Reviews: Ballistic #2
Ballistic #2 review
by Dave Gillette Comic Booked
http://tinyurl.com/ncwact2
Thumbs Up: Ballistic makes all other new comics suck holocaust by moving past the outer limits of comic book storytelling.
Thumbs Down: Are you kidding? Ballistic serves up a fatality to the dull fare being served up in most comics. Flawless victory!
Overall Review: 5.0 / 5 – Excellent
Ballistic #2 from Black Mask Studios, by Adam Egypt Mortimer and Darick Robertson, has the not so envious task of following up issue one’s flawless debut. This review aims to be spoiler free as possible, but there are a few minor spoilers so be forewarned.
Like the first issue of Ballistic, Mortimer and Robertson put together a story that requires multiple readings, not because it’s inaccessible as much as there’s so many cool concepts to digest. Whether it’s the ideas Mortimer proposes in his writing or the deep layers to Robertson’s art, reading Ballistic is like listening to a Pink Floyd album remixed by Basement Jaxx.
The opening sequence is one of the many examples where this happens. How the world began changing and the eventual rise of Repo City is explained like an apocalyptic documentary done Tim Burton style with some fascinating footnotes included at the end of the story to make the collapse of civilization that more nuanced.
This nightmarish, and realistically reasoned future, gets the piss taken out of it quite quickly as Mortimer and Robertson remind you as belligerently as possible in the second page that Butch and Gun are on the run from John Q. Law. The sequence of panels Robertson uses for their literal flight from the law is a stunning chase that shows off his rare skills as a fluid visual storyteller.
Gun and Butch make their escape, but Butch knows that Gun has more than just drug withdrawals kicking in as he takes him to get checked out by the gun tech/drug dealer Crustco. This may be one of the most important parts of the story with the way it explains how a living weapon like Gun is created and how it perceives reality.
He also does more than just look cool (he also does more than just scare horses) with the way Mortimer and Robertson have crafted him into one of the most unusual and forceful characters created in all of comics. One of the best parts of Ballistic is Mortimer and Robertson’s ability to characterize him through colorful dialogue and expressions.
Just as much as this issue feels like it belongs to Gun, Butch works his way back into the story forcefully with his dimwittedness taking a backseat for a change as he makes one smart decision in a chain of failure. But this review is getting ahead of itself because there’s just too much risk of spoilage if it goes further.
Mortimer and Robertson come out guns blazing (making readers suck holocaust) with an outstanding second issue that goes into the deeper layers of storytelling at work. Ballistic sticks the landing with a 10, 10, 9.8 (from those spiteful Russians), 10, and a another 10 for another amazing issue that shows Mortimer and Robertson know no bounds when it comes to imagination.
You just need to get up off your duff or click a mouse and get a copy of Ballistic #2. Period. It’s in stores Wednesday, September 11th at your local comic shop or digitally through Black Mask’s website. http://tinyurl.com/nfcnvgw
“Adam Egypt Mortimer and Darick Robertson’s ‘Ballistic’ continues this month with a story centered around separating our hero and his sidekick as they reel from the events of last issue. ‘Ballistic’ continues to be a modern marvel in the comics world, giving a truly original premise and characters, with an uncompromisingly dark look at a bleak future.”
“RELEASE: Sept 11, 2013
Adam Egypt Mortimer takes some time at the beginning of this issue to establish just how his fucked up version of the future came to be. It’s excellent stuff dripping with criticism for the current state of affairs, and offering a silver lining in a biotechnological future. Yet, we’re quickly reminded that said future is lined with just as much scum and villainy as before.
Butch and Bang Bang are seriously screwed after the botched bank job. Bang Bang is seriously out of it and needs a fix. Butch obliges and takes the gun to a shop in which he feeds off the tit of some transvestite. The two make up and shit hits the fan all over again. Butch is pulled into a deeper scheme and convinced that Bang Bang holds something much more important within him than we originally thought.
Mortimer shows us just how codependent Butch and Bang Bang are by separating them for the bulk of this issue. As Butch is pulled further into the criminal underworld of Repo City State, his main concern is his gun. He is surrounded by danger, and even has a being on his arm that threatens to sever his hand, but he just wants his gun. The buddy cop dynamic is further solidified.
Repo City State is truly the product of a lot of research. ‘Ballistic’ never fails to surprise or impress. The sheer level of creativity behind this twisted world is staggering. Every device is inherently unique, and Mortimer uses every page to further build this dark and disgusting future. The drug and criminal underworld should be the most interesting concept at hand, but then Mortimer has Butch shoot a flaming enzyme from his veins and it all goes out the window.
‘Ballistic’ exists in a league of its own. The world is unlike anything put to paper before it. Darick Robertson’s art brings this fucked up future to life in a way only he can.
Another BigDick breakdown is sure to please readers. The unique way it offers information about the big players in Repo City State is perfect. (Not to mention Butch’s personal interest in BigDick.)
Phallic devices that excrete tap-water, flesh eating acid rain, and hyper-famine are all panels that shock and awe. Robertson doesn’t make any compromises and often airs on the side of extreme graphic violence. It fits this world and feels like a natural extension of hell.
The art gives weight to the book unlike anything else. The disgusting coils and living technology that hang in the back of every panel is masterful. Designs channel the best of HR Gigar’s work while existing in an even more fucked up Cronenberg inspired future. It all culminates in something truly original, hard to look at, and impossible to turn away from. If certain panels don’t leave you with a pit in your stomach, than you are a twisted individual beyond the reach of help.
‘Ballistic’ is currently my favorite thing happening in comics. There is no better place to spend your money than on Repo City State. The book defies most conventions of the science fiction genre and masterfully blends biology with technology. There is so much under the surface of this book that multiple readings should garner something new each time. Don’t miss it, and tell everyone you know about it.
Rating: 4.5/5 Skulls”
-Posted by Jimbus_Christ on September 05, 2013
And over at ComicsBeat.com, reviewer Laura Sneddon had this to say!
What Should You Buy In September?
Ballistic #2 (Black Mask Studios)
Adam Egypt Mortimer and Darick Robertson, Sep 11
“Because issue one was the best comic I’ve read since… it’s hard to quantify that actually. I think it’s even better than Saga, so you know I’m being serious here. There are some comparisons to be made with Robertson’s Transmetropolitan, a future cyber-punk, semi-political, anti-hero tale. But Ballistic is wildly different in tackling the sheer scale of a bio-tech landscape fuelled by Mieville-esque madness and Cronenberg horror. It’s madcap, it’s psychedelic, and it’s ultimately a buddy adventure between one guy and his drug-addicted, foul-mouthed, snarky gun.
In issue two we realise that our hero Butch is not nearly as dim as he was trying to make out, and if anything the art is even better, even cleaner and more evocative than in the brilliant first issue – described by Grant Morrison as his favourite comic of 2013. Of course I read it first and said the same, but I perhaps have rather more time on my hands! I’m a trendsetter yo.
Every page is beautiful, worthy of being made into a best-selling print. Butch is actually shaping up to be a rather sexy hero (à la Spider Jerusalem, naturally) and while the previous issue was an introduction to this bizarre world and a standard-ish heist gone wrong, issue two sees the plot EXPLODE in all manner of crazy directions – but importantly, never losing the reader in the process. There’s some nifty panel-play at work here, and some manipulation of time within panels, and the exposition is neat but not heavy.
As always Mortimer’s notes at the back of the issue reveal just how expansive this world is. Ballistic is, I think, a miniseries. I hope to god it is turned into a gorgeous series of beautiful mind-bending, psychedelic volumes of genius.
I can’t praise this book enough. It’s quite possibly the comic of the decade and I love it.”
