100 Bullets: The US of Anger #1 – Brian Azzarello, Writer; Eduardo Risso, Artist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: One of the most provocative and intense Vertigo series of all time, 100 Bullets is back for another run exploring the darkest corners of the American psyche when it comes to violence – and oh, boy, is there what to explore these days. The story picks up at an unknown time that looks a lot like 2020, with social tension at an all-time high. Protests over racial injustice have escalated into riots. A group of Black juveniles are taking the opportunity to loot a high-end shoe store. White supremacists are on their podcasts, escalating tensions. An older white cop and his partner talk about the chaos, with her obviously cringing at many of his comments. And all these ordinary people prepare to collide with one of the deadliest forces of nature ever seen in the original series – Lono, the most brutal of the Minutemen. He never seemed to believe in the cause, only enjoying chaos for its own purposes.
As the officers and the teens collide inside the store, we expect tragedy to ensue – and it does, but not courtesy of a trigger-happy officer. Instead, Lono is waiting, ready to escalate the situation for his own amusement. Someone winds up dead fairly quickly, and soon Lono has a hostage – or maybe two hostages, depending on how you interpret things. The tension in each scene where this predator is lurking with ordinary people is palpable, and Risso’s classic black-and-white art does an amazing job of creating a sense of haunting ambiguity throughout. Towards the end, we get into some more plot-heavy elements, as a shadowy conspiracy starts to escalate things for their own purposes, but even if we didn’t have this, it would still be a compelling read. It’s great to see these two masters back at work, reviving a universe that is unfortunately still all too current.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
