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100
Bullets
First Shot, Last Call – Vol 1
[Reprints 1-5, Bonus Story]
2002
[Mature Readers]
Publisher: Vertigo/DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Pencils: Eduardo Risso
Inks: Eduardo Risso
Colors: Grant Goleash
Letters: Clem Robins
Price: $9.95 US/R90.00 SA
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This is one of those comics that has stared back at me from the
shelf at my local comic shop and asked me to buy it for what seems
like an eternity. Finally I succumbed and after reading reams of
high praise for 100 Bullets it’s time to
see what it’s really all about.
Imagine someone had lied about and or cheated you so badly that
your entire life was lost? Imagine a jail sentence for twenty plus
years for a crime you didn’t commit. Your family has left
you, or even worse, your family has been killed. Imagine the chance
at retribution against the people who betrayed you.
Meet Agent Graves, he offers a gun along with one
hundred bullets, all of which are untraceable, and damning evidence
of how his subject was set-up for the fall. The result is a step
into an ‘all too real’ world where the man in the street
is given the chance to fight back. But what would you do given the
situation? Murder is after all still murder, isn’t it?
Right off the plate let’s state the obvious, this is not a
children’s title. With swearing, adult themes and graphic
violence, be prepared for something along the lines of ‘Pulp
Fiction’.
Brian Azzarello [Hellblazer,El
Diablo] tells the urban tales of survivors of betrayal
unlike anything I’ve ever read. He captures street level dialogue,
should it be Hispanic gangsters or white-trash bartenders, and shows
a true reflection of the effect of urban decay on the psyches of
victims and law enforcement alike.
This first volume consists of two primary tales and an extra short
story, five issues and a couple of pages all in
all. Both of the stories are exceptional and although I favoured
the first, which focuses on gang justice, I was surprised that the
writing stayed at the same top notch level throughout the second
half of the book.
Eduardo Risso [Batman] brings
nastiness to his visuals via his amazing use of shadow. He uses
a method of casting faces totally in shadow except for the piercing
stare of the eyes and the menacing grin of white teeth. Via a number
of uses of shadowing techniques he creates his own visual style
which brings out the darker side of many of his characters.
Single shades of colour and gradients are chosen to perform most
of the colouring duties in this book. Grant Goleash
has a real eye for choosing the right colour palette and it’s
his choice of colour and the way in which he uses it jointly with
Risso’s inks that makes this book unique and breathtakingly
original to look at.
I can’t recommend this collection enough
and the great thing is that it’s relatively low priced
so there’s no excuse not to run out and buy it tomorrow. Real
life crime storytelling at its best mixed with staggeringly beautiful
original art that’ll have you wanting more after every page
that you turn.
Score 10/10
Reviewed By:Iain Duncan
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Comic Reviews
