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A review by caitcoy
100 Bullets, Vol. 1: First Shot, Last Call by Brian Azzarello
2.0
Eh, it was okay? 2.5 stars
I picked this up just to see if it could change my mind on Azzarello. I wasn't a big fan of his Wonder Woman story but I feel like I need more than that before I just write him off entirely. Unfortunately, 100 Bullets hasn't really changed my mind.
The basic premise, at least for this first volume, is that there is a (presumably) government agency that offers certain down on their luck people a chance for revenge. An agent shows up and offers a briefcase containing proof of the person who is responsible for whatever their shitty situation is, an untraceable gun and 100 bullets. It's up to the recipient to decide if they want to pull the trigger on that gun given that there will be no repercussions. The first half focuses on a young Latina woman whose husband and son were killed in a driveby and on a man accused of pedophilia and who has lost everything that mattered to him.
As a crime story, 100 Bullets honestly isn't bad. It's dark, brutal and has some pretty decent writing. But after reading Brubaker, it just didn't really impress me in the same way. I never really connected with either of the characters so I didn't really care what happened to them at the end of their little stories. It is an interesting premise so I'll be curious to see what Azzarello does with it in the following volumes.
I didn't fall in love with this first volume but I'll hold off on judgement on Azzarello until I've read the rest of the series.
I picked this up just to see if it could change my mind on Azzarello. I wasn't a big fan of his Wonder Woman story but I feel like I need more than that before I just write him off entirely. Unfortunately, 100 Bullets hasn't really changed my mind.
The basic premise, at least for this first volume, is that there is a (presumably) government agency that offers certain down on their luck people a chance for revenge. An agent shows up and offers a briefcase containing proof of the person who is responsible for whatever their shitty situation is, an untraceable gun and 100 bullets. It's up to the recipient to decide if they want to pull the trigger on that gun given that there will be no repercussions. The first half focuses on a young Latina woman whose husband and son were killed in a driveby and on a man accused of pedophilia and who has lost everything that mattered to him.
As a crime story, 100 Bullets honestly isn't bad. It's dark, brutal and has some pretty decent writing. But after reading Brubaker, it just didn't really impress me in the same way. I never really connected with either of the characters so I didn't really care what happened to them at the end of their little stories. It is an interesting premise so I'll be curious to see what Azzarello does with it in the following volumes.
I didn't fall in love with this first volume but I'll hold off on judgement on Azzarello until I've read the rest of the series.