WILD BULLETS #1, available from Source Point Press on November 24th, 2021, ponders what happens when a murder mystery on Thanksgiving forces the eclectic Bullet family to solve the crime by doing the unthinkable… work together.
The Details
- Written By: Greg Wright
- Art By: Sean Seal, Jason Jimenez, Stephen Sharar, Stan Yak
- Colors By: Bux Dhyne
- Letters By: Bux Dhyne
- Cover Art By: Stan Yak, Robert Nugent
- Cover Price: $4.99
- Release Date: November 24, 2021
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Was It Good?
Tongue-in-cheek humor, when done right, can be a heck of a lot of fun. Especially when the story knows how not to take itself too seriously.
WILD BULLETS #1 is a whodunit about a house maid found dead in the Bullet family estate. Already gathered for a Thanksgiving feast, the Bullet family must each use their respective talents to solve the murder before a litany of gangsters, monsters, ninjas, and demons from other dimensions ruin the evening.
I like the absolutely silly tone of this comic and the way it pokes fun at Hollywood archetypes for each of the family members. One brother embodies the hardest of hardboiled noir detectives ala Sam Spade. One sister is an almost pitch perfect clone of Indiana Jones. Yet another is the spiritual (no pun intended) embodiment of occult detective Harry D’Amour. Every family member is an homage to a fictional adventurer, detective, or scientist with a comedic twist that’s worth the cover price just for the fun of picking out the little Easter Eggs and hidden references.
That said, this is a murder mystery, so the strength of the mystery relies on how solvable it is for the reader. In truth, it’s not. The final reveal of the whodunit, why and how is, admittedly, as silly as the characters themselves and in no way guessable until you get to the very end. Yet, you don’t mind it because the scenes devolve into outright chaos towards the end, and you realize there’s no sense to taking the murder too seriously.
An extra bit of praise goes to the art team on this issue for creating that eclectic group of family members to match there archetypes. The characters fit together (sort of) as a family but they simultaneously look like they come from completely different backgrounds. Better still, the issue is peppered with flashbacks rendered in the style (backgrounds, coloring, lettering, etc.) that mimic the film style for each character. The creators went all out to poke fun at Hollywood tropes while honoring them at the same time.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with the Bullet family assembled in a room of the Bullet estate surrounding the dead body of the maid, Chelsea. Her neck was broken, and nobody knows how it happened or why.
Through a series of narration captions, we’re introduced to every member of the Bullet family as they each consider how they first met Chelsea and how their unique skills could be used to solve the murder. As the evening progresses, each clue tips off one of the family members about a prior interaction with Chelsea and how they may (or may not) have contributed to her death.
As the night wears on and new clues are exposed, a number of nefarious groups who have a grudge against the Bullet family arrive to disrupt the investigation and fill the Bullet’s full of… bullets. We conclude the last act of the issue with a multi-group brawl that looks like something out of Blazing Saddles, a completely unguessable reveal of the cause for Chelsea’s death, and a long goodbye that winds up being pretty short.
Final Thoughts
WILD BULLETS #1 is a fun little murder mystery that gets very big very fast. Paying homage to, while poking fun at, a myriad of Hollywood character and murder mystery tropes, this comic is deceptively smart in the number of layers it piles on to give readers a unique storytelling experience. Equal parts farce and fantasy, you’ll enjoy this comic if you’re looking for something a little different.
Score: 8/10
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