100 Bullets: First Shot, Last Call
Written by Brian Azzarello, penciled by Eduardo Risso

The best stories and series are often driven by one simple emotion; one that defines it, one that speaks to everyone. Planetary is fueled by the sense of wonder. Preacher deals with faith, loyalty and love. 100 Bullets' core is focused on one of the single most basic emotions, one that reaches everyone and which also proves to be the engine of great stories: revenge.

Each story arc stars characters that are in a bad spot. In "First Shot, Last Call," we meet Isabelle "Dizzy" Cordova, a young latina gang-banger just getting out of jail and Lee Dolan, a bartender who's stuck working in a crummy dive after his life's been shattered. One lives in Chicago, the other in Los Angeles. Both will meet Agent Graves, a mysterious man coming to them with a suitcase containing a gun, on-hundred bullets, photos and documents pointing to the people to blame for Dizzy and Lee's misfortunes, and the promise of absolute immunity. If you use the gun to get revenge on your enemies, there is no way you can get caught.

Now, will the wronged parties will take that chance? Well, that's the story, isn't it?

Brian Azzarello (also working on Vertigo's Hellblazer) not only comes up with a very intriguing concept, but manages to keep it going with very interesting stories. Each tale brings us into the distinctive life of the characters, allowing us to discover their worlds and the things in them, whether it be Dizzy's neighborhood and the gang activities controlled by her brother or Lee Dolan's crummy bar job, its seedy patrons and his strip-joint visits. You knowAzzarello did his research on this one, from the hard, edgy but realistic dialogue of the characters to the grim daily events of their lives. All throughout the seemingly mundane actions of the characters, intrigue builds until the protagonist must face the choice of whether or not to exact bloody revenge.

One could think of 100 Bullets as a formula book -- the kind that would get old fast, but that's not the case. In the second story arc, entitled "Shot, Water Back," we catch a glimpse of the beginning of a bigger, meta-story that lets us see that Agent Graves does have reasons for giving out those untraceable guns and, as such, it becomes much more interesting to see which direction the series will take next. True, the book feels like a crime thriller-- but you can also feel something else coming.

Eduardo Risso's artwork really brings Azzarello's script to life, his visuals matching the edge and energy of the dialogue and events. He uses clean, simple lines that serve to give his characters a fluidity without being utterly photo-realistic. All of his character designs having a unique feel to them. The pages have an average of six to seven panels, and yet none of it seems cluttered. You can read through them effortlessly, a testament to Risso's storytelling skills. The art is very nicely enhanced by Grant Goleash's muted hues -- no flashy colors here -- rather, he goes for those darkened or dulled tones that give an authentic flavor to the environments in which the characters progress. All of which are all nicely wrapped up under Dave Johnson's beautiful covers (included in the trade paperback) which owe quite a bit to Jim Sterenko.

I said that revenge drove 100 Bullets. That's true. The concept is about revenge, but the stories are about lives -- Dizzy's and Lee's in these first arcs -- and if they are worth being put into jeopardy just for the sake of vengeance. So... if themes like life and revenge interest you, or if you just happen to enjoy crime thrillers, 100 Bullets is definitely for you.

-- Yannick Belzil

100 Bullets, published by DC Comics, is currently available only through comic retailers.

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