Vol 12…
This first issue in a collection of
standalones focuses on a day in the life of Trust member Sigmar Rhone, the
owner of a casino and apparent media mogul. His involvement with the Trust of
course means he spends his days involved in all sorts of illicit activities,
but from the very first page we see just what kind of a man Sigmar is, giving
the employees of the casino the week off after a violent incident involving an
up-and-coming rap star, stating that they should be taken care of because
they’re all part of the “family.” Sigmar himself is a family man, with three
young children and a beautiful, young (actress?) wife. But Sigmar is a man just
like any other, and given to certain weaknesses; like Kate, the valet/bodyguard
to Megan and Augustus (who I don’t believe we’ve seen before - for all its
strengths, one glaring weakness 100
Bullets continually falls prey to are these introduced-late-in-the-game
characters) who Sigmar is schtupping on the side to get certain information out
of her. Information that’s been hinted at but that is finally revealed here:
Graves and Augustus have been working
together behind-the-scenes.
It’s a shock followed by another of
a different sort, as this particular day in the life turns out to be the last
for Sigmar and his family, by the hands of Victor and Remi - reminding us that
the Minutemen are not the heroes of this story, despite whatever allusions we
may cast over them as the “protagonists” and thus, the characters we should be
rooting for. Azzarello and Risso are committed to nothing more than the
tearing-down of traditional expectations for stories such as these.
Issue #85 “Red Lions”
The first time we met Sophie, the
focus of this particular issue, she was the waitress to Graves and Lono all the
way back in issue #8, where Graves very much intentionally tipped her and her
morally-unscrupulous boyfriend Carlos off that the Dog himself was carrying a
million in cash. It turned out that Carlos just so happened to be Loop’s
cousin, and thus the characters found their way into the story again as they
set off to spend their newfound loot on a nationwide tour. But of course Lono
caught up with the two eventually, and proceeded to kill Carlos and tie Sophie
up to the bed to repeatedly rape her. Now, almost eighty issues later, we catch
up again with Sophie, who is now teaching a martial arts class at her local
gym. She’s a character who’s been through a lot, but come out stronger on the
other side, and is now sharing that strength with other women who found
themselves similarly abused. But when Lono himself comes walking through the door
to her gym, Sophie must decide how far she’s willing to go to get her revenge…
This is what’s best about 100 Bullets: no stray story beat or
background character should be taken for granted, as the creative team has
shown time and time again that, in this world, everything is connected. Here, Azzarello
and Risso take a character previously used almost entirely to show off Lono’s
depravity and turns her around completely; making her into wonderfully complex
character in the process. It’s hard to believe the careless blonde waitress
from all those issues ago would one day come the closest to killing what could
be the most dangerous man in the world, but there you have it. Lono is a man
who’s survived countless stabbings, shootings and worse, but here he almost
bites it as Sophie locks him in the gym’s sauna after pouring ammonia into the
steam. It’s only by the grace of Sophie herself that Lono survives, wishing to
point out just how vulnerable Lono is after all. Every character in the series,
no matter how hard or badass or untouchable they may appear, is just as likely
to see a past sin coming up out of nowhere and locking them up and signing
their own death warrant.
That’s especially true for Augustus Medici, who it
seems everyone wants dead as he continues to take sole control of the Trust. Azzarello
appears to be aware that he’s running out of real estate, story-wise, and so
also packs in the reunion of Benito with his father after his jaunt with Dizzy
and the others into this otherwise standalone tale. The dinner conversation
between Augustus, his son and Megan is mostly an affair of story catch-up and
set-up, but the character dynamics remain as sharp as ever - especially now
that Benito’s father is in bed (literally) with his one-time crush.
Issue #86 “Rain In Vain”
The darkness has been kicked up a
notch for Vol. 12 in general, but this issue takes it to a whole ‘nother level
beyond what even 100 Bullets has
shown us before. The main action of the story involves Victor Ray carrying out
yet another hit on behalf of Graves, as two more of the Trust fall beneath the gun. But it’s what Victor
decides to do in his off-hours that really leaves an impact, in a gruesome
story-line that is sadly all-too familiar to anyone who watches the evening
news. It may seem odd that the same man who helped murder an entire family two
issues ago here seeks retribution against a couple of murdering kidnappers, but
that’s human nature for you. Victor Ray is loyal to Graves, but not completely
at the expense of losing his own conscience entirely. We’ll just have to see if
that loyalty holds for the remaining fourteen issues.
Issue #87 “The Blister”
Thirteen issues to go, and Azzarello
and Risso are still introducing new
characters. But that’s largely forgivable, as long as said characters prove to
be as interesting as retired Minuteman Will Slaughter, who here is called back
into action by Trust-member Joan D’Arcy. With three more hits carried out in a
single, D’Arcy realizes that the Trust’s number is up, and so hires Slaughter
on to put a certain someone in his sights… not, it should be pointed out,
Graves, but seemingly Slaughter’s own progeny, who he groomed to take his place
in the Minutemen. And someone who we’ll have to wait for the next volume to
find out for sure.
Aside from that, Remi gets put in
his place by Graves, after a full-blown John Woo assault against the house of D’Arcy
winds up a dead end. Risso truly gets to shine in these sequences, where even
Remi gets to look like a bad-ass. The home-life scenes of Sluaghter and his family
are also a welcome respite - especially after such a dark turn in the last
issue - although we must assume that Slaughter’s loving goodbyes to his family before
undertaking this last job will turn out to be his last… because when is it not?
Issue #88 “My Lonely
Friend”
We
catch up with Cole and Branch this issue, as the two retrieve the painting that
Ronnie and Echo spent their last appearance going back and forth over. Those two
also make their return, with the duplicitous Echo just as dangerous as ever -
resulting in the death of Branch on the very bench Cole put an end to Daniel
Peres in the series-redefining arc “Red Prince Blues.” There’s also a side
story of a young man who’s just about to leave the country gets gunned down for
no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time - something that
could be read as the coda to Mr. Branch’s entire life, for that matter. We also
get some nice insight into Cole’s character, as he considers blowing Ronnie
away in retribution for Remi killing Wiley Times, a character that Cole had no
special love for, but whom he respected.
The
pieces are starting to lock into place as Azzarello and Risso approach the
finish line, and we’re not done counting up the bodies just yet. Eleven issues
to go!
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