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shri_ace13's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dorinlazar's review
3.0
I think the gore fest becomes really meaningless, and aside some reveals which were necessary, and some churning of characters (they get killed) I think the story becomes less compelling issue by issue.
I'm negatively impressed by the fourth volume, and I still give it three stars because, at least, it's consistent in its way. I can't say it's worth abandoning yet, but I really hope for a better finale than this.
I'm negatively impressed by the fourth volume, and I still give it three stars because, at least, it's consistent in its way. I can't say it's worth abandoning yet, but I really hope for a better finale than this.
kinbote4zembla's review against another edition
3.0
I was willing to feel like I was in the dark for the first three volumes of this comic book. But, now, having finished the fourth volume of 100 Bullets — nearly two thousand pages, in all —, my patience is wearing thin.
I still can not clearly tell you what the characters' motivations are or what the central conflict is.
Azzarello's clever narrative turns are really the only things saving this book. For a hard-R comic book noir, 100 Bullets is very satisfying in its nasty, nervy story arcs. "A Wake," which is the best story arc in this volume, illustrates this point well. Two sets of siblings — new characters, all — face internal power struggles. Ronnie and Remi Rome are brothers, both of whom live at home, and they are pitted against each other by Agent Graves's proposition (and Remi's involvement in meat smuggling, curiously). Lars and Anna Nagel are the children of a recently murdered head of the Trust. The Trust decides to allow the two of them to decide who should now lead the family. In both instances, siblings are set at odds by self-serving manipulators, and the endings are pretty good.
But little things that have annoyed me from the beginning are getting old. I want difficult characters in fiction. I do. But does every man need to rape women or treat them as simple objects? Does every man need to call another guy a faggot? Does every man need to casually call someone a nigger? It is so off-putting that, eventually, it seems that Azzarello is just trying to purposelessly push buttons, because — and this is important — these horrible depictions are not part of some grand commentary. They are simple character choices on Azarrello's part and I am trying to figure what he's adding to the narrative.
Also, can Dizzy do something in the next volume, please?
3 Croatoa Tattoos out of 5
I still can not clearly tell you what the characters' motivations are or what the central conflict is.
Azzarello's clever narrative turns are really the only things saving this book. For a hard-R comic book noir, 100 Bullets is very satisfying in its nasty, nervy story arcs. "A Wake," which is the best story arc in this volume, illustrates this point well. Two sets of siblings — new characters, all — face internal power struggles. Ronnie and Remi Rome are brothers, both of whom live at home, and they are pitted against each other by Agent Graves's proposition (and Remi's involvement in meat smuggling, curiously). Lars and Anna Nagel are the children of a recently murdered head of the Trust. The Trust decides to allow the two of them to decide who should now lead the family. In both instances, siblings are set at odds by self-serving manipulators, and the endings are pretty good.
But little things that have annoyed me from the beginning are getting old. I want difficult characters in fiction. I do. But does every man need to rape women or treat them as simple objects? Does every man need to call another guy a faggot? Does every man need to casually call someone a nigger? It is so off-putting that, eventually, it seems that Azzarello is just trying to purposelessly push buttons, because — and this is important — these horrible depictions are not part of some grand commentary. They are simple character choices on Azarrello's part and I am trying to figure what he's adding to the narrative.
Also, can Dizzy do something in the next volume, please?
3 Croatoa Tattoos out of 5
rikki's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
kylemfox's review against another edition
2.0
Maybe I'm just confused, but I'm not really sure what's going on. This whole series has been vague from the beginning - and that's it's thing - but it is just getting too confusing. And that is not making it enjoyable. Hopefully the last book will clear everything up.
thewargrave's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
captainfez's review
4.0
From what I gather of other reviewers' feelings, the general position on this volume of the 100 Bullets saga - issues 59 through 80 - is confusion. A feeling of confusion over what's going on, where and - in some cases - when.
I think this is fairly on the money, but I'd add in one important substitution: it's not confusion.
It's chaos. (This is, after all, the Land of Lono.)
Saying that, I don't think the confusion/chaos is unintentional. I think it's a reflection of how conspiracies metastasise and take over their hosts. How mission creep infects the simplest of instructions. And how, frankly, you can't keep a multi-tentacled crime organisation in quiet accord forever.
The framing story is still kind of unclear - it basically boils down to either dick measuring between hard men or the inability of a stalwart to resign his post - but I don't think that's particularly important. It's a little like reading Ulysses or some of the chunkier James Ellroy books: all that shit's noise. It's important, and yes, you can pay attention to it and unpick it until the cows come home. (And trust me, I do take notes while I read, because I'd like to reach the end knowing there was something that led me here.
But really, what's going on is portraiture. Portraiture of exquisitely awful people.
In that, Azzarello and Risso excel. There's creepily-attached siblings, murderous fucknuts, guilty bystanders, kingpins and pawns. Niceness is not a trait that exists in this world: everything is comically (geddit) exaggerated, though not to the point of unbelievability. The edges are razor sharp: for all their ludicrous behaviour, there's enough of the real to keep these people, these suits and scumbags, in the realm of the worryingly possible rather than the cartoonishly improbable.
And once you get past the portraiture itself, there's enough attention paid to the important beats of backstory to make their interactions work. Employer/employee. Sibling. Parent/offspring. Perp/victim. Though some are played for gory wallpaper, most of the interactions here push the story - shaggy and groaning - steadily forward towards an end you just know is gonna be bad.
This volume does seem to up the level of misanthropy, misogyny and nihilism, so I can see that it wouldn't be a welcome read for everyone. It's not even a comfortable read for me, and I'm continuing because fuck it, I've spent 2000-odd pages getting to this point and I'm going to see this business through.
Let's see how this ends. I'm sure there'll be some slights against sexuality and parentage attached, but it's been such a long trip so far, I want to see if there's more to the criminal Camelot that's in the offing than just empty words.
I think this is fairly on the money, but I'd add in one important substitution: it's not confusion.
It's chaos. (This is, after all, the Land of Lono.)
Saying that, I don't think the confusion/chaos is unintentional. I think it's a reflection of how conspiracies metastasise and take over their hosts. How mission creep infects the simplest of instructions. And how, frankly, you can't keep a multi-tentacled crime organisation in quiet accord forever.
The framing story is still kind of unclear - it basically boils down to either dick measuring between hard men or the inability of a stalwart to resign his post - but I don't think that's particularly important. It's a little like reading Ulysses or some of the chunkier James Ellroy books: all that shit's noise. It's important, and yes, you can pay attention to it and unpick it until the cows come home. (And trust me, I do take notes while I read, because I'd like to reach the end knowing there was something that led me here.
But really, what's going on is portraiture. Portraiture of exquisitely awful people.
In that, Azzarello and Risso excel. There's creepily-attached siblings, murderous fucknuts, guilty bystanders, kingpins and pawns. Niceness is not a trait that exists in this world: everything is comically (geddit) exaggerated, though not to the point of unbelievability. The edges are razor sharp: for all their ludicrous behaviour, there's enough of the real to keep these people, these suits and scumbags, in the realm of the worryingly possible rather than the cartoonishly improbable.
And once you get past the portraiture itself, there's enough attention paid to the important beats of backstory to make their interactions work. Employer/employee. Sibling. Parent/offspring. Perp/victim. Though some are played for gory wallpaper, most of the interactions here push the story - shaggy and groaning - steadily forward towards an end you just know is gonna be bad.
This volume does seem to up the level of misanthropy, misogyny and nihilism, so I can see that it wouldn't be a welcome read for everyone. It's not even a comfortable read for me, and I'm continuing because fuck it, I've spent 2000-odd pages getting to this point and I'm going to see this business through.
Let's see how this ends. I'm sure there'll be some slights against sexuality and parentage attached, but it's been such a long trip so far, I want to see if there's more to the criminal Camelot that's in the offing than just empty words.
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