100 Bullets

Y: The Last Man was my gateway drug back into the world of comics after doing a stint in the superhero books in the early 1990’s. And while I loved superhero stories, I wasn’t that into superhero comics (or at least not the ones being published at the time) so I was hesitant to jump back into the world of colored pictures and word bubbles.

I use to listen to this podcast called Geekdrome, which some of you may recognize because frequent /Filmcast guest co-host and friend Dan Trachtenberg use to co-host before he went legit with the Totally Rad Show. Geekdrome has this feature called “Comics For People Who Don’t Like Comics” which would often recommend graphic novels outside of the tights and the capes genre. It was through these recommendations that I learned to love comics again. As I said above, first it was Y: The Last Man (which I recommend to anyone who has had trouble or just never tried reading comics) and then I jumped on a series called 100 Bullets.

What is 100 Bullets about? The Eisner and Havey Award-winning comic book hinges on the question of whether people would take the chance to get away with revenge. It’s a Twilight Zone-like morality decision, where a mysterious Agent named Graves approaches people who have been the victim of some kind of terrible injustice or wrong, and gives them the chance to set things right in the form of a nondescript attaché case containing a handgun, 100 untraceable bullets, and a photograph of a person, along with incontrovertible evidence that target presented is primarily and personally responsible for recipient’s woes. The bullets are completely untraceable and that any law enforcement investigation that uncovers one of them will immediately stop.

It begins very episodic, with new people being given the chance for revenge/redemption, and the only reoccurring character being the mysterious Agent Graves. Of course, the story develops into more a serial, and becomes about the organization that Graves belongs to and as you may expect, there is a very interesting story that comes to play. You can pick up the first graphic novel on Amazon for around $10. AS I suggested in my story above, it is a gateway graphic novel — one of those books for someone who really hasn’t gotten into the world of superhero comic books.

The last issue of the comic book, Issue #100, was published in April after a decade run with the same writer/artist team for its entire run. I won’t lie, I stopped reading sometime around the end but plan on catching up now that the entire series is in graphic novel form. Reading the comics its hard not to imagine the comic adapted into a series for HBO, Showtime or possibly AMC.

MTV got a chance to talk with Azzarello while he was promoting an upcoming event for the end of the series, a party aptly being referred to as a funeral, and the comic book writer hinted at a future to the series. When asked about a potential movie adaptation, Azzarello was quick to respond

Television — there’s an idea!” Before continuing “That’s all I’ll say. Television… or maybe something that’s not just TV.

And everyone who has ever watched The Sopranos, True Blood, Six Feet Under or The Wire knows that HBO’s motto is, “It’s not TV, it’s HBO.” Could Azzarello be hinting that a HBO series is in development? I hope so. I can’t tell you how cool that could be.

  • Smither
    Sounds awesome. I must check out the comic!
  • Yorick
    It is a great series from what I have read. I'm only on the second trade paperback.
  • Mike
    I'm 100% behind an adaptation of 100 Bullets for HBO or a similar cable station. Translating some of these comics into serialized TV dramas interests me far more than movie franchises.

    Fingers are always crossed for an HBO series based around Frank Castle.
  • Hell yeah, Punisher MAX would be awesome as an HBO series.
  • Mantronix
    Punisher can work as a TV show, showing a young Frank Castle from Community College to enlisting in the church then his true calling of U.S.M.C.

    Two seasons 18 episodes each season, the TV show must go into detail to keep the audience in suspense and make this a thriller for TV. At the same time show some of his upcoming future enemeies a great subplot, and the first intial meeting with Lieberman.

    Lieberman should have his own show, explaining who, where, what and how one seaon 16 episodes check miniseries. Show how good he is as hacker and why he went on the run.

    Its about time they release the Dolph Lundgren Punisher, on DVD ad all the deleted scenes update begining and end credits.
  • Thrillhouse
    That would be aces.
  • AntoBlueberry
    When I met Azzarello some 5 years ago, he told me that he envisioned a possible adaptation as a HBO Tv series, but the guy at Warners were more inclined to adapt it in a series of high budget movie, something he didn't want mainly because he felt the work would have been easily betrayed that way.
    Maybe now they're all on the same wavelength.
  • AWESOME....I think this would be a BAD ASS HBO series....so glad it isn't being made into just a movie.

    It's like with Preacher...could be an amazing series on Shotime or HBO...but it's being made into a movie and I am really nervous about that. The source material is great, but how the hell are they going to effectively put that into a 2 hour movie and make it appeasing? I'm not sure if that can be done and have it be respecitble.

    Cable TV Series are the way to go with these type of graphic novels...so as Tobias would say....Hazaa!
  • Captain Awesome
    Oh god yes!
  • joroidescons
    That's funny, WIZARD published a fake add for a HBO's 100 Bullets !

    I met (and interviewed) Azzarello, the guy is a GENIUS !
  • Sketch
    That would definitely be sweet.
  • caleb
    this sounds great...but please, just give us back Carnivale already. never lose hope!
  • Joshua Ruth
    I love Carnivale. One of the best shows ever on television. I heard, though, that it didn't get cancelled. I was under the impression that the show's creator intended it to only be a two season show and (cliffhanger though it was) the end is the end.
  • caleb
    nope, it was canceled. it was supposed to be six seasons, but HBO decided that it cost too much and wasn't bringing in enough viewers. so instead of putting a little effort into marketing it, a la true blood, they canceled it. and they won't let the rights go, so knauf, the creator, can't do anything with it. eff hbo.
  • Joshua
    Wow, you're totally right. I just read the whole sorry story. I've gotta say that a small part of me feels less complete now. While I was sad to see Carnivale end, I took solace in the fact that the author intended to leave on such a daring note and came to accept it. I never sought out any other story. Maybe I didn't want to know. Now the complete masterpiece has become the incomplete.
    Bummer.
    Still, I'd rather hold out hope that one day Knauf will see his vision completed. Makes me pissed at HBO now. And I was so happy with them for bring 'The Wire' into the world. Of course, it sounds like Carvivale was a pretty expensive show. I respect Knauf for not compromising his art, but 4 million per episode when only a small handful of people realize the show's brilliance...that's tough business.
    Thanks for educating me.
  • Joshua
    I would have liked to see more marketing for Carnivale, but it may not have been the right time for most audiences. Sure, sometimes things like 'Twin Peaks' slip through the cracks to gain popular acceptance, but shows on the psychological plane of Carnival have a hard time getting an audience. And let's face it: True Blood is an easy sell. I really like the show, but it's trash. Vampires, sex and the south will probably always get viewers.
  • caleb
    hahah, i agree with you on "the wire" for sure. i am glad that hbo let that show run its course. it's amazing. i actually just finished carnivale about a week ago, and since then i've just been reading everything i can find about it. i wish there were some way to get it back on the air, or at least to get hbo to sell the rights. i may just make random carnivale posts on every slashfilm update.
  • ddx
    Carnivale, Carnivale, Carnivale. Man what I wouldn't give for another season!
  • Fir3Wolf
    I've been waiting for a movie or t.v. show to be made about the 100 Bullets comic. What got me into the comic was I read an article about a game being created on it (which has been scrapped for years now), but after reading that I decided to check out the comic series and I'm glad that I did.

    I think I like the idea of it being a series rather then an actually feature, due in part that it is a very deep comic with a great story that would be hard to tell in two hours. Either way look forward to hearing more on this later on.
  • dagreenman18
    PLEASE LET THIS HAPPEN!
  • sounds like a good idea to me.
  • Bless you, sir, for endorsing Y: The Last Man on this site. Y is one of my favorite comics of all time, and I'm convinced anything Brian K. Vaughan touches is or will be excellent.
  • Ben
    Good idea, good comic for it. Let's do this with Y too.
  • Joshua Ruth
    Why couldn't they make an HBO show out of 'Watchmen?' Don't get me wrong, Snyder's film was great, but HBO is the only place that story could have been told correctly. It's going to kind of piss me off if HBO starts to adapt comic properties just after the 'Watchmen' film came out.
  • MickJ
    SO many properties should be developed for TV and not for feature films. Basically any graphic novel/comic series (Fables, Runaways, Y The Last Man, etc.) This sounds like one of them.
  • TheMarquis
    I've taken a decently long break from comics, so I think I might jump back in with this.
  • Brendan M.
    Any reason why that guy looks like Dr. Manhattan?
  • definately should make this im reading this series right now and ive been hooked since issue #1, also for anyone looking for a superhero comic book to START with they should look for the "rising stars" graphic novel. its great also.


    also y: the last man is a classic. AMPERSAND!
  • Q
    I've been reading 100 Bullets since issue #1 and preaching (on this site and others) the Gospel of Graves ever since. This is killer news. If they follow and issue-by-issue episode structure, it will be incredible.
  • LuMendz
    I will most certainly look into this series. But is there like some list where to find all the good non superhero comics like this and Y: The Last Man? I LOVED Y: The Last Man and I am constantly looking for other graphic novels of the same caliber.
  • Dizzy Cordova
    I could have sworn that it was going to Showtime and that this is old news.
  • I just finished reading Volume 13: Wilt

    The violence in at the end accelerated at such a wild rate that I thought I was reading a Neal Stephenson novel!

    This series would be absolutely amazing for adaptation. However for television I think I would be disappointed; I can't imagine anyone but Charlize Theron as Megan Dietrich and I don't think that she would do a long-running HBO adaptation. Who would play Dizzy?
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