Written by: Chris Warner
Art by: Patrick Olliffe, Tom Nguyen, & Gabe Eltaeb
Publisher: Dark Horse
I’m not too familiar with Barb Wire; my only real exposure to the character was the fairly terrible movie adaption from the 90s and a few old comics. It has been two decades since the character appeared in print and as with all fresh reboots to a series, there is always a sense of trepidation when re-treading old ground; however, Chris Warner has written a comic that stays true to the original text whilst making it feel relevant to today’s societal trends and our obsession with public media vigilantism. Barb Wire #1 follows the titular hero in her own reality show that follows the bounty hunter on her escapades a la Dog the Bounty Hunter, only much hotter and smarter.
At first, I was somewhat unsure of how to feel about it. It is clearly not taking itself seriously and the nature of the comic felt very much like its big screen counterpart. As soon as you get past this and come to the conclusion that it simply wants you to have fun and not think too much, it is a blast; over the top musclemen with clichéd dialogue and big action set pieces dominate the pages and it comes across very well. Its tongue-in-cheek dialogue makes for a few laughs and the larger than life characters kept me happy until the end. As for Barb herself, there isn’t really anything to separate her from the traditional run of the mill stern faced, hard as nails female action leads; she offers no real depth or details, but it is still early days and I didn’t really feel like I wanted to know much about her at this point—I just wanted to have fun. As I said earlier, it was all about the adrenaline and for me, there is plenty of time to establish Barb Wire as a relevant female protagonist in today’s society.
There was some really pretty artwork here. Patrick and Tom have drawn some well-balanced characters with the physical features accentuated to endorse the Under Siege/Die Hard aesthetics and the city of Steel Harbor feels just as alive as the loud and bass-riddled atmosphere of the Hammerhead club. With Gabe adding the beautifully varied colours to the mix, the artwork is amongst some of the finest, especially the first panel with the shot of the dancefloor in Barb’s club—the neon lights that form a blanket over the dancing public really blew me away. Adam Hughes’ cover art is ridiculously stunning as well and definitely deserves a mention. If this doesn’t make you want to buy the comic alone, then there is something wrong with you! I hope we will be seeing more as the series continues, or even get to see Adam introduce some of his amazing artwork to the comic itself because it’s beautiful. Have I said it was stunning already?
Barb Wire #1 is a fun, surprisingly well-presented return for a character that has been around for a long time. I hope to see more of the same in the next issue, albeit with a little more character progression. If you love overblown, loud, confident action stories then this is most definitely for you.
