For the week ending Sunday, April 20, 2025
#270-#274 = 100 BULLETS, VOLUME THREE: HANG UP ON THE HANG LOW by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso (DC Comics/Vertigo, 2001)
This is a solid, tight five-part storyline within the world of 100 Bullets, perhaps the best example so far of what makes this series so special and so good. Azzarello scores again with a gritty, mean streets depiction of family relationships in an environment (this time, Philadelphia) where there isn't much room for hope. This time, the story adds a sad, heart-warming story of a broken family relationship that is rekindled and then extinguished. Risso's art is spectacular, and worth multiple readings just to study it, and see how well he incorporates Azzarello's ideas into his carefully crafted panels.
This time Agent Graves presents his offer of revenge/retribution to a young black man, Louis Hughes a.k.a. Loop. Loop's father left when he was an infant, and Loop has both resented his absenteeism as well as missing him. Curtis Hughes works collecting debts for a local criminal loanshark. Graves offers Loop the chance to get justice, and sends him with gun out to meet his father.
Instead of killing him, Curtis and Loop have a moment and bond together. Curtis introduces him to the work of debt collecting in the underworld. Curtis has a soft spot for some of the loanshark's clients, and when he doesn't follow through on orders it spells big trouble. If you're guessing that this story doesn't end well, you would be correct.
This volume gives credence to my theory that Agent Graves is testing those he favors with the immunity offer, probably considering this a test/audition for future work from him as Minutemen.
That's the only reason I can think of for who he chooses to make these offers to. Also, he has a prior relationship with Loop's father, Curtis. Lono shows up again, and is up to his usual misdemeanors, this time playing a pivotal role in how things end. Graves also shows another side of himself, sort of less than benevolent, and not patient with those who don't turn out to agree with what he wants done. FIVE STARS.
#275 = BURIED LONG, LONG AGO #1 by Anthony Cleveland and Alex Cormack (Mad Cave Studios, release date April 16, 2025) I previously reviewed this on February 26, using a digital advanced review copy provided by the publisher. However, I like the art so much, that I purchased a print copy today. After reading this again, it still holds up - - my pick of the week. Here’s what I said in my previous review:
The story is inspired by a true case of a female serial killer in the last decade of the 19th Century (1884-1908). However, it’s not necessary to be familiar with the history of Belle Gunness to read this story, based on those murders.
The opening of Issue #1, which relates a fairy tale as told by the oldest daughter to her two younger sisters during a train trip to their new home in Indiana, is a brilliant set-up for the horror to follow. It foreshadows the establishment of a mindset of dread among the three former town girls (Chicago) who are disturbed by the differences of country life on a rural farm in La Pointe, Indiana. Pigs, chickens, a bloody slaughterhouse where the animals are butchered and sold, and a strange lurking pair of eyes seen in the dark and through the windows. What is happening outside the farmhouse is as traumatizing as what is happening inside.
That fairy tale told on the train detailed an ogre witch who disguised herself and lured victims into a hollow. It ends with a knight being devoured, only bones remaining, and the witch never captured despite a manhunt. It haunts the younger sisters and makes them nervous in their new setting on the property owned by their new stepfather. The opening issue ends with a brutal murder (deemed an accident) and a cover-up by a domineering mother (coincidentally named Belle Gunness) and backed-up by a fearful older daughter.
The art is simply great, so good at creating nervous images, revealing scenes, and fearful body language that I would gladly read this without text boxes or dialogue - - just for the art.. However, the script is taut and succinctly effective. You can tell that writer Anthony Delaware is into the story, and it shows. I’ve followed the work of artist Alex Cormack for some time, and this ranks with his best efforts.
The story is a re-telling of the dark history of Belle Gunness, told from the perspective of her three daughters. If that wasn’t dreadful enough, there’s a fearful presence lurking on the farm premises that is apparently being revived and empowered as the issue ends. FIVE STARS.
#276 = MINE IS A LONG, LONESOME GRAVE #3 by Justin Jordan and Maan House (Oni Press, April 2025) This has been a whirlwind of a story blending crime and supernatural. The big battle/confrontation that has been hinted at in previous issues comes to a head here; and it is a guns-blazing bloodbath: bullets, knives, and fiery explosions.
Recently released convict Haley Creed infiltrates the Weaver crime family homestead/compound in order to persuade (through violence, most likely) matron Granny Weaver to lift the curse she placed him under. The final page puts a twist on matters straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock film,
Maan House takes over on art this issue, and the battle provides an excellent showcase for his skills. FOUR STARS.
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