what’s it feel like to be a ghost?

100 BULLETS is a crime thriller from the team at VERTIGO, the mature imprint of DC COMICS. The writing and artwork provide a fascinating mesh of morally ambiguous stories with dark realism. The first issue was published in August of 1999 and the series is slated to run for 100 issues (current count is at 84). I picked up the first volume of collected stories about four months ago but didn’t get around to reading it until recently. And man, let me tell you… I was riveted from the first page.

Basically, the crux of the story behind 100 BULLETS revolves around the question of whether people would take the opportunity to get away with an act of vengeance. Quite frequently in a given story arc, a shadowy individual by the name of Agent Graves approaches someone who has been wronged in some way and gives them the chance to set the record straight personally in the form of: a nondescript attaché case containing a handgun, 100 bullets, the identity of the person(s) who ruined their life and irrefutable evidence of this. Agent Graves then informs the candidate that the bullets are completely untraceable, and any police agency that recovers these bullets as part of an investigation will, through some unexplained method, immediately drop that investigation and ignore any derelictions related to it. Although all of the murders enabled by Agent Graves are presented as justifiable, the chosen ones are neither rewarded nor punished for taking up the offer, and appear to nothing less other than closure.

Behind all that is a mystery surrounding Agent Graves and two rival factions — The Minutemen and The Trust. I don’t want to spoil too much, so I’ll just say that this portion of the story is really very intriguing if not a tad bit confusing at first. You get clues of the big picture every few issues, and once you start to piece all of it together, you will definitely get a sense of what an amazing tale is being crafted. In fact, some of the people that Agent Graves approach to offer a shot of revenge are related to the main conflict between The Minutemen and The Trust. Every issue is interconnected to every other, which means there is a heck of a lot of continuity. It may seem a bit daunting to someone who is going to immerse themselves into this series right now… but if you take it slow and easy, you will be gifted with a sense of satisfaction of being part of an incredible adventure.

As of right now, I have the trade paperbacks of the first two volumes of collected issues. I plan to get more as soon as possible. I am simply in love with the concept of exoneration by shady means and the moral quandary that comes along with settling personal feuds as displayed in this series. I only wish I could have come across this sooner. Anyways, if you like a good teaser of a suspenseful crime saga told in the typical noir fashion, you owe it to yourselves to pick up the first few trade paperbacks of 100 BULLETS. I also discovered an unoffical guide to deciphering the many secrets and intricacies of the series. It really provides great insights into the many story arcs going on in the series. Massively invaluable.

I’ll be back with more of 100 BULLETS analysis once I get done re-reading the material I have thus far. It’s great stuff.