bullseye #1 featured Reviews 

Pick of the Week: “Bullseye” #1

By | February 2nd, 2017
Posted in Pick of the Week, Reviews | % Comments

Daredevil’s deadliest foe gets his own solo series but can he truly stand on his own? Read on for our spoiler free review of “Bullseye” #1.

Written by Ed Brisson
Illustrated by Guillermo Sanna

SHOOT FIRST! Daredevil, Elektra, Punisher? You name ’em, Bullseye beat ’em. But that was just business? This? This is pleasure. What does the world’s greatest assassin do for fun? Find out what Bullseye gets involved in for laughs in this deadly first issue, way down in South America! Rated T+

Bullseye is no stranger to standing in the spotlight. As Daredevil’s most well known villain and arguably one of the best Marvel villains of all time, he’s been a part of teams and has led his own series in the past. After being dead, paralyzed and out of action, Bullseye is back in action, ready to kill for whoever will pay him the most. “Bullseye” #1 doesn’t reinvent the character but instead puts him in a story that lets him shine.

“Bullseye” #1 finds the character back to doing what he does best – killing. When they say on the cover that this isn’t for kids, they aren’t kidding, folks. Bullseye is working as a freelance assassin, taking jobs that both excite him and pay big bucks. After he makes a job into a headline making spectacle, he decides to take another job outside of the United States that puts him face to face with the Colombian Cartel.

Bullseye is a bad guy. He gets thrills from killing and will kill whoever gets in his way with a smile on his face. To write him any other way than that changes him into something else and that’s exactly what Ed Brisson avoids doing in this debut. Bullseye is written as a complete asshole but there’s this underlying dark comedy at play here. What Bullseye does is seen by everyone else has overkill and there is an exaggeration to his violence. Make no mistake, this is a dark story full of bad people but the interaction between Bullseye and his agent/handler are rather funny as Bullseye can’t be bothered to take him too seriously. This particular scene features Bullseye doing terrible things with paper clips but this dark humor helps to separate himself from someone The Punisher or any other assassin that exists in Marvel or even DC. Brisson is able to add his own spin to the characterization of Bullseye without sanitizing him and with the plot being as simple as it is, this helps make the issue feel a bit more special.

Guillermo Sanna’s art is good and suits the kind of story being told here but there are moments where it left me a little cold because it is on the messier side. Sanna does a really nice job at setting the mood and that messiness does bring us into Bullseye’s world a little easier. His Bullseye design is great and the way he moves is especially well done. He’s a natural fighter and his signature perfect aim comes off like something learned instead of something super powered. Sanna’s action really clicks and that is no more apparent than in the double page spread right in the beginning. Each close up, each highlight of every hit Bullseye makes heightens the anxiety of the character he’s hunting and it helps establish his dominance as an assassin very early in the story. Just these visuals tell you all you need to know about the character. My problem with Sanna’s art comes from some of the disappearing background characters. Faces are completely lost and it makes it hard for me to completely feel what’s going on. Some of the body language is a little awkward but again, Sanna makes up for this in later pages with huge, explosive action.

Mrva’s color work really adds an important extra layer to Sanna’s pencils. Mrva in a sense brings structure and throughout the issue they change up their palette often, making each page something new and interesting. “Bullseye” #1 gets dark in the right places but there are places that Mrva lightens things up and it adds to this dark humor that lies underneath this story. Bullseye is a guy who’s known for fighting Daredevil, a vigilante who operates in the shadows, so to see him exist in these bright places is a nice contrast.

Also featured is a back up story by Bullseye’s dad, Marv Wolfman with art by Alec Morgan and colors by Frank Martin entitled “If I Tell You.” Taking place in Newark, NJ, Bullseye goes face to face with a bunch of bad guys after stealing some valuable data off a computer. Typically I complain about the higher price tags Marvel places on their #1’s but with “Bullseye” #1, you really do get two stories as this shorter one is a full tale. Wolfman, Morgan and Martin make that price tag sting a bit less as they do a great job with a limited amount of space. This features a snarky, cocky Bullseye just as the main story does and doesn’t waste a single panel. This cuts to the chase and because of that, it’s the kind of tense scenario I imagine the character in. Wolfman also relies on his charisma to great effect. Morgan’s art is kind of what I wish the main story had. As mentioned, the art isn’t bad but Morgan is a little more direct with his backgrounds and character expressions. Martin’s colors, however, are a little brighter than I’d like but he does use shadows in a nice way, particularly during the chase sequences.

Final Verdict: 7.5 – A very good introduction (or reintroduction) to the character that makes no apologies for who he is but finds a way to deliver a compelling story.


//TAGS | Pick of the Week

Jess Camacho

Jess is from New Jersey. She loves comic books, pizza, wrestling and the Mets. She can be seen talking comics here and at Geeked Out Nation. Follow her on Twitter @JessCamNJ for the hottest pro wrestling takes.

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