry and I would order two. Spurrier does a fine job with the dialog and when the Gorilla speaks… it’s awesome.
The art was beautiful and crafted a very unique futuristic world. There’s a mixture of the West, the Civil War and then cities right out of the biggest and best sci-fi stories. The mixture of all these elements somehow works and in a strange way organically fit together… on the top of a giant Turtle no less. I was blown away by this issue and I cannot wait to finish the series, it’s going to be one hell of a ride.
Samantha: Buy
The site has been doing some major press for this comic and it has finally arrived. I cannot say I am disappointed with this comic. Although when your cover features a gorilla going ape shit carrying a gun then you best believe this comic has got to be good.
I was hoping for some more gorilla time. This issue felt like a preview. The last picture of the gorilla with his gun and cigar though is priceless. I want that printed on something right now. I still have no idea why there is a gorilla in this comic or how it can talk but honestly it just makes the story that much more badass.
Besides this gorilla, the idea that our reality TV will turn into us watching actual people experience death and go through war is about the only thing that seems real lately. I do enjoy that this comic has taken it that far. I wonder where this story is going and how the TV goers will be a part of the series. This comic offers a good base line start with a lot of questions in the air.
Connor: Borrow
This is a book that I really struggled to decide what I wanted to give it. I was really close to giving it a “miss” but I hate saying that on an issue one, so I will give it another shot. This is one of those different futuristic sci-fi type stories and to me it just came across as a really messy world with too much going on all at once.
Finding the writing a bit on the weak side, the art wasn't great but it wasn't bad. It had a bit of a “less is more” approach to it and the coloring looked good. But in general I would say give this book a miss unless you really wanted to look, borrow. I found this book to be right on the average mark.
Steve: Buy
Two things that immediately popped into my head after reading Six-Gun Gorilla: 1) “Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting!” and 2) “Holy shit, that was awesome!” The divergent factors in this book, from the televised conflict between giant war turtle-driving Civil War-era soldiers and an impossibly-armed pneumatic army, to the darkly intriguing and titular gun-toting primate, come together beautifully to create a world that contains what threaten to be deeply-pregnant wrinkles, and even more penetrating scars. The title of this book makes it sound utterly (and, admittedly, pretty arousingly) absurd, but there is so much going on here than just putting handguns in the hands of a talking monkey. This story is cavernous, and I for damn sure am going to continue spelunking.
Score: 3 Buys and a Borrow
Writer: Simon Spurrier Artist: Jeff Stokely Publisher: Boom Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 6/12/13