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100 BULLETS #28
"Contrabandolero Part One of Three"
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 |
At this point with 100 Bullets, you'd think I would have seen it all. But
though the elements of the story are always familiar, the story itself is always
surprising and entertaining. There are two stories going on here, just as there
were in the Eisner-winning "Hang Up on the Hang Low," with the over-arcing tale
of what's going on with the Minutemen and their newest recruit Dizzy and the new
story of a minimum wage job-holder who finds himself caught up in much bigger
events than he's ready for. It's all served up with stunning artwork by Risso
and colorist Mulvihill, and as usual it's a terrific ride. Looking forward to
seeing where this new story takes us next.
The scope of this series is something that
amazes me. It takes place in gutters and high-rises alike, and though this issue
takes place mostly in a hole-in-the-wall town with go-nowhere losers as the
cast, there's an element of something larger at work. That element comes through
a familiar face, Dizzy Cordova, who has turned from our first protagonist into
an enigmatic badass who represents the physical manifestation of the
all-encompassing political power that Agent Graves seems to wield. The
protagonist of this story is Wylie, a gas station attendant, but I have to
wonder if he isn't more than he seems as well. Especially when I remember the
ice cream truck driver who turned out to be a former Minuteman operative.
Even if Wylie isn't a former Minuteman who
is about to be brought back into the fold, his story is intriguing. He may be
lazy, but he's also clearly smart, or at least fast on his feet, as we see in
his dealings with Dizzy and Sheperd or with Eightball. When his nightly routine
of drinking and ping-pong turns into something more dangerous, he adapts
quickly, and though he's by no means a nice guy, he's a likable enough
protagonist because I respect his smarts and style. As always, Azzarello brings
the reader into an unfamiliar and somewhat sleazy world, but he manages to make
it both realistically unpleasant and yet utterly fascinating.
He's aided in that effort, of course, by
the always-stellar artwork of Risso and Mulvihill. Whether it's a lonely gas
station out in the desert, a dive bar or a motel, the setting always feels
unique and believable and it is always beautiful to behold. Risso has the talent
to make the most unpalatable of places look appealing to the eye without turning
them into picture-perfect settings that don't hold any reality. I believe
whole-heartedly in the grimy characters and run-down settings, even as I'm
amazed at how beautifully they are drawn.
Though it's a different book entirely, this book has really taken the flagship position of Vertigo after Preacher has ended. It has one advantage in serial format, however, in that while Preacher was an ongoing narrative, 100 Bullets is more of an
anthology series with a common thread, and thus every so often a new jumping-on
point occurs for new readers. That it manages this level of accessibility while
also maintaining the ever-growing mystery for long-time readers is only a small
part of its considerable charm.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
