Ballistic

Writer/filmmaker Mortimer (Liberator: Rage Ignition) and artist Robertson (The Boys) indulge every adolescent impulse in this gore-splattered tale of gangs, guts, and glory that is eager to shock. Butch, a wannabe gangster, and Gun, a sentient, psychotic firearm, fix air conditioners in Repo City State—where the trendiest dine on cloned human meat and have their faces eaten off by viruses accidentally downloaded into their brains. Butch is the best there is at tending to the techno-biological structure of this colorful hellscape, but he dreams of being a celebrated outlaw in the Butch Cassidy mold. After a drug-fueled bank-robbery attempt goes south, he and Gun find themselves entangled in the web of sex, drugs, and body modification that holds Repo City State together—and may break it apart. Robertson’s art is densely detailed and unabashedly gross, lingering on smashed-in faces and poisonous fumes. Paired with Mortimer’s purposefully schlocky writing, Ballistic is, at its best, a fun, brash blend of horror, crime, and science fiction. At its worst, it’s a queasy blend of machismo, gross-out humor, and B-movie violence. (Apr.)