100 Bullets: Book One

(This book was purchased for $32.11 on June 3rd, 2014) - Retail price $50.This review based SOLELY on the production and contents of the Deluxe Edition of 100 Bullets - Book One.Content:This graphic novel contains 456 pages of 19 issues. Out of these 19 issues, 10 stories are told; some of them being three issues long, while others only one issue in length.While billed as a "Deluxe Edition," there is not much in the way of extras. What is provided is 6 pages of sketch art of some of the main characters. That's it. No introduction, no interviews, nothing making this book worthy of the "Deluxe" title.Production: This area redeems the book's self-titled moniker. The pages are bound in hardcover format, but don't expect a sewn binding, as glue is the only thing holding the pages together. The pages have a nice gloss over them with the art appearing crisp and sterile. In terms of page size and thickness, other formats will be given for reference-Comparison to a typical Marvel or DC trade paperback ($15): 100Bs pages are about an inch taller and half an inch wider - not very noticeable. Pages are slightly thicker and less flimsy, but nothing extraordinary.Comparison to an Absolute Edition <Sandman>($100): 100Bs pages are about an inch and a half shorter and an inch narrower - much more noticeable difference between these two. Pages are not thick as the photo-print paper of the Absolute.Summary:+ For the price I paid, 19 issues in a hardcover format is a fantastic deal.+ Above average paper quality. (But not premium quality)- Lack of Extra content (only a few pages of sketch art are included)- Glued binding (This is typical of books in this price range)Overall I give the Deluxe Edition of 100 Bullets a 4.5 out of 5. The lack of a star is due to the lack of additional content as it is a prestige edition, but the overall package is well done.---Let me know what you think of this review. Anything unclear or not explained? All feedback is helpful. Thank you.---*Also, if requested, I can get a video review up so the product quality and comparisons can be better realized.

Azzarello's 100 Bullets is one of the most highly acclaimed, popular, and unique crime/noir series ever. After hearing so many positive things about this book for years before actually reading it, I finally picked up a copy and I was not let down. The series has a pulpy feel, almost like a Tarantino movie, yet it also has a very complex underlying story that is slowly revealed throughout each installment in between succinct stories of recurring characters and scenes along with characters that might only appear in just one or a few chapters. The art has somewhat of an old school feel and might seem bland at first; however, Risso's artwork has really grown on me and there is genius in the simplicity of the line work. Color is emphasized used more than line work or pen strokes to reflect the darkness of the story and also to portray the characters emotions, moods, and thoughts. In fact, Risso is masterful at using negative space and dark color contrast that can express moods and ideas without any words. The books speaks from many perspectives and delves into a wide variety of urban crime and corruption. Whether its New York street gangs, Chicago mafia, drug cartels, hitmen, and even petty conmen, all types of crimes are illustrated with an almost frightening aspect of realism. I would not reveal to much about the actual story at the heart of the books pulpy feel, but I will say that some aspects of it may seem confusing at first. This gets better as you keep reading the series and more is revealed as the pieces fall together. The writer definitely does not hold your hand and there is some deep information to infer and multiple readings are recommended. Luckily with a book as good and classic as 100 Bullets, a reread should be a pleasure.

This hardcover deluxe edition of the first three trades of 100 Bullets is a great buy. Admittedly, as far as bonus material goes, it has a few pages of Risso's character designs, and pretty much nothing else. Still, all I really care about is the comic itself, and the presentation here is exceptional. Though it's not printed on thick paper, the color reproduction is beautiful and the page size is slightly larger than a standard comic. There's a table of contents, but I'm not sure how helpful it really is, considering that there are absolutely no numbered pages in the book.This was not a series that grabbed me right away. I always thought it was certainly good, but not until the storyline "Hang Up on the Hang Low" did I realized how special 100 Bullets was. This particular edition has everything from issue #1 up through "Hang Up on the Hang Low," which should be enough to win over any new readers. This series goes on to tell one of the greatest crime stories in ANY medium, and Azzarello's literary techniques in this series are worth studying. This is a team-up akin to Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson, or Brian K Vaughn and Pia Guerra; it's just a perfect match. As the first reviewer mentioned, these two are working together again on a nine-issue miniseries titled Spaceman. First issue is out now and only $1!I already have the entire series of 100 Bullets in trades, but I think it's such a masterpiece that I would like to have a high quality, hardcover edition of it for my collection.

A cursory look anywhere on the internet will tell you that 100 Bullets is one of the best comic series in recent memory. I can only agree. The art is excellent and the plot is dark and inspired, with no heroes in sight, everyone is tainted and grey. A perfect crime book with a spy twist.

Good plot, great characters, great artwork. Love the fact it sows together almost short stories into a bigger picture and the moral dilemma to almost face yourself

At volume 9 I realised 100 Bullets was no longer satisfying me as an episodic read, so I sat it out until the series concluded. I got volume 13 last week and started re-reading the whole run in one go.There are some problems. I still don't think Azzarello and Risso realised at the beginning that this whole thing was going to run to an epic 100 book arc. So, we've got 13 families, 7 Minutemen, agents, warlords, wildcards, bit players... I'm sure Azzarello initially thought these would be interesting background colour, or a potential pool of characters to dip into if things were lagging, not that he'd have to introduce, realise and pursue stories for all of them. So, there are dips, there is 'off-screen' downtime, the tone is occasionally uneven. The much-lauded dialogue does sometimes clang. There is some misogyny. There's the late introduction of characters D'Arcy, Slaughter and Rothstein which seems a bit contrived and rushed. There's Echo and the painting that seems tacked on. But, my overriding impression, having completed the whole thing, is of admiration and satisfaction. The comic looks great, Risso is superb, and it's a real bonus having a single knockout artist for such a long series, it really helps the feel and the flow and the cohesion of the whole thing.Some of the segues and narrative tangents are obviously there to illuminate or colour pre-existing themes or motifs or to provide foreshadowing for forthcoming threads. By about volume 10 I realised that there was no point in trying to second-guess motives or even attempting to keep any sort of track of where allegiances lay or who was on whose side. This was double-, triple-, quadruple-... whatever-cross. Trust no one. Except Graves. Graves never lies. Some big players go down at unexpected times and the whole thing barrels along to a frenetic, bloody conclusion. There are a handful of unexpected survivors.I'd say read it. Definitely. It's like The Wire but for comics.[Incidentally, the Amazon Product Description contains a review from the New York Times Style Magazine, which reads "An ink-dark crime series about consequence-free revenge." They're right about the inky darkness, but 'consequence-free revenge'? Hardly. Quite the opposite, in fact. One of the central themes of 100 Bullets is that we can't escape from the consequences of our moral choices.]

Best comic ever

Great book. Divine.