Customer Reviews

Sin City Volume 6: Booze, Broads, & Bullets (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book collects various shorter Sin City stories that were published in various comic books. There are eleven separate stories here, so I will offer brief reviews of all of them.

"Just Another Saturday Night" is a typical Marv story. (4 stars)
"Fat Man and Little Boy" is a short comedy starring small time hoods Klump and Shlubb. (4 stars)
"The Customer is Always Right" was the prologue in the recent Sin City movie. (4 stars)
"Silent Night" is a Marv story with virtually no dialogue. (3 stars)
"And Behind Door Number Three..." is a brief story featuring the girls of Old Town. (3 stars)
"Blue Eyes" introduces the character of Delia. (4 stars)
"Rats" stars a Nazi war criminal. (3 stars)
"Daddy's Little Girl" stars the one-shot character of Johnny. (3 stars)
"Wrong Turn" is a longer Delia story. (4 stars)
"Wrong Track" is a shorter Delia story. (3 stars)
"The Babe Wore Red" stars Dwight and is the best story in here. (5 stars)

So there you have it. "The Babe Wore Red" is so great, that the book is worth getting just for that one story. But all the other stories also have something to recommend them. That is to say, they all have gorgeous art by Frank Miller, even if a few of them are a bit lacking in the plot department. If you are a fan of the other Sin City books, you will probably enjoy this one, too.

Sandwiched between the relatively short Dwight & Miho story "Family Values" and the massive "Hell and Back" (which is supposed to star Johnny Depp in the next "Sin City" movie if the Fates are kind), Book 6 "Booze, Broads, & Bullets" is a collection of "Sin City" short stories from Frank Miller. There are eleven stories, ranging in length from three to two dozen pages and for those fans who do not think that "Sin City" has been as good as when Marv was holding center stage in Book One, "The Hard Goodbye," then the fact that Marv is the main character in two of the stories and a bystander in a couple of others will be greeted with undiminished joy. But there is also the addition of new female character who insists people call her "Blue Eyes" (yes, her eyes are colored blue, but that is not as impressive as what Miller does with her blue dress).

The collection gets off to a great start with "Another Saturday Night," in which Marv must have forgotten to take his medication, because he wakes up in the middle of a mess and cannot remember what is going on. We then shift to a comic little piece in "Fat Man and Little Boy," the nicknames by which a couple of low-rent hit men named Douglas Klump and Burt Shlubb do their business. They have been hired to dump a body, but Mr. Shlubb has designs on the finely crafted boots of the deceased to replace his most embarrassing and blister-inducing of pedal garments, but Mr. Shlubb points out that given their current status in the extralegal community even a minor transgression such as that could be cause fo discipline most severe. "The Customer is Always Right" is the vignette that served as the introduction for the "Sin City" movie, and then Marv comes back for "Silent Night," in which he has some business to take care of on a snowy night. Artistically this last one is my favorite in the collection as Miller continues to explore drawing figures walking through the snow. He did that a little in "Family Values," but in "Silent Night" he has some nice shots of Marv walking through a blizzard.

"And Behind Door Number Three..." is a quickie that gives Miho a reason to show up, while "Blue Eyes" introduces the new recurring character of Delia, who is reunited at the bar where Marv is watching Nancy dance with Jim, the only man she ever really lived. But Jim is running from somebody trying to kill him, so hooking up with Delia at this particular point in time might not be a bright idea. "Rats" is the most atypical of these stories, although bringing the sensibilities of "Sin City" to what I see as being a Holocaust story is an interesting touch. "Daddy's Little Girl" is another "Sin City" tale where a character, in this case the title one, gets to have a little color. However the color in this case is pink. On the one hand, I am not any more crazier about black & white and pink here than I was on the cover of "Family Values." But on the other hand pink does add to the attendant irony of this grim little tale.

Blue Eyes is back in "Wrong Turn," and she gets a ride from a guy who only thinks this is his lucky night. After Marv walking in the snow Miller's full page shots of Delia in her blue dress are my favorite artwork. Whether we are talking leather or silk, I really like how Miller draws fabric draped over the female form. "Wrong Track" brings Delia right back for another "Sin City" quickie. Miller plays with adding one primary color to his black & white artwork again in "The Babe Wore Red," in which Fat Man and Little Boy are on the trail of the title character. Fortunately she is rescued by one of Sin City's grimy knights, who does not know what to make about a beautiful woman who is the worst liar he has ever seen and prays in Latin when they are being shot at.

On balance, "Booze, Broads, & Bullets" is a short story collection where the sum is greater than the value of the parts. Yes, it would be nice to have another "Sin City" graphic novel with Marv, but it would be hard to top "The Hard Goodbye," so getting a couple of solid short stories may well be the best way to go. Plus, throwing a new female character into the mix, and one who actually talks instead of just dancing in a bar or slicing and dicing bad guys with her samurai sword, is a step in the right direction. Consequently, I am more than willing to round up on this one as representing a nice change of pace from Miller. Certainly our comic noir palate is cleansed before having to tackle the almost 300-page "Hell and Back."

Miller has defined his own noir nouveau. Sin City is a crime drama, but without the cops. It takes place in an urban world that has no sun or mercy, gritty people in a gritty place. It has heroes of sorts, but you probably don't want to look too closely at the guy you're cheering for. Most of all, it has Miller's stark artwork. Black and white, with no tones in between, every line is as sharp as a knife edge. The images are built from extremes, as are the characters, as are the stories.

The stories vary. The first centers on a homicidal strongman, chasing his prey into a gangland dead end, with emphasis on dead - and he's the good guy. The next comic book in this set of reprints is an enigmatic story with only one spoken sentence, near the end. Within that framework, it uses claustrophobic view angles to suggest multiple betrayals and larger events. It also makes clear that some people are innocent, some times.

Later stories use single spots of color to create characters and to focus attention, a strong visual and narrative tool. The stories are still dark and violent, based on people at their worst. Only that last story changes in tone, a bride who panics on the eve of her wedding and runs. The problem is that she runs into some bad people. She is, however, returned in time to make her vows.

This is what I like about the last decade in comics - innovative artwork and stories that hang together. Others are good, but Miller's Sin City is among the best.

//wiredweird

This one was almost as great as the rest. It was more of the short story compilation but I still thouroughly enjoyed it. I like the full stories in the other books a little more. Great purchase and a must have if you are a Sin City fan.

I was disappointed with Frank Miller's previous run on his "Sin City" saga, "Family Values," but "Booze, Broads, & Bullets" is a step back up. Still, it's not quite worthy of five stars like the first four. "Booze, Broads, & Bullets" is kind of different than the previous "Sin City" yarns, as it doesn't necessarily have a fixed plot or completely focus on one particular character, but we are introduced to a new character that most of the story seems to follow--Delia, aka "Blue Eyes." Delia is different. Unlike Marv, Dwight, and Hartigan, Delia is a villain. After killing her abusive husband, she joins an organization to become a professional killer, with her own trademark of having sexual relations with her victims prior to killing them. What's interesting about this one is how Miller uses more color to personify or recognize his characters using more color this time in his usually gritty, black and white drawings (he did it once before in "That Yellow Bastard," by characterizing Roark, Jr. with the color yellow). He characterizes Delia with the color blue, which, somehow, adds mysterious depth to the stories Miller places her on.

There are some other areas besides "Blue Eyes" where Miller uses color, which he rarely does. He uses pink in one of the "side chapters," as I call them, called "Daddy's Little Girl," which is about a one-shot character named Johnny who stumbles a strange, taboo operation involving the murdering of strangers between a woman he loves and her father. In the book's final chapter, Miller uses red, hence the chapters title, "The Babe Wore Red." This one is another story about Dwight, who rescues a mysterious woman in red from Fat Man and Little Boy (a couple of delusional thugs who first appeared in "That Yellow Bastard"). My favorite chapter in "Booze, Broads, & Bullets" however, was "Rats," a very bizarre, short yarn about a Nazi war criminal. Out of all the "Sin City" chapters Miller has written, "Rats" has to be the most disturbing. And I like that. There's also a couple of shorts featuring Marv ("Just Another Saturday Night" and "Silent Night"), whom we haven't seen since "A Dame to Kill For," so it was nice to have him back, even thought it was brief. Also featured in this trade was the short story "The Customer Is Always Right," which was used for the opening scene in the recent "Sin City" movie, which is every bit as good as the comics.

I have read all seven of the Sin City books and this one is my least favorite. It's still a good comic, and I couldn't possibly give a Sin City book below 3 stars, but Its still not in the same legue as any of the other books.

Booze, Broads, & Bullets is different than the other Sin City's in that it is not a single story, but a collection of smaller tales. The stories are as long as anywhere from three pages to more than ten.

The problem I have with the book is that the many stories are of various quality, some much better than others. The end result is that the stories and characters don't have enough time to be developed, since they are far too short. We never really get the chance to connect with the characters. And mabye that's not what Miller was going for, you gotta give him that much.

And while some of the stories are not as interesting to me, this book does contain an excellent three pager titled "the customer is always right", which is one of the most beautifully written stories of all sin city. Another more lengthy story in this book introduces a new character, Blue Eyes, who appears in Hell and Back.

Overall a good work, but not the best Sin City has to offer.

miller used a different technique with sin city: graphic novel 6
its made up of short stories and this books has a splash of color, different from Millers black and white style...

the short stories:

Just another saturday night: MARV! and more blood shed. Great read. marv spends another saturday night drooling over NANCY(Jessica abla is hot!) and ends up on a killing spree...

The customer is always right: A man kills a woman who is on the run... what she is running from... we'll never know...

Fat man: Dark comedy. did not enjoy...

Daddys little girl: A woman tricks a man into getting himself killed. Similar into how AVA LORd tricked dwight

Babe wore red: A dwight story. Short but awesome. Fans of dwight will like it.

Behind door number 3: Gail and Goldie(Or wendie) kill a man who has been carving up the sin city hookers. Miho makes an appearance. Short but gets the point across. MY FAVorite story of the book

I thought this big had some major strong points, and some very weak stories. I was sort of confused about this book and was contemplating on how many starst to give it. Booze, broads & bullets is just a series of short stories by Frank Miller. It isn't neccesarily a must read and doesn't go along with any of the other books but it does have some very good stories. Here is a list of the stories and what I rated them.

Just another Saturday Night: This is a gruesome revenge story staring Marv (5 stars)
Fat Man and Little Boy: Is a short dark comedy story staring Klump and Schlubb (3 stars)
The customer is always right: I didn't really get this story and didn't enjoy it (2 stars)
Silent Night: A very well done and touching story staring Marv (5 stars)
And behind door number three: A story staring the old town girls who catch a women hating serial killer (4 stars)
Blue eyes: A story staring Delia who has to kill the man she loves to join a guild of assasins (4 stars)
Rats: I hated this story and didn't get it at all, if someone out there gets it please tell me (1 star)
Daddy's little girl: This was sort of a disturbing story that I didn't really like (2 stars)
Wrong turn: Story staring Delia who is after a robber (4 stars)
Wrong track: A follow up of wrong turn, just Delia killing someone else again (3 stars)
The babe wore red: Probably one of my favorite stories in this whole book staring Dwight (5 stars)

So there you go. This was a relatively good book and is worth picking up. I would give it five if they got rid of Rats and Daddy's little girl.

sin city is mostly known as aseries of graphc novels but this collection of short stories is one of the better sin city works. the intensity and noirish milieu of the larger works is maintained in most of the stories the one exeption fatman and little boy is effective as dark comedy. the other standouts are rats which is astory about a war crinimal who is murdered in his grimy apartment . the murderer could be a rogue nazi hunter exercising vigilante justice or it may be just a street thug the ambiguity involved makes it particularly effective. the silent night story which is virtually wordless is an effective example of comic book eperimentalism. most silent stories i comics do not work but miller uses facial expressions closeups and contrasts of black and white to inject energy and drama into what most comic book artists would have turned into a pinup collection. the lady wore red is a first rate exmple of straight forward action and the stufff with blue eyes is interesting as well. she is a compelling anti-heroine.the other stories are not at five star level and i give the series 4and one half stars but i would round it up to 5 if the originalrating is not allowed.

This volume of the series has the perfect combination. We wanted more of our previous characters, but we also wanted something new. Miller has created the perfect balance. We get more of Dwight and Marv in original short stories that induce chuckling. We also get new female characters, which in Miller's case bear new colors. We get sploshes of blue and red that were unseen before, and I escaped into a new Sin City.

The short, and I mean SHORT, stories of Dwight and Marv get the "best of" of the book. The stories of the new females are runner-up and they are very well written. Delia is a new character that I'm dying to see more of. The other stories of Klump and Shlubb, and the "Rats" story are very interesting as well, but they don't intrigue me as much as the others.

Frank Miller is an amazing writer. I haven't found work by him yet that I did not enjoy. Volume 6 of Sin City has to be one of my favorites next to "A Dame to Kill for" and "The Hard Goodbye" . Booze Broads and Bullets cannot be without the rest of the series. You'll love it! How could you not?


If someone said, "Who's Frank Miller?" and really wanted to know without reading a large story. Then I would hand them this book. It's a collection of really short stories that display a lot of Frank Miller's talent. You might be annoyed by the idea of tales begging and ending within pages, but trust me you will be quite suprised how much Miller can make you love it.