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100 BULLETS #29
"Contrabandolero Part Two of Three"
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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DC Comics/Vertigo imprint
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Eduardo Risso
Colors: Digital Chameleon
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
By now, you know the drill. Great dialogue, incredible gritty atmosphere, gorgeous artwork and a story that just grabs you and pulls you in. Buy it. On a more specific note, this is the second issue of the Contrabandolero story, which has thus far been one of my favorites, and might just make its way onto the Eisner list next year beside this year's winner, "Hang Up on the Hang Low." Wylie Tines is a great character, a likable slacker in way over his head but coping surprisingly well, Dizzy Cordova has terrific chemistry with him, and the complications in the form of the Minutemen and a local street hood named Eightball make for a tense and intriguing storyline. Throw in Eduardo Risso making me hear, smell and feel Juarez, Mexico and you've got the same thing you always get from 100 Bullets: damn fine comics.
This issue is a bit of a
twister, and well worth reading twice, although thanks to the skill of the
creators you'll only have to read it once. But Wylie's adoption of a false
identity causes quite a bit of trouble for him this issue, in both comical and
not-so-comical ways, and his dealings with Dizzy are a look into another side of
him, the one who isn't really working an angle but just wants to drink and take
the day off. The involvement of Dizzy and Sheperd makes me believe something
more is going on, but even if there isn't, the story at the heart of this one is
interesting enough.
One of Azzarello's gifts has
been dialogue and settings that feel authentic. He's captured the barrio, the
ghetto, high-rise offices and now dirty bordertowns on both sides of the border.
He has a lot of help in this respect from Eduardo Risso, who does simply amazing
work with shadows, background characters and scenery and character expressions.
The crime, corruption and laziness that abounds in these places is easy to feel,
and the depiction of Juarez in particular is as picturesque as a Robert
Rodriguez movie.
I love how I can get into
these characters' heads, despite having little to nothing in common with them.
Mike Kuchenko is so real to me through his dialogue and what we learn from
dialogue cues that I can hear his Russian-accented voice when I'm reading his
lines. In addition, the interplay between Wiley and Dizzy is fun to read as
well, with some great banter and flirting.
What really gets me, though,
is the twists that the plot takes this issue. Dizzy and Sheperd go to bail Wylie
out, but because of a pseudonym, the very guy sent to watch out for him winds up
getting him into trouble. Meanwhile, his plan to adopt another identity hits a
snag back in California, such that by the end, we don't know what's happening or
who's responsible. And once again, Azzarello and Risso have left us with a
cliffhanger that makes us count the days until the next issue.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
