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Ballistic #1 review

By Dan Horn
July 10, 2013 - 13:35

So, this was an impulse purchase.

I wasn't even aware of writer Adam Egypt Mortimer before picking up Ballistic #1, but artist Darick Robertson's involvement is a surefire way to sell me on any sci-fi series. Apparently Mortimer is some kind of B-movie and television producer/director. I'm not familiar with any of his work, but this comic book--this strange, wonderful, disturbing comic book--makes me incredibly excited for a film he's got coming up: Grant Morrison's Sinatoro.

Ballistic #1 is like Cronenberg on acid--Ok, even more acid. The protagonist of the series is a down-and-out HVAC repairman named Butch. He has a talking, empathic gun and a Cadillac with pterodactyl wings. He lives in a future full of techno-organic advancements, cannibal diners, and viral hallucinogens. His entire existence is like one incomprehensibly bad trip, and so he resolves to rob a bank, to rise above the personal and financial muck in which he's become so mired and to make a name for himself in the criminal underworld. He's always wanted to be like Jesse James, after all.

But things go sour when, after a night of partying, Butch's gun goes all Nietzschean-nihilist during their heist, and Butch is left in a sticky situation.

In my first reading of Ballistic #1, I couldn't believe the nuance packed into this first installment. The book's setting, Repo City State, is downright surreal, might as well be gobbledygook, but Mortimer manages to make it all seem so palpable. He gives the city rules, however abstract; he gives the characters personalities and depth; and he mines socially relevant issues for juicy little metaphors that resonate immediately. Somehow, it all ends up feeling like a harmonious collusion between Requiem for a Dream and Naked Lunch. It has all the beat earmarks of a Burroughs epic, but also the resounding emotionality needed to bring it back down to earth. Mortimer's script is funny, smart, and provocative. A second read-through to grasp all of the book's wit is definitely recommended.

As for Robertson's art, some pages work better than others, but those pages that do work might be some of the best of his career. His inky illustrations are detailed to the point of seeming tactile, grimy to the point of inducing revulsion. Robertson adroitly avoids leaning heavily toward chiaroscuro darkness and instead gives colorist Diego Rodriguez the space to make Repo City State bright, vibrant, phantasmagorical. Ballistic #1 showcases quite a few clever tweaks to comic book visual conventions as well.

Ballistic is a bit out of left field, but I have to say, I might be hooked.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12