Bullet Gal #12

By Andrez Bergen

Meanwhile, back at the press conference…

“I don’t get it! Where are Big Game Hunter… and Major Patriot?? And isn’t that Milkcrate Man on the podium?? What’s he still doing here??” 

Get out of here Milkcrate Man!

Writer/artist Andrez Bergen returns to Heropa for one last Bullet Gal story, and this time he pulls out some of his best work on the series yet!

This story has been centered around the idea of superheroes, but with a constant noir vibe. This issue, Bergen crawls even deeper into the narrative that creates a good noir story. “Went that afternoon to seek out Brigit and kill the cow, but found only a sweetheart reading a romance novel with an outrageous French accent and a dog on her lap. No memory of bullets or ballistics.” The image featuring this quote takes up the entire page, and shows the girl described. Bergen takes to the edges to feature the short narrative, using cursive to bring a sophisticated style to the elegant image, the words themselves presenting a danger to the otherwise peaceful scene – which depicts a girl we all know might not be too peaceful…

With Heropa “reset” there’s a lot of unrest in the city. What are all the villains up to? What about the heroes? Well, Owl seems to have a certain take on this, which showcases some of Bergen;s more comedic writing, “Heropa is set to become more sanitized than if an overzealous toilet cleaner were at large. We need pizzazz.” A line like this also seems to resemble another character, could see Nicholson’s Joker saying something like this, as Bergen continues to give each character of his a different take on the world.

The overall artwork in this issue follows Bergen’s usual noir style that features various images from pop culture as well as art from Bergen himself, but it’s clear he’s learned a few tricks during his time spent with this story. The pages in this issue are loaded with creativity and, if you look closely, some of your favorite stars. Following the scene/artwork previously mentioned are a few more pages of the text style – cursive, but this time they’re weaving around different panels, along with the words “THE END IS NEAR!!!!!!!”, which just sounds heartwarming. Something Bergen also does this issue is bring color into the mix, which he has been rarely using (the bright yellow lightning bolt seen at the news conference stands out and emphasizes the importance of the meeting).

Bullet Gal #12 wraps up the story of Heropa and Mitzi as she puts her guns away to live a simpler life and “live a little”, but that doesn’t seem too likely… does it?

Hey… Milkcrate Man! Thought I told you to get out of here!