Comics
Horror Comic Of The Week – ‘Ballistic’ TPB
Last year the sheer epitome of body horror comics hit the stands to meer whispers. This week that can all change with your support. On Wednesday Black Mask Studios is releasing the collected first volume of Ballistic from Adam Egypt Mortimer and Darick Robertson. The comic is basically a trip inside the early mind of David Cronenberg and it’s unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
You know that garbage island that’s rumored to exist in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, well what if it became the only piece landscape left livable, this is Repo City State. And what if the rapid expansion of technology meant biological fusion. The world of Ballistic recognizes everything that we used to call inanimate as living and breathing with its own unique set of biology. It’s a world where everything is living, and the humans have become detestable criminals. It’s provocatively different, and ushers in a new era for body horror. It’s easily the best collected comic of the last two years, and we don’t drop such praise lightly.
Ballistic follows Butch, a air conditioner repair man who is no stranger to reaching inside the orifice of a breathing machine in order to perform the surgery necessary to keep it living. He’s demented in all the right ways because he wants nothing more than to be a criminal. Butch and his living gun, team up to rob a bank. This is their chance to break big into the royal world of criminals. Except his gun has a story of it’s own. It’s a buddy cop story between a human and his living weapon in a world of body horror. Seriously you’ve never read anything like this.
Mortimer’s script is rock solid throughout. Repo City State is fully realized and exposition flows seamlessly on every page. The world is dense and full of new terms, creatures, and rules. Mortimer manages to communicate these things in clear and interesting ways, while not slowing down the pace of the book. Through all of this Repo City State manages to become the most interesting character on the page.
The entire thing feels very Cronenberg-esque, and is truly own of the most original takes on the future put to print. The tone is serious and funny at the same time. The stylistic use of narration allows for some levity in otherwise very dark moments. Darick Robertson’s art is nothing short of incredible. The depth to which he evokes this world is almost staggering. Robertson’s depiction of these biotechnological creations is so unique and beautiful. Everything has the disgusting feeling that it is real and breathing.
The Ballistic TPB hits comic shops on 04/22/15 for $14.99.
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
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