Story: Three stories are connected by the presence of the mysterious Agent Graves. Graves approaches a person to whom some injustice has been committed and gives him or her a briefcase. The briefcase contains a photo of the person who committed the injustice, evidence against that person, information as to their whereabouts, a gun – and one hundred completely untraceable bullets. No law enforcement agency can touch the owner of that gun and those bullets – from that moment on, they are above the law, free to determine how they will use the power and information they have been given.
Review: The premise of this series is unbelievably cool, and Azzarello does not disappoint in exploring it. His plotting is very strong, with layers of intrigue, plotting and betrayal. You don’t find out a lot about Agent Graves, or the organization that he works for, in this book, but there are hints of at least subplots that will connect the tales of the different recipients of the gun.
The characters in 100 Bullets are all morally conflicted – even the ones you like have likely done something unpleasant in their lives. They’re pretty well-drawn for appearing in only a few issues, and the dialogue is good as well – I can’t tell you how realistic it sounds, because there’s a lot of slang and accents that I am frankly unfamiliar with, but nothing sounds ridiculous, and the dialogue carries off the tension of the confrontations between would-be avengers and potential victims well.
The art is well done, although what sells me on the book is the story. Dave Johnson’s chapter covers are gorgeous, and Risso has a good sense of storytelling. Some of his perspectives seem a bit warped to me, but that’s more a matter of personal taste than a flaw in his work. I should mention Grant Goleash’s coloring – he does a lot with monotone panels, shadows, and lighting to set the tone of the book. This is definitely a comic noir, one with a great premise and solid writing, so if that’s your cup of tea, check this out.
Year:
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Penciller/Inker: Eduardo Risso
Colorist: Grant Goleash
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
Pages: 128