posted 09-11-2001 08:04 AM               

As I mentioned way back in my review of First Shot, Last Call, this second collected volume of 100 Bullets is even stronger than the first. If you haven't read that review, the basic premise of the series is this: A man named Agent Graves approaches someone to whom some injustice has been committed and gives that person a briefcase. The briefcase contains a photo of whomever committed the injustice, proof that they did it, information as to their whereabouts, a gun -- and one hundred completely untraceable bullets. No law enforcement agency can touch the owner of that gun and those bullets -- from that moment on, they are above the law, free to determine how they will use the power and information they have been given.

Azzarello could quite easily mine this premise for years, giving us disconnected short story arcs that explore different people's response to Graves' gift. But Split Second Chance makes clear that this is not merely an anthology title; the titular gift is only one element of an overarching plot that should draw in fans of conspiracy and espionage stories. Graves' obsession with justice and retribution is a personal quest; his job appears to be as leader of a group of operatives known as the Minutemen. The Minutemen, in turn, are somehow connected to a shadowy group known as the Trust that has played a heavy and apparently corrupt hand in American history. Events in First Shot, Last Call alerted the Trust to Graves' activities, and here Graves begins putting his own pieces into play - for exactly what purpose isn't yet clear. And somewhere in all of this figures Mr. Shepherd, who may be working with or against Graves.

There are still far more questions than answers here, but this conspiracy plot kicks the book's tension level up another notch, and it's still early enough that the lack of answers is tantalizing rather than frustrating. Azzarello doesn't sacrifice the character drama of each recipient's pain and decisions; in fact, there's a one-chapter story here about the mother of a teenage runaway that's difficult to read, because Azzarello and Risso make you feel the grief, guilt and rage that this woman endures. Risso does a great job with the facial expressions and camera angles throughout, and on that story in particular - his art is as strong here as in First Shot, Last Call, and the coloring maintains the crime noir tintings and shadings without ever overwhelming the linework. Azzarello keeps the book working on multiple by levels with the balance of these standalone stories and plot-centric arcs such as the one that closes the book.

posted 09-19-2001 02:05 AM               

After I read the second one, I felt like I had just had the infield fly rule explained to me in Esperanto by Chris Carter.

I can't wait to get the third one.

What's the deal with Graves and Shepherd? Are they, like, friends, or what? Is Graves the good guy? 'Cuz he might not be. What the hell is going on?

Azzarello is a man who knows how to tell a story (Let me repeat that: Brian Azzarello knows how to tell a story) and I imagine that in crafting this one, he had to sit down and do a fair amount of world-building, crossing out possibilities and highlighting options, and creating and destroying a thousand tangential worlds before finally settling on the one he's letting us in on piece... by piece... by piece. I envy his savoir-faire in the world he has made. Azzarello is the local guy who takes you to his local bar and looks really cool because he knows everyone that comes in. He's the politician whose office you sit in as he takes call after call, dealing with people and problems you only know half a conversation's worth of. He's your dad on the day he takes you to his office, strong and important and ever-aware.

It would be easy to let such a world spiral out of his control like so many conspiracy stories do (must I mention Chris Carter twice in one post?) but Azzarello hangs on, seemingly without effort. You know he has the answers. He's just not ready to give them yet.

Risso's art is fairly classic in terms of layout -- he takes a few wild rides here and there, but on the whole stays at eye level -- but his faces and bodies and backgrounds are something not to be missed. With his heavy brushstrokes and dank colors, he conveys a world that, understandably, is nearly bereft of hope. He keeps his characters in the dark as literally as Azzarello does figuratively, and in a story told frequently by men, makes his women bouyant and voluptuous in a world where sex is one of the few ways to escape the ever-present dreariness.

posted 09-20-2001 12:33 AM               

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Originally posted by Kevin Ott:

After I read the second one, I felt like I had just had the infield fly rule explained to me in Esperanto by Chris Carter.

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This is one of the best lines I've ever heard, and may be my new standby for confusion.

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I can't wait to get the third one.

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It's solicited for November, and I'll definitely be picking it up right away.

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What's the deal with Graves and Shepherd? Are they, like, friends, or what?

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Damn good question. And who's in charge of whom? Shepherd seems to have some authority over Graves and the Minutemen, but the end of this book makes Graves seem like the Number One Bad Dog on the Planet.

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Is Graves the good guy? 'Cuz he might not be. What the hell is going on?

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That's definitely a matter of perspective, it seems. He's a cruel manipulator when he has to be, isn't he? The way he maneuvers various drug gangs, enforces, and petty crooks is like watching human chess.

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It would be easy to let such a world spiral out of his control like so many conspiracy stories do (must I mention Chris Carter twice in one post?) but Azzarello hangs on, seemingly without effort. You know he has the answers. He's just not ready to give them yet.

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I absolutely agree here, but the trick is going to come as things progress from here. We're at a disadvantage, reading this in collected form; we're about a year or so behind the series, and I wonder how well the story is moving at this point. Either way, at the end of Split Second Chance, it's cool for everything to be really mysterious -- but he still has to prove it's not mystery for mystery's sake. I think, and hope, he will.

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Risso's art is fairly classic in terms of layout -- he takes a few wild rides here and there, but on the whole stays at eye level -- but his faces and bodies and backgrounds are something not to be missed. With his heavy brushstrokes and dank colors, he conveys a world that, understandably, is nearly bereft of hope. He keeps his characters in the dark as literally as Azzarello does figuratively, and in a story told frequently by men, makes his women bouyant and voluptuous in a world where sex is one of the few ways to escape the ever-present dreariness.

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posted 09-20-2001 01:02 AM               

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...He still has to prove it's not mystery for mystery's sake. I think, and hope, he will.

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If that doesn't happen in the third book, I'm gonna be pretty disappointed. But that last story arc, and the last couple of panels in the book, really sets up a question mark that demands to be answered to at least some degree. Carter did that frequently during X-Files season-ender cliffhangers, and fail miserably when the next season came along, and he was a pretty good writer in the short term, so I guess it's moderately possible that Azzy will disappoint in the same way. But his work doesn't have the haphazard, unfinished feel that Carter's does.

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He's a cruel manipulator when he has to be, isn't he? The way he maneuvers various drug gangs, enforces, and petty crooks is like watching human chess.

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But why, after the first story arc, did Graves offer that drug dealer a shot at the new territory when he was just going to sic the cops on him a few minutes later?

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Since you've talked about portrayal of women in media in this forum and elsehwere, how do you think Azzarello pulls that off?

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posted 09-21-2001 03:00 AM               

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Originally posted by Kevin Ott:
If that doesn't happen in the third book, I'm gonna be pretty disappointed. But that last story arc, and the last couple of panels in the book, really sets up a question mark that demands to be answered to at least some degree.

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Couldn't agree with you more. I'm also assuming that, unlike Carter, Azzarello has a finite end in mind that he wants to get to, which would help a lot. And I do like that Split Second Chance answers a lot of questions raised by First Shot, Last Call. That's a good sign.

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But why, after the first story arc, did Graves offer that drug dealer a shot at the new territory when he was just going to sic the cops on him a few minutes later?

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I'm thinking it could be a private joke on his part, or a way of hedging his bets if the head dealer somehow got away. Plus it seems like Graves just really enjoys seeing how people react to information and opportunity.

Me, I'm trying to figure out why Shepherd was eavesdropping on Graves.

Well, much as it'll reveal me for the commie pinko bleeding heart pot-smoking commune-dwelling let's-elect-Martin-Sheen liberal that I am, it's kinda nice to see a Latina at the front lines of the fight to take down a white male shadow government (white male, that is, if Graves, Shepherd & co. are any indication).[/QUOTE]

Well, at least one member of the Trust is a white female, going by what we saw in First Shot, Last Call, and it looks like it's a couple of older white guys organizing younger minority folks as front line troops -- at least from one perspective. But I would agree, she's probably the most sympathetic character thus far, which is cool.

posted 10-15-2001 12:31 AM               

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And I do like that Split Second Chance answers a lot of questions raised by First Shot, Last Call. That's a good sign.

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