Hold onto your nerves, it’s the return of the Sunshine and Roses story arc. The second Image (El Capitan) trade of this Stray Bullets storyline is released and collects issues 9-16.
This volume is an incredible read, and an incredible bargain: 252 black and white pages of solid reading for $19.99. That is a really good price for several solid hours of reading!
The story is a gritty, messy tale of hard living and hard luck. Hard-bitten by drug and alcohol addiction, our lead characters plot to rescue a family friend, and get revenge on local organized crime. Through the haze of their addictions and emotional instability, they weave toward having their goals realized. Then, of course, everything goes wrong. Over and over and over again. Blood, sweat, heartache. More blood and violence, followed by more guns, beatings, drugs, betrayal and oh yeah, beatings. All you need is love!
Interspersed among the many wrong moments in the lives of the characters are interludes of dream episodes and fantasy-enhanced versions of their backstories.
It’s rough going, but (ahem) kind of addictive itself, reading about people who mean well, but can’t even walk straight, let alone plan a major caper. Just staying clean and awake seems to be about all they can hope for!
This hard-scrabble tale is told so convincingly, I wonder how it was researched… It’s written AND drawn by David Lapham, good grief, and produced and edited by Maria Lapham.
Compellingly written and competently illustrated, this is one story that you will not want to put down!
Image, Stray Bullets: Sunshine and Roses, Part 2 Trade collection. $19.99 for 252 pages of content. Mature.
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