My .22 Always Works is a comic written by Russell Hillman with art by David Baf Gallart. This is a story about past, present, and unknown relationships. The framing device and title come from a creator named Wally Wood and I would go into more detail but it’s a lot. Our main character is Stevie, someone who isn’t the best decision maker in the world. We’ll also get a good glance at two ladies, Peggy and Donna. The plot is really just about the crossing of relationships but this is told in the noir style. There is a reasonable amount of action here but nothing too crazy. The pacing is perfect, the dialogue is very early television, and no page is too wordy. This is a story that will have you on your toes when you were planning on sitting down.

            This is a noir tale which all but requires it to be in black-and-white. The location changes frequently and what we can see of the background adds to the atmosphere. This is drawn in an older style so expressions don’t come off that well but the faces are drawn pretty well. Have you seen an early TV show? Well that’s what these folks are dressed like, suits and dresses both loose and tight. The action is very straight-forward.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like noir tales and you’ve looked up this 22 panels thing and find that intriguing you might want to check this out.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Things get freaky.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“I can’t do it Donna. I can’t go back to us.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1692478274/my-22-always-works/description

Purchase Link: https://freaktowncomics.bigcartel.com/product/my-22-always-works

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 22

Violent Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 4, for 18% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 2

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 3

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 4

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”