Home :: Books :: Science Fiction & Fantasy  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
First Shot, Last Call (100 Bullets, Book 1)

First Shot, Last Call (100 Bullets, Book 1)

List Price: $9.95
Your Price: $8.96
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Decent revenge stories
Review: "100 Bullets" has one of the coolest concepts around - a mysterious man gives individuals who have been shafted a gun, 100 untraceable bullets and complete legal freedom to do whatever they want with it. A nice temptation to seek revenge, and revenge is at the heart of the stories compiled in this, the first collection of this series.

'First Call, Last Call' contains 3 seperate stories involving a different character who gets their lives changed by Agent Graves, the enigmatic man with the gun and the penchant for vengeance. They're decent tales, not as genius as some of touted the series to be, but pretty interesting. They have definately intrigued me to find out what happens next, as the second story hinted that there is more going on than just a crazy guy with a gun.

As far as the series goes, I havent read the rest of the issues, but 'First Call, Last Call' is a pretty good intro into the series. They didn't super-impress me by any means, but were pretty good.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Decent revenge stories
Review: "100 Bullets" has one of the coolest concepts around - a mysterious man gives individuals who have been shafted a gun, 100 untraceable bullets and complete legal freedom to do whatever they want with it. A nice temptation to seek revenge, and revenge is at the heart of the stories compiled in this, the first collection of this series.

'First Call, Last Call' contains 3 seperate stories involving a different character who gets their lives changed by Agent Graves, the enigmatic man with the gun and the penchant for vengeance. They're decent tales, not as genius as some of touted the series to be, but pretty interesting. They have definately intrigued me to find out what happens next, as the second story hinted that there is more going on than just a crazy guy with a gun.

As far as the series goes, I havent read the rest of the issues, but 'First Call, Last Call' is a pretty good intro into the series. They didn't super-impress me by any means, but were pretty good.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great artwork, Good stories
Review: 100 Bullets is a great concept, one that could work in almost any format, be it TV, film, short story, novella, or comics. The second of the two major stories presented here worked best for me. It was simpler, less cluttered than the first one. 100 Bullets works extremely well as separate episodic storylines, as opposed to a major multi-issue story arc, similar to the more memorable Tales From The Crypt, or Twilight Zones. One aspect of 100 Bullets that really stands out is the incredible, multi-aspect art of Eduardo Risso. Risso's varying views from above, below, behind, and right in front of the action, greatly enhance the movement and ultimate success of these stories. I look forward to reading the next installments.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great artwork, Good stories
Review: 100 Bullets is a great concept, one that could work in almost any format, be it TV, film, short story, novella, or comics. The second of the two major stories presented here worked best for me. It was simpler, less cluttered than the first one. 100 Bullets works extremely well as separate episodic storylines, as opposed to a major multi-issue story arc, similar to the more memorable Tales From The Crypt, or Twilight Zones. One aspect of 100 Bullets that really stands out is the incredible, multi-aspect art of Eduardo Risso. Risso's varying views from above, below, behind, and right in front of the action, greatly enhance the movement and ultimate success of these stories. I look forward to reading the next installments.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the finest Crime books around!
Review: 100 Bullets is an amazing book. Sure it is a comic book but Azarello deserves to be mentioned with some of the finest crime novelists with this work. His name should be right next to Ellroy, Hammet and the others. Azarello and Risso also are some of the great teams working in comics today. I have heard them compared to to Lee and Kirby. I agree. The book just pulls you in with it's amazing characters. And the way Risso details the scene is just perfect. 100 Bullets is one of the best comics around. and this trade gets you in on the ground floor for all the wonderful stories yet to come. 100 Bullets is a good solid read. If your a fan of comic books, pick it up it's one of the best books on the market. If you have never read a comic, pick it up it's also one of the best crime stories on the market.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best current ongoing comic book series
Review: Brian Azzarrello's 100 BULLETS is the best, most intriguing and most well-thought-out comic book series currently in publication. It starts out seemingly as an episodic series of revenge stories but quickly becomes part espionage thriller and part conspiracy theory yarn. This TPB collects the first two story arcs, both of which are fairly well self-contained. I fully expect readers will find it enjoyable enough that many sequels will follow.

The basic premise is that a mysterious man by the name of Mr. Graves arrives in your life and presents you with a briefcase. In the briefcase is a gun, 100 bullets of completely untraceable ammunition and loads of evidence about the person who screwed you over and why. You're given the choice: use the bullets or not. It's up to you what to do from there. You'd think the answer would be obvious and the series would degrade into a Charles Bronsonesque revenge caper. Far from it. The decisions Azzarrello's characters make and how they go about plotting their revenge never fails to surprise.

The opening tale is about Dizzy Cordova, a Hispanic "girl from the hood," whose boyfriend and child were killed by crooked cops. She meets Mr. Graves and makes her decision about what she should do with this opportunity to "make things right."

Eduardo Risso's art is perfect for this series. He uses darkness and light for maximum effect and is excellent at communicating the emotions of the characters through subtle depictions of body language and facial expressions. I don't know who the Vertigo people at DC Comics found him, but this Argentine (I think that's his nationality) is a serious talent.

Having read 100 BULLETS for a year and a half now, I can say that I honestly have no idea where it's headed but that it's a non-stop thrill ride. Great street-level stories with real, in-depth characterization. Gamblers, hoods, assassins, backstabbing business people, bartenders, dirty cops, you name it. They're all in 100 BULLETS and you'll want to read each and every one of their stories.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Prime Crime
Review: Dizzy Cordova is a gangster serving time in prison. While she�s locked up, her husband and infant son are killed in what is believed to be a vicious drive-by shooting, something that is typical in the neighborhood where the lived. After seven years, Dizzy is paroled and takes a bus home. Only she knows she�s not going home for real because no one is there who really misses her. While on the bus, a man meets her and introduces himself as Agent Graves. He doesn�t mention what he�s an agent of. Only a few brief moments pass, then Graves mentions that what happened to Dizzy�s husband and son was terrible. He goes on to say that their murderers are still out there, and that they�re two crooked detectives. Dizzy can�t believe what the old man says. Then, without batting an eye, Graves gives her a briefcase with a semi-automatic and what he promises are 100 rounds of untraceable ammunition. He tells her that she can have vengeance if she wants, and that no one will arrest her for shooting the men that killed her family because the bullets will keep her out of the hands of the law. Dizzy doesn�t believe Graves for a minute, but she can�t figure his angle. Later, at home, Dizzy finds that the old neighborhood is exactly the same except that everything has changed. She follows her brother and sees the hot car ring that he�s part of. And the two detectives Graves said murdered her husband and her infant son arrest her. Caught with the pistol on her, Dizzy knows she�s headed right back to prison for violating her parole. Only when the detectives run the pistol and the bullets, they find that they have to let her go. Dizzy can�t believe this, and her brain starts working frantically. If Graves was right about the pistol and the bullets, what else was Graves right about? The answers surprise Dizzy as much as they put her in danger, and her life will change again because of violence and betrayal. Dizzy�s tale takes up the first three stories in the graphic novel. The last two stories in the volume belong to Lee Dolan, a down-and-out bartender in a dive. Lee was once a rising and promising restaurant owner. Then one day, kiddie porn was mysteriously found on his computer and the police were notified. During his stay in prison, unable to prove his innocence, Lee loses everything: his wife, his kids, the restaurant, and any hope for a future. That all changes the day a man who identifies himself as Agent Graves walks into the bar. Graves says he knows who set Lee up, and he leaves Lee with a briefcase containing a pistol and 100 rounds of untraceable ammunition�and a chance for revenge.

Brian Azzarello is an award-winning comics writer. Besides creating and writing 100 BULLETS, Azzarello has also done scripting chores on HELLBLAZER, STARTLING STORIES: BANNER, SPIDER-MAN, GANGLAND, CAGE, BATMAN, DEATHBLOW and JONNY DOUBLE. Eduardo Risso, listed as the co-creator of 100 BULLETS, has done work on the ALIENS property, BATMAN, TRANSMETROPOLITAN, WEIRD WESTERNTALES, and short pieces in several comics.

100 BULLETS: FIRST SHOT, LAST CALL is an excellent addition to the crime noir field. Azzarello has a real feel for characters that are bent, twisted, and banged up from having hard lives and bad experiences. No one in the books seems to be truly evil, just as no one seems to be truly good. Dizzy Cordova is a heroine, but she�s also flawed, having to make her way back from the darkness she once embraced and thought was normal in her life. Lee Dolan is also a sympathetic loser figure. Lee had it all, but as his story reveals, he also had a jones for sex and hookers that was either lurking within him or playing itself out on the computer searching for porn sites. The mean streets and the harsh cities that Azzarello plays his stories out against ring as true organisms. His language is of the street, of the poorly educated, a shortsighted, and yet street-smart individuals who are predators and the prey, and quite often turn out to be both. Combined with Risso�s artwork, the graphic novel appears real, like opening a book to a street scene in the seamier side of the city where no one goes after dark. Risso makes the characters unique, just as he makes his city part of the atmosphere of the tension and the action of the story. The mix of the two character-driven stories in this opening opus of what so far has turned out to be four graphic novels is a great choice. Dizzy and Lee are characters that, though flawed and never what a reader will want to be, somehow reach past the barriers of social restraint and make the audience want to take them under their wing at least for the duration of the stories. The stories don�t end happily. That�s purely for fairy tales. But the stories do end right, probably the only true way they could end and be faithful to the world, the character, and the situations Dizzy and Lee find themselves in.

The graphic novel is enthusiastically recommended to any fan of noir crime stories, whether in novels, movies or comics, whether of the 1950s or of today�s world. 100 BULLETS: FIRST SHOT, LAST CALL is also recommended for people who have never read comics, or haven�t read them since they were for kids. This collection isn�t meant for kids; they are for the comic-reading adult audience that can appreciate really �graphic� tales of blood, violence, and heart laced with guilt, fear, and adrenaline.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Prime Crime
Review: Dizzy Cordova is a gangster serving time in prison. While she's locked up, her husband and infant son are killed in what is believed to be a vicious drive-by shooting, something that is typical in the neighborhood where the lived. After seven years, Dizzy is paroled and takes a bus home. Only she knows she's not going home for real because no one is there who really misses her. While on the bus, a man meets her and introduces himself as Agent Graves. He doesn't mention what he's an agent of. Only a few brief moments pass, then Graves mentions that what happened to Dizzy's husband and son was terrible. He goes on to say that their murderers are still out there, and that they're two crooked detectives. Dizzy can't believe what the old man says. Then, without batting an eye, Graves gives her a briefcase with a semi-automatic and what he promises are 100 rounds of untraceable ammunition. He tells her that she can have vengeance if she wants, and that no one will arrest her for shooting the men that killed her family because the bullets will keep her out of the hands of the law. Dizzy doesn't believe Graves for a minute, but she can't figure his angle. Later, at home, Dizzy finds that the old neighborhood is exactly the same except that everything has changed. She follows her brother and sees the hot car ring that he's part of. And the two detectives Graves said murdered her husband and her infant son arrest her. Caught with the pistol on her, Dizzy knows she's headed right back to prison for violating her parole. Only when the detectives run the pistol and the bullets, they find that they have to let her go. Dizzy can't believe this, and her brain starts working frantically. If Graves was right about the pistol and the bullets, what else was Graves right about? The answers surprise Dizzy as much as they put her in danger, and her life will change again because of violence and betrayal. Dizzy's tale takes up the first three stories in the graphic novel. The last two stories in the volume belong to Lee Dolan, a down-and-out bartender in a dive. Lee was once a rising and promising restaurant owner. Then one day, kiddie porn was mysteriously found on his computer and the police were notified. During his stay in prison, unable to prove his innocence, Lee loses everything: his wife, his kids, the restaurant, and any hope for a future. That all changes the day a man who identifies himself as Agent Graves walks into the bar. Graves says he knows who set Lee up, and he leaves Lee with a briefcase containing a pistol and 100 rounds of untraceable ammunition'and a chance for revenge.

Brian Azzarello is an award-winning comics writer. Besides creating and writing 100 BULLETS, Azzarello has also done scripting chores on HELLBLAZER, STARTLING STORIES: BANNER, SPIDER-MAN, GANGLAND, CAGE, BATMAN, DEATHBLOW and JONNY DOUBLE. Eduardo Risso, listed as the co-creator of 100 BULLETS, has done work on the ALIENS property, BATMAN, TRANSMETROPOLITAN, WEIRD WESTERNTALES, and short pieces in several comics.

100 BULLETS: FIRST SHOT, LAST CALL is an excellent addition to the crime noir field. Azzarello has a real feel for characters that are bent, twisted, and banged up from having hard lives and bad experiences. No one in the books seems to be truly evil, just as no one seems to be truly good. Dizzy Cordova is a heroine, but she's also flawed, having to make her way back from the darkness she once embraced and thought was normal in her life. Lee Dolan is also a sympathetic loser figure. Lee had it all, but as his story reveals, he also had a jones for sex and hookers that was either lurking within him or playing itself out on the computer searching for porn sites. The mean streets and the harsh cities that Azzarello plays his stories out against ring as true organisms. His language is of the street, of the poorly educated, a shortsighted, and yet street-smart individuals who are predators and the prey, and quite often turn out to be both. Combined with Risso's artwork, the graphic novel appears real, like opening a book to a street scene in the seamier side of the city where no one goes after dark. Risso makes the characters unique, just as he makes his city part of the atmosphere of the tension and the action of the story. The mix of the two character-driven stories in this opening opus of what so far has turned out to be four graphic novels is a great choice. Dizzy and Lee are characters that, though flawed and never what a reader will want to be, somehow reach past the barriers of social restraint and make the audience want to take them under their wing at least for the duration of the stories. The stories don't end happily. That's purely for fairy tales. But the stories do end right, probably the only true way they could end and be faithful to the world, the character, and the situations Dizzy and Lee find themselves in.

The graphic novel is enthusiastically recommended to any fan of noir crime stories, whether in novels, movies or comics, whether of the 1950s or of today's world. 100 BULLETS: FIRST SHOT, LAST CALL is also recommended for people who have never read comics, or haven't read them since they were for kids. This collection isn't meant for kids; they are for the comic-reading adult audience that can appreciate really 'graphic' tales of blood, violence, and heart laced with guilt, fear, and adrenaline.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I agree with the person who said that the dialogue wasn't that stylised. There were a couple of cornball moments, but the whole story line over all is great and full colour artwork rocks my socks. I can't wait to read the rest of the series! Highly recommended to anyone even remotely interested!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Call this a comic and you're asking for a beat down
Review: I didn't pick up this series when it first was released mostly because the 100 Bullets preview DC/Vertigo put out wasn't very good. But after a few months of critical acclaim, I was interesting in seeing what people raving about. To my surprise, this volume was better than the preview, ten fold. The impression the preview leaves, makes you think 100 Bullets was yet another episodic noir crime series, but there is a brilliant over-arcing conspiracy laden storyline that takes many unexpected turns and Brian Azzarello writes some mean and punchy dialogue. This is the type of book that will make you swear off superhero comics for good.


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates