Hell And Back | |
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- | |
Written by |
Frank Miller |
Released |
July 1999 - April 2000 |
Genre |
Graphic Novel |
Number Of Titles |
9 |
Preceded By |
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Suceeded By |
- |
Hell And Back is a nine-issue comic book limited series, first published by Dark Horse Comics from July 1999 through April 2000.
Plot
The story follows Wallace, an artist/war hero/short order cook. He saves a suicidal woman named Esther. She likes his art and the two go out for a drink. They are ambushed by two men, who drug Wallace and kidnap Esther. Leibowitz and The Colonel are believed to be involved. After being in the drunk tank for one night, Wallace is dragged out by two of Sin City's most notoriously corrupt cops, Mason and Bundy. Upon release, Wallace seeks out Esther. He comes across a police squad and tells Liebowitz that he will rescue Esther alone. He proceeds to easily dispatch the officers and leaves them tied up, naked, and without money.
Wallace finds Esther's apartment's location via landlady, who'd taken her address. He finds the apartment occupied by Delia, who claims to be Esther's roommate. Delia and Wallace are attacked by Manute, who is working for The Colonel. Wallace takes down Manute with little difficulty and tosses him out a window. A sniper attacks and Wallace kills him by shooting him through the scope of his rifle. Delia tries to seduce Wallace to no avail. All the while they are pursued by more assassins, which he also disposes of. Wallace later meets up with an old war buddy named Captain.
Wallace borrows an old Chevrolet Nomad dubbed "The Heap". Wallace and Delia stay at the Last Hope Motel. Wallace handcuffs her to the bed and Delia perceives it as foreplay. Wallace knows that she couldn't have been Esther's roommate, because her clothes would have had the smell of Esther's cigarettes on them. Subsequently, Wallace is drugged by a sniper. He awakes at the Santa Yolanda Tar Pits and sees Delia, Gordo, and Maxine preparing to ditch his car in the pits. Maxine gives him a huge dose of something and he passes out into a vivid dream. After a surreal incident involving a fighter jet crash, rude cherubs and dinosaurs,the car collides with a tree. Wallace discovers a dead girl in the trunk. He only sees a battered raggedy Ann doll and proclaims that he's grateful for the drugs.
Wallace is ambushed by a police squad and Captain shows up and kills them. He then morphs into several pop culture characters including King Leonidas, Hellboy, and Dirty Harry. They attack Delia, Maxine and Gordo at a gas station and Gordo kills Captain. Wallace made Maxine bring him out of hallucination hell by holding her at gunpoint and shooting Delia in the stomach. Wallace has a panic attack and blacks out for a few seconds before awakening in the normal world. Delia is paralyzed and Maxine is dead and Delia begs Wallace for mercy, so he gives her a swift death by shooting her in the back of her head. He meets up with Jerry, another war buddy and the Captain's lover. They burn his body on a funeral pyre.
Mariah, another one of The Colonel's mercenaries is assigned Delia's task. The Colonel is murdering anyone linking the doctor to him, starting with the doctor who kidnapped Esther. He even has Mariah break Liebowitz's son's arm after luring him out of school. He continues threatening the commissioner's family, putting him in a tough spot morally. Wallace confronts Liebowitz in his apartment and tries to get him to join the fight. Wallace discovered that The Colonel is actually operating a slave trafficking and organ harvesting ring. Wallace explains how he launched a one man assault on the factory and stealthily cut through all of the guards. He discovered all of the atrocities. He is confronted by The Colonel, Mariah, and a large amount of heavily armed guards. He managed to escape but he was unfortunately unable to save anyone.
The Colonel calls Wallace and tells him that Esther is being held at the dreaded Roark family farm. After the deaths of Kevin and Roark jr., the farm has been long abandoned. Upon his arrival he finds Esther but is attacked by an attack chopper. He shields Esther with his own body. Wallace was one step ahead. Jerry was atop the hill with a thick ordnance and blasts the chopper out of the sky with an RPG. Wallace survived the mini gun fire because he was wearing a bulletproof vest. By this time, the police have raided The Colonel's factory and captured him. The Colonel threatens Liebowitz one more time and Liebowitz shoots him in the head. He tells the police to "make a missing person outta the fucker". Wallenquist sees no profit in revenge and leaves the situation as it is. Esther and Wallace drive away, seeking a better life away from Sin City.
Characters
- Wallace
- Esther
- Purvis
- Dr Fredric
- Mrs. Mendoza
- Agamemnon
- Otto
- Peggy
- Darryl
- Manson
- Bundy
- The Colonel
- Manute
- Liebowitz
- Hildy
- Maxine
- Delia
- Captain
- Dwight
- Mariah
- Josh
- Nisha
- Hannah
- Orrin
- Gordo
- Jerry
- Wallenquist