Join us here each Wednesday as I review Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s graphic masterpiece…
Issues #1-3 “100
Bullets”
For all the complexity Azzarello and Risso’s 100
Bullets would later evolve into, it’s quite a shock to go back to the
beginning and see it all start with a rather simple crime story. In the first
arc of their 100 issue-long series, Azzarello and Risso barely set the stage
for the story to come, but the overall tone and mood remains the same until the
very last page of the very last issue. The world of 100 Bullets has very
few happy characters, and even fewer happy endings - if anyone lives through
Agent Graves‘ “game“, it’s with scars both seen and hidden, and hands just as
dirty as the perpetrator who wronged them in the first place.
It’s an idea so
simple it’s kind of hard to believe no one else had thought of it before: a
mysterious man approaches you with a briefcase containing a gun and 100
untraceable bullets, along with irrefutable evidence of someone who’s ruined
your life. Basically, a free pass to get away with murder. That mysterious man
is Agent Graves, who here in the first arc presents his case to Dizzy Cordova,
a young Hispanic gangbanger who’s just gotten out of prison and is still
feeling guilty for the death of her husband and son. Dizzy has sworn off the
criminal life and is trying to live the straight and narrow, but Graves’ offer
proves a hard one to pass up - especially once she comes face-to-face with
those responsible for her family’s death.
One unmistakable facet (and what would soon become the
hallmark of the writer and series) of the writing is the dialogue - Azzarello
writes like people talk. It’s a little jarring at first, and indeed can
sometimes read as an old white dude trying to imitate street slang, but once
you get into the rhythm, the world seems to come alive on the page. Dialogue
can be a tricky beast, especially in comics - there’s a huge difference in
dialogue that’s meant to be read and dialogue meant to be spoken, but Azzarello
finds just the right middle ground between the two. This is language that could
be read aloud and still sound rather natural, while still Azzarello plays word
games that only work when read on the page. It’s an astonishing feat, and
something the writer will continue to build upon as the series goes on.
As great as the writing is, it’s not a comic without the art,
and it’s hard to imagine 100 Bullets drawn
by anyone except the incomparable Eduardo Risso. Combining the chiaroscuro techniques
of a Frank Miller with the storytelling ingenuity of a Will Eisner, Risso’s
work from the first issue to the last is nothing short of exemplary. The man
can literally do no wrong: the “acting” of his characters - from their
expressive faces to the exaggerated body language - is pitch-perfect, and the
way he lays out a page at once recalls cinematic techniques while still
providing visual storytelling that can only be accomplished on a comic page.
During this reread, I may not mention Risso as much as I should, but that’s
only because there’s only so much you can say about excellence.
The story starts small, but the pieces are set in motion
for the epic tale that is to come. Dizzy will return, the mysterious Mr.
Shepherd will return, and you can bet your ass Agent Graves and his attaché of consequence-
(but not necessarily guilt-) free retribution will return.
Issues #4-5 “Shot, Water Back”
At first glance, the second arc of 100 Bullets would appear to be another small-time crime tale, but
these two issues set up an awful lot to come, if only peripherally, and introduces
a few characters that will go on to be incredibly important as the series goes
on.
A list that sadly doesn’t contain this particular story’s
protagonist, Lee Dolan. Dolan’s a sad-sack bartender at a shitty dive-bar when
we first meet him, who doesn’t have much to live for outside of cleaning the
men’s room and regular appointments with his favorite exotic dancer. It wasn’t
always like that for Dolan, however: he used to have a wife, a family and a
respectable job. All of which went straight down the toilet the day some asshole
placed kiddie porn on his computer, ruining his life and alienating him from
his family. But Dolan’s about to catch a break, as everyone’s favorite
stone-faced mystery shows up with his attaché and an offer that Dolan just can’t
refuse: the person who ruined his life, a wealthy young socialite named Megan
Dietrich, who just so happens to be celebrating her birthday and plans to stop
by Dolan’s bar that very night…
Lee Dolan winds up not being an important character to
the series overall, but Megan Dietrich most certainly is. Megan goes on to become
a fantastic character - beautiful as an angel, but deadly as a black mamba, it’s
through Megan here that we get our first glimpse at the larger mythology
Azzarello is building in this world. It’s all little more than small glimpses
here, but from those brief moments we glean that there is a larger conspiracy
at play; one involving Agent Graves and this mysterious “game” he plays all
across the country.
One of the hallmarks of the series is the small picture
framed against the larger one. Something that Azzarello and Risso accomplish
throughout the series by layering their panels as they go: it’s not uncommon
for an issue of 100 Bullets to
feature two characters talking in the background while something completely
different and seemingly unrelated plays out in the foreground (and vice versa),
but as you’ll find out as the series goes on, it’s all related. It’s a rather ingenious device that the creators have
built into the narrative framework, letting the reader know that this is a
layered, complicated story that requires you to pay attention to every detail.
So - upon your first read of this story - you might be confused by the cutaways
to the man in the Hawaiian shirt who blows up a helicopter with an Uzi while
Lee and Megan have their confrontation, but just be patient. Azzarello and
Risso like to take their sweet time, but all will be revealed in due course.
The volume ends with the short story "Silencer Night" that first appeared in
one of those Vertigo “Edge” anthologies the imprint used to put out from time
to time (and sadly don’t anymore). It’s a nice, eight-page teaser that plays
around with the world Azzarello’s built, featuring a old woman who goes to the
police station to confess a murder she got away with when she was younger. She
of course received Graves’ attaché - something that lets us know Graves has
been doing this for awhile. It’s a good taste of the series to come, but hardly
inconsequential - eagle-eyed readers will note this little short will be touched
on again much later in the series, once more a testament to the complex
tapestry and Azzarello and Risso will weave as 100 Bullets plows on.
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