Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best current ongoing comic book series, October 14, 2000
Brian Azzarrello's 100 BULLETS is the best, most intriguing and most well-thought-out comic book series currently in publication. It starts out seemingly as an episodic series of revenge stories but quickly becomes part espionage thriller and part conspiracy theory yarn. This TPB collects the first two story arcs, both of which are fairly well self-contained. I fully expect readers will find it enjoyable enough that many sequels will follow.The basic premise is that a mysterious man by the name of Mr. Graves arrives in your life and presents you with a briefcase. In the briefcase is a gun, 100 bullets of completely untraceable ammunition and loads of evidence about the person who screwed you over and why. You're given the choice: use the bullets or not. It's up to you what to do from there. You'd think the answer would be obvious and the series would degrade into a Charles Bronsonesque revenge caper. Far from it. The decisions Azzarrello's characters make and how they go about plotting their revenge never fails to surprise. The opening tale is about Dizzy Cordova, a Hispanic "girl from the hood," whose boyfriend and child were killed by crooked cops. She meets Mr. Graves and makes her decision about what she should do with this opportunity to "make things right." Eduardo Risso's art is perfect for this series. He uses darkness and light for maximum effect and is excellent at communicating the emotions of the characters through subtle depictions of body language and facial expressions. I don't know who the Vertigo people at DC Comics found him, but this Argentine (I think that's his nationality) is a serious talent. Having read 100 BULLETS for a year and a half now, I can say that I honestly have no idea where it's headed but that it's a non-stop thrill ride. Great street-level stories with real, in-depth characterization. Gamblers, hoods, assassins, backstabbing business people, bartenders, dirty cops, you name it. They're all in 100 BULLETS and you'll want to read each and every one of their stories.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
100 Bullets is a twisty, thrilling, always enthralling read, July 18, 2000
If you could get away with murder -- would you have the balls to do it? That's the question that the often brilliant 100 BULLETS asks -- and its answers may surprise you.The first collection of the DC Comics/Vertigo series 100 BULLETS, written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Eduardo Risso, is a truly stunning read. Azzarello and Risso, who first worked together on another DC/Vertigo comic, JOHNNY DOUBLE, have created an utterly original work in this ongoing series, and it's a work worth taking note of. Azzarello's talents are manifold, but perhaps his most remarkable skill is his flair for utterly realistic dialogue -- when you open 100 BULLETS, you'll swear that you'd been transported to wherever it is the action is set, be it a Hispanic barrio(as is the case in the first, three-issue story)or a ratty old bar (as is the case in the second, two-issue story). Every word spoken is absolutely perfect -- and, better yet, there's no unecessary or overly expository dialogue -- every word on the page fits and if it doesn't always explain everything, well, that's part of the grand design. Of course, Azzarello's skills aren't limited merely to dialogue; he's able to create a handful of truly fascinating characters in just a few pages -- from the mysterious and sinister Mr. Graves to the downtrodden and betrayed Dizzy to the framed and broken bartender man in the second story to the cool and mesmerizingly evil mainipulative woman in that story. And while both of the stories stand very well on their own, there are also hints of an overacring plot in the background, too. I mustn't forget to praise the astonishing work of Risso, though. The book's amazing immersive qualities are due in no small part to his artwork, which captures everything from a dirty, dismal, gang-infested neighborhood to a corporate office with style to burn and loads of substance. His darkness-tinged artwork also adds substantially to the gritty, realistic feel of the comic. And, finally, Risso's art wouldn't look half as good as it does without Grant Goleash's stunning colors, which bring his pencil-and-ink artwork to stunning life. This specific collection of 100 BULLETS (FIRST SHOT, LAST CALL, collecting the first five issues of the ongoing series and a short story from the Vertigo WINTER'S EDGE III anthology) also features Dave Johnson's stylish, angular cover artwork, an insightful introduction by comics legend Jim Steranko, and a back cover loaded with glowing praise from fellow comic writers. Don't be a fool and miss out on this brilliant series while it's still young -- this is one comic that never misses its mark.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Premise, February 22, 2006
This what might be called a "high concept" series in Hollywood lingo. A mysterious man in black shows up and gives you proof that a particular person has wronged you badly in the past, an untraceable gun, 100 bullets, and license to kill that person. What do you do? The answer isn't as simple as one might suspect, as the first two stories demonstrate. In the first one, we meet Dizzy, a Latina gangster just released from jail and bitter from the death of her man and her son in a drive-by shooting. Back on the streets of Chicago after a few years served, she's sad and seeking to live a straight life. But of course, you can't leave the gangster world behind that easily, and her brother's rise to prominence as a local gang-banger sucks her back in. It also doesn't help that the two cops the man in black fingered as having done the drive-by are in her face, giving her a lot of static. The art is pretty nifty stuff, perfect for the genre, with a great muted wash to the colors. The only lame part is that the women are all comic-booky, with huge breasts and bared midriffs -- pretty cheesy. The dialogue never really rings true, as all the "we got bidness", "knowhumsayin'" and "I ain't playin'" sounds more like something lifted from some tired film than it does real life. The characters are the familiar gangster hoodlums types and none are given any interesting nuances, nor does the story get interesting until the last few panels, which leave the door open for Dizzy to reappear later on in the series.
The second storyline is somewhat stronger, as we meet down and out Los Angeles bartender Lee Dolan. The man in black shows up and offers him the chance to get even with the woman who set him up on kiddie porn charges. It's a more far-fetched scenario, but somehow manages to work in a hard-boiled pulp way, as does Lee's character, a loner whose only conversations are with a stripper. Once again, the art is very assured and good, aside from an overabundance of bursting cleavage. The characterization is a little bit stronger, and the storyline just works a little better. There are some oddities here and there, such as the a strange murder and gun battle that takes place behind the characters at one point. A helicopter is blown out of the sky right next to them, but it's not clear why, nor is it clear why they don't notice. This is all perhaps a setup for another story somewhere else in the series, but interrupts the flow of Lee's story. These two stories collect the first five issues of the comic, and an eight-page story from an anthology rounds things off. The lighter side of the man in black's operation is shown in this, as a little old lady comes in to confess her murder, only to be turned away by the cops, who assume she's batty. Overall, it's not pitch perfect, but it definitely established a nice mood and I'm curious to read on to see what the larger motives of the man in black are.
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