Barb Wire #1 Review - Kicking Ass In Steel Harbor

Written by: Chris Warner  Art by: Patrick Olliffe

Inked by: Tom Nguyen  Colored by: Gabe Eltaeb

Lettered by: Michael Heisler

Barb Wire as a property has had a bit of a... let’s call it uneven past. To be fair though, so did Captain America, Spider-Man, The Justice League, etc, before the right people and companies got ahold of them. Barb Wire is much more than a bad late night movie on TNT, and Darkhorse Comics aims to remind people of what the badass bounty hunter is truly capable of with their new ongoing series, written by Chris Warner and illustrated by Patrick Olliffe.

Going into this I can’t say I was too familiar with the character's history, but after reading Issue #1, I really didn’t need to be. Barb Wire isn’t doing anything that crazy or outside of the box, but that doesn’t seem to be the intent. The book is truly funny, something that pleasantly surprised me. If you extract the fun back and forth banter from movies like Assassins or Lethal Weapon, you have a good idea of what fills Barb’s world. Perfectly in sync is Patrick Olliffe’s bustling art style. Olliffe’s pencils perfectly suit the ragtag band of characters that make up Barb’s world. Characters likeike Guy, her brother Charlie, the landlord Vern, or ganglords Mace and Hunter. Last, but certainly not least, you have the drunk tornado that is Wyvern Stormblud, who is a lot like Volstagg if he were on an all night bender, probably with a small bit of cocaine involved.

Oh, and speaking of Mace, not sure if it was intentional or not, but when did Angel Batista start hanging out in Steel Harbor? Read the issue and you'll see what I mean.

By the end of the issue I was also surprised by how much empathy I had for the main character. The hallmarks are all here. She kicks ass, hates the word babe, runs a bar, and has a mean streak. Chris Warner, however, doesn’t forget to give her a sense of humor, and most times her threats are delivered with just a hint of dry wit, as opposed to a more generic Hulk Hogan-esque kind of put down.

Something like, “I’m going to eviscerate you brother!”

In trying to keep the doors open, take care of her brother and her employees, and somehow manage to keep the two warring gangs from taking all of Steel Harbor down with them. Barb Wire has a lot on her plate, and it’s not easy. She’s not out to save the world, just trying to comfortably survive it for another day.

I really enjoyed Barb Wire #1 significantly more than I thought I would. I think I’ll be spending some more time in world of Barb Wire.

Issue #1 is on stands July 1st.