Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist(s): Eduardo Risso, Patricia Mulvihill (c)
Letterer: Clem Robins
Publisher: DC / Vertigo
This issue of 100 Bullets encapsulates everything that is good and bad about the series. Depending on who you ask, and whether they are a fan, the book can fairly be described as intriguing with an interesting stable of characters or cryptic with a cast so strung out that readers won’t recognize them when they appear again. Regardless, in the case of issue #86, most readers will need to go through it once, and then again, to fully grasp what is going on.
As is the standard with 100 Bullets, this issue gives readers two intertwining story threads. In one, Agent Graves continues to wage his war of attrition against the Trust through his former Minutemen. In the other, there is a brutal and horrible crime that is avenged through another brutal and horrible crime.
The first of these may be a bit frustrating as readers may not recognize Helena Kotias, a head of one of the Trust’s household that has made few appearances. Also, her death is somewhat confusing as it apparently is orchestrated by Agent Graves, whom Helena had earlier made an offer to reinstate the Minutemen. For those keeping up, though, this may make sense has Graves has been systematically decapitating each house of the Trust, regardless of their affiliations. While these actions may seem contradictory, given that each death seems to strengthen Augustus Medici’s position, it is intriguing to watch the strange strategy unfold.
Also in this issue, readers get a glimpse at the more subtle, and possibly more heinous, power of the Trust. While their ability to inflict violence has never been in question within the pages of 100 Bullets, here readers are introduced to a different form of control that is as unexplained as it is frightening.
The second story thread is a good show case for the Minuteman Victor Ray. Hard, uncompromising and obeying an unspoken moral code, very little can be said about Victor that isn’t said by the page where he stands in a motel room silhouetted by the eerie light of the television. Unfortunately, his involvement in the story thread that leads up to that point is muddled, at best, and will most likely leave many a reader scratching their head.
Overall, issue #86 will be a good read for fans of the series, particularly those who enjoy it enough to keep up with the circuitous maneuverings within the Trust. Outsiders and fair weather fans will most likely find this issue confusing from start to finish.
If you liked this review, be sure to check out more of the author’s work at http://madbastard.hypersites.com
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