100 Bullets

Another business trip meant I had plenty of time to read.

100 Bullets 59-100

I should have continued to build up the 100 Bullets spreadsheet from my previous readthrough this time around.  I needed to keep track of the various alliances and side switching, because it happens at a dizzying rate in the back half of the series.  The Minutemen float between three distinct groups, beating each other up with motivations that feel murky at best. I’ll give it a go here, maybe it’ll help me understand things better in the attempt.

By the way, whoever DC got to print these trades sucks.  The cover fell off of one of them. Weak glue/poor construction.  

Strychinine Lives: Loop and Lono start out together, somehow no longer incarcerated.  They find Victor Ray in Chicago. Their goal appears to be helping Graves restore the Trust, but with one head instead of thirteen.  

Cole finds Branch and inquires about the painting that everyone’s looking for (I never figured out why).  Coles sends Branch off to find Echo and the painting, but Branch abandons the task when he sees Dizzy.

Graves antagonizes Jack, who’s still unactivated.  

At Lono’s instruction, Vic shoots Megan Dietrich, but intentionally doesn’t kill her.

Wylie’s with Dizzy in the aftermath of Shepherd’s death.  Benitio and Branch find them.

Decayed: Lono activates Jack, and their group grows to four.  

Graves activates Remi, the final Minuteman.  Remi joins Graves and Cole.

Once Upon a Crime:  Hmm. I’ve been ignoring the goings on of the Trust.  My mistake. I'll start keeping track now. Cole and Remi kill Simone of the Trust.  Graves wants Dizzy to join him, but Wylie’s keeping that from happening. In retaliation, Graves sets Lono’s group on Wylie.  It appears that Vic is working for Graves without Lono’s knowledge.

Wylie goes to confront Graves, but Remi kills him.  Vic ditches Lono/Loop/Jack and kidnaps Branch and Dizzy.  He brings them to Graves/Cole/Remi. Dizzy joins Graves. Ronnie finds the painting and Echo.  

Dirty: Graves’ team kills Sigmar Rhone of the Trust, then two more members.  D’Arcy of the Trust hires Slaughter (Vic’s father) to kill the supplier of Graves’ attaches.  

Cole takes Branch to find Ronnie.  While Cole gets the painting from Ronnie, Echo kills Branch.

Wilt: Cole ditches Graves.  Why? Because he has the painting?  Because Wylie or Branch got killed? I’m not sure.  He hooks up with Jack and Loop. When Lono finds out, he orders Loop to kill Cole.  He fails, but Cole forgives him. Jack ditches Cole and Loop.

Remi loses both his hands in a failed hit on D’Arcy.  He commits suicide.

Lono kidnaps Dizzy when they encounter each other at a meeting between Graves and Augustus.  He delivers her to Benito, not realizing their emotional connection. Benito shoots Lono, who escapes.

Cole and Loop are out to kill Lono.  Jack (somehow) gets the painting and hooks up with Echo.  Cole coincidentally finds them and kills Echo as payback for Branch.  Jack rejoins Cole and Loop. Vic finds the three of them. They dump Echo and the painting in the swamp.  (WTF was the point of the painting??)

Slaughter kills Vasco of the Trust.  What’s left of the Trust makes peace.  They make Graves a head of house. Graves appoints Dizzy the new head of the Minutemen.  Augustus names Benito as his successor. So now Graves, Benito, D’Arcy, Tibo Vermeer, and Megan are the five houses, but Benito is soon killed by Megan, D’Arcy, and Vermeer.

Last issue: Cole, Loop, Jack, and Vic attack the Trust compound.  To kill everyone, I think. Lono does the same on his own. Jack fights Crete (Augustus’ bodyguard who had turned down an offer to become a Minuteman) and they both get eaten by alligators (WTF).  Loop, Vic, and Slaughter drive away after getting tired of killing bodyguards. Vermeer’s assassinated, I’m not sure by whom. Dizzy takes out Lono before he can kill Graves. Cole kills D’Arcy and Megan, but screws up and dies himself in the explosion.  Dizzy is hurt (paralyzed?) in the blast. Graves kills Augustus. Dizzy kills Graves for working against the Trust.

And we’re done.  Even after that recap, all I can tell is that everyone wanted to kill everyone else.  After all of that, the body count includes: All thirteen house heads, Benito, Graves, Shepherd, Branch, and four of the original seven Minutemen.  Loop, Vic, Lono, and maybe Dizzy make it out. Four survivors. I didn’t even get into any of the side stories that Azzarello liberally sprinkles in with the main threads.  They’re often better (and less confusing).

Was it worth the journey?  I think so. By the end, I stopped paying attention the plot and let the the mood sweep me along, like The Big Sleep.

Couldn't tell you the plot.  But I remember how awesome Bogart and Bacall were.

And Dorothy Malone as the librarian.  Nobody forgets her.

I’m sure I’ll be reading this again in the future.  Maybe it’ll make more sense one day.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Nice