100 Bullets

So I just finished the eighth book in the 100 Bullets series and I have to talk about it... even if just for a second. This book is pure fucking genius. It is so rare that a new crime-noir story can really hold its glory the whole way through. I know it's premature of me to say that since there are 5 more books to read before the story ends, but I don't really care. After the first book you are teased with bits and pieces of the real story as it slowly, but steadily unfolds. You think it's about one thing, but it's really about another. You think one person is good, but they're not...or are they? Etc. I never thought that anything would impact me as much as Preacher did, but Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's masterpiece has. I am trying not to read it too fast so that I can enjoy it more, but it's basically the equivalent of crack for me. If you like crime, conspiracy and damn good storytelling, you're in for a treat.


From Wikipedia: The initial plot of 100 Bullets hinges on the question of whether people would take the chance to get away with revenge. Occasionally in a given story arc, the mysterious Agent Graves approaches someone who has been the victim of a terrible wrong, and gives them the chance to set things right in the form of a nondescript attaché case containing a handgun, 100 bullets, a photograph of a person, and irrefutable evidence that this person is primarily responsible for their woes. He informs the candidate that the bullets are completely untraceable: any police investigation that uncovers one of them will stop.

Though all of the murders enabled by Agent Graves are presented as justifiable, the candidates are neither rewarded nor punished for taking up the offer, and appear to receive nothing other than closure for their actions. Several people have declined the offer. This is later revealed to be only a minor part of a much wider story.

The entire run of 100 Bullets is compiled across 100 comic issues or 13 trade paperbacks (the 13th book won't be available until July 2009). You can expect a more in-depth review once I finish. This series is something I could read write an essay on...

Ratings
Vol. 1 - First Shot, Last Call 8.0 / 10
Vol. 2 - Split Second Chance 8.2 / 10
Vol. 3 - Hang up on the Hang Low 9.2 / 10
Vol. 4 - A Foregone Tomorrow 8.6 / 10
Vol. 5 - The Counterfifth Detective 9.5 / 10
Vol. 6 - Six Feet Under The Gun 9.0 / 10
Vol. 7 - Samurai 8.8 / 10
Vol. 8 - The Hard Way 9.0 / 10
Vol. 9 - Strychnine Lives TBD / 10
Vol. 10 - Decayed TBD / 10
Vol. 11 - Once Upon a Crime TBD / 10
Vol. 12 - Dirt TBD / 10
Vol. 13 - Wilt TBD / 10