Product Description

An All-New Series In The Bloodsoaked Tradition Of Preacher! It's happened to all of us at one time or another. Somebody, somewhere, did something so bad, so wrong, you wanted to kill them...even if it were only for a split second. So here's the question: what would you do if you were given the opportunity and means to get away with it, scot-free? 100 Bullets follows what happens when people from all walks of life meet Agent Graves, a mysterious figure who offers his 'clients' the opportunity of a lifetime: an attache case containing the proof, the gun and the carte blanche immunity to exact revenge on the person who's done them irrevocable wrong. So, would you pull the trigger?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31936 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Synopsis
An All-New Series In The Bloodsoaked Tradition Of Preacher! It's happened to all of us at one time or another. Somebody, somewhere, did something so bad, so wrong, you wanted to kill them...even if it were only for a split second. So here's the question: what would you do if you were given the opportunity and means to get away with it, scot-free? 100 Bullets follows what happens when people from all walks of life meet Agent Graves, a mysterious figure who offers his 'clients' the opportunity of a lifetime: an attache case containing the proof, the gun and the carte blanche immunity to exact revenge on the person who's done them irrevocable wrong. So, would you pull the trigger?

About the Author
Brian Azzarello is a relative newcomer to the comics scene, but his work on 100 Bullets and Jonny Double has catapulted him to the forefront of the ranks of contemporary comics writers.

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
Ridden with cliches and 1 dimensional characters. Completely rushed stories with no real weight or clarity to the action. Everything that's bad about commercial comics.
Potentially a very interesting premise but is left unexplored and is ultimately nothing more than a cheap plot shorcut to violence and revenge drama.
Artwork's Ok though. Well coloured and nicely staged action.

As Good As It Gets
First Shot, Last Call is the begining of a long and unbelievable ride. Unbelievably smart,ncredibly original and thoroughly ingauging unlike any comic i've read...ever.
Usually i hate to build things up like that. So whynow? Because Azzarello and Risso deliever every time. I've been reading comics a long time and I can tell you that this is different. It's smart. It's gritty and it's good. Azzarello's writing is top notch. Why he hasn't done movies or novels is beyond me. 100 bullets reads like a movie. You actually believe the characters. His writing makes you believe.
As for Risso, it took me some time to appreciate what he does but believe me, it is brilliant. He is easily in my top 3 of all time. While it isn't polished or neat as a lot of popular artists it is more real and realized than almost any artist. His story telling is second to none and his use of black ink and shadowing is flawless. You know his characters not because they wear a familiar costume but because you KNOW what they look like.
I can't say enough about this series to really express how much i have enjoyed every aspect of it. However, is there any other team that has been together this long? 100 bullets, 100 issues. Same writer, artist and cover artist. If this were an HBO series everyone one would be watching it. So what are you waiting for? BUY THIS NOW!!! If you like good noir you are in for a treat. "Trust" me.

Interesting Premise
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.