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Stray Bullets (comics)

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Stray Bullets
The cover has a large banner at the top reading "STRAY BULLETS" with a band in the bottom third that has a drawing of a man with a revolver looking scared under the moon.
Cover to Stray Bullets #1 (1995) by David Lapham
Publication information
PublisherEl Capitan Books
Image Comics
ScheduleIrregular
FormatOngoing series
Genre
Publication dateMarch 1995 – present
No. of issues
  • Stray Bullets – 41
  • Killers – 8
  • Sunshine & Roses – 42
Creative team
Created byDavid Lapham
Written byDavid Lapham
Artist(s)David Lapham
Letterer(s)David Lapham
Editor(s)Deborah Purcell
Collected editions
Innocence of NihilismISBN 978-1-63215-113-1
Somewhere Out WestISBN 978-1-63215-377-7
Other PeopleISBN 978-1-63215-482-8
Dark DaysISBN 978-1-63215-553-5
Hi-Jinks and Derring-DoISBN 978-1-63215-733-1
KillersISBN 978-1-63215-215-2

Stray Bullets is an independent American comic book series published in black and white (with color covers) by El Capitan Books and Image Comics. It is written and drawn by David Lapham.[1][2]

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. Published on an irregular basis since 1995, the comic has had close to 100 issues and is a long-time critically acclaimed series.[3][4][5]

Publication history

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The first issue was published in 1995 and followed an irregular publishing schedule through its fortieth issue, which was published in 2005. In a 2007 interview with Michael Lorah for the Newsarama website, Lapham revealed that the series, including the final issue of the current story arc, was on hold indefinitely:

NRAMA : I've got to ask, what is the status of El Capitan and Stray Bullets?

DAVID LAPHAM : It kills me to put Stray Bullets on hold like it's been. Maria and I both put a lot of years and a lot of hard work into the company and the book. And I still have one issue left in the current arc, left dangling. But the reality the last few years has been that it's faster and pays more to work freelance right now. The reality is I have a family and I can't just say stop everything and let's do Stray Bullets for love. I do love Bullets and know I will complete it, and the sooner the better, but I just can't commit to anything firm.[6]

In 2009, a new ten-page story titled, Stray Bullets: Open the Goddamn Box appeared in Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics, an anthology book published by Dark Horse Comics.

In March 2014, Image Comics ended the hiatus of Stray Bullets with the publication of the final issue of the HiJinks and Derring-Do arc, and the simultaneous launch of a new series and arc titled Stray Bullets: Killers. A giant-sized softcover trade paperback edition (The Uber Alles Edition) collecting all forty-one issues of the original series was also released by Image Comics.[7] Killers ran for eight issues throughout 2014. Following a brief hiatus, Lapham returned in early 2015 with another new story arc/series titled Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses that ended after 42 issues in August 2020. Lapham plans to continue publishing Stray Bullets in this fashion at Image, with each arc treated as a discrete series. In the final issue of the Sunshine & Roses arc/series, Lapham announced that the next arc/series will be titled Virginia, although he could not give a date for when the series would begin.

Lapham additionally published two issues of the Amy Racecar Color Special in 1997 and 1998, starring the alter ego of lead character Virginia Applejack.

Collected editions

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There has been an assortment of volumes reprinting the original comic books.

The first three story arcs in the series were originally collected in large-size hardcovers which were published in a format similar to European albums. Beginning in 2005, the first two of these same story arcs were published in traditional American comic book size softcover edition:

The first 32 issues of the comic book have also been collected in eight softcovers, each of which reprint the contents of four individual issues:

In 2014 Image Comics began to release the following collected editions

  • Stray Bullets: Uber Alles Edition, collecting Stray Bullets #1–41 (ISBN 1607069474)
  • Stray Bullets Vol #1: Innocence of Nihilism, collecting Stray Bullets #1–7 (ISBN 978-1-63215-113-1)
  • Stray Bullets Vol #2: Somewhere Out West, collecting Stray Bullets #8–14 (ISBN 978-1-63215-377-7)
  • Stray Bullets Vol #3: Other People, collecting Stray Bullets #15–22 (ISBN 978-1-63215-482-8)
  • Stray Bullets Vol #4: Dark Days, collecting Stray Bullets #23–30 (ISBN 978-1-63215-553-5)
  • Stray Bullets Vol #5: Hi-Jinks and Derring-Do, collecting Stray Bullets #31–41 (ISBN 978-1-63215-733-1)
  • Stray Bullets Vol #6: Killers, collecting Stray Bullets: Killers #1–8 (ISBN 978-1-63215-215-2)
  • Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses Volume 1, collecting Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses #1–8 (ISBN 978-1-53430-799-5)
  • Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses Volume 2, collecting Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses #9–16 (ISBN 978-1-53430-978-4)
  • Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses Volume 3, collecting Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses #17–24 (ISBN 978-1-53430-986-9)
  • Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses Volume 4, collecting Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses #25–32 (ISBN 978-1-5343-1046-9)

Amy Racecar Volume 1 (ISBN 0-9727145-1-0) was also released in 2002. The volume collects the Stray Bullets issues featuring Amy Racecar as well as both issues of Amy Racecar Color Special.

Awards

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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"[8] 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.

See also

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Other comics by Lapham:

References

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  1. ^ Johnston, Rich (December 20, 2010). "David Lapham Talks Crossed Past, Present… And Future". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  2. ^ Armitage, Hugh (October 1, 2014). "Image begins new reprints of David Lapham classic Stray Bullets". Digital Spy. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  3. ^ Magnett, Chase (November 7, 2016). "5 Favorite Image Crime Comics". ComicBook.com. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  4. ^ Dean, Tres (November 19, 2019). "This Is Dope: Stray Bullets, The Best Noir Comic You're Probably Not Reading". Syfy. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  5. ^ Fonseka, Anish (September 16, 2022). "10 Ways David Lapham's Stray Bullets Is The Ultimate Crime Comic". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  6. ^ Lorah, Michael (April 25, 2007). "David Lapham: Down Among The Silverfish". Newsarama. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved April 25, 2007.
  7. ^ Sava, Oliver (March 14, 2014). "The return of David Lapham's Stray Bullets gets the fanfare it deserves". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  8. ^ 1997 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners,

Sources

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