Written by Guest Contributor: Jordan North And so ends the tale of Blue, his big monkey friend Griller and The Blister, it’s been a wild ride and one that I won’t soon forget. Simon Spurrier has taken us on a ride for six issues the ambition of which is rarely attempted in comics, and for the most part, he sticks the landing.
The last chapter in the “Six-Gun” series raises the stakes and fires on all cylinders throwing big battles and a tremendous scale that really (outside of maybe East of West) feel unique in comics right now.
The issue length duel between our favorite gun-toting gorilla and sizzles and feels as visceral and violent as anything you’re likely to see on a page thanks to eye-popping work by Jeff Stokely. The conclusion of the story of protagonist Blue leaves him as somewhat of a folk hero, who at the end of this tale manages to strike several finishing blows to Blue-Tech PV corp in a fittingly non-violent way, having reached some form of enlightenment following his entanglement with the spirits of the blister in the last issues. It was great to see Blue go from frightened recruit to new-age prophet over the course of these six stories. The third side of it all, the people`s story, is equally impressive. From a strictly creative standpoint seeing these oppressed citizens shed their years of brainwashed-colored glasses and come to the truth in just a few minutes over watching monkey on mutant violence pan out in what is essentially the old west, is a stroke of some kind of genius. Bold world building Spurrier.
It’s not all perfect though. And for every beat that’s very on there are a few little things that never sold me. One, I had very little care about the periphery characters and by the end of this story? I couldn’t have really cared less what happened to them. So that what we're intended to be “big” moments between Blue and some characters failed to engage me. Also, there are times where the fiction feels a bit dense and the amount of jargon and lore being thrown around distracts from a clean, well-told story. However, these problems are small and shouldn’t prevent you from reading something truly unique.
Is it perfect? No, but for what Six-Gun Gorilla lacks in uber-polished storytelling, it makes up for in sheer scope, ambition and cool ideas. Ultimately Mr. Spurrier and his team succeed in taking us through a zany journey in one of the most creative worlds in comics at the moment. It’s a ride I had great fun on. I’m sure you will too.
Score: 4/5
Writer: Simon Spurrier Artist: Jeff Stokely Publisher: Boom Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 12/4/13