Review: 100 Bullets Vol. 1

100 Bullets has a deliciously simple but effective premise: take a person who has been drastically wronged, give them a gun, 100 untraceable rounds of ammunition, proof positive of who wronged them, and permission to do as they please.  The results are entertaining, to say the least. 

Book one contains three stories, with the first taking up the majority of the page count.  This is the story of Dizzy, a young, recently paroled, Latino woman with a background in gang violence.  We find that her freedom is bitter-sweet; her husband and child were both slain in a drive-by shooting after she began her incarceration.  Agent Graves, the mysterious central figure to the series, soon arrives, offering her a chance at revenge.

Dizzy quickly sets out to prove the validity of Graves' allegations.  We find that she is changed by her prison time, not able to easily fall back into the old routine.  The ease with which her old friends and family take life for granted makes her loss even more painful.  Their gangland struggles in which they find their greatest pride seem pointless.  She discovers that her brother Emilio has risen to the top of the pack, ruling the streets through a combination of violence and drugs, the very lifestyle that led to her family's demise.  This is no longer her life, and the only thing that matters is finding the truth.

The second story is that of Lee Dolan, a down-on-his-luck bartender, fallen from great heights.  You see, Lee was once an up-and-coming restaurateur, with a wife, two kids, and after years of hard work, a spot in the culinary limelight.  That all ended when a cache of incriminating photos were found on his computer's hard drive.  Now he's lost everything: no wife, no home, his kids hate him, his career is sabotaged.  Justice is served, right?  The only thing is, Lee had nothing to do with those photos.  Now Agent Graves is at his bar, giving him a shot at sweet vengeance, against a woman he's never met.  But will he be able to take the shot?

This story is the first to give a hint at the bigger story of Agent Graves and his briefcase full of retribution.  As Lee faces off against the woman who set him up, Graves is narrowly avoiding capture.  A conspiracy is definitely afoot.  What kind of man has the power to allow people to live above the law?  Who could control the police, anywhere, at any time?

Finally, a short and simple story about penitence.  A unimposing little old lady walk into a police station on a cold wintry night, to confess to the murder of the man responsible for her son's lifelong disability.  The police are intrigued by her story, but find that the man in question died of a heart attack, although she vehemently insists that she shot him through the head, with a gun given to her by mysterious man in a suit.  Agent Graves, of course.  Meanwhile, in the same station, L'il Moe, son of infamous gangster Big Moe, awaits his father's release.  The cops are none too pleased with this development, nor are the pleased with the presence of L'il Moe, a loud, disrespectful, trash talker who bullies everyone around him, including the family lawyer.  Everyone is visibly relieved when the whole family departs.  The lady leaves also, dismissed by police believing her to be senile.  That is until Agent Graves appears to one of the detectives, revealing the truth about L'il Moe.

100 Bullets is a fabulous book for lovers of noir and gritty drama.  The stories are fast paced and colorful, given flavor by a multitude of accents and darkly humorous characters.  While each story is satisfying on it's own, Azzarello, keeps readers hooked on the mystery of Agent Graves.  Eduardo Risso's stark artwork, full of sharp angles and deep shadows, is a perfect compliment to Azzarello's writing, and really defines the atmosphere of the stories.

It's a fun ride with plenty of twists and turns.  I plan to keep on reading.

B+