100 Bullets, Book I

100 Bullets: The Deluxe Edition

by Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso (Illustrator)

The best-selling graphic novels series 100 BULLETS written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso is now re-collected in a five volume series!

This dark and intriguing Eisner Award-winning series features a mysterious agent named Graves who approaches ordinary citizens and gives them an opportunity to exact revenge on a person who has wronged them.  Offering his clients an attaché case containing proof of the deed and a gun, he guarantees his "clients" full immunity for all of their actions, including murder.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Fiction, Comic Book, Thriller, Graphic Novels Comics

456 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2011

About the author

Brian Azzarello (born in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo. He and Argentine artist Eduardo Risso, with whom Azzarello first worked on Jonny Double, won the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story for 100 Bullets #15–18: "Hang Up on the Hang Low".

Azzarello has written for Batman ("Broken City", art by Risso; "Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire", art by Lee Bermejo, Tim Bradstreet, & Mick Gray) and Superman ("For Tomorrow", art by Jim Lee).

In 2005, Azzarello began a new creator-owned series, the western Loveless, with artist Marcelo Frusin.

As of 2007, Azzarello is married to fellow comic-book writer and illustrator Jill Thompson.

information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Az...

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well.
100 Bullets wasn't for me.



From the description, I kind of thought I wouldn't like it, but you just never know. I put off reading some awesome stuff (Preacher & Planetary come to mind) simply because it didn't sound like my jam and then they knocked my socks off.



So, I've been slowly learning to broaden my horizons - yay!
Sadly, this was just...? No.
And it wasn't even the ugly art that did me in, because I really think I could have gotten used to it if I'd liked the story even a little bit. And for a brief moment in the middle, I really thought I might end up liking the story!



Here's the thing: I was hyper-bored for the majority of the issues. I'd read a little, my mind would wander, and I'd go do something else. <--this was my cycle over several weeks
But I'd heard that at some point, this would stop being weird little one-shots and start coming together into something special, so I kept on chugging along.



And you know what? It did!
I mean, it did start coming together, but it didn't start coming together into anything special. Not to me, anyway.
I guess the old white dude is up to something nefarious, but by the time I got around to reading that part, I couldn't have given less of a shit. It was so boring. So. Fucking. Boring.



It's a book about thugs, murderers, and rapists doing gross things to people. And I think those were supposed to be the good guys. Or maybe not? It was kind of hard to decide who I should be rooting for most of the time.
I think this is a graphic novel aimed at a different audience than myself because it seems to be quite beloved. I don't see it personally, but that doesn't make it true.

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

100 Bullets is a "gritty" crime noir story with a twist. Agent Graves is the twist. He shows up and hands you a suitcase. Inside is a gun, 100 bullets and a folder full of information about someone who has completely screwed you over. If you use the gun and kill them, then you will not be sent to prison nor prosecuted. In fact, the whole incident will just go away. That is the scenario that awaits each of the people visited by Agent Graves. From dead family to betrayal by close friends, each of the people have an opportunity to gain revenge for previous acts. That in and of itself would make this an interesting enough story.

But there is more- who is Graves? whom does he work for? The mystery of XIII and the Minutemen has an additional layer of complexity in this story. While the average characters are usually low level criminals or losers, the chain of events is quite large and connected. The secretive Mr. Graves and even the conflicts with Mr. Sheppard also make for interesting reading.

So why three stars then? (1) The art is borderline putrid. Jesus. (2) The characters that Azzarello wants to make important like the gurl gang-banger or the bar-tender, none of them are likable. I could care less if these pieces of trash lived or died. But the overall story of the gun w/bullets, the mystery behind Graves and XIII and the underlying potential for a different sort of crime noir story makes this a three star rating. It would have been a 4 star but this art is really not attractive. Almost like a bad knock-off of Frank Miller's art-noir style.

So perhaps I look for volume two. I hope the art improves, the story is interesting enough but not something I shall be needing to read. A different crime noir story.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the greatest works of crime fiction in any medium. - Chicago Sun-Times

For me as a first time reader of the work, that's a pretty big statement for Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's 100 Bullets to live up to. After reading this deluxe collection of the first 3 volumes it didn't quite manage it but I can see where it might become a sweeping, multi threaded crime epic when viewed from the end. In that sense I am reminded of really great TV but surely only HBO would go near anything this violent, seedy and grim; and not everyone would be willing to interact with content that looks at the damaged and downtrodden, the fringes of society and the ghostlike Graves, who appears to be the mastermind behind an international organisation that puts an untraceable gun and 100 bullets in a briefcase and offers them immunity if they decide to seek revenge on those that have wronged them in the past.

I sure am pleased that I ended up reading this deluxe edition from my local library as the first section was not something I would have carried on reading if I'd only picked up the first trade paperback like I thought I had ordered. What starts off as a slow and irritating story of hispanic gangs and bent cops soon evolves in to a much more intriguing and wider in scope story.

In a manner similar to the strange box offered to people in the Richard Matheson story Button, Button (adapted in to a rather dull movie that most of the world happily ignored, The Box), Agent Graves arrives in to the lives of people and offers them a no strings attached, repercussion free chance for revenge. It's a moral dilemma, a test maybe, how far would you go for revenge on the people who killed your husband, the woman who set you up for a kiddie porn arrest, the father who left you at birth? The people approached are necessarily damaged little fuckers with their own back story and the varied responses to the proposition is one of the more interesting and thought provoking aspects of the story.

I have some issues with the dialogue, especially when Azzarello shoots for local colour, page after page of irritating gang bangers and fake Jamaicans for example, it might work in audio form but in this book it felt forced and unnatural. Beyond that some of the artwork was beautiful and at other times is was just plain stupid, in particular when demonstrating Risso's extensive practice in drawing beautiful, curvy women in full focus with crisp lines and then on the same page some of the male faces/characters become giant blobs of indecipherable flesh.

Those little things were not enough to stop me from continuing with the series and the second deluxe book is already on order. The intrigue in the grand scheme behind Agent Graves and the Minutemen is enough at this point.

[Donovan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only got through a few issues before calling it. Talk about overhyped. Azzarello is very hit or miss for me.

The writing just feels like a white man doing an impression of Mexican gangbangers. Not once did I feel this language was authentic. And the situation, a newly released Latina is accosted by the FBI and given the hardware necessary to exact vengeance? Right. Tell me another one.

I've read a good amount of crime comics. Jason Aaron's Southern Bastards. Ed Brubaker's Criminal, Fatale, and Gotham Central. Talk about hard boiled. This is not hard boiled. This is minor network cable television.

And I'm surprised by the artwork. It has style, bold lines, and the coloring is good. It's not bad. But it's cartoony and unrealistic for serious crime drama. Jason Latour and Sean Phillips destroy this artwork for crime drama.

So there you have it. Not sure what I'm missing, but I can check this off the list.

[Sebastien · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is good in certain respects, but I didn't like it. I appreciate the ambition of weaving multiple story lines together in a rather elegant and interesting fashion that provokes a lot of questions and creates a lot mystery for the reader.

A mysterious agent by the name of Graves pops into the lives of varying people, offering each different individual a chance to execute revenge (murder) on people who have destroyed their lives or screwed them over. Who is this agent Graves, what are his motives, why is he targeting these specific people? All interesting questions that keep you reading.

But I had two problems. First, the artwork, which is commendable, didn't work for me. It felt somewhat derivative and at times clumsy, lacked nuance, and was somewhat goofy. And yet I can't say it isn't good, it's just... off key somehow. Maybe it just hasn't aged well? or it didn't fit the story? maybe I just have an issue with the style and the way the artist renders people. It has a Frank Miller Sin City vibe but without the kickass feel that the art in Sin City made you feel, like holy shit this art is just perfect with the visuals punching you hard in the gut. It's unfair to compare to Frank Miller, but I can't really help it.

And secondly, the bigger problem that killed this comic for me was the dialogue. I understand the writer is trying to bring to life various characters (like gangbangers) with inner city colloquialism, but it did not strike me as very on the money. Not only was the dialogue rather cartoonish and a pale imitation of the real thing, it ended up watering down the characters, making them seem more like cartoons than the hard gritty nuanced characters they were meant to represent. On top of it the relationships between characters, like mother daughter, father son, some of them felt woefully forced and one dimensional. I did not "feel" nor really care about the relationships between many of these people, they felt flaky and fell flat.

Yeah, I kind of want to know what Graves is up to. But not enough to keep reading. Some good moments in the comic but not enough depth to the characters, strong enough dialogue, nor enough interest in the art for me to keep going on this one.

[Diz · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a dark and dreadful story filled with misogyny and racial stereotypes that has a very pessimistic view of how humans treat each other. It also doesn't help that the motivation of the character that puts all of the action into motion is never made clear in this first volume. I just don't get why this was popular.

[Ill D · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took 453 pages but, I did manage to get through the first mega-volume of Azzarello/Risso’s beloved comic-noir. As epic as its vision portends, the thick page count is truly deserving of its Herculean appearance. Does it still amaze this critic ten years down the road? For the most part: yes.

The Film Noir aesthete of which its clearly derived has been amplified with a high pass filter that clearly and unabashedly avails of its Scarface lineage, which it proudly wears on its sleeve. Yet for all the derivative affects, 100 Bullets samples first and then forges its own unparalleled vision. With glints and glimmers and teases toward a more complexly self-contained overarch, Azzarello and Co. are seemingly reaching for the stars with this one.

Most of these reachings are hit but there are some duds in the rough (the old woman-centric issue is particularly meh). Yet forgiveness is well earned with a solid style that well trumps any of its shortcomings. Fiercely contrasted with the shadows of which its been born, the darkness that enshrouds each an every interstice provides a welcome dose of atmosphere. Charring each panel with criminal delight, the menacing and the violent are expertly melded.

Yet, sometimes too much of a good thing is bad. More often than not, the epic structure Azzarello and Co. are reaching for would have been more effective with a salutary dose of concision. More bloated than it should have been, the vast swathe of individual issues actually dilute the over-arch more often than not.

Whatevers are whatever. But for something so remarkably unique and brutally uncompromising, its accolades of yore still feel well deserved ~20 years down the road. Still fresh for the converted and non-believers alike, 100 Bullets still rips through its pages zipping armor piercing rounds unto all participants.

[Nicolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This hardcover is the first of five books that will collect in its entirety, the 100 Bullets work of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. This is my introduction to this critically and commercially acclaimed series from Vertigo Comics. It reads like a roadmap of American crime, as Azarello shows a deft understanding of how inner city crime from Midwest to East Coast. I initially thought this would a crime anthology showcasing different characters every story arc but Azzarello is dropping hints of a larger conspiracy interwoven with this work. A character or two from an earlier arc returns, to interact and strengthen their bonds.

There is one character that connects all, the man who has brought them their one hundred untraceable bullets. That is Agent Graves, a character with his own agenda. An antihero with mysterious motivations and with his own kept ways. He is the key to this conspiracy and has knowledge of a hidden history and a secret war.

This is one book I’m excited for the next volume. This will be a sizeable investment of five premium hardcover books should I go for completing the set, but it would it as those stories are just so good.

[Tori (InToriLex) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find this and other Reviews at InToriLex

There's alot of issues and manipulations that occur, when people turn to and recruit broken people. This comic is very entertaining because there are constantly new characters and change in perspective. As the series goes on, you learn about the minute men and some underlying larger goal which may be behind Mr. Graves. 

The characters are often attempting to carry on normal lives after being betrayed, filled with guilt and despair. I think this helps to make the whole killing people who have wronged you, realistic. But it also has alot of genuine emotion and uses the medium well to convey the. For example this scene of father and son reuniting after years and years of the fathers absence.

The action and art is phenomenal. Morphing from long talks to quick violent kills, this is definitely worth a read. I'm looking forward to continuing the series, and since its finished, I know I have much more to look forward too. The seedy characters and story line  puts you in a chasm between right and wrong, and makes the wrong choices seem like the only reasonable one. It gets uncomfortable at times while going through the issues, because you start to enjoy the violence.

Dizzy Cordova is my favorite character and I plan to cosplay her at New York Comic Con in October. Dizzy is a strong willed women who kicks ass while barely clothed.This is a must read if you have any interest in comics, and want to mix things up in your reading life. I guarantee that you will take a liking to at least one of the characters and be hooked just like me.

[RG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theres something about this book. It has a really weird creep factor. Im glad I read it in the deluxe format as Im not sure I would have continued after Vol 1. The story unfolds with Agent Graves providing random citizens an opportunity for revenge or some type of personal justice in a sense. The people seem random at first and the plot seems a little disjointed. Further reading into the novel some characters return and we develop a little more interest or back story, especially the Minutemen. The last few pages or story has intrigued me. Im not sure if it has this slow burn factor throughout thre next few series as well but some people say this novel hits highs very soon.

[Mohamed Metwally · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting plot, a mysterious agent pops out of thin air to offer a seeminlgy random person a brief case including an untraceable gun with 100 bullets of ammo, together with a shocking truth about someone in their past that absolutely wrecked their lives, then the agent steps away, leaving them with the decision of how to play the strange hand that was dealt to them...
I said 'seemingly random' because as the story develops, a pattern and a purpose starts to appear behind the selected individuals, weaving them into a tapestry of a bigger scheme and a deeply buried secret organization that has roots with everyone involved...

A good story, with big potential, so I'll give volume one a 3 star rating and see where it goes from there...

MiM

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

So in many ways this is impressive: Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso do 100 issues in 100 months on deadline, doing all the story and pencilling by themselves, no subs. And it's an interesting premise for a crime story: What if you could get revenge for something terrible that happened to you and be assured you would not get caught for it. Agent Graves comes to several people with this offer, and also with a briefcase to give said revengers full of a gun and untraceable bullets and pertinent information to prove he knows whodunnit and how to find the guy and carry it out.

Risso's art is really good, but I have been reading Frank Miller, to whom Risso owes a debt, I think, he's working in that big and splashy tradition, so Sin City is visually more impressive and the dialogue is better. I have also been reading the work of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips and the work of Matt Kindt that I like much better for ideas and dialogue and complexity and artwork. I know a lot of people like it, and it is good, for sure, in the vein of straight up Jim Thompson gritty and violent pulp fiction. Azzarello's urban criminals of color, in particular, seem kinda cartoonish, not scary, and the dialogue I don't always quite buy. But I will read on to book two (of five! twenty issues per big book!) to see if things proceed to a weaving together of story lines as I would expect… and a kind of meaningful meditation on revenge, as one hopes it would be.

[Lono · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't begin to describe how much this book kicks ass. An epic, noirish crime tale that's got enough sadistic tough guys, seductively evil bitches, dangerous street thugs, and devious criminal masterminds to give Jim Thompson a hard-on. Dark, malicious, and violent, it's not to everyone's taste, but it ranks among my all time favorites. Azzarello's ability to write dialect and conversation is among the best and really helped suck me into his own personal version of perdition. Revenge is a cornerstone of this brilliant story where none of it's ill-fated denizens are safe. Risso's work breathes palpable life into the large cast of characters and is without a doubt his crowning achievement to date. He uses perspective so well in his artwork and has some of the best page layouts around. My words can't do this masterpiece justice. Deserves its spot alongside Scalped, Preacher, Y the Last Man, and other vintage Vertigo elite.

[Dorin Lazăr · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts slow then it switches to some other apparently unimportant story. It pissed me off in the beginning, because it definitely was not what I would've expected. I'm not necessarily a fan of the noir or pulp fiction, and this is just that - and in the beginning it felt like it will be a set of completely unrelated stories, with one common character.

But then some threads start to come together. Dizzy Cordova reappears, with less of that heavy accent, and it starts being part of a more complex story. There are things happening in the background, and an overall interesting... what do I say, captivating story emerges.

The only problem is that the story and the style gets better only after passing the first half of the first volume. and this says a lot. It doesn't become compelling until the second arc of Dizzy and the story of Loop, which closes this volume. So yes, it will take some motivation to read this volume, but there is great hope that the next ones get better

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice to see a creator given time to develop his story, not forced to rush the myth-making.

[Nate]

One of the big Vertigo series I have yet to tackle, 100 Bullets hasn’t been high on my reading list. This is because Brian Azzarello mostly misses for me. I find his storytelling to be frustratingly indirect. Azzarello was given the keys to Batman, Superman, and John Constantine, and largely fumbled all three jobs because of that trait. His Wonder Woman was pretty good though (which is surprising because it was far from his usual crime beat).

And I have to say I really liked this, though maybe more for its style than substance. The feel and look is so cool and so noir. The comic that it most reminds me of is Frank Miller’s Sin City, which I have to believe was an influence. Like that series, this one is like noir on steroids. It’s exaggerated but in a good way. Risso’s art is just phenomenal for this type of comic. Every single page stands out, even though I think the coloring for the early issues is better than the later ones, which have a slight 3-D/digital sheen that doesn’t accentuate his shadows as much.

As for plot: I appreciate that it builds from individual stories, slowly revealing more information about these people and organizations. Azzarello does exhibit that indirect storytelling characteristic that frustrates me, but it’s not so bad yet. The vibe of the book allowed me to push past the occasional confusion. And there is certainly some strong writing here. The issue about the waitress and her missing daughter, “Heartbreak Sunny Side Up,” is Exhibit A in how to write an effective single issue comic. The four-part “Hang Up on the Hang Low” (and its epilogue issue) is another highlight for its portrayal of a complex father-son relationship. Genuine human emotion exists underneath all the stylized noir characteristics.

I’ll keep reading, but my library doesn’t have the entire series, so it might be a bit before I return. I can already tell though that I will forget details. C’est la vie.

[Vikas · Rating 4 out of 5]

How far would you go for revenge? Would you take the chance if you got carte blanche, a trace-free run with 100 bullets, and a guarantee that nothing would happen to you for that? This is something that sets up the story world as Agent Graves gives exactly that option to people. The USP of this series is supposedly that the characters use the area-specific accent, etc. But I live in India, so for me that wasn't such a big factor, but I am excited to see how the story will develop because it grew from the initial stories. But like most times after the first book in the series, I might not begin with the book 2 right away but in time and along with that I would keep on reading.

I have always loved comics, and I can and I have. I love comics to bits, may the comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more. You should also read what you love, and I hope you will always love it. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics, Diamond Comics, or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on international and classic comics, Mangas, Mahwas, and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I just want to Keep on Reading.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this I was sure I'd go with a 2 out of 5 but by the end I was intrigued enough to bump it up to a 3.

So basically it starts out with a guy names graves who gives you a gun with untraceable bullets and you can kill the person who has done you wrong. So for the following 459 pages it basically has a bunch of stories of different people all getting revenge or changing their minds or getting killed. By the end they all start to connect...kind of.

Good: The background story, who is graves, the minutemen, that was all interesting. I also thought some of the stories like ice cream man and father and son were pretty good.

Bad: some of these stories were bad, especially the gambling one and the very first story. Both were boring and very predictable. I also thought the art was just okay. The dialogue sometimes was atrocious. I get trying to do "slang" but it didn't always work.

A 2.5-3 out of 5. I'll give book 2 a chance down the line.

[XenofoneX · Rating 5 out of 5]

DC is not exactly one of my favorite publishers, largely because of their shameless use of cheap materials, cutting every corner in order to maximize profit. Their typical 'Deluxe Edition' is just a regular hardcover, most of the time. Beneath the dust jacket you usually find a particle board cover, with the title pressure-stamped on the front and the spine. The paper is always a bit thinner and cheaper than what it should be. Worst of all, they charge more instead of less, even though they get their lower-quality books printed in the largest quantities of any comic book company, and therefore are paying far less per unit than, say, Dark Horse. Regardless, a number of very talented people publish their stories under the aegis of DC, and a great many epic stories have been told... Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman', Grant Morrison's 'The Invisibles', and Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso's '100 Bullets', for example. Rarely has a collaboration between writer and artist been as seamless as the one that produced all 100 issues of 100 Bullets. And there has never been an artistic accomplishment as impressive in every way as the work Eduardo Risso does here. His chiaroscuro - ligne claire style has echoes of Frank Miller, Jordi Bernet, and Milo Manara, but the sum is far greater than the individual parts; he captures brilliantly the sinister nature of Azzarello's storytelling from the very first page to the last, some 2400 later. It is a flawless performance... when lesser artists are overwhelmed by the workload of pencilling a monthly title, inevitably blowing deadlines and requiring a fill-in artist so they can catch up, Risso pencilled AND inked every single issue of the series for 100 issues/100 months straight, never missing a deadline. Only a very, very talented artist can do that and still produce art that blows fans and peers away, snaring multiple Eisner awards in the process. Some of my favorite artists have strapped themselves into the cold metal embrace of the monthly-comic-machine, and almost always get caught in the gears and pistons; Frank Quitely is on the same level, artistically, as Risso, with a ligne claire style that is similar, but Quitely rarely pencils more than 4 straight issues, even with a huge lead-in time; Guy Davis is another artist admired for his unique style and creative vision, and he insists on inking his own pencils. His run on 'B.P.R.D. - Plague of Frogs', recently collected in 4 deluxe hardcovers (TRULY deluxe hardcovers that put DC to shame, for less money), is one of the best of the new millennium; but it was done in a series of 4 - 6 issue mini-series, allowing him time in between. No artist of Eduardo Risso's caliber has been able to replicate his prolific abilities. I picked up all 13 volumes of the trade paperbacks collecting the series, and I hated them. The paper used is a kind DC picks for paperbacks, a pulpy mess one step above newsprint, rendering colors flat and murky, blacks dull and tending to bleed. I couldn't believe they would treat such beautiful art so badly, it was a fucking travesty. These deluxe hardcover editions present the art as it should be seen, on a thick, glossy paper that is of a higher quality than usual; and by collecting the series into 5 volumes between 420 & 530 pages, instead of the 13 volumes of the TPB format, the reader is getting a lot of material for their money. The Fables deluxe editions, by contrast, average around 260 pages, barely condensing the series at all (volume 9 of the hardcovers collects material from volume 10 and some of 11 of the paperbacks). For anyone interested in crime fiction, this is as good as it gets, right at the top alongside Criminal, Stray Bullets, Sin City, Blacksad and the Parker books. Hard boiled comics-noir, as dark and nasty as anything by Jim Thompson (that's high praise). For fans of great comics art, this is one to get; Risso is one of the mediums' greatest talents, in era particularly rich with talent. The MSRP of $59.00 is ridiculous, but fortunately, Amazon has knocked off the usual 37-47%, bringing the price to a very reasonable $36.00. The writing is on the wall for Ye Olde Comic Shoppe, since that 37-47% represents their entire profit margin.
P.S.: The other person involved in every issue of '100 Bullets' was cover artist Dave Johnson, who also designed and illustrated the 5 deluxe hardcover edition dustjackets, which form one large image when placed side by side; when Dave Johnson is on, he's one of the best book designers around, and this could be his most impressive work.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Deluxe edition includes Volumes 1-3, which is Issues 1-19.

The trouble with 100 Bullets is that Volume 1 (issues 1-5) doesn't expose you to enough of the overarching plot to make you want to read more. Readers aren't even introduced to even the concept of the Minutemen until Volume 2 (issues 6-14), during which you start getting the sense of how some of these smaller stories tie together. The two short stories in Volume 1 serve to introduce you to two characters, only one of which you see again by the end of Volume 3 (issues 15-19). They're important stories, just not ones that drive people to keep reading.

What I am getting at if that is you plan to read 100 Bullets (and you should), you owe it to yourself to read the first two volumes before really deciding if the series is for you. If you aren't intrigued by the Minutemen, and the Trust, and Shepard, and whatever XIII stands for by then... then I can understand if you walk away. Just don't give up after Volume 1. The series is so much more than those five issues.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the art a little hard to get into.
Having only read the first Deluxe edition so far, I did find the story slow to begin.
My first thoughts were that I would easily get bored if it were only the story of people getting an opportunity for vengeance without consequence. Luckily, we do get a glimpse into the characters manipulating the strings after a few issues. Although I did find it very hard to choose who I was supposed to be rooting for amongst the characters.
I do look forward to reading the second book and finding out more.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more I read, the more I like it!

[Roxana Chirilă · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first time I tried to read this, the art and the dialogue combined into a whirlwind of wtf-ness which made me put the book down and leave it there for a long time. I eventually picked it up again because I kept hearing it gets better.

Well. It's complicated.

See, it initially felt like the story was about this young woman who was fresh out of jail and who was offered a gun with 100 untraceable bullets and proof that two corrupt cops killed her husband and child while she was in jail. Except, well, her story ends fairly soon and we get more people who are offered the gun, the bullets and the proof and who have to make the choice: do they kill the person who ruined their lives, or do they refrain?

The story gets more interesting as the volume progresses (and seeing as it gathers volumes 1-3 of previous editions, it has time to progress). There's a bigger plot that's starting to make itself felt, the stories with the gun and the case are clever - but the guy who keeps handing out the gun and bullets is starting to feel a bit like a wacko to me. A very powerful wacko, but he stopped giving me the feeling that he's super-tough and super-precise the moment there was a story about him giving the gun and bullets to a little, old lady. Which, after you find out he's supposedly "recruiting" people to be super-hard killers is sort of like... okay, dude, you have an obsession, are you aware of it?

Then, the language - non-white characters tend to talk with an accent or with slang all over the place (other reviewers complain it isn't accurate - which is worse than my simply finding it difficult). White characters happen to speak untranslated French at one point, 'cause whatever. And I can sort of follow both (French is a bit tougher), but it doesn't make my life any easier.

All in all, I have mixed feelings about "100 Bullets". Interesting, but not really my cuppa... I'll probably read the rest of the series, though, but only because the other volumes happen to be lying about.

[Manish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I began reading 100 Bullets with the pre-conceived opinion that it’s an overrated and slightly hyped piece of work. The first half kept me convinced of my opinion with its clumsy art and repetitive plot. But midway, the pace quickened and the story began to finally keep me hooked. But I’m still not getting too excited. I’ll have to see how this pans out over the next four volumes.

[Tomungo X · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome a vignette of great crime stories all revolving around the briefcase and agent graves! The story ensues.

[Javier Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

He de reconocer que me ha costado entrar, pero ya no creo que deje la serie.

100 balas empieza con una estructura repetitiva, se trata de episodios individuales o pequeños arcos de 2 ó 3 números en los que conocemos a algún personaje normalmente con alguna relación con los bajos fondos de alguna ciudad de los USA, en todos los casos aparece un hombre que les ofrece un maletín con una pistola y 100 balas irrastreables (una suerte de carta blanca para asesinar), así como un objetivo para el asesinato y una colección de pruebas de que ese objetivo le ha jugado una mala pasada a los futuros asesinos anteriormente.

Siguiendo ese esquema tenemos muchas historias diferentes con distintos resultados, a veces se realizan los asesinatos, a veces no, a veces los verdugos acaban siendo víctimas... y mientras tanto los autores nos van dejando detallitos primero, grandes revelaciones después, sobre el cuadro general de la situación, ¿de dónde salen esas balas?, ¿quien es y para quién trabaja el que reparte los maletines?, ¿por qué razón se les ofrece la oportunidad de vengarse a estas personas?... con el tiempo iremos viendo que se trata de una trama con muchas ramificaciones que nos lleva quizás a una gran conspiración...

En todo caso la verdad es que tenemos que tener un poco de paciencia, porque los primeros arcos no dejan de parecer venganzas de personajes aleatorios y nos pueden llegar a aburrir, además puede llegar a parecer que algunas historias están alargadas innecesariamente y que hay muchos elementos superfluos, cuando lo que pasa es que se nos van dando los detalles con cuentagotas y a veces se nos ofrecen interludios que sólo tendrán sentido varios números más adelante.

Como digo a mi me ha costado entrar en la historia, pero ya estoy entregado. Me ocurre lo mismo con el dibujo de Eduardo Risso, es un estilo que no es bonito y quizás cueste un poco habituarse, pero resulta muy impactante y expresivo, el uso que hace de las sombras y los negros sólidos hace las imágenes muy interesantes y añade siempre ese ambiente de serie negra tan necesario para este tipo de historias

[Aildiin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered Brian Azzarello through his new 52 Wonder Woman writing ( which is great by the way) and I was interested enough to look out for more of his work and it looks like 100 Bullets is actually the most important comic he has written. It is a long ( 100 issues) self contained comic that was published by Vertigo at the time where Vertigo was where all the cool stuff was happening ( Sandman, Fables, Y the last Man, DMZ,..).
This volume collects the first 20 issues of 100 bullets and is, lets be honest, pretty great.
100 bullets is a crime comic with the following premises :
- What would you do if a perfect stranger( his name is Agent Graves) came to you and gave you a suitcase with 100 untraceable bullets and a gun to allow you to exact revenge on one person that slighted you without any way for the crime to be tracked back to you ?
This is the premises, but the story is actually a lot more complex as there is in the background a battle for the soul of America which we barely discover in these first issues.( between the Trust, a kind of secret society that has been controlling the country for a while, and the Minute Men which used to be the hit-men for the Trust and are led by Agent Graves).
Through this book we see how different people react to Agent Graves proposal, while at the same time the overall conflict is slowly unearthed and more and more characters are introduced.( Disconnected stories end up being not so disconnected and this is where the deluxe edition benefits comes into play as it is easy to go back to previous issues to check something you might have missed ( which would be a nightmare if you were reading the 100 individual issues).
All in all a must read !
PS : this book used to be out of print but Vertigo just reprinted it to coincide with the release of the fifth and final book.

[Tomás · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me encantan los policiales negros. Y este comic ya se puso entre mis policiales favoritos (entre novelas, pelis o lo que fuera...)

Azzarello nos presenta historias cortas que no parecen tener relación una con la otra al principio, con un solo personaje constante, el Agente Graves, que ofrece la oportunidad de la venganza perfecta a varios personajes que tampoco parecen tener relación alguna entre sí. Una pistola, 100 balas y evidencia para hacer lo que a uno le plazca sin ser castigado.

Ya a final del tomo nos vamos enterando que el Agente Graves quizás forme parte de algo más grande y nosotros apenas enterados, mientras personajes del principio vuelven a aparecer en la trama.

Todos mis aplausos para el último arco argumental del tomo, aunque la verdad todos los números contenidos en el tomo valen la pena.

Me encantó el uso de los acentos que hace Azzarello, por momentos leerlos en inglés se vuelve difícil pero después uno se acostumbra y el comic se vuelve extremadamente realista.

Y los dibujos de Eduardo Risso...excelentes. Creo que esta es de las mejores "parejas" del comic yanqui. Los juegos de sombra de Risso son bien noir y los colores terminan de darle forma a todo. No es realista su dibujo, pero igual queda bien.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible combination of street crime and government conspiracy. I was completely hooked by the end of the first issue, and am still hooked 19 later. I know there's every possibility that the mysteries being developed won't pay off (I was a Lost fan), but right now their existence is enough to keep me coming back for more. Bleak, violent, and intensely intriguing.

[Judah Radd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad. It held my interest and had engaging art. The stories take a lot of dark twists and turns. Overall, it’s a bleak read. But, I have to say I mostly enjoyed it.

What it didn’t do is make me eager to read the next volume. Feels like for now, I’ve had enough.

I think most people will, at the very least, be intrigued by some of the darkness here, but it will probably depress you too.