By d. emerson eddy — What would you do if a stranger offered you a gun, one hundred bullets, and the opportunity to right a wrong in your life without any consequences? This is the question asked that serves as the central premise to one of the best crime series in comics, 100 Bullets, a gritty noir that begins simply and wends its way through layers of intrigue, action, and suspense. The series kicks off with the first volume First Shot, Last Call by Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso, Grant Goleash, Digital Chameleon, and Clem Robins.

The first volume offers up three stories, setting up what's more or less the format for the first couple of years in the series. Each story is relatively self-contained with the mysterious Agent Graves making the offer of an attache case filled with the gun, bullets, evidence, and immunity to various individuals, but why and if it ties to anything larger is left to subsequent chapters. Little bits of information are doled out as the story builds a deeper mystery. Here in the first few stories, we're introduced to Graves, his associate Mr. Shepherd, Dizzy Cordova—a recipient of Graves' offer that potentially could become much more—and Megan Dietrich—introduced as possibly one of Graves' enemy with an interesting brooch. Personally, I think it's a brilliant set-up, because it allowed Azzarello and Risso to amass a number of different types of crime stories at the beginning of the series while developing the deeper lore behind it. A variety that hooked you even before you found out that you were neck-deep in a conspiracy.

The world that 100 Bullets presents is rough around the edges. The characters are mostly deeply flawed, their attitudes could often charitably be called “problematic”, and they might not exactly make the right or noble choices. This shines through in Azzarello's dialogue as he creates verbal patterns for each setting that don't necessarily endear us to the characters. By and large, they're not nice people and it adds to the overall atmosphere of the stories.

That atmosphere is also exemplified in Eduardo Risso's exquisite artwork. He has a style that reminds me of Goran Parlov and Goran Sudžuka, mixed with a bit of Hugo Pratt and Frank Miller (I think I may also be missing a shared influence here, Guido Crepax maybe?), resulting in fine-lined characters with some interesting facial structures and a lot of shadows. There's a palpable danger to his settings that often make you wonder when exactly the violence is going to erupt. The muted colors from Grant Goleash enhance this further, with a limited color palette achieving a similar noir atmosphere to many hardboiled films. Clem Robins' lettering also adds to the overall feel of the series, with a slightly larger word balloon size than many other letterers, giving it an unique look.

Overall, 100 Bullets – Volume 1: First Shot, Last Call from Azzarello, Risso, Goleash, Digital Chameleon, and Robins is an excellent start to what would grow into a phenomenal series. Even if the first volume is all you'll ever read, it delivers two solid crime stories, one of a woman wronged and another of a man framed, along with a little teaser of regret for a third.

CLASSIC COMIC OF THE WEEK: 100 Bullets, Vol. 1 - First Shot, Last Call

100 Bullets, Vol. 1 - First Shot, Last Call
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Eduardo Risso
Colorists: Grant Goleash & Digital Chameleon (separations)
Letterer: Clem Robins
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
Release Date: January 5, 2000
Presents the stories of several people who were seriously hurt before being approached by Agent Graves, who offered each a gun, one hundred untraceable bullets, and a convincing story about whomever betrayed them.
Read 100 Bullets, Vol. 1: Digital / Physical
Read 100 Bullets Omnibus, Vol. 1: Physical Hardcover

Check out all our recent reviews!

d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.