100 BULLETS #31
"The Counterfifth Detective, Part One"
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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DC Comics/Vertigo imprint
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Eduardo Risso
Colors: Patricia Mulvihill & Digital Chameleon
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Azzarello shifts gears somewhat this month. The title has always been dark and mysterious, sure, but in this issue, he tackles the hard-boiled, film-noir private-eye genre. He and Risso are right at home in the genre, and it makes for one of the most fun scripts of the series.
Private detective Milo Garret has been left a scarred man following a car accident. He's released from the hospital with his face completely bandaged, unable to check the extent of the damage. He wanders around his old haunts, with a mystery weighing down on him. He was approached by a man named Agent Graves in the hospital, a man who gave him the truth and made him a offer of unfettered revenge. It's all too easy, Milo thinks, so he investigates the circumstances leading up to the offer.
Concealing the face of the protagonist adds to the mystique of the title. We really don't get a sense for what Milo is feeling beyond what he tells us in the narration. Risso does a great job of keeping the reader in the dark regarding Milo's expressions. Mulvihill's colors add to the rich atmosphere of the story. She bathes the bar scene in a deep orange that's not gaudy, and immerses the hospital flashbacks in antiseptic greens and blues.
Though the subplots about the Trust, the Minutemen and the various factions vying for power or justice in this series are interesting, I'm always pleased to see the book get back to basics. The premise of what someone would do with the chance to exact revenge without consequences is fascinating. Opting to give the gun and 100 bullets to a P.I. is a great move.
With just about every issue of 100 Bullets I read, I end up asking myself, "What am I missing?" Azzarello has crafted a stunningly complex series. Storylines and characters criss-cross, and I sometimes find myself confused about a character's identity or wondering whether or not one is supposed to seem familiar. The density of the plotlines is -- I admit -- frustrating, but it's also part of the book's appeal. The reader finds himself always questioning the story, his perceptions and his memory. It's as though we've been carried into the intrigue ourselves, like we're looking over our shoulder.
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