MATT LOWDER Looks At 100 BULLETS (Vertigo)

guest review by The 10,000 Comics Pyramid's MATT LOWDER . . . . .

100 Bullets (vol 1 of 5, #1-19 of 100 issues, originally full run 1999-2009, this collected hardback 2014, Vertigo/DC) 4/5

Some comics feels like a movie. Some feel like a novel. This one really felt and looked like a great comicbook. And in most ways, it is. If you don't read any further, yes, try this, but it's Mature.

Okay. Sorry for this essay.

I didn't read a synopsis before starting 100 BULLETS. I didn't read about what year it was published, how long it was, or any plot points. I was blind reading. I only knew it was crime and written by Azzerello. I obviously didn't read it once a month as issued dripped out in 1999. I read a year and a half's-worth in 4 days. Keep that in mind reading this reaction.

This is heralded as one of the more pivotal and important works in the medium, especially for beginning in 1999. I mostly agree with that, simply because of what was in the market at that time. This is visually striking and conceptually brilliant. Much like Moonshine, 100 BULLETS has this flat coloring style, with strong line work and hard, hard-cut shadows and use of black. The sense of depth in the foreground and background using negative space in windows, doorways, and casted shadows is masterful. The dialogue feels authentic like a good indie crime film. If you grew up watching Reservoir Dogs, Boondocks Saints, or reading anything Frank Miller, you'll dig this. (You'll also like it if you like conspiring organizations of power and control on a national scale pulling strings in a "Metal Gear Solid 1 or 2" kind of way.)

Not trying to yuck anyone's yum who loves this book, but the story and undertones becomes a little more problematic for me. The concept of this plot had its hooks in me right away, but it really took a long time to develop. Reading blind as I did, I expected to spend the book's full run with Dizzy Cordova. We met her in issue one... A black/Latina thug who just got out of prison, mired by an earlier tragedy of her lover and son being shot down in an urban drive-by. 

But that was only the focus in the first 3 issue arc. Imagine my surprise when the book became more like a collection of short stories, with multiple 2 and 3 issue arcs with entirely new characters meeting this cryptic, mysterious man, Agent Graves. He magically appears to four unrelated characters in issues 4-11, stories that do not reference each other, giving all these new characters this offer: "take this attache case, with a gun and 100 bullets, untraceable and above the law, and do what you will with them. Also, here's the truth about your life's tragedy, with proof of who should pay for it."

It's a wild premise and poses fantastic moral questions to several men and women in different shit-sandwich situations. I was intrigued. Theoretically, independently, these stories are strong, but the only thread between them which tied them together was Graves. I thought this was episodic and not a grander vision which I was fine with. After so many issues of characters never reappearing, I figured it was the intention and structure of the book, like a tale-of-the-week, twilight zone style thing.

Then I was wrong. In Issue #12, a year into the comic's publication, which would have shocked me with both awe and frustration had I been reading that way, DIZZY CORDOVA reappears in France with a new character. This is the first time any character reappeared after their brief 2 to 3 issue arc. I guess these are all tied together in someway, but that was an ambitious and long set-up. But when? WHEN are these stories going to begin crossing over further? Why is Agent Graves doing this? His motive? Well, its not answered the first 19 issues. And I don't think in the next 19, either.

And that brings me to a valid concern: the very slow drip of answers. After I completed this particular volume, I decided to do a little bit of research. I was teetering on the edge of a decision...... Do I continue with this, or not?

I felt like this was the kind of book I've read before in which major questions are never answered and the writer has trouble in later issues pulling threads together. From what I've read, many reviewers of the full series confirmed my suspicions. It's amazing regardless, I see that, but it's flawed. If I had less to read in my pile at home, or if I liked 100 BULLETS more, I wouldn't have spoiled it for myself. But now that I know, the investment would not have been worth it for me in the end. I'm sure for those who read it in the cultural climate of 15-20 years ago, as they trickled out monthly, it was a different experience.

I remember reading OUTCAST last year that had a lot of good ideas and delicious, compelling breadcrumbs, but I was so glad I read 6 trade volumes and didn't follow that for 3+ years in single issues. Would have driven me mad given what I now know about how the story went off the rails and didn't deliver (for me) an adequate enough ending.

I also took issue with the portrayal of people of color and women. I wasn't going to mention it here had it only been in the first few issues, but it was chronic and endemic in this book's DNA. Granted, there are no paragons of virtue in this book. But every issue had heaving breasts, poking nipples, and/or asses popping out of tops and bottoms of dresses. Besides Dizzy, there were no well-rounded female characters besides two dimensional plot contrivances who get killed, or stereotypes pressing up against a man. 

Like Sin City was a book of machismo, 100 Bullets was equally grindhousey and sleazy. There's "sexy and suave" comics, then there's this. There's money in that market. I get it. No judgement. It works for some. But tougher to overlook was that after 18 months of issues, all people of color (except one) spoke in heavy urban slang and were criminals, meanwhile all characters in postions of power were men and white and articulate, and they served as the source of doling out to the downtrodden a miraclous chance they wouldn't have otherwise. Several black character's facial features were also large to the point of caricature. I'm not sure how history will view some of this art. But again, the art overall is INCREDIBLY STRONG and memorable in 100 Bullets.

100 BULLETS is a comic I'd recommend to everyone already in the hobby of comics with caveats. Its merits are clear to me, hence the 4-Star rating, but it's not for me.

Serious comic lovers should DEFINITELY try at least Volume 1. Layered storytelling is woven very intentionally and the characters and themes do what they need to do, perfectly. I didn't know how I felt about it by issue 10, but glad I stuck with it thorugh issue 19. The time it takes to get somewhere narratively is a bit long for me, plus the violence and trauma and smut is just a little tasteless in today's climate. 

We have a lot of options now in crime comics. A more patient reader who enjoys double Ds on every woman will have no problem going down this rabbit hole with Agent Graves and his mysterious group, "The Trust", that works outside the government. The conspiracy is promising, but also convoluted and requires a lot of thinking and close reading. The ideas are there, but its also heavily misanthropic and cynical. If I was 21 years old, I'd feel differently. Just know it takes a loooong while to develop, and is quite blunt in its approach to glorifying sex and violence without saying much beyond its base entertainment value.

I'm kind of glad just before I posted this review I did the unthinkable and read how the book ended, as well as everything to do with the Minutemen. It's bold, it's good, but I wouldn't have been happy. That is a "faux pas" for some, but with a neverending pile of comics, I can't invest in a 100-issue series that doesn't answer critical questions and kills off so many. On paper, the Wikipedia makes the grand plot sound extremely compelling, but I'd want to spend 48 issues in that world, not 100. FOUR STARS OUT OF A POSSIBLE FIVE STARS.