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100 BULLETS #27 (Best of the Week!)
"Idol Chatter"
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 |
It's going to be really
hard for me to write this review without giving away what the story is about,
and the surprise I had as I realized where the story was going had a lot to do
with how much I loved it. So if you want to really preserve the surprise premise
of this story for yourself, just trust me that it earned the 10/10 and stop
reading now. Come back when you've read the issue and read the review of what is
probably my favorite issue of 100 Bullets so far.
This is another one of those single issues,
and while Azzarello's arc construction is among the best in comics, the
single-issue stories have probably been some of the best things this book has to
offer. This issue takes a look at one of those real-world events that you almost
have to include in any conspiracy story, and as a result, I've grown tired of
seeing that event mentioned. It seems that you can't have a conspiracy anymore
without explaining how they were involved in the death of a President and
subsequent cover-up, and more often than not its intrusive and silly and perhaps
even repetitive and cliched. Azzarello takes this event, one I'm almost
thoroughly bored by, and gives it a new spin by changing the point-of-view and
the story and writes an entertaining and clever take on that event.
What I really loved was how the viewpoint
changes everything about how I view the event. It's always been viewed as a
tragedy, a miscarriage of justice, but the introduction of another player in the
events, another fabled tie-in to the President's legend, makes it seem more like
revenge and justice of a different sort. Which, naturally, fits right into the
theme of this book. I also greatly enjoyed seeing Graves talking to the gunman
and seeing how the 100 Bullets deal affected someone years down the road.
There's a lot going on in this story beyond
the main premise, too. In the background of the main story, which is a dialogue
between Graves and the gunman, you've got a story of a pair of hospital workers
and one of their patients which contains sex and violence and nicely frames the
more talky main story. In addition, the story features someone in the background
considering the deal, which reminds us that Graves has probably faced the
questioning he gets from the gunman before, and probably will again.
Finally, it wouldn't be one of my 100
Bullets reviews if I didn't mention how much I love Risso's artwork. His design
for characters is fantastic, whether it's the sleek Dizzy or Loop or the
grizzled old man look of Graves or the gunman, and his absolute mastery of the
way shadows are used is a big part of what gives this book its distinctive look.
There's a lot of storytelling going on here in the faces of the characters, the
movements of characters in the background and the setup of the shots, and Risso
never falters. Beautiful coloring by Trish Mulvihill is icing on the cake, and
together the two of them keep this book looking as sharp as it reads.
This is my favorite book on the stands.
This issue is a perfect example of why.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
