100 Bullets: First Call, Last Shot
I picked up Brian Azzarello's 100 Bullets because of a
recommendation on the internet. And because I found the first three
volumes incredibly cheaply at a used comic book store. I'm not sure what
I was expecting beyond "sort of similar to Sin City" (based on my own inference, not the actual recommendation), but I was pleasantly surprised by what I read.
The first issue is titled First Shot, Last Call, and that actually refers to two different stories contained in the volume.
The first arc lasts for three issues and follows Isabelle "Dizzy" Cordova who has just been released from prison. While she was there her husband and son were shot in a drive-by. She'd assumed this was just a random shooting, one more shitty event in her shitty life. But the Agent Graves sits next to her on the bus home from prison. He presents her with proof that her family was targeted by a pair of crooked cops, a gun, and 100 bullets that he promises will get her off scott free. If one of them is discovered at the scene of a crime, he claims, the investigation will halt immediately.
Of course Dizzy doesn't trust him. She's been arrested far too many times in her life to believe that she could receive any sort of special treatment. But when she does start to receive special treatment she begins to unravel the conspiracy and decides to kill the cops when she gets a chance.
The third issue closes with Dizzy speaking to Agent Graves again. At this point she still had most of her bullets left, and I fully expected her to team up with Graves as a sort of Vigilante. I thought the titular 100 bullets referred to the ones now in Dizzy's possession.
But then the story completely switched gears. The next two issues focus on a bartender who was framed for possession and distribution of child pornography. It cost him his wife, his kids, his entire life. And Graves shows up at the bar to make him the same offer that he made Dizzy.
The last issue takes place in a police precinct. An old woman comes in to confess to a crime, one that it's clear Agent Graves also had a hand in. And the issue ends with Graves making his offer to one of the police officers who took the old woman's statement.
At this point it became clear that this story was going to go so much deeper than I expected. Far from the basic premise of "what would you do if you could get away with killing the person who ruined your life", there appears to be a much deeper conspiracy going on.
I thought this was a great way to open this story. The layers get peeled back slowly, but there's enough of a glimpse at the darker world to engage you. The first volume hints at a huge criminal world in which I'm not sure that there's such a thing as good guys and bad guys. I'm really excited to see where the story goes over the next twelve volumes
The first issue is titled First Shot, Last Call, and that actually refers to two different stories contained in the volume.
The first arc lasts for three issues and follows Isabelle "Dizzy" Cordova who has just been released from prison. While she was there her husband and son were shot in a drive-by. She'd assumed this was just a random shooting, one more shitty event in her shitty life. But the Agent Graves sits next to her on the bus home from prison. He presents her with proof that her family was targeted by a pair of crooked cops, a gun, and 100 bullets that he promises will get her off scott free. If one of them is discovered at the scene of a crime, he claims, the investigation will halt immediately.
Of course Dizzy doesn't trust him. She's been arrested far too many times in her life to believe that she could receive any sort of special treatment. But when she does start to receive special treatment she begins to unravel the conspiracy and decides to kill the cops when she gets a chance.
The third issue closes with Dizzy speaking to Agent Graves again. At this point she still had most of her bullets left, and I fully expected her to team up with Graves as a sort of Vigilante. I thought the titular 100 bullets referred to the ones now in Dizzy's possession.
But then the story completely switched gears. The next two issues focus on a bartender who was framed for possession and distribution of child pornography. It cost him his wife, his kids, his entire life. And Graves shows up at the bar to make him the same offer that he made Dizzy.
The last issue takes place in a police precinct. An old woman comes in to confess to a crime, one that it's clear Agent Graves also had a hand in. And the issue ends with Graves making his offer to one of the police officers who took the old woman's statement.
At this point it became clear that this story was going to go so much deeper than I expected. Far from the basic premise of "what would you do if you could get away with killing the person who ruined your life", there appears to be a much deeper conspiracy going on.
I thought this was a great way to open this story. The layers get peeled back slowly, but there's enough of a glimpse at the darker world to engage you. The first volume hints at a huge criminal world in which I'm not sure that there's such a thing as good guys and bad guys. I'm really excited to see where the story goes over the next twelve volumes
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