Stray Bullets
| Stray Bullets | |
|---|---|
|
Cover to Stray Bullets #1 (1995). Art by David Lapham. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | El Capitan Books, Image Comics |
| Schedule | Irregular |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | March 1995 – present |
| Number of issues | 49 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | David Lapham |
| Artist(s) | David Lapham |
| Letterer(s) | David Lapham |
| Creator(s) | David Lapham |
| Editor(s) | Deborah Purcell |
| Collected editions | |
| Innocence of Nihilism | ISBN 0-9653280-2-3 |
| Somewhere Out West | ISBN 0-9653280-5-8 |
| Other People | ISBN 0-9653280-9-0 |
Stray Bullets is an independent American comic book series published in black and white (with color covers) by El Capitan Books. It is written and drawn by David Lapham.
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.
Publication history
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, is on hold indefinitely:
| “ | NRAMA : I've got to ask, what is the status of El Capitan and Stray Bullets?
|
” |
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 arc entitled 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.[2] Killers ran for 8 issues throughout 2014, then after a brief hiatus, Lapham returned in early 2015 with Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses. Lapham plans to continue publishing Stray Bullets in this fashion at Image, with each arc treated as a discrete miniseries.
Collected editions
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:
- Innocence of Nihilism, collecting Stray Bullets #1–7 (Hardcover: ISBN 0-9653280-2-3; Softcover: ISBN 0-9727145-6-1).
- Somewhere Out West, collecting #8–14 (Hardcover: ISBN 0-9653280-5-8; Softcover: ISBN 0-9727145-7-X).
- Other People, collecting #15–22 (Hardcover: ISBN 0-9653280-9-0).
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:
- Stray Bullets Volume 1, reprinting #1–4 (ISBN 0-9653280-3-1).
- Stray Bullets Volume 2, reprinting #5–8 (ISBN 0-9653280-4-X).
- Stray Bullets Volume 3, reprinting #9–12 (ISBN 0-9653280-6-6).
- Stray Bullets Volume 4, reprinting #13–16 (ISBN 0-9653280-7-4).
- Stray Bullets Volume 5, reprinting #17–20 (ISBN 0-9653280-8-2).
- Stray Bullets Volume 6, reprinting #21–24 (ISBN 0-9727145-0-2).
- Stray Bullets Volume 7, reprinting #25–28 (ISBN 0-9727145-2-9).
- Stray Bullets Volume 8, reprinting #29–32 (ISBN 0-9727145-4-5).
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)
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
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"[3] 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
Notes
- ↑ Lorah, Michael (April 25, 2007). "David Lapham: Down Among The Silverfish". Newsarama. Retrieved April 25, 2007.
- ↑ http://www.avclub.com/article/return-david-laphams-stray-bullets-gets-fanfare-it-202182
- ↑ 1997 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners,
References
- 'Stray Bullets' at the Grand Comics Database
- 'Stray Bullets' at the Comic Book DB