I was once told that most good stories begin with the phrase “To be honest, I didn’t think things through.” Once properly placed within the narrative there is a good chance that the phrase “and that’s when things went south,” will be the lead up to the climax of the story and reveal where everything went wrong.

Why are you explaining this to us, Rich? Well, I am glad that you asked. You see, when I was talking to Aron about getting back into comics after a long break, I offered to write something for Ideology of Madness. After spending some time trying to figure out just what exactly I was going to write about, I remembered this axiom. When I volunteered I had nothing but my past experiences with comics to relate to you, dear readers. But writing about New Mutants #98 or Pirate Corp$ #1 isn’t exactly timely. To be honest, I didn’t think things though.

I wanted to write about looking for comics that were compelling in their story as well as hold that sense of amazement that they did when I was a child. So I went to my FLCS and tried to find a comic that was not only good literature, but had characters that were larger than life, beautiful art work, and a strong and believable world. I found 100 Bullets. And that’s when things went south.

Brian Azzarello has crafted an intricate conspiracy that grabbed me from moment one. His grasp of Raymond Chandler & Dashiell Hammett’s hardboiled detective literature, including snappy wit ladened dialogue, is second to none. Eduardo Risso’s art is equally crafted. In panel after panel Risso paints an intricate web of images that are simultanesouly horrific and stunningly gorgeous. This is a powerful duo in the comic medium.

In the first TPB, First Shot, Last Call we are introduced to Agent Graves who offers people the chance at revenge, the evidence to prove that the proffered person was wronged, and an attache case with a gun and 100 rounds of untraceable ammo. No repercusions, no questions asked and much like me, the people who are offered this chance don’t think things through. Some characters will continue throughout the series, some will join Graves on his personal journey of revenge and some will try to walk away trying not to be caught up in the action. And all will have a profound moment of clarity where the reflect and realize that there was indeed a tangible moment in which things began to go south.

But Rich, how did things go south for you? You found a comic that fits your critera .

Next month 100 Bullets #100 will hit the stands and the clip will be empty.

If vast conspiracies that takes 100 issues to work out, witty dialogue, adult themes, and great art is something that you are after, I highly recommend picking up 100 Bullets.