100 Bullets

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For the game, see 100 Bullets (video game)
100 Bullets
100Bullets vol1.jpg
Cover to 100 Bullets vol. 1 "First Shot, Last Call". Cover art by Dave Johnson.
Publication information
Publisher Vertigo
Schedule Monthly
Format Ongoing series
Genre Crime
Publication date August 1999 – April 2009
Number of issues 100
Main character(s) Agent Graves
Mr. Shepherd
The Minutemen
Dizzy Cordova
Loop Hughes
Creative team
Writer(s) Brian Azzarello
Artist(s) Eduardo Risso
Dave Johnson
Colorist(s) Grant Goleash
Patricia Mulvihill
Creator(s) Brian Azzarello
Eduardo Risso
Collected editions
First Shot, Last Call ISBN 1-56389-645-1
Split Second Chance ISBN 1-56389-711-3

100 Bullets is an Eisner and Harvey Award-winning comic book written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso. It was published in the USA by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint and initially ran for one hundred issues.[1]

Contents

[edit] Style

Both the writing and artwork in 100 Bullets exemplifies the noir and pulp genres of popular modern fiction. It presents morally ambiguous stories with dark realism. Consistent with noir convention, most of the characters are deeply flawed.[2] As is also quite common in such genres, 100 Bullets is frequently and graphically violent.

100 Bullets is notable for creator/writer Brian Azzarello's realistic use of regional and local dialects/accents, as well as the frequent, sometimes dense use of slang and oblique, metaphorical language in his characters' dialogue.

While initially presented as an episodic series of self-contained storylines, 100 Bullets eventually becomes a sprawling crime saga that embraces a sense that everything—and everyone—is connected.

[edit] Plot

The initial plot of 100 Bullets hinges on the question of whether people would take the chance to get away with revenge. The mysterious Agent Graves approaches someone who has been the victim of a terrible wrong. Graves gives them the chance to set things right. Providing access to the eponymous 100 bullets, in the form of a nondescript attaché case containing a handgun, and a photograph of a person. Additionally the case contains incontrovertible evidence the target presented (in the photograph) is primarily and personally responsible for the recipient's woes. He informs the candidate that the bullets are completely untraceable, and any law enforcement investigation which uncovers one of these bullets will immediately 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 personal satisfaction for their actions. Several people have declined the offer, while others accept. Those that accept see their actions unfold with varying levels of success or failure. The attaché and Graves' "game" is later revealed to be only a minor part of a much broader story.

Agent Graves was the leader of a group known as "The Minutemen," a group of seven men (plus one "Agent") who serve as the enforcers and police of a clandestine organization known as "The Trust". The Trust was originally formed by the heads of 13 powerful European families that controlled much of the Old World's combined wealth and industry. The Trust made an offer to the kings of Europe to leave the continent and their considerable influence and holdings, in exchange for complete autonomy in the still unclaimed portion of the "New World".[1] When England ignored this proposition and colonized the Roanoke Island late in the 16th century, the Minutemen were formed. The original Minutemen, seven vicious killers, eradicated the colony and all of its inhabitants, leaving behind only a cryptic message "Croatoa" as a warning, reclaiming the land for the Trust. Since this time, the Minutemen's charge has been to protect the 13 Houses of the trust, serving as their force against outside threats and (more frequently) as police of the internal conflicts between the Trust families themselves. The groups' interactions are often facilitated by a person holding the title "Warlord" for the Trust, who serves as the Houses' liaison to the Minutemen.

Sometime in the late 20th/early 21st century, the Minutemen were betrayed by the Trust and disbanded after Agent Graves refused to re-enact "The Greatest Crime in the History of Mankind" (i.e. something akin to the slaughter of Roanoke. In the comic there is also talk about expanding the borders of the Trust, this might be the crime Graves refuses to re-enact) The Minutemen retaliate with the assassination of a hooded figure in Atlantic City, and are then sent into hiding. Most of the Minutemen of that time were "deactivated" by Graves. These former Minutemen each having their memories repressed for their own protection and returned to their "normal" lives. This occurs prior (presumably some years) to the beginning of the 100 Bullets. comicbook opening.

As the story plays out, many of those who are offered the chance for vengeance by Graves are revealed to have been people wronged by the Trust or its agents, and some are actually revealed to have been Minutemen at the time of the events of Atlantic City. Trusting to his planning, some luck, and the importance of his "game," Agent Graves seeks to reactivate several of his Minutemen and recruit potential new members during the course of the series. With the "aid" at times of the Trust's current Warlord, the charismatic and secretive Mr. Shepherd, Graves sets into motion a complicated and deadly plot of revenge against the Trust.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of characters in 100 Bullets

[edit] Story arcs

Main article: 100 Bullets stories

[edit] Collected editions

There are thirteen trade paperbacks in publication for this series. The titles of the trade paperbacks all seem to be somehow related with their volume number (First Shot, Second Chance, Foregone, Counterfifth, Six Feet, Strychnine, Decayed), with four being indirect references (book 7 titled Samurai, for Seven Samurai; book 8 titled The Hard Way, a reference to a roll in craps; book 12 titled Dirty, as in The Dirty Dozen; book 13 titled Wilt, for basketball player Wilt Chamberlain, who wore the number 13 and was famous for scoring 100 points in a single game). Book 11 Once Upon a Crime is also a reference as "once" is Spanish for eleven. The exception to the rule is book 3, which was originally to be called The Charm — as in "third time's the charm" — but was given the title of the collection's largest plot arc, Hang Up on the Hang Low, when it won the Eisner Award.

# Title Publisher Year ISBN Reprints
1 First Shot, Last Call Vertigo ISBN 1563896451
2 Split Second Chance Vertigo ISBN 1563897113
3 Hang up on the Hang Low Vertigo ISBN 1563898551
4 A Foregone Tomorrow Vertigo ISBN 1563898276
5 The Counterfifth Detective Vertigo ISBN 1563899485
6 Six Feet Under The Gun Vertigo ISBN 1563899965
7 Samurai Vertigo ISBN 140120189X
8 The Hard Way Vertigo ISBN 1401204902
9 Strychnine Lives Vertigo ISBN 1401209289
10 Decayed Vertigo ISBN 140120998X
11 Once Upon a Crime Vertigo ISBN 1401213154
12 Dirty Vertigo ISBN 140121939X
13 Wilt Vertigo ISBN 1401222870

Note: The full title of all volumes listed here start with "100 Bullets: ".


[edit] Other media adaptations

Acclaim announced plans to release a video game based on 100 Bullets. However, following the collapse of Acclaim's publishing house, the game has essentially been cancelled. It was intended that the player would be either Cole Burns or Snow Falls (a completely original character) and play in a third person view, with actor Keanu Reeves portraying Cole Burns. The plot was generally unknown, aside from a supposition that it followed the plot of the comic book.

D3Publishing has obtained the rights from Warner Bros. to publish a 100 Bullets game.[3] They intend to make a video game completely independent from Acclaim's aborted vision, but still heavily reliant on input and plotting from Brian Azzarello.[4]

[edit] Critical reception

Wiki letter w.svg This section requires expansion.

The series has attracted critical acclaim from within and beyond the American comics industry,[5] as "very violent, dark and clever"[6] and "a series of compelling morality tales".[7]

[edit] Awards

The series won the 2002 Harvey Awards for Best Writer, Best Artist and Best Continuing Series, and the 2003 Harvey Award for Best Artist, as well as the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story, and the 2002 and 2004 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series.[1]

[edit] Related topics

Other titles by the same team:

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Irvine, Alex (2008), "100 Bullets", in Dougall, Alastair, The Vertigo Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 11–17, ISBN 0-7566-4122-5 
  2. ^ Mclaughlin, Jeff (2005). Comics as Philosophy. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781578067947. 
  3. ^ http://www.d3publisher.us/d3_100_bullets.pdf
  4. ^ E3 06: 100 Bullets gets another shot at gaming - News at GameSpot
  5. ^ "DC Comics and Warner Bros. Unveil a New Company Logo for DC Comics, the Publisher of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman; New Logo to Appear on Comic Books, Films and Television Series Based on DC Properties" (magazine article). Business Week. 2005-05-09. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_May_9/ai_n13677061. Retrieved 2007-07-24. 
  6. ^ "HIT LIST" (newspaper article). Independent on Sunday. 2006-06-04. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20060604/ai_n16455630. Retrieved 2007-07-24. 
  7. ^ "Vertigo's '100 Bullets' hits the bull's-eye" (newspaper article). The Colorado Springs Gazette. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4191/is_20010107/ai_n9984195. Retrieved 2007-07-24. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Bullets"