100 Bullets is an American comic book published by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint. Written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso, the comic book ran for 100 issues over ten years (1999 to 2009) and won the Eisner Award and Harvey Award. A sequel, 100 Bullets: Brother Lono was released in 2014, and a further entry in the series, 100 Bullets: The US of Anger, was announced in 2025.
Style
Both the writing and artwork in 100 Bullets exemplifies the noir and pulp genres of popular modern fiction. Consistent with noir convention, most of the characters are deeply flawed. As is also common in pulp and noir genres, 100 Bullets frequently portrays stylized and graphic violence.
Initially presented as a series of self-contained episodic stories, 100 Bullets developed into a sprawling crime saga in which all the characters and events were connected.
Plot
The core concept of 100 Bullets is based on the question of people willing to act on the desire of violent revenge if given the means, opportunity, and a reasonable chance to succeed. Many of the early issues involve the mysterious Agent Graves approaching someone who has been a victim of a terrible wrong. Graves gives them the opportunity to take revenge by providing a handgun, 100 bullets, and documentation about the primary target responsible for their woes. He informs the candidate the gun and bullets are completely untraceable by any law enforcement investigation, and as soon as they are found at any crime scene, investigations will immediately cease.
Although all the revenge murders enabled by Agent Graves are presented as justifiable, the candidates are neither rewarded nor punished for accepting the offer other than their own personal satisfaction. Several people decline, but others who accept find varied success or failure. The attaché and Graves' "games" are later revealed to be only a minor part of a much broader story.
Agent Graves is the leader of a group known as The Minutemen, a group of seven men (plus one "Agent") who serve as the enforcers and police of a clandestine organization known as The Trust, which was formed by the heads of 13 powerful European families who controlled much of the Old World's combined wealth and industry. The Trust made an offer to the kings of Europe by which they would leave the continent and their considerable influence and holdings, in exchange for complete autonomy in the still unclaimed portion of the New World. and then released in paperback a few years later.
100 Bullets Deluxe Edition
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!#!!Title!!ISBN!!Release date!!Pages!!Collected material
|-
|1
|100 Bullets - Book I
| (HC)
(TPB)
|October 11, 2011 (HC)
November 4, 2014 (TPB)
|456
|Vertigo: Winter's Edge #3,<br>100 Bullets #1–19
|-
|2
|100 Bullets - Book II
| (HC)
(TPB)
|April 17, 2012 (HC)
April 21, 2015 (TPB)
|416
|100 Bullets #20-36
|-
|3
|100 Bullets - Book III
| (HC)
(TPB)
|September 25, 2012 (HC)
September 22, 2015 (TPB)
|528
|100 Bullets #37-58
|-
|4
|100 Bullets - Book IV
| (HC)
|April 23, 2013 (HC)
January 12, 2016 (TPB)
|512
|100 Bullets #59-80
|-
|5
|100 Bullets - Book V
| (HC)
(TPB)
|December 3, 2013 (HC)
April 5, 2016 (TPB)
|512
|100 Bullets #81-100
|}
100 Bullets Omnibus
The series has been collected in two Omnibus hardcover editions. Although the second volume was initially solicited to include the follow-up Brother Lono miniseries in addition to the main series, ultimately only the original hundred issues were collected (plus an early short story).
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!#!!Title!!ISBN!!Release date!!Pages!!Collected material
|-
|1
|100 Bullets Omnibus Vol. 1
| (HC)
|January 12,<br>2021
|1376
|Vertigo: Winter's Edge #3,<br>100 Bullets #1–58
|-
|2
|100 Bullets Omnibus Vol. 2
| (HC)
|June 28,<br>2022
|1008
|100 Bullets #59-100
|}
Media adaptations
Acclaim announced plans to release a video game based on 100 Bullets, but following the collapse of Acclaim's publishing house, the game was cancelled. It was intended that the player would be either Cole Burns or Snow Falls (a completely original character) and play in a third person view, with actor Keanu Reeves portraying Cole Burns. The plot was not publicly known, aside from a supposition that it followed the plot of the comic book.
D3 Publisher of America obtained the rights from Warner Bros. to publish a 100 Bullets video game in 2006. They intended to make a video game completely independent from Acclaim's aborted vision, albeit still heavily reliant on input and plotting from Brian Azzarello and releasing it in Q3 2007, but was never released.
In 2011, screenwriter David S. Goyer was attached to executive produce and write a TV series based on the comics for Showtime. Two years later, Goyer said that the project got "incredibly close" at Showtime before being turned down due to a multitude of mass shootings across the United States. He called the sudden turn of events "frustrating", further stating: "At one point, I thought it was going to happen at Showtime. It got to the three-yard line".
In 2014, SciFiNow reported The Wall Street Journals release of information regarding upcoming Warner Brothers films based on DC Comics properties. The films that were revealed to be in development included the much anticipated Justice League film; Shazam!, Fables, and 100 Bullets were among the other films listed. A film adaptation was announced in August 2015, and was to be produced by Tom Hardy with the option for him to star in the film, written by Chris Borrelli and distributed by New Line Cinema.
Critical reception
The series has attracted critical acclaim from within and beyond the American comics industry, as "very violent, dark and clever" and "a series of compelling morality tales". In his introduction for the second volume collection, Howard Chaykin wrote, "Thanks are overdue to both these guys for producing the most exciting comic book in years".
Awards
The series won the 2002 Harvey Awards for Best Writer, Best Artist and Best Continuing Series, and the 2003 Harvey Award for Best Artist. It also won the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story, and the 2002 and 2004 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series. It was an 8-issue limited series that detailed Lono's rehabilitated life in Durango after the events of 100 Bullets issue #100.
The Brother Lono Deluxe Edition hardcover was released in 2024. It contains Lono is a Four Letter Word, an exclusive 8-page comic. It also has Dave Johnson artwork covers to match the five-volume hardcover 100 Bullets Deluxe Edition.
100 Bullets: The US of Anger
In 2025, DC officially unveiled their first line of titles for the Vertigo revival, including 100 Bullets: The US of Anger with Azzarello and Risso returning. The first issue of the eight-issue mini-series is set to be released in July, 2026.
Collected editions
{|class="wikitable collapsible sortable" width="99%" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! width="25%" |Title
! width="10%" |Format
! width="10%" |ISBN
! width="20%" |Release date
! width="10%" |Pages
! width="25%" |Collected material
|-
! style="font-weight:normal;" |100 Bullets: Brother Lono
|Softcover
|
|April 15, 2014
|192
! style="font-weight:normal;" |100 Bullets: Brother Lono #1-8
|-
! style="font-weight:normal;" |100 Bullets: Brother Lono<br>Deluxe Edition
|Hardcover
|
|August 13, 2024
|216
! style="font-weight:normal;" |100 Bullets: Brother Lono #1-8<br>Lono is a Four Letter Word (8-page comic)
|}
See also
Other titles by the same creative team:
- Jonny Double
- Batman: Broken City
- Flashpoint: Knight of Vengeance
- Spaceman
References
External links
- Brian Azzarello interview to Sequential Tart (August 1999), covering the development of 100 Bullets, among other things