''Stray Bullets'' is an independent

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

published in black and white (with color covers) by El Capitan Books and

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

. It is written and drawn by

David Lapham David Lapham is an American comic book writer, artist, and cartoonist, best known for his work on the independent comic book '' Stray Bullets''. Career David Lapham started his career in 1990 as a penciller at Valiant Comics. He went on to wor ...

. The story deals with the often

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

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.

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 Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History N ...

website, Lapham revealed that the series, including the final issue of the current story arc, was on hold indefinitely: 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 Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

. In March 2014,

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. ''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

There has been an assortment of

volumes Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The defi ...

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 An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

. 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: ; Softcover: ). * ''Somewhere Out West'', collecting #8–14 (Hardcover: ; Softcover: ). * ''Other People'', collecting #15–22 (Hardcover: ). 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 (). *''Stray Bullets Volume 2'', reprinting #5–8 (). *''Stray Bullets Volume 3'', reprinting #9–12 (). *''Stray Bullets Volume 4'', reprinting #13–16 (). *''Stray Bullets Volume 5'', reprinting #17–20 (). *''Stray Bullets Volume 6'', reprinting #21–24 (). *''Stray Bullets Volume 7'', reprinting #25–28 (). *''Stray Bullets Volume 8'', reprinting #29–32 (). In 2014 Image Comics began to release the following collected editions *''Stray Bullets: Uber Alles Edition'', collecting ''Stray Bullets'' #1–41 () *''Stray Bullets Vol #1: Innocence of Nihilism'', collecting ''Stray Bullets'' #1–7 () *''Stray Bullets Vol #2: Somewhere Out West'', collecting ''Stray Bullets'' #8–14 () *''Stray Bullets Vol #3: Other People'', collecting ''Stray Bullets'' #15–22 () *''Stray Bullets Vol #4: Dark Days'', collecting ''Stray Bullets'' #23–30 () *''Stray Bullets Vol #5: Hi-Jinks and Derring-Do'', collecting ''Stray Bullets'' #31–41 () *''Stray Bullets Vol #6: Killers'', collecting ''Stray Bullets: Killers'' #1–8 () *''Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses Volume 1'', collecting ''Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses'' #1–8 () *''Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses Volume 2'', collecting ''Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses'' #9–16 () *''Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses Volume 3'', collecting ''Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses'' #17–24 () *''Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses Volume 4'', collecting ''Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses'' #25–32 () ''Amy Racecar Volume 1'' () 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 The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

for Best Writer/Artist, Drama, and the trade paperback collection ''Stray Bullets: Innocence of Nihilism'' won the 1997

for "Best Graphic Album-Reprint"1997 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners
the Comic Book Awards Almanac and was a top votegetter for the

Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award The ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG'') magazine administered the annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1982 to circa 2010, with the first awards announced in issue #500 (June 17, 1983). Upon taking over as ''CBG'' editors, Don and Maggie T ...

for Favorite Reprint Graphic Novel/Album for the same year.

References

Sources

* *{{comicbookdb, type=title, id=82, title=''Stray Bullets''

External links