Stray Bullets Volume 1 HC Innocence of Nihilism NM 1stp David Lapham El Capitan

Description

Stray Bullets Volume 1 HC Innocence of Nihilism, collecting Stray Bullets #1–7 (Hardcover: ISBN 0-9653280-2-3)

Stray Bullets is an independent American comic book series published in black and white (with color covers) by El Capitan Books. It is written and drawn by David Lapham.

The story deals with the often criminal and sometimes tragic misadventures of a large cast of characters and takes place from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s.

The series has been nominated for numerous awards. Stray Bullets won the 1996 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist, Drama, and the trade paperback collection Stray Bullets: Innocence of Nihilism won the 1997 Eisner Award for “Best Graphic Album-Reprint” the Comic Book Awards Almanac and was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer’s Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Novel/Album for the same year.

“Stray Bullets is all about delivering a gut-punch each and every issue,” said Lapham. “I call it domestic-noir. These stories will hit you where you live.”

STRAY BULLETS won the 1996 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist, and the hardcover collection STRAY BULLETS: Innocence of Nihilism won the 1997 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album-Reprint. Its trademark dark, neo-noir themes and nonlinear storytelling have been likened to the storytelling styles of Quentin Tarantino and David Lynch.

Volume 1 – 1st printing. “Innocence of Nihilism!” Collects Stray Bullets (1995-2005) #1-7. Story and art by David Lapham. This larger-than-life hardcover features never-before-seen scripts, character sketches and photographs. These first seven stories follow, with startling realism, the lost lives of Joey, Frank, Orson, Beth, Scott, Nina, Led, Sonny, Rose, and Virginia, as they try to survive in an unjustified world where all are sorry heroes and unsuspecting victims. Hardcover, 240 pages, B&W.

For several years I’ve been slightly pissed off at David Lapham. In the late nineties, Stray Bullets – along with Sin City, Eightball, Black Hole and a handful of other titles – was largely responsible for introducing me to the world of ‘alternative’ comics, reigniting my childhood enthusiasm for the medium. It remains a masterpiece of hardboiled crime and sequential art in general, with some of the most unforgettable characters and shocking moments I’ve encountered in over fifteen years of voracious-yet-very-selective comics consumption.

After following the individual issues for awhile, I eventually settled on picking up the trade paperbacks instead; when El Capitan, Laphams’ independent label devoted solely to Stray Bullets (and related projects, like his mini-series Murder Me Dead), began publishing the over-sized hardcover collections I immediately fell in love with the format (at a time when deluxe oversized hardcovers were rare things, unlike today, when every crappy series gets the deluxe treatment), and purchased the first three volumes as they appeared. After a brief hiatus from comics, completing my collection of Deluxe Edition Stray Bullets hardcovers was a top priority.

Make no mistake, this is one of the best comics of the quarter-century, and it deserves to be read and appreciated. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Lapham for Stray Bullets.

These Hardcovers are huge! (12″x9″!)

0-9653280-2-3

Collects issues 1-7 of Stray Bullets. Near mint, first printing. From my personal collection, has been kept bagged and boxed since the day I got it!