Six-Gun Gorilla was published in Wizard, published by DC Thomson and written by an anonymous author in 1939. The only survivor from a circus train wreck, a baby gorilla is found by Johnson, an elderly prospector,. He names him O’Neil and raises him, teaching how help him pan for gold, as well as how to cook, clean and survive on his own in the Western wilderness, part of which involves O’Neil learning how to use a revolver – learning it so well he becomes a crack shot.
When Johnson is killed by bandits after his gold, O'Neil sets after them seeking vengeance.
The character is now considered to be in the public domain in both the US and UK, as the serial's copyright was never renewed in the United States, and 50 years have passed since its publication here.
Earlier this summer, US publisher BOOM! Studios announced that they were releasing a Six-Gun Gorilla title (Issue 1 is on sale in next month), written by Si Spurrier and drawn by Jeff Stokely. "If you haven’t heard of him yet, you will. He is perfect for this book," says Si of Jeff's work.
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| Six-Gun Gorilla by Jeff Stokely |
In #1, we're introduced 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.
"I love Westerns," Si said of the project earlier this year. "Six-Gun Gorilla is the culmination of all my obsessive theorizing and cultural sampling: a love-letter to the most beautiful, most tragic, most self-fulfillingly-obsolete genre of them all.
"It’s is not about a Gorilla in a cowboy hat. It features a hole in the wall of reality, a mass-market tv-show based on violent military suicide, a world where the laws of physics don’t work quite right, and - yes. A f****** enormous primate with a f****** enormous gun. And wide shots. And high noon. And deals gone wrong and war and death and frontier life and corrupt men."
The project sounds great and has gained plenty of comic press attention, although part of it, of course, is down to the fact that there's a rival project in the works.
The rival, which has yet to get a publisher, appears to be more in line with the source material, and is described by writer Brian Christgau as “A very big ape with very big guns blowing very big holes in very bad people.”
With a cover by Wes Huffor, Six Gun Gorilla: Long Days of Vengeance is drawn by Argentinian artist Adrian Sibar, best known to fans for his work on DC’s Batgirl, Planet of the Apes for Dark Horse and more.
“I wish BOOM, Si Spurrier and his collaborators the best,” says Christgau. “I genuinely do, but their book is completely different from what I’m doing.
“A few years ago I stumbled across the title while browsing a website about Golden Age and Pulp superheroes,” Christgau says . “I heard that title and BANG! It was like a firecracker went off in my head. Later I was driving to a local shopping mall, listening to the Hawk the Slayer soundtrack of all things, and by the time I parked I already had the entire story.”
“I approached the story as Tarzan in reverse,” Christgau elaborates. “Instead of a human raised by apes in the jungle you’ve got an ape raised by humans in the Old West. The only thing I took from the original story is the title and the basic idea of a gorilla stalking the Old West for the outlaws who murdered his adopted human father. And boy did I run with it.”
Six Gun Gorilla: Long Days of Vengeance is the story of Kumba, an intelligent, sharp-shooting circus gorilla who blazes a trail across the Old West in search of the outlaws who murdered the man who raised him. Along the way he joins forces with his human sister, the only one who truly understands him, and Union spy Giuliano Schmidt. Together they uncover a much greater threat.
“It’s not campy, that’s for damn sure,” says Christgau. “I really, strongly believe that this sort of story is best served by being played poker-faced. It has a sense of fun and adventure, but avoids the pitfall of self-parody. Comics and movies have become too self-aware these days. The last thing I wanted to do was slip into empty hipster irony.”
“Adrian has a visual storytelling ability that is great at conveying atmosphere, drama and a sense of the epic,” Christgau enthuses. “Most of all, he invests his work with the one thing so rare in today’s comics: heart. He gives the characters a real sense of soul. I fashion them out of clay and he breathes life into them.”
“Wes’s incredible covers show the book for what it ultimately is: a Western comic. This isn’t a spoof or a ‘re-imagining’. This is a rootin’, tootin’, two-fisted tale of one very pissed off, pistol-packin’ gorilla on the hot trial to vengeance in the Old West! It’s got showdowns, saloon brawls, heroic loners, horse chases – the works. I think people are going to get a real kick out of it.”
Si Spurrier is non-plussed by the rival project. Like Christgau, he wishes him all the best with his version.
"I have great sympathy for Mr Christgrau because – yeah – there really is nothing
more annoying-seeming than being pipped to an idea," said last month. "It’s happened to me
more times than I can remember.
"I have nothing but good wishes for him
and his project: the art looks lovely and, hey, it’s about a gorilla
with a gun. Sold. But the important point (as he explains) is that his
vision for 6GG and mine are totally different. I’m no expert on
trademark or copyright laws so I won’t speculate about use of the title
(except to gently recall that comics with, say, “Dracula” in
the title are released by multitudinous publishers every year, aren’t
they?) but I see no reason both versions can’t co-exist, under whatever
name."
Si points out that there's also at least one other Six-Gun Gorilla project has launched before, written by Colin Bel with art by Tanya Roberts. "Again, it’s a million miles away from the Boom Studios version," says Si. "Too many
cooks? Too much broth? ... No. There’s always room for more
gun-toting gorillas."
While it's all sounding wonderfully amicable, if DC Thomson decide to revive the character in the digital Dandy we'll really be having a Harry Hill summer of brawling gorillas!
• For more information on Six Gun Gorilla: Long Days of Vengeance, visit www.sixgungorilla.com for links to the official blog and Facebook page.
• View samples of the Six-Gun Gorilla project written by Colin Bel with art by Tanya Roberts
• Read more about the original Six-Gun Gorilla story in Wizard here on Jess Nevins web site
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