100 Bullets Vol. 7: Samurai [Paperback]

Brian Azzarello (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Azzarello's hard-boiled dialogue, twisty plots, and compelling if unsavory characters have made him one of mainstream comics' most popular writers. Azzarello's comic-book noir, 100 Bullets, remains the best demonstration of his pulpish but modern sensibilities. samurai revisits two characters from earlier episodes. Loop Hughes, one recipient of a briefcase containing an untraceable gun and 100 rounds of ammunition from the enigmatic Agent Graves, is now behind bars and trying to evade a con out to kill him. And then a hit man for the shadowy organization Graves works for lands in the cell next to Loop's. For sheer brutality, Azzarello's gritty rendition of prison life falls just short of Oz--pretty harrowing stuff by comics standards. In the other story here, Jack Daw and his friend Mickey are headed to Atlantic City--site of a pivotal event in the series' animating conspiracy, which remains shrouded in mystery--when they get involved with an illegal roadside zoo, a corrupt cop, and mafiosi. Risso's sparse, atmospheric art ideally complements Azzarello's morally murky vision. As always, the tales in Samurai advance the series' overriding story line, which has now reached its halfway point. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140120189X
• ISBN-13: 978-1401201890
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian Azzarello has achieved both huge sales and acclaim with his comic 100 Bullets, and has also recently completed a run on Hellblazer, and Marvel's Cage. Lee Bermejo is the illustrator of Superman/Gen 13, and has contributed pin-ups to 100 Bullets and WildC.A.T.S.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Entry in an Already Great Series, May 21, 2005

By 

SwordsmanfromTamriel (The Exact Middle of Nowhere, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 100 Bullets Vol. 7: Samurai (Paperback)

100 Bullets is easily my favorite American comic series. It has a great story-telling style and mixes in a lot of elements from movies, and video games. Another great element of the series is that you don't need to have read any of the other trade paperbacks to understand what's happening in the one you're currently reading (although it does help a little to know why the character's are where they are). Samurai (which is a play on the Kurosawa masterpiece "Seven Samurai") has two story arcs "Chill in the Oven" and "In Stinked."
"Chill in the Oven" brings back the character Loop Hughes (who was arrested at the end of the Arc/TPB: "Hang Up On the Hang Low"), Loop has been in solitary confinement after attacking a fellow inmate named Nine Train, just as Loop is released back in the normal cells, with the other inmates, he is instantly warned that Nine Train is out to get Loop. A prison guard (Sgt. Dirtz) keeps hastling Loop (beating him, kicking him down stairs, giving him thinnly veiled threats). Loop just deals with this and tries to go about a "normal" existence in prison, but when he was out in the yard all that changed. Lono (who almost killed Loop in "Hang Up on the Hang Low", and whom everyone thought died in the comic "Night of the Payday") is put in the same prison (framed by Mr. Sheperd for robbing that bank in "Night of the Payday") to recruit Loop into the Minutemen organization. Lono, on his first night in prison, kills his cellmate and gets viciously beaten by prison guards landing him in the infirmary. I don't want to give away the rest of the plot (since I spoiled quite a bit already) but suffice to say it's a really well told story, that is definitely worthy of being in the 100 Bullets series.
"In Stinked" focuses on the character Jack Daw (last seen in "Sell Fish & Out To Sea" which is in "A Foregone Tomorrow" the fourth TPB), and Mikey Metcalf. The two are on their way to Atlantic City when they decide to stop at Mikey's cousin's house to crash there for the night. Harvey Metcalf (Mikey's cousin) runs and illegal "zoo" he charges people to kill the tigers he has there, and sells the various bits of the tiger to various sources for more money. Jack for some reason tosses his gun into the tiger's cage and sticks his arm in the cage (which the tiger almost rips off), truth be told I didn't much care for this particular arc. The only thing of real consequence is the part of when Graves gives Jack the gun (and the untraceable 100 rounds of ammunition), and explains to Jack how the person who screwed up Jack's life was Jack himself. Really this arc is a lot like a cliched action film. Pointless but you don't feel like you wasted your time with it. And it's good for learning more about Jack (a dormant minuteman). So if you love 100 Bullets, chances are you already have this volume. But if you don't it's definitely worth picking up.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book 7., November 2, 2005

By 

Perrin Færch (Johanesburg, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 100 Bullets Vol. 7: Samurai (Paperback)

Here we have the seventh edition of my favourite ongoing series. This volume we see a return of characters we haven't seen in quite some time. The first story arch in this volume is a four-part tale set in a prison where we catch up on loop, who we haven't seen since volume 3. In the second arch is the return of the drug junkie jack daw. This is a great volume from the creators of the 100 bullets saga. Get it today.

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Graphic SF Reader, September 2, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 100 Bullets Vol. 7: Samurai (Paperback)

Loop is in prison, and he has a couple of large problems, namely other cons that would be happy to remove him from existence. He gets a third when Lono is introduced to the prison popular, starting off a wave of violence.

Shepherd visits Lono for a chat. In the other issues, Jack takes a friend to visit a guy that has tigers, and gets pretty wild. Scratch some mafiosos and a tiger or two.