Script: John Arcudi
Pencils: Lee Moder
Inks: Ande Parks
Colors: Pam Rambo
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Review: Art Bee
He said, “you can have this one to review.” Instantly my ears were piqued at the word, “free”, but when my eyes rested on the title my hope sank.
My only experience with Barb Wire featured a barely-clothed Pam Anderson. Granted my main interest in the movie was Pam Anderson, but that interest fizzled out 30 minutes in and lead to my flight from it five minutes later.
Imagine my plummeting excitement with this floppy book.
The cover is very appealing and exciting. The foil title is eye-catching and still a sought after cover attribute more than 20 years later. Most of the color is done in neutral colors to allow Barb Wire’s blonde hair and red outfit stand out along with the red motorcycle and blue steel pistol.
All of these things are exciting by themselves, but the contrast the artist uses makes them doubly so.
The bombshell on the cover is saying, “Don’t call me BABE!”, with her pistol pointed at the narrator, but the cue doesn’t stand out above the title, “Steel Harbor’s Babe on Wheels”. I really like this because it says so much about the character. It is very possible to know her from just this cover.
Barb Wire #1 is the first of the series, but it is not the start of the story. This issue was published in April 1994, but the story started in the Comics’ Greatest World series from Dark Horse in 1993.
This issue does a fabulous job introducing new readers to the story while not offending those loyal readers who already know things.
We find Barbara Kopetski, a.k.a. Barb Wire, attempting to collect a bounty on Dai Bando when a sniper ends Bando’s life. From this point we follow Barb around directly and indirectly, meeting the people in her life in addition to seeing her business, Hammerhead Bar and Grille. This sounds like a neat place to go based on this quote:
“This is the kind of bar where you can get any domestic beer and most imports. They carry very good scotch and really cheap bourbon, but don’t go looking for a piña colada, or a grasshopper, or a glass of Rosé.”This book really shocked the hell out of me. I started reading with the full expectation to hate it, but it won me over. The writing was masterful, with the beginning of the issue tied into the end with an elegance of a bestselling novelist. In addition, the story progressed at a fluid pace without extraneous information.
The artwork is very well done. The detail throughout the issue is superb, and these artists excel at drawing and detailing fabrics, whether bed sheets or flannel shirts. The quality about this artistic team I like the most is they are not married to the details of the female form. Too many times I see artists paying too much detail to the female characters and not enough attention to anything else.
Aside from having an awesome last name, colorist Pam Rambo has an incredible shading talent. All of the panels pop due to her great skills.
Barb Wire #1 was a great gift from my LCS owner. Granted, my thoughts were biased at the start, but this comic won me over. I will have to be on the prowl for more of this series; it will be nice to read more.
See, back issue bins are worth a combing. You never know what undiscovered gem awaits you in there.
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