Gangland

by Brian Azzarello, Doselle Young, Peter Kuper

From isolated but deadly hit men to extra- terrestrial enforcers packing otherworldly weapons, from suburban punks with bad attitudes to gangstas with lethal solutions to their credit problems, this new bullet-riddled collected edition provides chilling stories about bad guys banding together to wreak havoc on society. Suggested for mature readers.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Graphic Novels Comics, Anthologies, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

Brian Azzarello (born in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo. He and Argentine artist Eduardo Risso, with whom Azzarello first worked on Jonny Double, won the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story for 100 Bullets #15–18: "Hang Up on the Hang Low".

Azzarello has written for Batman ("Broken City", art by Risso; "Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire", art by Lee Bermejo, Tim Bradstreet, & Mick Gray) and Superman ("For Tomorrow", art by Jim Lee).

In 2005, Azzarello began a new creator-owned series, the western Loveless, with artist Marcelo Frusin.

As of 2007, Azzarello is married to fellow comic-book writer and illustrator Jill Thompson.

information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Az...

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting anthology series where every story is somehow crime related. There's some truly A List talent in this volume, and while not every story is great, this is one of the better Vertigo anthologies.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great anthology, only marred by the lack of pagination, contents page, and contributors notes.
This was one of a set of samplers as Vertigo spread its wings, reprinting miniseries that mixed genres with Vertigo's Mature Readers appeal and tilt toward horror and fantasy.
These crime stories are slight, but the approaches to comics art and storytelling are varies and fun.
Recommended.

[Danijel Jedriško · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Gangland" is a collection of crime stories. But, the stories aren't just about crime. I would say that they are also about people who, in the world caring only about itself, are trying to succeed. Sometimes, their intentions are good, but in the end it all results in crime. As with any other anthology, "Gangland" has some great stories, and some that are really, really bad. It's hard to comment or grade the book only by its best or by its worst parts. Some writers are really geniuses of the media and the genre alike. Others seem to lose themselves in the simplest plot building.

Therefore, "Gangland" is a fun book to read, it has its moments. But, its nothing more than that. Few moments of brilliance aren't enough to make the whole book worthy of the effort.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an anthology crime series, and the list of creators reads like a who's who of today's star creators. Most of these guys were minor leaguers back then, but all of their talents were already in evidence. The stories go all over the spectrum, with all of them are rooted in various facets of crime. The artwork is generally good, with the occasional clunker thrown in. I especially like the stories told from the crazy homeless guy's, and the one from the dog's, perspectives.

The OCD zone- The paper used in this book is of slightly higher quality than the crap that DC would employ in their more recent Vertigo trades. It's still not the best grade to capture the brilliance of the computer coloring, but it's okay.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting collection of stories featuring criminal backstories and crime in general. Great concept. The collection is fast, punchy and a breeze to read. It features some of the best creators in the genre: Brian Azzarello, David Lloyd, Ed Brubaker, Jamie Delano, Frank Quietly, et al. Overall, I think the first half was pretty solid, the stories kind of fizzle out in the latter half, still, it was short enough not to despair over.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Varied in tone, beauty, and worth, but some stunning bits in here. Some live off their incongruous lyricism, some off historical echoes. Each is short enough that it can’t avoid having one sharp point to make. Nasty obviously, but it earns it with wit and craft.

[Dkolacinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOTE: The Kindle edition is spread over 4 issues. Tales of various forms of gangsters, most are interesting and a few are great. Various styles, each appropriate for the stories being told.

[Chalupa Batman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun anthology! I really liked the German Shepard story. A number of the stories speak about the human condition.

[Jamil · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Decent

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. A couple of scattered bum notes, but (somewhat surprisingly) one of the best anthology trades I've read in years.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology of 13 short graphic stories, bound together by loose membership of the "crime" genre.

Two of my favorite stories were about a dog formerly owned by a mafia member, and 2 young men from the barrio heading uptown to go on a spending spree when offered a credit card, with grim results in both stories. Russian oligarchs, Chinatown curses, small town kids and neanderthal man all form other bases of stories, which just about sums up the range.

A whole gamut of interesting and diverse creators, from Brubaker to Lansdale, through Kuper, Gibbons and Azzarello. I do not know how anyone could not have fun.

The shorter, complete "comic" stories has always been a favourite, especially if a bit dark, sexy or with a savage twist. Must be the old British comics for young teenagers I devoured as a kid. And plenty of those type in here. A couple of lame-o efforts, but they are the minority.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the art throughout the book, and found that each of the different artists featured through the different stories had a different kind of appeal--
I also found alot of the stories pretty cool. Some were of course better than others, but overall pretty smart, interesting stories, some about machine-gun-wielding gangsters in the 20's, and some from other "ganglands" such as modern-day barrio kids stealing credit cards, mafia families evening the score, and so on. Dark and interesting.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 4 out of 5]

O crime e o castigo, ou a impunidade, vistos pela quadrícula da vinheta. Crimes e prevaricações, histórias tristes de final infeliz, violência gratuita e muita ironia são os condimentos de Gangland. Colectânea de histórias curtas escritas e ilustradas por alguns dos mais representativos criativos ligados à DC Comics - Vertigo, mostra o que se espera. Argumentos sólidos e ilustração que não se fica pelos limites da BD comercial.

[Abraham Thunderwolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume covers all sorts of seamy stories, and you know how much I like seam. There are a lot of cool straight up noir stories, but then you run into mystical protectors. I bet you can get this for way cheaper than the cover price, and if so you should pick it up. Of course this being a comic book compilation there's a bunch of different art styles, yet they all are worth looking at! I kinda wished the stories were straight up crime instead of occasionally veering off into weirdness.

[Allan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I got this for the Joe R. Lansdale story, but it really wasn't worth it for the other weak EC Comics wannabe stories. The Ed Brubaker story was the best of them.

[Paddyspub · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent comics

[Fanny · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gets more and more ridiculous as it progresses, bit it's an ok read.