Reviewer: Frosty McKenzie
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: Frank Miller
Genre: Graphic Novel (Softcover)
MSRP: $17.00 U.S.
Release Date: Available Now
When Frank Miller created the world of Sin City, he has given readers a dark and fascinating city where the men are vicious creatures and the women are deadly and beautiful. It’s a city where blood is spilled on a nightly basis and where a simple kiss could lead to your demise and, yes, a man can find a moment’s bliss with the ladies of Old Town if you play by their rules. A city like this has many stories and in Sin City: Booze, Broads & Bullets we get an entire volume filled with short stories in our favorite city.
Unlike the first five volumes of the series, Booze, Broads & Bullets doesn’t follow a single storyline and opts for a series of short stories … some of them even include already established characters that made short appearances in the first five volumes. In one story, we find Marv waking up in mid-air after having been ejected from the windshield of a moving car. Perhaps it was the head trauma or maybe he forgot to take his medication but Marv doesn’t remember how he got here.
Marv starts remembering some details of this Saturday night in Sin City when – after seeing Nancy fly into the arms of an old cop named Hartigan was too much for him – he sees a group of frat boys lighting homeless men on fire. Leave it to Marv to come to their defense as he chases the frat boys into the projects where shows them that they’re no way out of these projects. Speaking of Marv, there’s another story with him that involves a dungeon and a little girl as Marv dishes out his brand of justice to save the child.
There is also a story with Dwight McCarthy who checks in on a friend only to find him hanging from a ceiling fan but he finds a beautiful woman in red who asks for his help because the men who killed Dwight’s friend is still here. So begins a chase that has Dwight matching wits with the pair of wannabe sophisticates named Klump and Shlubb who are low-rent hitmen that show up often in this series. In fact, we get to see just how smart they are in “Fat Man and Little Boy.”
We also get a good look at exactly how good the girls at Old Town are at protecting themselves from men that not only break their rules but try to stop of those rules. Somewhere else in Sin City, a man falls madly in love with the wrong girl who shows him her true colors … and some series “daddy” issues. Meanwhile, a rat gets what’s deserves and – in another story – a very charming man meets a woman in a balcony and one of them will end up dead.
We are also introduced to a young woman with blue eyes who runs into the man she loves and passes a very extreme test that turns her into a new contract killer. In fact, we get two stories with the contracted killer who calls herself Blue Eyes as we follow her starting career in one blunder and then watch her correct said blunder. What makes her even more interesting is her methods that surprises even her handler.
While this sixth volume is a bit on the short side, it’s the content that counts. Anyone whose seen the movie will quickly remember “The Customer is Always Right.” On top of that, it’s always good to see Marv again and – of course – more of Dwight. However, it’s the little stories that make this volume a classic as well and it can all be attributed to Miller’s writing and artwork.
Booze, Broads & Bullets takes a different turn than the past volumes to bring us short stories that are loads of fun to read seeing as the world Frank Miller created was one we have actually come to like. He does include some familiar faces but some new ones as well that simply makes this yet another volume of Sin City you just have to have in your collection.
COMIC REVOLUTION RATING BREAKDOWN
STORY: A-
In a time before Marv met his fate getting revenge for Goldie, we get a glimpse of Marv on a typical Saturday night as well as get a taste of where he stands when it comes to justice. There’s even a story with Dwight and another story about a newly baptized contract killer. There are other short stories as well from the dark crevices of Sin City.
ART: A
Miller’s artwork has always been something unique and recognizable with the Sin City books all the more striking. You just have to love how he adds color to the black and white world he created. This is brilliant stuff, indeed.
OVERALL: A-
As the Sin City series turns more into a collection of stories about our favorite sordid and bloody city, Frank Miller still manages to entertain just as well as his past five entries in this series. He still brings us stories involving our favorite characters but also introduces new elements that make this edition shine just as brightly.
Review copy provided by Dark Horse Books
