Some have bemoaned the disappearance of the curvy comic book chick as part of this blog’s design. So, I thought we’d celebrate a few of my own favourite curvy comic book chicks — Megan Dietrich & Dizzy Cordova of the DC Comics/Vertigo 100 Bullets series, which is still running upon its route to certain apocalypse. Writer Brian Azzarello & artist Eduardo Risso have just released the present installment, Issue 89, which launches the final story arc that will end with Issue 100. This series kicks ass for so many reasons:

Much has been said of 100 Bullets, crime fiction, espionage thriller, conspiracy theory. “Gritty” is a word that’s used, as is “Noir”. It is very dark, and mysterious. Dark because that’s how it’s drawn, mysterious because, although there’s a big picture, we haven’t seen it all, though there have been glimpses of it. All stories need a premise, and the basis of 100 Bullets is excellent. The wider picture becomes evident as the series develops, as suited up, gnarly old bastard Agent Graves approaches ordinary citizens who’s [sic] lives have hit rock bottom and offers them an opportunity to exact revenge on the person, or persons, that ruined them. He gives his clients an attaché case containing irrefutable proof of the deed, a gun, and 100 bullets. These bullets will never be traced. He guarantees his clients carte blanche for all of their actions, including murder. Any investigation will be dropped once the bullets are recovered. This poses a few questions. Who is Agent Graves? Agent of what? A Government? The Secret Service? The FBI? We don’t know, but we do find out that he’s no agent of any recognised Agency. Why does he pick these seemingly random people, to give them a gun and the chance to even the score? Again, no idea, as some cases seem to have a higher purpose, but some appear almost meaningless.

Although the characters of 100 Bullets are numerous, the two main female characters are Dizzy Cordova, the sensual Latino babe, and Megan Dietrich, the ice-cold blonde beauty. These two characters pretty much summarize the power struggle between the series’ two main organizations: The Trust and The Minutemen.

Megan Dietrich: As a member of The Trust (made up of The Thirteen Families), Megan takes the role of head of the Dietrich family after her father is assassinated. As the families form alliances and betrayals, Megan must do anything possible (and she does) to protect her own interests and stay in power.

Dizzy Cordova: This unwitting gangbanger left prison to find her husband and child murdered, and the mysterious Agent Graves offered her the fabled attaché to exact vengeance. Dizzy is eventually trained to be a replacement Minuteman, but she still has no inkling of her true purpose in the grand scheme of things.

The series is “graphic” in every sense of the word, and the interweaving story arcs of 100 Bullets cover a spectrum of themes from the Lost Colony of Roanoke to the death of Marilyn Monroe and fate of NY Yankie Joe DiMaggio. If you’re into pulpy, noirish graphic novels and haven’t checked out 100 Bullets, I highly recommend doing so. Some of my favourite issue covers that feature Megan and Dizzy lie below the fold:

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