Category: 100 Bullets

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100 BULLETS: SPLIT SECOND CHANCE


By Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (Vertigo)
ISBN: 978-1-84023-268-4

What would you do if you had a grudge, an untraceable gun, one hundred bullets and an ironclad guarantee of no repercussions?

The second collection (reprinting issues #6-14 of the monthly Vertigo comic) continues to explore that fascinating proposition as it slowly unravels the mystery of the enigmatic Agent Graves – purveyor of both the ordnance and the inquiry.

‘Short Con, Long Odds’ introduces hard luck kid Chucky Spinks, a cheap grifter and ex-con who gets a visit from the cadaverous Man in Black. Chucky’s life was ruined when he got drunk and killed some kids: but at least his friend Pony always looked out for him when he got out of prison. Still, what kind of friend drags your drunken ass out of the passenger seat and behind the wheel before the cops show up?

In ‘Day, Hour, Minute… Man’ we get some insight into the manipulative Graves’ long-term goals as he engineers a gang-war to draw some old comrades back into his game. There are intriguing hints of an old crew and some very high-powered bosses when he contacts the brutal enforcer Lono and claims someone’s reviving something called “the Minutemen”…

‘The Right Ear, Left in the Cold’ finds an ice-cream vendor named Cole Burns selling stronger stuff from his van shocked to discover that his boss torched the old folks home where his grandmother died. Yet that’s just the start as Cole is revealed as another retired Minuteman. It looks like someone’s putting the band back together…

A viscerally satisfying one-off story follows as a waitress gets an unwelcome heads up about her happy home in the chilling ‘Heartbreak, Sunnyside Up’ and this volume concludes with the return of Isabelle “Dizzy” Cordova (see First Shot, Last Call, ISBN: 978-1-84023-298-1). She’s in Paris to meet American ex-pat Mr. Branch, a reporter who dug too deep and uncovered the greatest secret in US history.

‘Parlez Kung Vous’ begins to unravel the mysteries of the Trust, the Minutemen, and especially Agent Graves in a brutal yet delicate manner, engrossing and satisfying: yet manages the magician’s trick of leaving a bigger puzzle and readers hungry for the next instalment.

The slick switch from crime comic to conspiracy thriller is made with superb skill, with no diminution of the extreme violence and seedy sexuality that are hallmarks of this uncompromising series. Savage brilliantly executed and utterly addictive, this is a landmark book in a landmark series.

© 2000 Brian Azzarello and DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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100 Bullets: First Shot, Last Call

100 Bullets: First Shot, Last Call

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.

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100 Bullets: The Hard Way

100 Bullets: The Hard Way 

By Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (Vertigo)
ISBN 1-84576-041-7

After a frankly spectacular beginning, this brilliantly stylish crime/conspiracy thriller could only decline in quality, and such was indeed the case. When as sleek and glossy a story-hook as “what if you were given an untraceable gun, one hundred bullets and a damned good reason”, is in the creative hands of talents like Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso you know the resultant drama is going to start big, but after 50+ issues can they maintain the adrenaline and the pace?

Until recently, the answer seemed to be “No”. However, with the eighth volume The Hard Way (collecting issues #50-58 of the monthly comic) there is a welcome return to form and the muddled shufflings of the previous volume now appear as nothing more than scene settings for another major charge.

The centre piece for the latest book is the true history of the United States of America and the origins of the Trust – an illicit organisation that actually controls the country. We get further insight into the workings of Agent Graves and the lethal team of gangsters called The Minutemen, through the usual quota of blood, sex, guns, intrigue and the harshest of harsh language.

As members of the Trust plan to rewrite their 400 year old accord, the scattered members of Grave’s old team circle in the wings. Wylie Times takes a bloody sabbatical in New Orleans, and becomes involved in a couple of nasty domestic vendettas, which in turn leads to the removal of a major player in the drama.

This return to form provides gripping thrills and promises an incredible future climax to what may be the best crime-comic ever published.

© 2005 Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso & DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.