Bullet Gal #9

By Andrez Bergen

Remember those silent movies you watched as a kid? The black and white screen crackling as you sat their eating your Cracker Jack’s, impatiently anticipating the screen of dialogue to come up so you could laugh knowing the man said “That’s not how you give a haircut!” – Oh wait, do you remember that? I don’t… but this issue of Bullet Gal certainly does.

Creator Andrez Bergen uses issue #9 to push this creative series into a new direction – how so? By leaving the entire issue free of dialogue! It’s something that might sound a bit risky, but it suits the artistic style of this series quite nicely. The story progresses (she’s up!) as we’re shown familiar faces while not given any spoken word alongside them.

The artwork in this issue serves to bring forth the entire story, so there are quite a few scenes worth gazing into for extended periods of time (that’s a mighty fine cup of joe). The lack of dialogue doesn’t leave the issue completely void of words however, as the scene just described with the coffee mug gives us a bit of insight on the Heropa Hospital patient via a document seen in the image (one that will most likely be left with a coffee ring). Other images see old faces getting ready for their next big encounter (the golden gun!). The interaction with the images is fantastic to see as well. A scene featuring the flick of a cigarette out a window shows it ending up in the street and being run over by a car as a means to bring us to the next set of visuals – a creative means to transition from one scene to the next, almost as if watching a movie.

Bergen continues to push creative boundaries with each issue of this series – and goes even further with issue #9. Even without words the story bleeds its noir roots, keeping you engrossed in the story and craving more.