By Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (Vertigo)
ISBN: 978-1-84023-298-1
Now that there’s a little distance and the initial furore has died down, it’s time to review one of the most hyped comic sensations of recent years. First Shot, Last Call collects the first five issues of 100 Bullets and includes a very brief tale that first appeared in the seasonal anthology Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #3. For a long, long time the reviews were startlingly positive and effusive. A few years later, has the series stood the test of time? Do the stories survive a critical re-reading?
Isabelle “Dizzy†Cordova is released from prison but isn’t happy. She’s returning to the crime-infested, poverty-rich streets she came from, dead inside since while she was there her man and her baby boy were killed in a drive-by shooting.
On the ride back a man gets on the train. He looks like a spy from a 1960s movie. Sharp black suit, sunglasses, thin black tie, shiny attaché case: He says he’s Agent Graves. He says he knows all about Dizzy Cordova. He says Hector and Santiago weren’t killed by accident. He says that if she wants to make it right, he has a gun and ammunition that will never – EVER – show up in a police investigation. If she wants revenge she can have it free and clear…
And so begins one of the best crime comics of all time, but this premise, which would surely be enough for three hit seasons on any TV channel, is merely the beginning of a crime and conspiracy thriller that is dark, engrossing and after nearly nine years, still a phenomenal achievement and tribute to the abilities of writer Brian Azzarello and illustrator Eduardo Risso. On this seventh (eighth?) re-reading I’m still finding nuggets that are only gaining relevance in the very latest issue of the monthly comic.
Following on from Dizzy’s tale we are introduced to a down-on-his-luck barman whose entire life was destroyed by a rich-girl’s whim. When she walks into the bar that night though, agent Graves has already left, leaving behind him another gleaming attaché case…
Also included is an 8 page gem set in a police station at Christmas. It is funny and chilling, proving that the short story form is not yet dead, and panel for panel is the best thing in this wonderful, terrifying so very adult book.
Has 100 Bullets stood the test of time? Do the stories survive a critical re-reading? Hell, Yes! If you’re a grown-up and haven’t seen what all the fuss was about yet, I envy you the fresh experience of finding out. This series is The Business!
© 1999 Brian Azzarello and DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.