BALLISTIC #5 (BLACK MASK): It’s over. Sniffle. But Adam Egypt Mortimer and Darick Robertson’s BALLISTIC goes out with multiple bangs, as Gennie morphs into a new super-being, Butch and his Gun ride a skeletal catbus, and our ultimate villain is actually a conglomeration of many heads (gene sequences, natch). The most satisfying bit is that the cast and the comic itself both acknowledge that the talking gun has become the star—who can resist lines like “I have the urge to go fullmetal flamethrower!”—by giving it the autonomy to pull its own trigger and explode the face of a villain without Butch’s help. You go, Gun. This collected mini-series is going to likewise blow the heads off of everyone who thinks they know what science fiction is. 10/10
THE AUTEUR #4 (ONI): This series has been nothing but balls-out fun since the beginning, so I regret to say that the latest issue is a bit of a wet noodle in the grander scheme of things. James Callahan’s art is still surreal as hell and Hollywood douchebag Nathan T. Rex is still a sniveling pile of hilarious one-liners, but I feel like the madcap pace of the first three issues has been slowed so writer Rick Spears can make an actual point about the nature of filmmaking. Luckily, THE AUTEUR is still more entertaining than half of everything else on the shelf, and this issue contains the phrases “script monkey” and “testicular fortitude” and ends with lots of explosions. Ace. 8/10
TMNT: TURTLES IN TIME #1 (IDW): There are a few things I love more than dinosaurs. One of them happens to be ninja turtles—specially Teenage Mutant ones. Here, we get BOTH! Accompanied by the insanely adorable art of Ross Campbell, Paul Allor’s script basically involves our favorite mutants running from dinosaurs, running from a bunch of Krangs RIDING dinosaurs, commandeering a flying dinosaur, and even adopting a pet dinosaur named Pepperoni (awww). It’s nothing heady or intellectual, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Apparently in the next issue they’ll be samurai. TMNT 3, anyone? 7.5/10
PRINCESS UGG #1 (ONI): When did Disney Princess become a thing, bringing pink and tiaras and feathered fashion into kids’ books? I don’t even know, but it’s disturbed me ever since I first saw the “Disney Princess” section at a bookstore. And that’s why Ted Naifeh’s PRINCESS UGG makes such a welcome entry into my fantasy canon. I love this “bonnie wee bezerker” who can slice better than she can sew, who might be spiteful towards civilization but instead chooses to learn from it. When her petulant blonde rival falls head first into a pile of poop, you can hear the rest of us punk un-pink misfits going “HELL YEAH!” 8/10
THE SUPERANNUATED MAN #1 (IMAGE): Well then. This one opens with mutated talking frogs and moves on to a survivor in a wetsuit who performs sexual favors on a marked-up mannequin. There’s also a gelatinous mass beneath the waves and a killer drooling rhinocerous. Make no mistake… this is some weird stuff. And I adore Ted McKeever for it. The series he creates—like MONDO, META4, and MINIATURE JESUS before this one—offer no apologies for themselves, only move forward with nonsensical and yet wholly realized worlds, grotesque imagery, and a strange sense of apocalyptic wonder. More, please. 9/10
