100 Bullets #100 - Vertigo

This book left me with a lot of mixed emotions. I love this book. I have since the beginning. Yes, there were times where it was a little hard to follow. Sometimes the story was a bit to complex for it's own good. But . . it was honest. It showed the true nature of the people involved in it. There were a lot of various story-lines, going in a lot of various directions, but . . when it came down to it, this was really a story about power. It was about the want and the need for power . . the pursuit of that power, and . . the reality that you will lose all trust in those around you because of that power. I was concerned when I learned that this would be the final issue. I wondered how it could end, when there's so much going on . . so many characters with a hand in the pot . . a story to tell. Well . . being the final issue was apropos. We start out this issue with everyone trying to decide where this organization would go next. Last issue everyone's place in it was set . . now they just had to put the machine back in motion again. However, their was one wild-card that I don't think anyone took into account . . Lono. No matter what they decided . . no matter their intentions . . Lono was always going to be out there on his own program, with his own agenda. This issue we find out that plan was to take down the whole house of cards. He doesn't do the whole thing himself, however . . his actions provide others with the courage to do things they wanted to do . . things they may have thought about but never conceived as a possibility. When all is said and done, this is the final issue because . . well, there's no one left. Actually Loop, Victor Ray and his dad make it out of this mess, and drive away. But there involvement in everything was minuscule at best. The last 2 standing were Graves and Dizzy. But we always knew Graves was going to fight his way to the end. He's just taken out Mr Medici, and Dizzy is hurt because of an explosion in the house. He's come to her side, but as she's hanging on, she's questioning his move against the last house, killing Medici. "Years ago, he ruined my life . . compromised my principles . . in exchange for . . giving me the opportunity to offer my principles to other people." To which Dizzy responds, " Then he didn't ruin your life." The house is burning down around them, and Dizzy barely has enough energy to pick up her gun, but the final scene of the book is Graves holding her in his arms, she's got her gun to his head, and he says . . "I know." It was a powerful book, that had an equally powerful ending. But, really . . it ended the only way it could. Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso should be commended for telling this incredible story. They've been with it since issue #1. Ten years of fantastic story-telling. We hate to see it go, but . . this was such a great issue . . it kind of eased that pain a little bit. I hate to say it, but . . this story ended the way the Sopranos should have. Thanks for all the great issues.