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matchesmalone24's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
shri_ace13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ogreart's review against another edition
4.0
I started not liking this series very much. But as I continued to read, the story got deeper and more interesting. Looking forward to continuing the series.
maryehavens's review against another edition
3.0
Not a huge fan of the art - it reminded me of a lot of comic books that focus on the way grittier sides of things. I mean, that was this story is but how much T&A does one girl need? Or blood drips for that matter. I haven't looked up what else the artist drew but I've seen it before, for sure.
I was skeptical with this collection during the first story. It seemed really forced and inauthentic. Sure, Chicago gang, the slang, the language, the life options but how gritty can we get. But then, when the stories started weaving together, I became way more interested in learning more of the backstory of everything. Especially Dizzy and Cole Burns - and Graves, of course.
I think my library has volume 2 and I'll definitely read it now that I know this isn't just vigilante justice. It was interesting too how the 100 bullets were spent. Not every story had a Dizzy ending. I genuinely mourned for some of the characters too (Moe and Maurice, for example, as minor as they were).
So the story is good, my issue is that I don't like staying in this Sin City type of world too long.
I was skeptical with this collection during the first story. It seemed really forced and inauthentic. Sure, Chicago gang, the slang, the language, the life options but how gritty can we get. But then, when the stories started weaving together, I became way more interested in learning more of the backstory of everything. Especially Dizzy and Cole Burns - and Graves, of course.
I think my library has volume 2 and I'll definitely read it now that I know this isn't just vigilante justice. It was interesting too how the 100 bullets were spent. Not every story had a Dizzy ending. I genuinely mourned for some of the characters too (Moe and Maurice, for example, as minor as they were).
So the story is good, my issue is that I don't like staying in this Sin City type of world too long.
dorinlazar's review
3.0
It starts slow then it switches to some other apparently unimportant story. It pissed me off in the beginning, because it definitely was not what I would've expected. I'm not necessarily a fan of the noir or pulp fiction, and this is just that - and in the beginning it felt like it will be a set of completely unrelated stories, with one common character.
But then some threads start to come together. Dizzy Cordova reappears, with less of that heavy accent, and it starts being part of a more complex story. There are things happening in the background, and an overall interesting... what do I say, captivating story emerges.
The only problem is that the story and the style gets better only after passing the first half of the first volume. and this says a lot. It doesn't become compelling until the second arc of Dizzy and the story of Loop, which closes this volume. So yes, it will take some motivation to read this volume, but there is great hope that the next ones get better
But then some threads start to come together. Dizzy Cordova reappears, with less of that heavy accent, and it starts being part of a more complex story. There are things happening in the background, and an overall interesting... what do I say, captivating story emerges.
The only problem is that the story and the style gets better only after passing the first half of the first volume. and this says a lot. It doesn't become compelling until the second arc of Dizzy and the story of Loop, which closes this volume. So yes, it will take some motivation to read this volume, but there is great hope that the next ones get better
roxanamalinachirila's review
3.0
The first time I tried to read this, the art and the dialogue combined into a whirlwind of wtf-ness which made me put the book down and leave it there for a long time. I eventually picked it up again because I kept hearing it gets better.
Well. It's complicated.
See, it initially felt like the story was about this young woman who was fresh out of jail and who was offered a gun with 100 untraceable bullets and proof that two corrupt cops killed her husband and child while she was in jail. Except, well, her story ends fairly soon and we get more people who are offered the gun, the bullets and the proof and who have to make the choice: do they kill the person who ruined their lives, or do they refrain?
The story gets more interesting as the volume progresses (and seeing as it gathers volumes 1-3 of previous editions, it has time to progress). There's a bigger plot that's starting to make itself felt, the stories with the gun and the case are clever - but the guy who keeps handing out the gun and bullets is starting to feel a bit like a wacko to me. A very powerful wacko, but he stopped giving me the feeling that he's super-tough and super-precise the moment there was a story about him giving the gun and bullets to a little, old lady. Which, is sort of like... okay, dude, you have an obsession, are you aware of it?
Then, the language - non-white characters tend to talk with an accent or with slang all over the place (other reviewers complain it isn't accurate - which is worse than my simply finding it difficult). White characters happen to speak untranslated French at one point, 'cause whatever. And I can sort of follow both (French is a bit tougher), but it doesn't make my life any easier.
All in all, I have mixed feelings about "100 Bullets". Interesting, but not really my cuppa... I'll probably read the rest of the series, though, but only because the other volumes happen to be lying about.
Well. It's complicated.
See, it initially felt like the story was about this young woman who was fresh out of jail and who was offered a gun with 100 untraceable bullets and proof that two corrupt cops killed her husband and child while she was in jail. Except, well, her story ends fairly soon and we get more people who are offered the gun, the bullets and the proof and who have to make the choice: do they kill the person who ruined their lives, or do they refrain?
The story gets more interesting as the volume progresses (and seeing as it gathers volumes 1-3 of previous editions, it has time to progress). There's a bigger plot that's starting to make itself felt, the stories with the gun and the case are clever - but the guy who keeps handing out the gun and bullets is starting to feel a bit like a wacko to me. A very powerful wacko, but he stopped giving me the feeling that he's super-tough and super-precise the moment there was a story about him giving the gun and bullets to a little, old lady. Which,
Spoiler
after you find out he's supposedly "recruiting" people to be super-hard killersThen, the language - non-white characters tend to talk with an accent or with slang all over the place (other reviewers complain it isn't accurate - which is worse than my simply finding it difficult). White characters happen to speak untranslated French at one point, 'cause whatever. And I can sort of follow both (French is a bit tougher), but it doesn't make my life any easier.
All in all, I have mixed feelings about "100 Bullets". Interesting, but not really my cuppa... I'll probably read the rest of the series, though, but only because the other volumes happen to be lying about.
bdorf's review against another edition
4.0
Really more a 3.5/5. It was interesting, but a bit disjointed. I liked it enough to want to keep reading though, so I guess it was good.
lakshay167's review against another edition
4.0
One of the greatest works of crime fiction in any medium
Initially presented as a series of self-contained episodic stories, 100 Bullets developed into a sprawling crime saga in which all the characters and events are connected eventually.
100 Bullets is a "gritty" crime noir story with a twist. Agent Graves is the moral twist. He shows up and hands you a suitcase. Inside is a gun, 100 bullets and a folder full of information about someone who has completely screwed you over. If you use the gun and kill them, then you will not be sent to prison nor prosecuted. In fact, the whole incident will just go away. That is the scenario that awaits each of the people visited by Agent Graves. From dead family to betrayal by close friends, each of the people have an opportunity to gain revenge for previous acts. That in and of itself would make this an interesting enough story. It's a moral dilemma, a test maybe, how far would you go for revenge on the people who killed your husband, the woman who set you up for a kiddie porn arrest, the father who left you at birth? The people approached are necessarily damaged little fuckers with their own back story and the varied responses to the proposition is one of the more interesting and thought provoking aspects of the story.
The characters are often attempting to carry on normal lives after being betrayed, filled with guilt and despair. I think this helps to make the whole killing people who have wronged you, realistic. But it also has a lot of genuine emotion and uses the medium well to convey the. For example the scene of father and son reuniting after years and years of the fathers absence.
While the initial concept of 100 bullets is morally gripping, there is more. As the story progresses, our questions start changing, to who is this man giving you this opportunity and what is there for him in this? Who is Graves? Whom does he work for? The mystery of XIII and the Minutemen has an additional layer of complexity in this story. While the average characters are usually low level criminals or losers, the chain of events is quite large and connected. The secretive Mr. Graves and even the conflicts with Mr. Sheppard also make for interesting reading.
What starts off as a slow but gripping story of hispanic gangs and bent cops soon evolves in to a much more intriguing and wider in scope story. The comic is presented mostly as an anthology with loose threads connecting each story, but those threads are tightening with each page and depending on how the other volumes laces us, it could be an absolute classic.
Both the writing and artwork in 100 Bullets exemplifies the noir and pulp genres of popular modern fiction. Consistent with noir convention, most of the characters are deeply flawed. One of the most notable thing about the book is the creator Brian Azzarello's realistic use of regional and local hood accent, as well as the frequent use of slang and oblique, metaphorical language in his characters' dialogue. Although the female characters are insanely male-gazy, I do give it that this book is almost 20 years old and needs to be seen through that lens.
The visual storytelling is wonderful. Pane-to-pane there is a lot happening that is easily missed if you're not paying much attention. The action scenes are intense, well written and bloody.
100 bullets is a masterpiece in crime, noir and pulp genre and its story, dialogues and the setting will make it a great read for all crime fictions lovers.
Initially presented as a series of self-contained episodic stories, 100 Bullets developed into a sprawling crime saga in which all the characters and events are connected eventually.
100 Bullets is a "gritty" crime noir story with a twist. Agent Graves is the moral twist. He shows up and hands you a suitcase. Inside is a gun, 100 bullets and a folder full of information about someone who has completely screwed you over. If you use the gun and kill them, then you will not be sent to prison nor prosecuted. In fact, the whole incident will just go away. That is the scenario that awaits each of the people visited by Agent Graves. From dead family to betrayal by close friends, each of the people have an opportunity to gain revenge for previous acts. That in and of itself would make this an interesting enough story. It's a moral dilemma, a test maybe, how far would you go for revenge on the people who killed your husband, the woman who set you up for a kiddie porn arrest, the father who left you at birth? The people approached are necessarily damaged little fuckers with their own back story and the varied responses to the proposition is one of the more interesting and thought provoking aspects of the story.
The characters are often attempting to carry on normal lives after being betrayed, filled with guilt and despair. I think this helps to make the whole killing people who have wronged you, realistic. But it also has a lot of genuine emotion and uses the medium well to convey the. For example the scene of father and son reuniting after years and years of the fathers absence.
While the initial concept of 100 bullets is morally gripping, there is more. As the story progresses, our questions start changing, to who is this man giving you this opportunity and what is there for him in this? Who is Graves? Whom does he work for? The mystery of XIII and the Minutemen has an additional layer of complexity in this story. While the average characters are usually low level criminals or losers, the chain of events is quite large and connected. The secretive Mr. Graves and even the conflicts with Mr. Sheppard also make for interesting reading.
What starts off as a slow but gripping story of hispanic gangs and bent cops soon evolves in to a much more intriguing and wider in scope story. The comic is presented mostly as an anthology with loose threads connecting each story, but those threads are tightening with each page and depending on how the other volumes laces us, it could be an absolute classic.
Both the writing and artwork in 100 Bullets exemplifies the noir and pulp genres of popular modern fiction. Consistent with noir convention, most of the characters are deeply flawed. One of the most notable thing about the book is the creator Brian Azzarello's realistic use of regional and local hood accent, as well as the frequent use of slang and oblique, metaphorical language in his characters' dialogue. Although the female characters are insanely male-gazy, I do give it that this book is almost 20 years old and needs to be seen through that lens.
The visual storytelling is wonderful. Pane-to-pane there is a lot happening that is easily missed if you're not paying much attention. The action scenes are intense, well written and bloody.
100 bullets is a masterpiece in crime, noir and pulp genre and its story, dialogues and the setting will make it a great read for all crime fictions lovers.