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Stray Bullets
Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses, Part 4: The Salad Days
Steal the money and drugs--check. Get gone--check. It was supposed to be all over. These were supposed to be the good times--the days of sunshine and roses. So why don't they feel that way? Why does life suddenly feel more horrifying than ever....Sunshine and Roses tells the story of a boy and a girl, how they fell in love, and hatched a scheme to blow up the Baltimore underworld. There is no crime book remotely like STRAY BULLETS and with Sunshine & Roses, the uncompromising, EISNER AWARD WINNING team of DAVID AND MARIA LAPHAM craft a heist story like you never seen.
Collects STRAY BULLETS: SUNSHINE & ROSES #25-32
Collects STRAY BULLETS: SUNSHINE & ROSES #25-32
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 15, 2023
As the Goodreads blurb set out, the heist is done, our three anti-heroes are free of all ties to the past, even with the Baltimore mob after them, but with their huge hoard you'd think life would be a bed of sunshine and roses? Not if you're a regular reader you wouldn't! It's so hard... no, not that. It's so hard to write a review of these volumes because it's the whole that makes this work. It's just.. just.. just! This volume covers the wonderful age of Derek, as well as a jaw-droppingly gorgeous (story telling wise) partnership that nobody would have seen coming. Lapham's ability to expand and evolve characters over years is sublime.
To think back in 1994 when this reality was launched, I wonder if anyone would have been able to fully appreciate the magnitude of starting such a long planned series with the epilogue!!! Yet as I read and totally immerse myself in each volume, it all stands up. A remarkable piece of crime fiction / urban decay storytelling that is utterly (mostly non-victim female) character led! When the stray bullet of this series entered my life when I first read the first volume myself in 2013 I knew this was going to be good, but this good, I could have never imagined! 9.5 out of 12.
2023 and 2019 read
To think back in 1994 when this reality was launched, I wonder if anyone would have been able to fully appreciate the magnitude of starting such a long planned series with the epilogue!!! Yet as I read and totally immerse myself in each volume, it all stands up. A remarkable piece of crime fiction / urban decay storytelling that is utterly (mostly non-victim female) character led! When the stray bullet of this series entered my life when I first read the first volume myself in 2013 I knew this was going to be good, but this good, I could have never imagined! 9.5 out of 12.
2023 and 2019 read
June 24, 2019
When is a banana not a banana? When you’re wearing a fake ‘tache and calling yourself Derek the former gay pornstar, smashed out of your mind on vodka and coke! So what is it if it’s not a banana? I have nay idea and David Lapham won’t tell me on the Twits. If anyone figures it out, please tell me!
Sunshine and Roses continues to rock - Part 4: The Salad Days is grand! I was wary about Lapham focusing on Beth’s bitch mom Annie again – she was ok though I kinda hoped we’d left her behind in the last book - but her story with Kretchmeyer as an unlikely semi-crippled Bonnie and Clyde looking for Kretch’s missing lil bro turned out to be the best part of the book! Their shootout in Kretch’s tiny hometown was hella exciting and really fun.
As always with Stray Bullets there’s both darkness and comedy galore. We see the story of how Kretch killed his parents and his little brother’s heroin habit on skid row, as well as how Beth and Spanish Scott almost hooked up and Orson’s bizarre misadventures as Derek. Beth, Orson and Nina continue their meandering journey on the lam but it feels like things are starting to wrap up now as they finally reach the west coast.
The Amy Racecar issue was meh – a wacky school story that wasn’t bad but wasn’t really that great either. I also didn’t get why Orson would leave Beth in San Diego – she’s told him to leave her plenty of times before, why would he do it now? I suppose we got to see the aftermath of their heist in Baltimore with a special PS for Chandra the stripper, which wasn’t a bad thing - it just felt contrived and a bit awkwardly shoe-horned in.
Other than that, it’s Stray Bullets – David Lapham can do no wrong with this series!
Sunshine and Roses continues to rock - Part 4: The Salad Days is grand! I was wary about Lapham focusing on Beth’s bitch mom Annie again – she was ok though I kinda hoped we’d left her behind in the last book - but her story with Kretchmeyer as an unlikely semi-crippled Bonnie and Clyde looking for Kretch’s missing lil bro turned out to be the best part of the book! Their shootout in Kretch’s tiny hometown was hella exciting and really fun.
As always with Stray Bullets there’s both darkness and comedy galore. We see the story of how Kretch killed his parents and his little brother’s heroin habit on skid row, as well as how Beth and Spanish Scott almost hooked up and Orson’s bizarre misadventures as Derek. Beth, Orson and Nina continue their meandering journey on the lam but it feels like things are starting to wrap up now as they finally reach the west coast.
The Amy Racecar issue was meh – a wacky school story that wasn’t bad but wasn’t really that great either. I also didn’t get why Orson would leave Beth in San Diego – she’s told him to leave her plenty of times before, why would he do it now? I suppose we got to see the aftermath of their heist in Baltimore with a special PS for Chandra the stripper, which wasn’t a bad thing - it just felt contrived and a bit awkwardly shoe-horned in.
Other than that, it’s Stray Bullets – David Lapham can do no wrong with this series!
September 20, 2019
“Far
We've been traveling far
Without a home
But not without a star
Free”— Neil Diamond’s America
The thematic background of this issue can be found in Neil Diamond’s song, and its focus on the nature of freedom, found in the USA, where desperate refugees from the world over flock to.
Neil Diamond’s America, performed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc-v8...
After the volume 3 wild getaway, volume 4, The Salad Days (as in the phrase “tossing the salad” which is both gross and innately comic), is a comic rendition of Orson as gay ex-porn star Derek featuring bananas and banana jokes throughout (Orson says they balance out the vodka because of the potassium). And sad moments, too, along the way to a “vacation” out west, which was the focus of the original volume 2 (chronology is dizzying in this decades long series):
“You know, we robbed and stole in order to be free, but we aren’t”--Orson
“God, Nina, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up”—Orson
So this is a back story to a volume that came out in the eighties!
“If you got nothing to die for, you got nothing to live for,” another theme throughout.
Another key aspect of this volume is Kretchmeyer’s back story: The making of a psychotic killer.
Kretch is looking for his missing little brother Vic, after we learn Kretch had murdered his abusive parents. He’s traveling with Beth’s mama Annie, who’s had a stroke, which is kind of played for laughs, in Lapham’s black comedic style.
But in every volume we go to places we can’t possibly laugh about, such as the heroin addiction of Vic and his girlfriend. There are gutters (that Orson and Beth and Nina are in, with all their stolen money and coke and vodka), and then there are really, really gutters.
It’s now really a version of Bonnie and Clyde, but for a new crazier and ultimately sadder age. On the way west, Beth insists on spending some of the money they stole, so they get a Camaro and go to a Karaoke bar where Orson as Derek sings Neil Diamond’s America. It’s like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Not just sad such as Simon and Garfunkel’s America, but nightmarish, crying through the laughs.
It ends with a surprising and rare happy ending of sorts for Chandra, who was the stripper Orson hung out with during the heist.
We've been traveling far
Without a home
But not without a star
Free”— Neil Diamond’s America
The thematic background of this issue can be found in Neil Diamond’s song, and its focus on the nature of freedom, found in the USA, where desperate refugees from the world over flock to.
Neil Diamond’s America, performed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc-v8...
After the volume 3 wild getaway, volume 4, The Salad Days (as in the phrase “tossing the salad” which is both gross and innately comic), is a comic rendition of Orson as gay ex-porn star Derek featuring bananas and banana jokes throughout (Orson says they balance out the vodka because of the potassium). And sad moments, too, along the way to a “vacation” out west, which was the focus of the original volume 2 (chronology is dizzying in this decades long series):
“You know, we robbed and stole in order to be free, but we aren’t”--Orson
“God, Nina, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up”—Orson
So this is a back story to a volume that came out in the eighties!
“If you got nothing to die for, you got nothing to live for,” another theme throughout.
Another key aspect of this volume is Kretchmeyer’s back story: The making of a psychotic killer.
Kretch is looking for his missing little brother Vic, after we learn Kretch had murdered his abusive parents. He’s traveling with Beth’s mama Annie, who’s had a stroke, which is kind of played for laughs, in Lapham’s black comedic style.
But in every volume we go to places we can’t possibly laugh about, such as the heroin addiction of Vic and his girlfriend. There are gutters (that Orson and Beth and Nina are in, with all their stolen money and coke and vodka), and then there are really, really gutters.
It’s now really a version of Bonnie and Clyde, but for a new crazier and ultimately sadder age. On the way west, Beth insists on spending some of the money they stole, so they get a Camaro and go to a Karaoke bar where Orson as Derek sings Neil Diamond’s America. It’s like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Not just sad such as Simon and Garfunkel’s America, but nightmarish, crying through the laughs.
It ends with a surprising and rare happy ending of sorts for Chandra, who was the stripper Orson hung out with during the heist.
October 11, 2023
Kretchmeyer and Annie have joined forces to track down Beth and the money. First they hunt down Kretch's missing drug-addicted brother Vic. It was really interesting to see things from Vic's perspective, where he's doing something heroic... then we go back to reality and Vic is just in a drug haze. We get a ton of background on Kretch - how he killed his parents is shown here. We get more information about Beth and Spanish Scott's (near) relationship.
I didn't realize how long this story would go on for! I figured we'd get a couple volumes of the heist and go on to some other stories, but I'm fine with this whole series being about the heist - it's super entertaining and makes for one of the best crime comics I've read.
I didn't realize how long this story would go on for! I figured we'd get a couple volumes of the heist and go on to some other stories, but I'm fine with this whole series being about the heist - it's super entertaining and makes for one of the best crime comics I've read.
July 19, 2020
Still on the run following their big heist, Beth, Nina, and Orson are on a hellish road trip full of drugs and violence that might just break Orson for good. Meanwhile, Kretchmeyer is in pursuit, and we learn his first name -- Alec -- and find out some of his nasty back story. When I step back and look from it distance, it feels like the story is stretching out a bit too long at this point, but while I'm reading I just don't care as I get lost in the characters and dialogue.
July 10, 2022
Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses, Vol. 3 collects issues #25-32.
The story of Beth, Nina, Orson, and the briefcase full of cash reaches its conclusion in this volume. Apart from some twists I didn't see coming and some gruesome headshots, I was kind of bored. There were also a lot of loose ends, like Beth's mom driving around with Kretchmeyer and Kretch's junkie brother, and how Orson caught back up with the girls. I wonder if the Lapham's weren't tired of the story as well and just decided to wrap it up. The art is as good as it ever was, as is the dialogue. The events themselves weren't all that exciting.
I'm wondering now if Sunshine & Roses was necessary at all. The background info of how Beth, Orson, and Nina wound up with the money was interesting for a while but I wouldn't have had a briefcase shaped hole in my life if I'd never read it. Three out of five stars.
The story of Beth, Nina, Orson, and the briefcase full of cash reaches its conclusion in this volume. Apart from some twists I didn't see coming and some gruesome headshots, I was kind of bored. There were also a lot of loose ends, like Beth's mom driving around with Kretchmeyer and Kretch's junkie brother, and how Orson caught back up with the girls. I wonder if the Lapham's weren't tired of the story as well and just decided to wrap it up. The art is as good as it ever was, as is the dialogue. The events themselves weren't all that exciting.
I'm wondering now if Sunshine & Roses was necessary at all. The background info of how Beth, Orson, and Nina wound up with the money was interesting for a while but I wouldn't have had a briefcase shaped hole in my life if I'd never read it. Three out of five stars.
May 4, 2019
Another strong volume of Sunshine & Roses, and this time it's primarily because of Kretch. This time around, we get shocking details of his past, fun current hijinks with Annie, and a finale that really lays out who his character is. It's a wonderful study of a monster.
Orson also gets a rather intriguing plot.
Things are quickly barreling toward Stray Bullets, Vol. 2: Somewhere Out West, but it looks like we still get at least one more volume before this wonderful story comes full circle.
Orson also gets a rather intriguing plot.
Things are quickly barreling toward Stray Bullets, Vol. 2: Somewhere Out West, but it looks like we still get at least one more volume before this wonderful story comes full circle.
April 2, 2019
Makes Bonnie and Clyde look like a couple of toddlers trying to escape kindergarten
May 16, 2021
Brilliant in every way! First time I read it I was left hanging; not realising that this whole story is a missing link in the original Stray Bullets.
The whole scene in the rain with Wiggles is as good as No Country For Old Men.
A tiny criticism; teeny..Kretch saving Beth felt out of character but good for the soul and good for the story but Kretch NOT taking the money...that was maybe going too far.
Obviously he couldn't...and good for us; Alec, Annie (and Vic) must have more adventures... so maybe Lapham is cooking something Up?
The OMG moment of the whole book must be when that poor guy chats up Kretch in the club.... oh shit!
The whole scene in the rain with Wiggles is as good as No Country For Old Men.
A tiny criticism; teeny..Kretch saving Beth felt out of character but good for the soul and good for the story but Kretch NOT taking the money...that was maybe going too far.
Obviously he couldn't...and good for us; Alec, Annie (and Vic) must have more adventures... so maybe Lapham is cooking something Up?
The OMG moment of the whole book must be when that poor guy chats up Kretch in the club.... oh shit!
May 3, 2019
Another great installment - including a surprisingly touching happy ending for a small player from early in the Sunshine & Roses saga, a really screwed up introduction to Kretch's family, and SO much Derek (this book is so much funnier than most people ever credit it for being).
September 30, 2019
How does Lapham keep making Stray Bullets feel fresh and exciting?
The Sunshine Gang stays off the grid, Kretch and Annie join forces and hunt for Kretch's runaway kid brother Vic while they chase the Gang, and Harry has a man on their trail as well.
But the core of the volume is about Orson struggling to be crazy enough to maintain Beth's interest. To that end he drinks himself to stupor, gets beaten with a bat, eats a piss sandwich, develops a cocaine habit, and steals a new Camaro. His intermittent attempts to enforce non-recklessness and moderation are met with contempt and ridicule.
Annie and Kretch make an unlikely but magnificent pairing. Crippled criminal lovers on the run.
And I'm still not a fan of the current Muppet Babies-style run of Amy Racecar.
Plot points:
The Sunshine Gang stays off the grid, Kretch and Annie join forces and hunt for Kretch's runaway kid brother Vic while they chase the Gang, and Harry has a man on their trail as well.
But the core of the volume is about Orson struggling to be crazy enough to maintain Beth's interest. To that end he drinks himself to stupor, gets beaten with a bat, eats a piss sandwich, develops a cocaine habit, and steals a new Camaro. His intermittent attempts to enforce non-recklessness and moderation are met with contempt and ridicule.
Annie and Kretch make an unlikely but magnificent pairing. Crippled criminal lovers on the run.
And I'm still not a fan of the current Muppet Babies-style run of Amy Racecar.
Plot points:
February 27, 2020
Collecting issues 25 through 32 of the series. Stray Bullets never fails to disappoint. Just as the story of Orson, Nina, and Beth on the run was beginning to become stale, the narrative veers across the line to focus on the invalid Kretchmeyer - how many times is this man going to be beaten up? - traveling with Beth’s mother, who has suffered a stroke and been tossed away by her husband, and Kretchmeyer’s newly-found junkie brother.
Character development galore in these issues, We see Orson go off the wall with his alcoholism. Nina gets more sucked into drugs. The two characters which are developed the most are Kretchmeyer and Beth. More of Kretchmeyer’s disturbing past is revealed - how he executed his own parents, and weird sort of family he tried to build around Beth and her criminal confidants. Beth’s anger and hard shell envelopes everyone around her - to her detriment. Beth’s background forced her to push everyone away, to seek constant thrills in order to divert her dark thoughts and emotions before they overwhelm her - which will eventually lead to her downfall. The minute things slow down, she pushes people away. Afraid to be hurt and afraid to love.
Only two points of contention with this book. The first is that the Amy Racecar\Lil B’ story is the weakest part of the series. Once again it was a road bump that needed to be gotten over, rather than an enjoyable story. Things feel as if they are coming to a head (or at least they should be) and the fantasy stories are just in the way. Secondly, certain sections of the art felt rushed and much more sketchy than normal. This didn’t detract from the story per se, but there was a noticeable dip in quality.
Character development galore in these issues, We see Orson go off the wall with his alcoholism. Nina gets more sucked into drugs. The two characters which are developed the most are Kretchmeyer and Beth. More of Kretchmeyer’s disturbing past is revealed - how he executed his own parents, and weird sort of family he tried to build around Beth and her criminal confidants. Beth’s anger and hard shell envelopes everyone around her - to her detriment. Beth’s background forced her to push everyone away, to seek constant thrills in order to divert her dark thoughts and emotions before they overwhelm her - which will eventually lead to her downfall. The minute things slow down, she pushes people away. Afraid to be hurt and afraid to love.
Only two points of contention with this book. The first is that the Amy Racecar\Lil B’ story is the weakest part of the series. Once again it was a road bump that needed to be gotten over, rather than an enjoyable story. Things feel as if they are coming to a head (or at least they should be) and the fantasy stories are just in the way. Secondly, certain sections of the art felt rushed and much more sketchy than normal. This didn’t detract from the story per se, but there was a noticeable dip in quality.
February 28, 2021
Really liked this volume more than the previous volumes in the Sunshine and Roses story. I think my biggest problem with earlier chapters is that I felt we had already seen our three main protagonists on the run before. And although the things that happen to them are new, the theme is basically the same. But now in volume 4, the status quo has changed and we see all the self destructive impulses finally coming to a head.
Also, by volume 3 I felt like the Annie and Kretchmeyer characters had played out their usefulness as far as plot is concerned. But here they have a slightly different focus and have become more interesting. Now I don't find myself hoping that they will die because they are awful people. Their awful flaws are starting to make them more interesting.
Finally, that trick with the banana is really gross.
Also, by volume 3 I felt like the Annie and Kretchmeyer characters had played out their usefulness as far as plot is concerned. But here they have a slightly different focus and have become more interesting. Now I don't find myself hoping that they will die because they are awful people. Their awful flaws are starting to make them more interesting.
Finally, that trick with the banana is really gross.
May 9, 2020
There are no clean getaways, that much is sure as we head into the fourth volume of Sunshine and Roses, a title that taunts us with the knowledge that in this world, wheee nobody lives honestly and where every impulse is followed down some dark alleyway, a happy ending for anyone is impossible.
July 24, 2020
Brilliant, on a par with los bros hernandez in my eyes. I'm wanting more and also think I need to reread them all pretty damn soon
August 31, 2024
So holy shit Derek is crazy. Like how the fuck does Orson come back from that? On top on that what the hell does he be eating that isn bananas. I'm starting to think it's turds. Regardless it's crazy that Orson eventually will wind a bit down for his return in rhe original run but what's crazier is that he does all this crazy stuff during S&R but goes mimi so early idk fucks me up. I will say it's honestly a blast to see him become a S tier MC in terms of "panel time" I'm gonna be sad once S&R catches back up and we have to say good bye again to some of my favorite characters in the series. I think what makes this crazy is how the sunshine gang at first was a joke just like Derek. And lo and behold both became real & dangerous. So wild the amount of damage they caused in order for them to reach the west. Honestly it's crazy how Lapham ties everything back I hope one day there will be a simple way to read chronologically. But seriously the Lil B has to go lol. It was alright at first but now they are just not hitting.
June 28, 2021
Read in floppy version. In anyone else's hand this story would have been done by now, but here we are and for the most part it's still dead solid watching these people navigate their post-heist world. Once again the weakest chapter might be the Amy Racecar sidebar, but it's one of the best of the Amy's in this series so it's fine. I have no real idea how this is going to wrap up and I love that.
September 2, 2024
An unexpected ending, but one that fits the tone of the story and doesn't reward characters for their raucous behavior throughout their lives. Make good choices and maybe you can avoid a few stray bullets.
July 20, 2020
Still great. I really admire David Lapham’s cartooning.
November 29, 2020
I found this to be the weakest stray bullets. Maybe it's because it focuses on Kretchmeyer, or maybe it's because the bar has been set so high.
March 3, 2022
Still fun but it also kinda feels like a mess. Really happy for Chandra though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2025
4.5 rounded up.
June 2, 2024
I've been reading Stray Bullets since the 90's, and there's really nothing like it. I've seen it described as a never-ending Tarantino movie, but I'm not sure that does it justice. Epic noir crime journey with touches of absurdity and humor might be closer, but that seems to miss something as well. These are completely believable characters in completely unbelievable circumstances. You will love some of them and hate others. You will see many of them fail and die horribly, and you will feel a little guilty for enjoying the spectacle so much.
I feel a little weird calling this run a prequel, as time jumps are common in this series, but it does definitely fill in some gaps with events and characters we have not seen before. The promised next volume, Virginia will hopefully move the timeline forward, and maybe even bring us closer to a conclusion. Please oh please, David and Maria, finish this story!
I feel a little weird calling this run a prequel, as time jumps are common in this series, but it does definitely fill in some gaps with events and characters we have not seen before. The promised next volume, Virginia will hopefully move the timeline forward, and maybe even bring us closer to a conclusion. Please oh please, David and Maria, finish this story!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews