Throw in a secret society, some low-life gamblers, a couple gangland executions, and a healthy dose of Thai boxing, Gracie jujitsu, and other assorted violence (not to mention sex) and you've got one of DC's most compelling comic-book series to come along in years. This trade paperback collects issues 6 through 14 of Vertigo's 100 Bullets series, so you might want to check out the first collection, First Shot, Last Call, if you haven't already. Fans will be happy to find that Split Second Chance clears up some of the questions surrounding the mysterious Agent Graves and the equally enigmatic Minutemen. But as one of the Trust's pawns later learns, "Asking questions is free... but the answers--they can cost you your life." --Paul Hughes

Product Description
100 BULLETS VOL 8: THE HARD WAY continues to unravel the tangled mystery of the Trust as Wylie Times becomes the latest Minuteman to be reactivated by the Trusts onetime enforcer, Agent Graves. But which side will he choose? And what kind of game is Mr. Shepherd playing between the two? Includes an introduction by crime novelist Jason Starr (Twisted City, Tough Luck, Hard Feelings).

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.


Good comic, but not a masterpiece   October 30, 2001
 13 out of 20 found this review helpful

Since its release, people have been trying to tell us that "100 Bullets" is some of the best comics to come out since "Maus" and "Watchmen" were released. To these people, I say "You need to read more good comics."
Don't get me wrong, the PREMISE of "100 Bullets" is brilliant and the artwork really suits the series, but I think that the dialogue is TOO stylized; you can tell that the writer didn't really grow up in a place where they talk like that, because every character in the book sounds like they came out of the Keanu Reeves flick "Hardball." The pacing of the book is decent but not great and, as is the case with most serial stories that are translated to graphic novels later, there are a lot of plot threads that are kind of left hanging. Some of which you feel are setting you up for another book, some of which you feel SHOULD be ambiguous, and some of which are simply because it's an ongoing monthly comic and the "real" readers will find out what's happening soon enough.


A Fistful of Bad Dreams   August 16, 2002
 13 out of 17 found this review helpful

100 BULLETS: SPLIT SECOND CHANCE is the second graphic novel from the award-winning monthly 100 BULLETS comic book put out by DC Comics' Vertigo line. Again, series writer Brian Azzarello keeps the mix violent and unpredictable, fusing the cold shadows of the street with the hot fury of betrayal. The book opens up with a two-part story, "Short Con, Long Odds", about Chucky and Pony, two childhood friends who grow up to be gamblers. Then Agent Graves, the unknown man of mystery who always kicks the stories into high gear, shows up carrying a briefcase loaded with a semi-automatic pistol and 100 rounds of untraceable ammunition. He tells Chucky that Pony set him up for a seven-year fall in prison that he should have taken--at the same time that Pony is stealing Chucky's woman. The biggest risk either of Chucky and Pony ever took was being friends with each other, and that's about to change. "Day, Hour, Minute...Man" offers up a quick peek into the mysterious agency that Mr. Graves works for, and shows Mr. Graves coldly dealing out vengeance of his own. "The Right Ear, Left In The Cold" tells the story of Cole Burns, an ice cream man who sells ice cream and stolen cigarettes out of his truck, and who is much more than he appears to be. Mr. Graves gives him a briefcase and the 100 rounds of ammunition, then tells him that Goldy Petrovic is the man responsible for the burning death of Cole's grandmother in the nursing home. Besides wanting vengeance, Cole also has to deal with another ice cream man trying to take his beat. But most of all, Cole Burns is a man on a mission to find himself. "Heartbreak Sunnyside Up" is another stand-alone tale that is brutal and violent, and all too real. Lilly Roach is a waitress in a diner, and a woman who has lost her teenage daughter to the streets. Then, one day, Agent Graves shows up with the story of what really happened to Lilly's daughter--and a briefcase containing a pistol and 100 rounds of untraceable ammunition. Even the back story in this particular episode resonates with truth and pain directly from the real world. The book wraps with a three-chapter arc, "Parlez Kung Vous", that takes the reader back to Dizzy Cordova, the heroine introduced in the first graphic novel. She's in Paris on assignment, hooking up with a man named Mr. Branch. She has a lot in common with Mr. Branch. He was a reporter, very different from the barrio life Dizzy knew, but he was also offered the briefcase and 100 bullets--only Mr. Branch didn't use them and his life is now in jeopardy. The mystery surrounding the Trust, the Minutemen, and Agent Graves is cleared up a little, but only enough to reveal that more twists and turns are ahead.

Besides writing 100 BULLETS, Brian Azzarello has also worked on the HELLBLAZER series, BATMAN/DEATHBLOW, the JONNY DOUBLE mini-series for DC COMICS, and STARTLING STORIES: BANNER, CAGE, and SPIDER-MAN for Marvel Comics. Eduard Risso, the co-creator of 100 BULLETS, has also drawn for BATMAN, the horror anthology FLINCH, the JONNY DOUBLE mini-series, and comic books in his native France.

100 BULLETS: SPLIT SECOND CHANCE continues the same throbbing beat of violence and sharp emotion summoned up in the previous graphic novel. Each volume, so far there are four, stands on its own merits, but there is something to gain by reading them in order. As always, Azzarello's characters are sharply drawn and come across as real people with real problems. Primarily those problems are always about betrayal and the need for vengeance. Azzarello moves easily about the urban landscape of the real world, and his stories echo with current events. His dialogue puts a fine point on what could simply be just a collection of out-for-revenge stories. The characters are torn between the need for vengeance, the loss they're going to suffer when they act on that need or choose not to, and they're torn over the fact that once they follow up on that path to vengeance that their lives are going to be forever changed. Risso's artwork displays those worlds, those streets, and those emotions with knowing ease, while at the same time conveying the heaviness of life to someone living in the shadows. The fact that the vengance stories are only pearls on a string, and that the string is actually part of a much greater story Azzarello is telling is awesome. Readers can start to see the beginning bones of that story in these tales, and the imagination will reach to fill in the other gaps.

This graphic novel is definitely recommended to fans of Azzarello and Risso's work. Also, any fans of noir and action movies will find a lot here to whet those appetites in the brilliant dialogue and panels that accompany these hard-edged stories. Comics fans that regularly read Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, and Chuck Dixon will find a new favorite author in Brian Azzarello.


Interesting Premise   February 22, 2006
 13 out of 14 found this review helpful

This what might be called a "high concept" series in Hollywood lingo. A mysterious man in black shows up and gives you proof that a particular person has wronged you badly in the past, an untraceable gun, 100 bullets, and license to kill that person. What do you do? The answer isn't as simple as one might suspect, as the first two stories demonstrate. In the first one, we meet Dizzy, a Latina gangster just released from jail and bitter from the death of her man and her son in a drive-by shooting. Back on the streets of Chicago after a few years served, she's sad and seeking to live a straight life. But of course, you can't leave the gangster world behind that easily, and her brother's rise to prominence as a local gang-banger sucks her back in. It also doesn't help that the two cops the man in black fingered as having done the drive-by are in her face, giving her a lot of static. The art is pretty nifty stuff, perfect for the genre, with a great muted wash to the colors. The only lame part is that the women are all comic-booky, with huge breasts and bared midriffs -- pretty cheesy. The dialogue never really rings true, as all the "we got bidness", "knowhumsayin'" and "I ain't playin'" sounds more like something lifted from some tired film than it does real life. The characters are the familiar gangster hoodlums types and none are given any interesting nuances, nor does the story get interesting until the last few panels, which leave the door open for Dizzy to reappear later on in the series.

The second storyline is somewhat stronger, as we meet down and out Los Angeles bartender Lee Dolan. The man in black shows up and offers him the chance to get even with the woman who set him up on kiddie porn charges. It's a more far-fetched scenario, but somehow manages to work in a hard-boiled pulp way, as does Lee's character, a loner whose only conversations are with a stripper. Once again, the art is very assured and good, aside from an overabundance of bursting cleavage. The characterization is a little bit stronger, and the storyline just works a little better. There are some oddities here and there, such as the a strange murder and gun battle that takes place behind the characters at one point. A helicopter is blown out of the sky right next to them, but it's not clear why, nor is it clear why they don't notice. This is all perhaps a setup for another story somewhere else in the series, but interrupts the flow of Lee's story. These two stories collect the first five issues of the comic, and an eight-page story from an anthology rounds things off. The lighter side of the man in black's operation is shown in this, as a little old lady comes in to confess her murder, only to be turned away by the cops, who assume she's batty. Overall, it's not pitch perfect, but it definitely established a nice mood and I'm curious to read on to see what the larger motives of the man in black are.


Prime Crime   August 14, 2002
 12 out of 15 found this review helpful

Dizzy Cordova is a gangster serving time in prison. While sheys 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 sheys 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 doesnyt mention what heys an agent of. Only a few brief moments pass, then Graves mentions that what happened to Dizzyys husband and son was terrible. He goes on to say that their murderers are still out there, and that theyyre two crooked detectives. Dizzy canyt 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 doesnyt believe Graves for a minute, but she canyt 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 heys 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 sheys 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 canyt 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. Dizzyys 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 ammunitionyand 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 sheys 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 Rissoys 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 donyt end happily. Thatys 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 todayys world. 100 BULLETS: FIRST SHOT, LAST CALL is also recommended for people who have never read comics, or havenyt read them since they were for kids. This collection isnyt meant for kids; they are for the comic-reading adult audience that can appreciate really ygraphicy tales of blood, violence, and heart laced with guilt, fear, and adrenaline.