Books: 100 Bullets

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100 Bullets
Vol 1: First Shot Last Call
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2001



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/

100 Bullets
Vol 2: Split Second Chance
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2001



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/

100 Bullets
Vol 3: Hang Up On The Hang Low
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2001



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
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100 Bullets
Vol 4: A Foregone Tomorrow
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2002



Available now from Islington Libraries
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100 Bullets
Vol 5: The Counterfifth Detective
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2003



Available now from Islington Libraries
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100 Bullets
Vol 6: Six Feet Under The Gun
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2003



Available now from Islington Libraries
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100 Bullets
Vol 7: Samurai
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2004



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100 Bullets
Vol 8: The Hard Way
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2005



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100 Bullets
Vol 9: Strychnine Lives
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2006



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100 Bullets
Vol 10: Decayed
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2006



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100 Bullets
Vol 11: Once Upon A Crime
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2007



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100 Bullets
Vol 12: Dirty
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2008



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100 Bullets
Vol 13: Wilt
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
2009



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
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Your life isn't turning out the way that you hoped (you're stuck driving an ice cream truck say) when you're approached by a man who calls himself Agent Graves. He hands you a suitcase which contains a gun, 100 untraceable bullets and irrefutable proof that there is someone you can blame for everything. What would you do? Revenge? Or something else? 100 Bullets is a sprawling, immersive masterwork that stretches across the entire America underworld from New York to New Orleans. Mafia bosses. Bums. Street gangsters. Hustlers. Dirty cops. Femme Fatales. Two-bit punks. Convicts. Rugged anti-heroes. Assassins. They're all here.

With chipped dialogue that twists and turns along with the unremitting labyrinthian plot and stark multi-angled artwork full of pouty lips and jutting chins (Risso makes everything look so cool) 100 Bullets is a joy to experience and will keep a knife till your throat all the way to the bitter end. But be prepared: on first glance it may look like an empty headed tough guy with nothing but the same old typical on it's mind but it's ambitions are big and wide and there is a lot just beneath the surface if you're willing to commit the time and patience. With panel construction that packs in a lot and sweet small incidental details that take their own time to pay off (keep on an eye on those background characters, credit cards and ping pong bats) this is very smart and sophisticated comic book obsessed with all the classic hard-boiled keepsakes: murder, bad luck and power. Imagine Sin City in the hands of Chris Ware or The Wire crossed with Lost and you're almost there: Azzarello and Risso spin so many wheels that sometimes it can be hard to keep up with sometimes as much happening off the page as on it (and if you want my advice: if you can make sure you have all the copies to hand when you're reading it - you may think you can just remember everything you need to know but I sure found it helpful to be able to skip back and check all the small details and who exactly said what and did what to who).

But yeah: If you're looking for payback and bloody satisfaction - then these are the books for you.

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Links: 4th Letter 100 Bullets week, This Ship is Totally Sinking Article, 100 Bullets website, Comics Journal Review, The Consortium Review.

Further reading: Scalped, Criminal, Batman: Broken City, Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, Joker, Sleeper, Powers, Sin City, The Punisher MAX , Scott Pilgrim, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Goldfish, Hector Umbra.

All comments welcome.