Support NeoGAF

[headshot95]

So issue 19 gives us a story about Amelia, a character introduced a couple issues back when Hank nearly leaves his wife for her. After reading this issue we discover why Amelia suddenly broke it off with Hank, she has a thing for married men. More specifically, she hooks up with married men, then breaks it off before it gets "ugly."

Lapham does a great job in this issue because he focuses a story on what I thought was just a backup character and flushes out her whole story, which in the end adds to the story of a character we saw a couple issues back. Just an example of some really great story telling and world building.

 

[arkon]

Issue 14 Another gut-punch to cap off that sojourn in Seaside. What a way to finish that arc. That moment where Spanish Scott appears. Chills. Just so perfectly rendered.

I really enjoyed how issue 16 took the theme of "stray bullets" and spun it to be different from what we have seen so far. The series has shown that stray bullets correlates to people being effected by acts of violence, mostly indirectly, much like Virginia and Orson, but in this issue we see a direct act of violence as Hank pushes his attacker over the railing and kills him, and how that act changes Hank.

.

Not even just that. You see how it ripples outwards and affects others too. His newfound confidence seems to be the tipping point for Bobby's mum, setting her out on that journey we see the end results of in #15. So good.

 

[headshot95]

Just finished issue 20, which ended up being almost a pure action story. I think my favorite part is how whenever Monster speaks, his speech balloons are rectangle instead of the traditional bubble shape. In my mind it gives his speech more weight, which is something you would expect from somebody built like a semi truck.

Also, this is like the third or fourth straight story that has dealt with married men cheating on their wives. Was Lapham going through something?

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Falling behind in my own thread...shameful

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Stray Bullets #18 is another Amy Racecar issue, this time in the vein of ol' Hollywood film noir. Lapham is unabashed lover of the genre(this is where I plug his excellent Murder Me Dead, a great Noir comic), taking the cliches of the form to parody levels, but with a knowing sense of love for them. Its interesting when its a female protagonist doing the lady-slapping("Wait...did she answer?") and bossing around. It all builds to its hysterical climax that piles on one increasingly hilarious reveal after another, a den of sexual deviation that of course Virginia scrubs clean.

Cool Beans count: 13(maybe my favorite Cool Beans yet. "Hey a chick fight!" "Cool beans!")

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Gun to head, Stray Bullets #19 is my absolute favorite issue of the series. Its atypical(as atypical as a series that just did a 1940s film noir pastiche), in that there's no real physical exciting violence, outside of a harsh shove in the hallway. And yet I think it perfectly encapsulates how humans connect with each other(or don't connect with each other), and the effects our actions have on these relationships.

#19 is a complex character study of Amelia, the dream girl of #16's protagonist Hank. Lapham takes the time to delve into the personality of someone who would do that, someone who uses her good looks and submissive personality to build an intimate bond with one person, then break it off instead of working to maintain that relationship after the honeymoon phase wears off. Of course, the men aren't blameless either, especially the ones who are married or with someone already, but its interesting look from a gender politics view on how much each partner controls that initial engagement and then disengagement.

The power of the 8 panel grid throughout really shines in this issue. With just about 30 pages and 8 panels, Lapham has potentially 240 "shots" he can use for anything. Close-ups of intimate conversations, wide angles before zooming in, breaking out into a larger panel to show a large room if need be, he can speed up or slow down the reader's eye, etc. I want to post a page to point out what I like so much, and even though they seem "basic", its because there are such "right" choices to keep a 30 page comic about people talking visually compelling and interesting.

Start with an establishing shot of the restaurant, showing you where we are, two-shot of our principal characters, focus on Amellia lookin so very pleased as is her agenda, switch to slightly overhead shot where we see Lee's face and the waitress coming in, wide shot to show the three in frame but from behind, then a shot from the front closer now with the Waitress and Lee eyeing each other and she walks to the right, closer focus on Lee still looking to the right paying no mind to Amelia, then an establishing shot of somewhere else entirely. The scene ending just a panel early really makes this page flow right into the next one, which makes a lot of sense for the scattershot narrative of Amelia's many relationships coming and going and blending in to each other.

Its a dense, rich read, where Amelia's last hollow smile really hits you, seeing the emotional turmoil and psychological dysfunction she's in.

Cool Beans count: 14

 

[frye]

e: wait you guys dont read wednesdays

 

[ViewtifulJC]

e: wait you guys dont read wednesdays

I actually am, since I'm catching up lol. Just read #20 actually, #21 coming up, then I should be all up-to-date.

 

[headshot95]

Issue 21 was pretty solid, it reads like a big what if? story. Benny admits to Rodger, in the first panel of the story, that he dreams of his wife dying so he can fall in love again. At dinner she starts choking and what follows is just an insane story of love and loss with a dream shattering twist of an ending.

It's interesting that Lapham is choosing to write these stories out of order in this third "arc." For example, this story takes places a couple of months before the first story involving Benny and his wife (the issue where Ginny hides in their basement.) He starts this group of stories by placing previously known chatacters, Beth and Ginny, in this setting and then spends the other issues fleshing out the characters and tying it all together. It makes it fun to read as you continue to catch things that relate to all the other stories.

 

[frye]

I actually am, since I'm catching up lol. Just read #20 actually, #21 coming up, then I should be all up-to-date.

Ah, shame on me for thinking you'd be caught up.

Anyways issue 20: I *think* this is as far as the original run goes time-wise aside from the first issue. We don't get this late into 86/87 again until the Killers mini. Also this issue was on my mind for the entire rest of the series because I was waiting for the two leads to show up again and I don't believe they do?

also Monster = scariest baddie in the series imo

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Ah, shame on me for thinking you'd be caught up.

Anyways issue 20: I *think* this is as far as the original run goes time-wise aside from the first issue. We don't get this late into 86/87 again until the Killers mini. Also this issue was on my mind for the entire rest of the series because I was waiting for the two leads to show up again and I don't believe they do?

also Monster = scariest baddie in the series imo

Yes, Stray Bullets #20 is a little bizarre that way because, unlike almost every other issue, we actually don't seem to connect back with these people at all. You see characters you recognize, like Monster(who is definitely the scariest dude, thanks to those curt square-shaped speech bubbles that match his glasses) or will run into in future issues(Blue Ed!), but these two have a future story that we've never seen...yet!

As for the story at hand, my favorite aspect about is what it marries two narratives together. The first half has Phillip as the lead, in a bad spot that gets even worse in a crazy sex scene, and just when you think the tension been released, it shifts to another story entirely, that actually has Rachel in the dominant role. Hope Lapham one day gets around to telling us about what happens next!

Cool Beans count: 15

 

[frye]

Yes, Stray Bullets #20 is a little bizarre that way because, unlike almost every other issue, we actually don't seem to connect back with these people at all. You see characters you recognize, like Monster(who is definitely the scariest dude, thanks to those curt square-shaped speech bubbles that match his glasses) or will run into in future issues(Blue Ed!), but these two have a future story that we've never seen...yet!

I don't know how much of it he's actually planned but the genius of Stray Bullet's nonlinear structure is that even if he doesn't have a master plan it still reads like he does. Monster and Blue Ed have got to be doing something for Harry here tho

 

[ViewtifulJC]

I don't know how much of it he's actually planned but the genius of Stray Bullet's nonlinear structure is that even if he doesn't have a master plan it still reads like he does. Monster and Blue Ed have got to be doing something for Harry here tho

He creates a very strong sense of time and place, right down to his designs for all the clothes and the cars. It certainly makes it seem like he's got a plan for the whole world, all these flights of fancy sitting neatly next to each other.

Just read Stray Bullets #21 as well, which is a brilliant satire on the bored heterosexual suburban man's mind. All the banal fantasies of us as heroic salt-of-the-earth manly men, rescuing gorgeous compassionate women with amazing cooking skills from that eeeeeeeeeevil JERK she's with. He sets up what he's doing early on with the couch conversation, but rarely overplays his hand or changes from his deadpan delivery, until near the end:

No, Lapham is content to let this macho power fantasy bullshit speak for itself, and you come to your own conclusions about this world view.

Again, just want to point how strong of an artist Lapham has become over the years. A lot of storytelling instincts are still there in #1, but he's gotten more confident in the style of his characters, the staging, the action choreography, etc.

Cool beans count: 15

 

[Filthy Slug]

Back in: Just finished up Beth and Nina swimming and doing coke. Damn that ending was fucking sad.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Back in: Just finished up Beth and Nina swimming and doing coke. Damn that ending was fucking sad.

Don't take this the wrong way or nothin', but I hate you.

hee hee hee

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Stray Bullets #22 has ANOTHER dude (attempting/dreaming) about infidelity! What did Maria Lapham think reading this set of issues man. Anyway, #22 centers on Charlie, a poor dumb sap who gets sucked into the vortex of destruction that is Beth. After fooling around a bit as The Duke, the issue focuses on a darkly hilarious and unpredictable encounter back at his home. Lapham must have been worried that he soften Beth's edges too much and aligned her with our sympathies, she's 110% vindictive bitch mode here. You never know what you bring home!

I guess this is the tentative end of the "third" story arc, if you can all it that. In the next few issues, Lapham starts to pull all these various strands together, and brings the focus back to Virginia Applejack. Buckle up ya'll; shit gets dark.

Cool Beans count: 15

 

[headshot95]

Beth can be such a bitch. She made that dude cry and basically reevaluate his life...and at the same time I loved it. I look forward to more issues of Beth and Virginia action, but getting to know these "other people" during the third arc was great.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Stray Bullets #23 is the return of what's gotta be one of Lapham's favorite characters, Spanish Scott. Scott seems be the catalyst of several of the characters increasingly violent lives, shaking them out of their naive world and inadvertently showing them a life of crime. It happen to Virginia, it happen to Orson, and now poor little neglected Joey. It starts with with a few choice bad words, and it ends up with laying in the trunk with a dead girl! Yes, we finally see the origin of this "Janice" character Joey was so in love with in the first issue, shot through the head and lying beside him in the dark for God knows how long.

But hey, its Spanish Scott, so its funny!

Cool beans count: 15

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Stray Bullets #24 has several key characters in a bit of a jam at a Chinese restaurant, as Monster, Blue Ed, and unseen Roth closing in our Beth and the gang. Luckily for them, a new character is introduced in Ian, apparently an old flame of Beth. Ian is everything Orson wasn't. He's supremely confident, takes no shit from Beth, laughs in the face of danger. After a parade of men that never match up to Beth's hopes, we finally get one that might be out of her league.

The other most interesting development comes from Monster. It been shown a couple times that Monster has some small form of affectation for Beth, from the party in earlier issues where he acts awkward around her to letting her walk away from Spanish Scott and Orson's dead bodies. Here we find out more about their connection, with Beth once again using her power over Monster to escape another deadly situation. How often can she get away with this, I ask out loud to no one in particular.

Poor Blue Ed, he's 0 for 2 here in threatening encounters.

Cool Beans count: 15

 

[Filthy Slug]

Just read the Fair issue. Pretty cool seeing a ton of the cast get together and interact. Also, again, all of the cops are either useless or fucking assholes or both.

 

[headshot95]

Fell behind schedule so spent this morning catching up. Read issues 24-27. I freaking love this series. The restaurant issue was great. Having Beth's and Virginia's big ordeals happen only a day apart is a cruel twist of fate and in issue 27 when Beth is clearly distraught over Virginia missing and starts piecing together the story only to get a call from Monster telling her she met the dude who took Virginia. Issue 27 was one of my favorite issues of the whole series.

Issue 26 was also the most "real" Amy Racecar story we have gotten so far. Her walking around the city and being in the house that Virginia got taken too was a good twist, it really made the story feel more like a twisted reality of Virginia, this one just stuck with me more than the others in that regard. And of course in the end it turns back into a typical Amy Racecar story with a twist and over the top action.

 

[headshot95]

Stray Bullets #24 has several key characters in a bit of a jam at a Chinese restaurant, as Monster, Blue Ed, and unseen Roth closing in our Beth and the gang. Luckily for them, a new character is introduced in Ian, apparently an old flame of Beth.

Ian isn't an entirely new character. He was introduced in the issue when Beth and Nina go swimming. Beth runs into him and that women he is with when they are fishing. Ian makes a comment in issue #24 after he pulls Beth aside and says, "Tell me that after two years you didn't call me down here cuz you forgot to get a baby-sitter."

I only caught this because I thought he looked familiar and paged back to previous issues to see if I could find him.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Ian isn't an entirely new character. He was introduced in the issue when Beth and Nina go swimming. Beth runs into him and that women he is with when they are fishing. Ian makes a comment in issue #24 after he pulls Beth aside and says, "Tell me that after two years you didn't call me down here cuz you forgot to get a baby-sitter."

I only caught this because I thought he looked familiar and paged back to previous issues to see if I could find him.

holy shit you're right. Never noticed that until now, but that's him alright in #11. Not just an incidental character introduction like I thought.

Also, I'm gonna catch up soon, just E3 shit ya know

 

[headshot95]

Issue 28 continues this crazy Beth/Virginia story. While Beth is in prison Monster visits her and finally makes his move....by asking Beth to marry him in exchange for setting Virginia. Nice move bro. We also get to see Virginia meet up with series bunching bag Joey. Joey at this point is so used to hearing his mom have sex with random strangers that it makes him laugh. This poor kid haha.

 

[headshot95]

Issue 29 is pretty damn dark. This whole arc reads like an HBO crime drama (that's a good thing.) I don't want to say too much because a lot of big events happen but it's a great issue.

But damn, Virginia's diary of the events that happen.....that shit is dark. Possibly the most emotionally charged issue since the cancer issue.

 

[frye]

Yeahhh "shit is dark" is right. These issues are great but maaan

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Tell ya the truth, even with E3 going on, I was holding off reading these issues again because they're just goddamn dark. But here we go...

Stray Bullets #25(cool beans) stars Virgina Applejack. The cops are on to her skipping school, and with Beth AWOL with her own problems, her own home isn't safe and she seeks refuge with Bobby, still as adorable as ever. She gets asylum with a guy named Ron, who's increasingly predatory ways towards Ginny/Bobby is perfectly encapsulated in that visual metaphor of the big fish eating the smaller ones.

Its so hard reading this issue again. I grown rather fond of Ginny/Bobby, and at every page you want them to turn back, to say no, to get out of there, and page after page turn they wind up in the exact same place; in Ron's captivity.

Stray Bullets #26 is another fave of mine, a remarkably clever story in which the illusion of Amy Racecar starts to break down in what amounts to all-out psychological warfare for Virgina Applejack's mind. The terrible physical and sexual abuse Ginny/Bobby suffered starts to override Ginny's "Amy" sense of reality, and the crushing guilt for bringing Bobby into this situation and then leaving him there for weeks slowly erodes her sense of self. Amy just about overcomes in as just another crazy adventure of hers, but the IRL effects of their captivity will be harder to defeat than this power fantasy.

Stray Bullets #27 continues the unique structure of this long-form story. A child pedophile story is always on the verge of exploitation, and I feel the crucial thing to note is how this event affects everyone in the story. We saw last issue some of the psychological ramifications and even what was gonna happen(Ginny escaping and leaving Bobby), now we see just how this affected Bobby/Ginny's so-called "guardians". Lapham uses Beth and Ian as the procedural framework to what Virginia/Bobby's disappearance has done, and how she went about finding her. Furthermore, he uses flashbacks to flesh out the imperfect relationship Beth and Virginia always had. We see the chronology of this entire terrible event, how it came to this point, and what happen afterwards.

Stray Bullets #28 is right as Virginia makes her escape, but she's captured once again, this by Monster. This brings back the plot threads from #25, with Monster's love/infatuation with Beth and Blue Ed vs Ian. This all climaxes in a more typical Stray Bullets climax, as in several characters all coming together in a hilarious, tense, thrilling set piece. But just like the traumatic event we beat around the bush but can't avoid, Monster comes in and spoils any happy ending we're looking for.

Stray Bullets #29 is simultaneously the climax to wrap up most of the loose ends but also doubles back and finally tells us what happened while Ron held Bobby/Ginny captivity. Lapham uses the notebook, an established hobby of Virginia, interspersed with frightening glimpses for our imagination to fill in the blanks. Its just really fuckin' dark man. Real violence. Violence that has consequences, that could destroy lives, your sense of self, devastate your family. Stray Bullets has always been about violence, physical, sexual, psychological or otherwise, and how they affect people. I doesn't shy away from the dark corners of the world, and despite how nasty some material gets, it comes from a deeply empathic place.

Cool beans count: 16

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Stray Bullets #30 is titled "Happy Ending", which if anyone read the previous few issues should find that hard to believe. Once again, Lapham moves backwards in time for a fun story with naive, adorable Bobby gets his dad's gun stolen by a bully, and Virginia has to get it back. Its really quite funny, even the easy jokes with the gay mag for the bully, but the whole thing has that cloud of the previous issues hanging over it like "THESE PEOPLE YOU LIKE WILL SOON BE UNWITTINGLY CAPTURED AND RAPED BY A CHILD PEDOPHILE", and its like...fuck, man. The ending is the sweetest damn thing, perfectly building up that meta-comic-within-a-comic happy ending. Even though we know its all bullshit.

Cool beans count: 16

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

I-I need to catch up.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

I-I need to catch up.

terribly, sir

 

[headshot95]

What a gut punch issue #30 was. Bobby is so innocent. The issue gives you hope and then you remember what happens to both of them two months later.... Of course it would be called "Happy Endings."

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Stray Bullets #31 takes a turn for a high school setting, and, gotta be honest, it has always been my least favorite part of Stray Bullets. A lot of high school movie cliches are played straight, and the world is so violent its damn near unbelievable. Virginia is gonna carry this section, along with the usual strengths in Lapham's storytelling, although you will notice another shift in his style occurring around here.

Cool beans count: 16

 

[headshot95]

Stray Bullets #31 takes a turn for a high school setting, and, gotta be honest, it has always been my least favorite part of Stray Bullets. A lot of high school movie cliches are played straight, and the world is so violent its damn near unbelievable. Virginia is gonna carry this section, along with the usual strengths in Lapham's storytelling, although you will notice another shift in his style occurring around here.

Cool beans count: 16

I have to admit I wasn't really intrigued by the high school setting, like you pointed out the cliches are standard to what you see in other high school settings and the violence at times in this issue seemed to happen out of nowhere. The over the top violence made sense when dealing with the gangsters and stuff of the other settings but not so much with a high school.

I did like the part where Virginia pulls a "Beth" trick and totally turns on the charm to the big football player just to figure out which one was his brother.

 

[headshot95]

I thought we were on issue #32 today, but i'm not totally sure so I'll keep the post spoiler free. In issue #32 we are introduced to Lorry, who is a total shit and spends most of the issue yelling mean things at people that he has heard his father or his brother say. We are also introduced to "The Finger" who I assume will become the villain for the following issues.

The issue reads really quickly and seems to serve as setting up other players in the story outside of Virginia. The Finger is one twisted dude and seems to work for the mysterious Harry we keep being told bout. The ending is incredibly twisted though.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

we are on #32, I'm just behind cuz I suck

 

[headshot95]

Issue 33 is another one that reads really fast as a lot of panels happen without any or very little dialogue. Virginia's story slowly moves forward as she plots to get the jocks and the burnouts to fight each other at a house party. Other than that, the story didn't take any big leaps forward. One of the most important things from this issue, at least I think, is Virginia running into Lorry's dad, who was also absolutely wasted and couldn't even carry some cans to his car without losing his shit.

Virginia is still a bad ass though. That fight scene in the rain was pretty cool.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Stray Bullets #32 is a fast read like headshot said, introducing us to Des, or otherwise known as The Finger. With Monster gone to parts unknown for the time being, and Harry always unseen, Stray Bullets needs another Big Bad, and that's where The Finger comes in. This issue shows off some interesting quirks about his character that separates him from Monster, but makes him just as, if not more scary. He's sociable, almost casual about his talks of rape and body mutilation, just like it was an every day job. Which for him I guess it is. He picks on this poor stupid kid who tried to impress his brother and his friend(who just so happens to be that kid who cut up Virginia's face waaaaaay back in #2). Lapham uses a lot of expertly paced and illustrated wordless panels to build tension, your eye racing through the pages until the final confrontation. And just when you think he's letting up, he drops the ending on you, where as always in Stray Bullets, one person's actions have violent unintended consequences on someone else.

Cool Beans count: 16

 

[headshot95]

Still trying to wrap my head around issue 34. Not because the topic of the issue was difficult to understand but I'm trying to figure out where it fits in this last story of the omnibus that Lapham is trying to tell.

We are introduced to Mike Hussey, who appears to be the star of this issue. Hussey is a sexually frustrated football player for the local football team. After roughing up some poor kids car, Hussey and his friend Brian get turned down by their girlfriends and decide to go get drunk in the woods. What follows is a drunken sexual experience that rocks Hussey to his core. He can't focused on school, on the football field and he even breaks up with his girlfriend. The issue ends with the samee scenario that rocked Hussey to begin wtih, drunk with his friend in the woods talking about ninja weapons.

I guess where I get confused is just where this fits in with the story. There are only 7 issues left in the omnibus and having an issue where you introduce all new people without moving any of the current characters stories forward seems strange. I trust Lapham to tie it all together though.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Arhkam Knight has consumed my freetime, but I'm gonna catch up through #35 tomorrow.

BTW headshot and uh...headshot since he's the only one still reading, do you have the recent Killers trade as well? Its basically Stray Bullets #42-49 after years of hiatus, and its really good. Some of the best Stray Bullets issues, really.

 

[headshot95]

Arhkam Knight has consumed my freetime, but I'm gonna catch up through #35 tomorrow.

BTW headshot and uh...headshot since he's the only one still reading, do you have the recent Killers trade as well? Its basically Stray Bullets #42-49 after years of hiatus, and its really good. Some of the best Stray Bullets issues, really.

I actually just ordered it from IST with some other books on Tuesday. I look forward to it.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Caught up through #35 and uh...still don't have a lot of enthusiasm for these issues lmao. He's going to wrap all this up, don't worry, but getting there is pretty meh.

 

[headshot95]

Caught up through #35 and uh...still don't have a lot of enthusiasm for these issues lmao. He's going to wrap all this up, don't worry, but getting there is pretty meh.

Yeah, I just finished issue 35 myself and I'm right there with you. Most of these new characters just fall flat. Kevin Leeds is just a straight asshole and for such a dumb reason, second grade girlfriends lol. Looks like the next issue focuses mainly on Virginia so that should be good.

 

[headshot95]

Ok, issue 36 is getting back on track. This issue focuses only on Virginia and her relationship with her mother, her mother's new boyfriend and her sister. It's told in that diary narration format that is common with stories featuring Virginia but it worked well in this issue. Her family dynamic is so messed up and the way she played off her mom's "present" at the end was perfect.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Like I said before, Virginia is the best character, so obviously an issue that focuses on her is the best one in awhile. Stray Bullets #36 concerns Ginny's home life now that she's back after 3 years of terribleness. Her mom is still as big a bitch as ever, but as some of the other characters state, Virginia's not exactly helping herself either. She's turned into a pretty hard kid, and its interesting to see her not just from her own perspective(with the diary framing device coming back), but also from other cast members, too. Course, Craig isn't perfect either, will climaxes in a pretty much perfect Stray Bullets moment.

Cool beans count: 17

 

[headshot95]

Issue 37 reintroduces Mike Hussey, only this time he is in Baltimore and in the same high school as Virginia. Hussey, in combination with repressing his sexuality, is also a psychopath, which we see multiple times in the issue. The war between the Jocks and the Burnouts seems to have no lines people aren't afraid to cross.

I'm so looking forward to the showdown between Hussey and Virginia. That last little bit at the end of this issue got me hyped.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Stray Bullets #37 kicks everything up a notch with an inciting incident and a wild card that might actually trump Virginia. Stef gets kidnapped by the burnouts in a juvenile attempt to back at Kevin and the Jocks. What starts out as a stupid attempt at a gag goes right off the damn rails by the aforementioned wildcard, Mike Houssey. He's just as tired of these lame high school shenanigans as the reader is, and decides to take it to some really dark places none of these kids were prepared for. This all clearly setting up a Virginia/Houssey showdown, as all the narrative strands start coming together in a compelling manner.

I also want to put out just how much Virginia has morphed into Beth. She even does that "hair behind the ear" thing Beth is always doing.

Its amazing to think she was once that awkward little girl coming out of the movie theaters, dreaming of Jedi from Star Wars.

Cool beans count: 17

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Stray Bullets #38 sees even more things we thought were random stupid asides become integral parts of the big plot that's snaring the whole cast. In a very tense and unpredictable opening sequence, our "heroes" Virginia and Leon learn about how the jocks are holding Tommy blackmail over some pretty explicit pictures. Then, in a hilarious but awkward as hell sequence, Virginia has to do her best drugged tramp routine to get those photos back, and its just utterly bizarre. But just as we think Virginia has cleanly saved the day again like last issue, Mike Houssey finds out Virgnia/Leon fucked up his plan and kidnaps them!

Great issue, with some really strong artwork and storytelling from David Lapham here. He's feels inspired again, sure of himself, like he spent a lot of time fucking around setting up these dominoes but now he gets the satisfaction of knocking them down. It even retroactively makes some issues better, like how Leon's rumors makes the Mike Houssey introduction issue even darker, or turns its cheap gay panic joke into a real psychological fear and dysfunction.

Cool beans count: 17

 

[frye]

I guess I'll be the voice of dissent here by saying that I'm actually pretty into all the high school stuff. It's heightened as hell in its depiction of violence/cliques/drugs/sex/whatever in a way that bears no resemblance to reality but it seems to me that one of Lapham's influences here is the teen soap and I'm unironically super into those!!

 

[headshot95]

Issue 38 gets us on the cusp of what should be an epic Virginia v. Mike Hussey matchup. Kevin looks even more pathetic as his deal with Tony's girlfriend is simply her just spending time with him for social appearances. An interesting development is how Kevin doesn't seem as cocky now that Hussey is around. He has no control over what Hussey says and does like he does with his other bros and eventually Mike just pushes him to the side, Kevin isn't even in the final scene with the confrontation with Virginia and Leon.

Issue 39 is the craziest Amy Racecar issue yet. In a feudal Japanese setting Amy and her partner are in front of a group of judges retelling a story. The story in question is so over the top in terms of violence and ridiculousness that you can't help but laugh while reading it. Characters names are essentially just two Japanese brans tied together and Amy's evil quadriplegic helps save the day with a mini gun that Amy keeps in her bag at all times. So over the top but one of the most fun issues in the series.

 

[headshot95]

I guess I'll be the voice of dissent here by saying that I'm actually pretty into all the high school stuff. It's heightened as hell in its depiction of violence/cliques/drugs/sex/whatever in a way that bears no resemblance to reality but it seems to me that one of Lapham's influences here is the teen soap and I'm unironically super into those!!

I think it has worked now that we are deeper into the story, but at first it was just a little too cliche for me. All these issues with all these characters and their deeply woven stories and fleshed out character flaws and then all of a sudden we get people just yelling, "fuck you jock" at each other. It just seemed like such a sharp turn from the writing of the previous stories but like I said, now that we are farther into the story, that heightened description of the high school and it's students seems to have paid off.