What do you think?
Rate this book
Barrier #1-5
Barrier: The Collected Edition
Not yet published
Expected 16 Jun 26Óscar deja atrás San Pedro Sula para buscar una vida mejor, lejos de la miseria. Liddy protege su rancho en la frontera de Texas de los carteles de la droga. Dos vidas casi opuestas se enfrentarán a un desafío y descubrirán que hay más cosas que los unen de las que ellos mismos se atreven a imaginar.
Los creadores de The Private Eye vuelven a demostrar su maestría para romper las barreras del lenguaje... ¡de maneras que ni sospechas!
Los creadores de The Private Eye vuelven a demostrar su maestría para romper las barreras del lenguaje... ¡de maneras que ni sospechas!
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 10, 2019
About the author
Brian K. Vaughan
1,069 books14.2k followersBrian K. Vaughan is the writer and co-creator of comic-book series including SAGA, PAPER GIRLS, Y THE LAST MAN, RUNAWAYS, and most recently, BARRIER, a digital comic with artist Marcos Martin about immigration, available from their pay-what-you-want site www.PanelSyndicate.com
BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.
BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
October 25, 2022
Me esperaba una historia muy diferente y lo que he encontrado me ha cautivado (con algunos "peros" referidos sobre todo al dibujo [genial en los planos generales, irregular en los primeros planos]). Magistral uso del color.
Una historia sobre la incomunicación, sobre los prejuicios y sobre la capacidad del ser humano para sobreponerse a la pérdida.
Una historia sobre la incomunicación, sobre los prejuicios y sobre la capacidad del ser humano para sobreponerse a la pérdida.
December 21, 2019
Tras haber leído la primera entrega en su día, había dejado el resto para cuando estuvieran todos... hasta hoy. Y, joder, qué espectacular trabajo de Vaughan y Martín, sobremanera por cómo juegan con los niveles de lectura al ficcionalizar el drama de la inmigración y los refugiados, y la incomprensión del país que los recibe. Desde la barrera idiomática, que da pie a un tremendo trabajo narrativo de Martín, al sentimiento de superioridad socioeconómica y cultural, pasando por el racismo o terminar de un plumazo al otro lado de la otredad. La mayor parte del tebeo no deja de ser una vuelta a "Marsellus Wallace y Butch en la tienda de empeños", pero con un sustrato tan poderoso es muy efectivo. Quizás lo más flojo está en un tramo final que funciona demasiado a modo de innecesaria moraleja. A destacar una vez más lo bien pensada que está la edición de Panel Syndicate.
June 4, 2021
A Texas rancher nabs a Honduran refugee crossing her land, and they're both immediately kidnapped by hostile, Audrey-an extraterrestrials who dismember horses and flay people. Trapped on an alien spaceship with no shared language, they must find a way to navigate the communication barrier if they ever want to see home again.
Vaughan and Martin use the illegal border-crossing experience to assert the importance of diversity and the stagnant danger inherent to mass conformity and blind nationalism. It's exciting and dramatic, but implausible even for a book about giant flowery aliens in spaceships. Could use another pass through the internal logic validator.
There are two unusual conceits in this book. The first is the presence of so much untranslated Spanish dialogue--about half the book--which turned out to be a stiffer barrier to enjoyment than I expected. But it does put the reader in the shoes of the two main characters, who can't understand each other and have to work to convey even simple concepts.**
The second conceit is the horizontal orientation of the page layout. Ie, the entire book is sideways. It's an interesting approach.
I applaud the creators' attempts to stretch the boundaries of the medium, to forgo its customary constraints, but it ultimately failed on both fronts. Understanding the Spanish turned out to be important in the final issue, and the sideways pages were unwieldy and annoying to read in bed.
---------------------------
**I undertook to record here a complete translation of the Spanish, but my laptop conspired with Goodreads to eat it and I'm not going through that hassle again. ]:-(
Vaughan and Martin use the illegal border-crossing experience to assert the importance of diversity and the stagnant danger inherent to mass conformity and blind nationalism. It's exciting and dramatic, but implausible even for a book about giant flowery aliens in spaceships. Could use another pass through the internal logic validator.
There are two unusual conceits in this book. The first is the presence of so much untranslated Spanish dialogue--about half the book--which turned out to be a stiffer barrier to enjoyment than I expected. But it does put the reader in the shoes of the two main characters, who can't understand each other and have to work to convey even simple concepts.**
The second conceit is the horizontal orientation of the page layout. Ie, the entire book is sideways. It's an interesting approach.
I applaud the creators' attempts to stretch the boundaries of the medium, to forgo its customary constraints, but it ultimately failed on both fronts. Understanding the Spanish turned out to be important in the final issue, and the sideways pages were unwieldy and annoying to read in bed.
---------------------------
**I undertook to record here a complete translation of the Spanish, but my laptop conspired with Goodreads to eat it and I'm not going through that hassle again. ]:-(
August 12, 2021
Me ha gustado, tengo la suerte de entender los dos idiomas que se hablan y no perderme nada gracias a eso (a los guiris que hay quejándose de que no entienden el español creo que lo que no entienden es el concepto del cómic).
Es todo muy loco después del primer número, y sobretodo muy frenético. Todo pasa muy deprisa y el final incluso más, creo que lo hubiera disfrutado más si se hubieran extendido un poco.
Es todo muy loco después del primer número, y sobretodo muy frenético. Todo pasa muy deprisa y el final incluso más, creo que lo hubiera disfrutado más si se hubieran extendido un poco.
April 6, 2019
So much done in so short a span of time -- but one of the most incredible comics I've maybe ever read, in terms of it swinging for the fences and mostly getting there. Plus, a comic half in Spanish? Nice work, to the whole Image team.
September 24, 2019
Espectacular! Un cómic sublime, aprovechando a fondo las posibilidades del formato digital. La historia maneja de forma estilizada sus temáticas sobre un tapiz de fondo muy rico. La narrativa de Marcos Martín es subyugante y los colores de Muntsa una delicia q la potencia. Notable alto.
December 27, 2019
Maravillosa historia que demuestra lo útil que es la ciencia ficción para plantear un mensaje social, en este caso incidiendo en los problemas de comunicación que sufrimos como individuos, así como en el tema de la inmigración. La narrativa gráfica de Marcos Martín en esta obra es alucinante.
April 29, 2020
Vaya revisión y vuelta de tuerca al tema de las fronteras, la diferencia frente a la similitud... Y una reflexión desde un punto de vista que cae casi por detrás del infinito. What an utter brainfudge!
September 16, 2021
Me encantan el dibujo, el color y las cosas extrañas. Al ponerlo en inglés y español sin traducir hacia un lado u otro le doy un 10.
March 12, 2026
Thank you to Image Comics via NetGalley for the ARC.
I actually can’t tell you if I enjoyed this or not. Also not entirely sure if that’s a good or bad sign either. However, I don’t think I’m going to stop thinking about it.
The graphics are stunning. Absolutely incredible. Even without reading they do an incredible job telling the story (this will be important later). FYI, if you don’t like violence or gore or blood or nudity, this wouldn’t be the book for you. It’s very detailed in its illustrations
This is split 50/50 English and Spanish. I’m not a fluent Spanish speaker, so I couldn’t tell you what Oscar was saying. There are context clues, and you can use translation platforms, of course. BUT, it does a phenomenal job of showing the actual barrier between Liddy and Oscar not being able to understand each other. It’s an interesting way to actually apply the theme.
This is probably entirely on me, I didn’t understand the actual alien part. But probably that’s part of the barrier theme. The aliens don’t understand the humans and vice versa.
Finally, this is in landscape format, so the comic actually flips up. With this format you get to see wider space shots which was cool.
Would recommend just because it forces you in that barrier mindset.
I actually can’t tell you if I enjoyed this or not. Also not entirely sure if that’s a good or bad sign either. However, I don’t think I’m going to stop thinking about it.
The graphics are stunning. Absolutely incredible. Even without reading they do an incredible job telling the story (this will be important later). FYI, if you don’t like violence or gore or blood or nudity, this wouldn’t be the book for you. It’s very detailed in its illustrations
This is split 50/50 English and Spanish. I’m not a fluent Spanish speaker, so I couldn’t tell you what Oscar was saying. There are context clues, and you can use translation platforms, of course. BUT, it does a phenomenal job of showing the actual barrier between Liddy and Oscar not being able to understand each other. It’s an interesting way to actually apply the theme.
This is probably entirely on me, I didn’t understand the actual alien part. But probably that’s part of the barrier theme. The aliens don’t understand the humans and vice versa.
Finally, this is in landscape format, so the comic actually flips up. With this format you get to see wider space shots which was cool.
Would recommend just because it forces you in that barrier mindset.
April 25, 2020
Atmospheric and entertaining, but without fluency in Spanish half the story is a frustrating guessing game.
October 2, 2018
Cebado por The Private Eye salté ni bien la terminé a leer la otra obra del combo Vaughan, Martin y Vicente en panelsyndicate.com. Barriers arranca como un misterio, al mismo tiempo que cuenta dos historias en paralelo. El misterio es los animales muertos que la ranchera tejana Liddy va encontrando en sus tierras cercanas a la frontera con México. Y la otra historia en paralelo -a la de Liddy, se entiende- es la de Oscar, un hondureño que viaja ilegalmente hasta EEUU, tratando de dejar atrás una vida de mierda y una tragedia enorme. No termina el primer episodio que pasan dos cosas: las historias en paralelo dejan de ser tales, ya que Liddy y Oscar cruzan sus caminos, y el misterio se revela con el verdadero género en el que está inscripta la historia. Pero dejemóslo por aquí -yo la leí con cero conocimiento al respecto y disfruté el giro, así que no se lo pienso arruinar a nadie- y digamos que en este formato más breve (son sólo 5 capítulos) el guión de Vaughan no cuenta con tanto vuelo como en The Private Eye, pero de todos modos tiene espacio como para reflexionar sobre el lugar de "el otro", sobre el trato al diferente y al mismo tiempo sobre ponerse en los zapatos ajenos cuando de inmigración ilegal se trata (a este aspecto, a la falta de posible comunicación, está buenísmo que la historia está escrita en inglés (con Liddy) y en español (con Oscar) sin que exista traducción a un sólo idioma aunque los personajes nunca se entiendan entonces cabalmente). Por su parte, Martin y Vicente vuelven a dejar LA VIDA en cada cuadro, cada página, cada expresión de los personajes, en las secuncias de acción y en las que de la nada les piden construir un universo por completo distinto. Me anoto felizmente a todo lo que dibuje/coloree esta dupla.
February 4, 2021
Skvelý príbeh, skvelá kresba a tie farby boli úplne boží. Tretí zošit, ktorý je bez slov, bol fakt parádny. Zo začiatku som si prekladala tú španielčinu, ale keď mi Google Translate preložil niečo ako "what milk", tak som to vzdala a čítala to bez prekladu, ktorý aj tak nakoniec nebol treba. Ilustrácie celý dej pekne vysvetľovali. Odporúčam každému, kto má rád fajn zvraty, komiksy s dobrým tempom ktoré majú prečítané za pár chvíľ a pekné, pestré farby, tak určite odporúčam. 4,5/5
November 17, 2019
A very interesting multi-lingual experiment. And that was also the worst part. Half of this comic is in Spanish...
Thankfully, the art and the story are incredibly good. But you'll need a translator...
Thankfully, the art and the story are incredibly good. But you'll need a translator...
May 9, 2020
Aunque a veces me ha fallado el dibujo, sobre todo a cortas distancias, el comic está muy bien llevado, el guión y el color son una pasada y la narrativa me ha encantado. Tengo algún pero con el final, pero en general, muy buen cómic.
April 18, 2019
Short. Sweet. Weird.
Half of it is in spanish, i had some help with translation, otherwise half the story would have not been clear for me.
Half of it is in spanish, i had some help with translation, otherwise half the story would have not been clear for me.
December 25, 2023
Se parte de una idea muy original con una serie de objetivos claros (alegato pro inmigración, ningún ser humano es ilegal, el idioma es la verdadera barrera y no una frontera, una persona tremendamente desfavorecida se puede entender con otra tremendamente favorecida (solo si hay una amenaza común), etc.). Para ello, el guionista lleva a los protagonistas hasta una situación absurda. Solo entonces superan sus diferencias.
La historia no está mal llevada, y el dibujo de Marcos Martín es magistral, aporta a la narración una barbaridad, igual que el color de Muntsa Vicente (quizás menos expresivo, pero de técnica impecable). Quizás se van cerrando los conflictos y los arcos demasiado pronto, dejando la historia con un regusto a resumen un poco extraño, pero no afea del todo la idea principal.
El final, en todo caso, es brusco.
Tú que me lees, si eres profe de inglés, sería muy interesante que trabajaras esta lectura en tus clases, tanto por su fondo como por su forma.
La historia no está mal llevada, y el dibujo de Marcos Martín es magistral, aporta a la narración una barbaridad, igual que el color de Muntsa Vicente (quizás menos expresivo, pero de técnica impecable). Quizás se van cerrando los conflictos y los arcos demasiado pronto, dejando la historia con un regusto a resumen un poco extraño, pero no afea del todo la idea principal.
El final, en todo caso, es brusco.
Tú que me lees, si eres profe de inglés, sería muy interesante que trabajaras esta lectura en tus clases, tanto por su fondo como por su forma.
March 24, 2026
Una graphic impegnativa e cruenta con fantascienza e attualità mischiata ad un linguaggio volutamente doppio poiché i protagonisti vengono da due posti diversi d’America: una parla “inglese”, l’altro “spagnolo”. Vengo catturati dagli alieni che li usano come esperimenti per poi liberarli in zona di guerra, come se l’incubo non fosse mai realmente finito (e non lo sarà finché gli uomini continuano ad uccidersi a vicenda). Molto disturbante e triste, tavole pazzesche perchè i fumettisti americani sanno giocare con il colore e la grafica.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2019
Una historia de fronteras y barreras comunicativas, la principal los idiomas. Se usan dos idiomas, español e inglés, se puede llegar a contar un tercer idioma si os ponéis tiquismiquis, pero eso os tocará descubrirlo a ustedes.
January 24, 2021
I loved this story! Excellent conceit, brilliant twist. Also, I think having to go to translate words occasionally really helped drive home the message of the story. And boy, the ending was perfect.
El mundo es un lugar oscuro y malparido!
Pay what you want for a digital copy of this book here: http://panelsyndicate.com/comics/barrier
El mundo es un lugar oscuro y malparido!
Pay what you want for a digital copy of this book here: http://panelsyndicate.com/comics/barrier
May 16, 2025
Hay un placer culpable en calzarse un cómic de más de 20€ en una tarde. Animado por las buenas reseñas de aquí y por haber disfrutado mucho con Private Eye me compré este. Son casi dos historias separadas y todo es una meta metáfora sobre las fronteras, las barreras del idioma e incluso otras más sorprendentes aún. A ratos tiene recursos gráficos interesantes y los flashbacks me han gustado mucho, luego el resto me ha sabido a poco así que no creo que sea el cómic del siglo, pero le pongo una nota de 4 estrellas baja, casi 3 ***.
January 23, 2026
Interesante, pero bastante obvio todo. Flojo en comparación a otros trabajos de Vaughan.
Read
July 19, 2025Hey all :) Here's my video review scrips of Barrier, one of my favorite comics. Feel free to check it out here if you want: https://youtu.be/C0rT_vDX9_g
~~~
~~~
~~~
- Introduction
- This is a comic review. WAIT WAIT WAIT.
- “but Sam, I just don’t like comics, they’re boring and childish and shallow”.
- Honestly, you’re right. At least about a lot of comics. But while lots of the comic industry is cheap action slop, there exists a sub-genre of psychological science fiction that has the philosophical weight akin to brilliant SF writers like Le Guin, Vonnegut, Ballard, and beyond.
- In that genre there is one man that stands out, pretty unilaterally labeled as the GOAT is Brian K. Vaughan, and today I’m here to review a miniseries of his called “Barrier”.
- “But Sam, I don’t even have any comic book stores around me”
- Well you’re in luck! The series I’m reviewing has all issues available online via a “pay-what-you-want” model, meaning you can get them all for as little as free!
- All you have to do is go to the link in the description and download the issues. Download them as .cbz files and then open them with the free comic reader app I also linked in the description.
- “But Sam, why even do comics? There are so many good books to read!”
- That’s true, there are, but comics can tell just as deep a story as books, just in a different way. I find it frankly tragic that more SF readers have not read Vaughan’s works, and to be honest I think a lot of it is just that they don’t know about it or have the wrong idea about comics.
- A comic can tell a just as deep if not deeper story than a book. In the same way I’m sure all you science fiction readers think of Star Wars and 2001 as part of the required viewing for a well-rounded view of the SF, I find a handful of Vaughan’s works, like “Paper Girls” and Saga”, to be on that level as well.
- “Alright dude but I’m not reading an 80 issue series, I’ve gotta go read my, uh, 32nd PKD novel”
- Well this series, Barrier, is just a 5 issue miniseries.
- But let’s be honest. I know most of you probably won’t take my advice and go read this, so let me convince you that social SF comics, or at least Vaughan’s works, are worth your time. I’ll walk you through this comic before discussing the brilliant themes and other things I love about this work.
- Walkthrough
- (Issue 1)
- We start off with Liddy, one of our two main characters. On her ranch, right on the Mexico/USA border, one of her employees finds a severed and mutilated horse head, something she assumes is a “message” from the cartel.
- And before long, we switch over to Honduras where a transgender woman is being harassed by some scary-looking men as she tries to board a truck, presumably to be smuggled north.
- In walks Oscar, who pays off the men with some American cash, covered in blood, and boards the truck with the woman.
- The rest of the issue swaps perspectives back and forth between Liddy and Oscar.
- Liddy, reeling from some sort of past trauma surrounding a man named “Wyatt”, tries and fails to find help securing her property.
- Hundreds of miles south, Oscar goes through Hell and high water, almost literally, making his way north, taking care to hold on to his one possession: a book bag.
- Their paths eventually converge as Oscar has tripped and fallen into a pit on Liddy’s property, badly injuring his leg. Hearing screams, Liddy comes out, training a rifle at Oscar’s head, as he attempts to explain himself.
- They’re getting nowhere, as neither speaks the other’s language, but at the height of their confrontation, seemingly out of nowhere, a massive alien ship appears overhead and abducts them.
- (Issue 2)
- After a flashback showing Oscar with his young son outside an English immersion school, we join him on the alien ship. Surrounded by other Earth artifacts and animals, he stumbles through the massive ship, and seems to have his leg healed by some material that gets squirted on it.
- Soon, he finds Liddy, and they continue their frustrating attempts to communicate. It starts off very hostile, Liddy still convinced he’s part of the presumed gang terrorizing her ranch, but they soon notice they’re on the same team. Liddy even makes a remark implying that her husband, presumably the man mentioned earlier, is dead.
- Before they can get comfortable, however, an alien comes to grab Oscar, Liddy saves him, only to then be taken away herself.
- (Issue 3)
- Next we get a chilling flashback sequence, showing Liddy as she attempt to scream, warning to a man on horseback of an approaching tornado. The perspective changes, though, and we see the man is dead, a bullet through his brain, and the horse he’s on decapitated. Liddy wakes up, crying.
- Back in the present with Oscar, we follow him as he makes his way through the gigantic, eerie ship. And he’s actually able to find his book bag before himself being taken away by one of the aliens.
- He’s placed in the same, sterile-looking room as Liddy, and readers notice now both of them seem to be bleeding from the ears, unable to hear, something that was apparently caused by the alien’s speech.
- As they go through Oscar’s book bag he shows Liddy why it’s so important to him: a comic, with him as the main superhero, drawn by his son.
- After a touching moment between them, we notice, now through the eyes of the aliens, that the two are able to get the door to the cage open if they light up a fire with Oscar’s lighter. So they do so, burning the sketchbook sans the comic, which Oscar tears out first.
- (Issue 4)
- We get another flashback from Oscar, this time we see him roaming the streets, humbly selling horchata. He is accosted and mentions that he’s looking to make it to America, and the group offers him money to participate in some gang activity. He rejects the offer, something they’re not happy about.
- Back with Oscar and Liddy, the cage door opens, but it fills the cage with liquid. Oscar returns Liddy’s favor from earlier, saving a passed-out Liddy by blowing air into her lungs and guiding her up to safety: a huge room that looks to be some sort of greenhouse.
- Notably here we spend a scene with the aliens, and we witness a conversation between two of them, although, obviously, we can’t understand it.
- Oscar and Liddy start exploring the area, finding random detritus before stumbling on a human corpse. One that is graphically and mercilessly flayed from the waste up.
- Overcome with fear, Liddy reminisces on Wyatt’s depression, or as she calls it consistent “terror”, seeming to think he was right for his anxieties.
- (Issue 5)
- After some more miscommunication another alien shows up. Liddy is able to lasso it, and after creating some homemade earplugs to prevent deafness again, they confront the aliens who came to save their brother, demanding they put them back where they found them.
- The aliens converse for a moment before plunging their appendages into Liddy and Oscar.
- We now see the final flashback of Liddy, with one change: the speech is all done in the alien language.
- After being dealt an eviction notice, Liddy hears a single rifle shot. Riding back to her house, she finds her husband Wyatt, dead via a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
- Next we shift perspectives into another flashback, this time a flashback of one of the aliens. The language is in Spanish, though.
- Readers see the home planet of the aliens. A parent consoles their daughter. Surrounded by dead animals they tell her that their world is sick, and they need to find a cure.
- They’ve looked everywhere in-system, though, so the parent suggests broadening their search. The daughter mentions how this is illegal, but her parent doesn’t care. Searching for a world with diversity, which they say breeds health, they propose Earth.
- Finally, we cut to Oscar’s flashback, in English. Coming home after a day of selling horchata, he walks in to a graphic scene: his wife and son dead in his kitchen, butchered by machete.
- It was the local gang, angry at his denial of service to them and his audacity to dare consider leaving the community. “No one escapes Hell, Oscar. You just get to go a little deeper”.
- Gun to his neck Oscar acts on instinct, killing the two gang members.
- Back to the present. Liddy expresses sadness for the terror of Oscar’s tragedy, who tells Liddy, “Life doesn’t end with your people. There’s always someone that needs us”.
- Resigned to death, Liddy and Oscar are instead transferred back to earth. Unfortunately, directly into a war zone.
- Theme: Misunderstanding immigrants
- Probably the most obvious theme in Barrier is the misunderstanding of immigrants. There’s obviously the literal aspect where Liddy literally can’t understand spanish, but the real misunderstanding comes through the Texans showing they really don’t know what most immigrants are like.
- In issue 1 we see that pretty much every American has a messed up and misunderstood view on immigrants. There’s the obvious assholes like the bloodthirsty minuteman, but even the “nice” Americans like Liddy and the border patrol agent have some ignorance.
- Upon first seeing Oscar, Liddy is sure she’s caught a cartel member, and even on board the ship, she seems first and foremost concerned with Oscar, thinking he’s a gang member.
- This is juxtaposed with the people we see trying to immigrate who seem genuinely nice or at least like people one would want to help (the man helping Oscar catch the train, the transgender woman trying to escape Honduras, etc.).
- Oscar visually might be scary to someone like Liddy, a man from another country that doesn’t speak her language and is covered in tattoos, but he had the purest immigration intentions, originally just looking for a way to better specifically his son’s life.
- I do like how Vaughan acknowledges the nuance, though, showing that there are gang members heavily involved in the process running things.
- Here’s probably a good time to bring up the recurrence of “barriers” as well (literally the title of the comic). This shows up pretty much multiple times an issue through things like the literal barrier between USA and Mexico, the language barrier between Oscar and Liddy, electric barriers on the ship’s jail cell, etc.
- Visually, my favorite depiction of this is the 7 panels in issue one showing the narrowing physical barrier between Liddy and Oscar.
- The logo is even literally the word barrier being shattered, something you could argue is the whole point of this comic.
- Something I didn’t even notice in my first reading of the comic is Vaughan’s depiction of the aliens as humble immigrants as well. Like most immigrants they didn’t want to leave but they were forced from their homeland and left, not will ill intent, but out of a desperate need for survival.
- They are “illegal immigrants” to, well, the entirety of earth in a way.
- There are many sub-themes as well, like common humanity of human beings, which is apparent in a relative sense as Liddy and Oscar traverse the alien ship, but I especially appreciate Vaughan’s depiction of trauma, something that, unfortunately, is something dealt with across all cultures.
- Lastly, I want to mention Oscar’s hopeful message to Liddy at the end, where, thinking about the loss of his family he tells her “Life doesn’t end with your people. There’s always someone that needs us”, meaning that our duty as humans doesn’t end with our race or neighbors but also those a little different to us: immigrants.
- Theme: Language
- On literally page one of issue one, we see a multi-language sign, signifying the variety of languages we’ll be in for the rest of the series. And the multi-languages really does make this such a unique comic in my eyes.
- Vaughan actually says in the afterword of issue 1 that the tale is written to be understood by readers who understand either just English, just Spanish, or neither of the languages.
- And I can guarantee you’re going to not know at least one of the languages, because late in the story we are introduced to the alien language.
- That being said, it’s certainly meant to be interpreted somewhat differently depending on what you naturally understand. The second time I read this series I decided not to translate the Spanish, and it lead to a different experience as a reader. I felt more of a disconnect with Oscar, especially early on.
- Naturally, Liddy felt more like the protagonist. The confusion and any assumptions you make about Oscar and his situation are meant to be something to reflect on for purely English readers.
- It definitely comes to a head for me, with English as my first language, in the final Oscar flashback scene, where we’re hit with his brutal history full-frontal, completely in English. Almost like Vaughan is saying, “Is this what you wanted? Here you go. Deal with this.”
- I also have to mention the most impressive issue in the series to me, issue 3, which is a legendary archetype in comics, a “Silent Issue”. On top of just being extremely technically impressive to pull off, it emphasizes the disconnect language can cause and forces our characters to move beyond it.
- Conclusion
- Something really incredible about comics is that you get so much bang for your buck. Like, take the “minuteman” character in this comic. We see him for barely 3 pages and I have remembered that character for years and thinking about him fills me with so much ire.
- And that’s why something that takes about as long to read as a short story holds as much weight as a series for me.
- Something I really like about Vaughan is his use of what I call “jumpscare” panels, which are essentially panels that happen when the flow of the story is moving steadily, but all of a sudden you flip the page and there is a full page panel of something absolutely shocking.
- This works great with his comics because he does not shy away from extremely graphic depictions. On the fourth page of the book there’s a mutilated horse’s head, there are literally hate crimes committed, full nudity, hardcore porn, flayed corpses, and more. His works are not for kids.
- So, wrapping up, I know I don’t get millions of views on my videos, but if I convince literally one person. One person in the whole world to give Vaughan a shot, and I open up a new world of brilliant media to them, then honestly, that’s one main goal of my channel checked off the goals list.
- And this isn’t even, like, top 4 Vaughan works in my eyes, so if you liked this, you have no idea what’s in store for you. You’ve still got Saga, Paper Girls, Y: The Last Man, Private Eye, Spectators… *breath*… the world is your oyster.
- So thank you for joining me as I try something a little different on my channel and venture into another avenue of passion, one I think is embarrassingly under appreciated by the booktube community, and something I see as a spiritual brother of social science fiction novels, and that’s social science fiction comics.
- Thanks for watching.
~~~
~~~
~~~
- Introduction
- This is a comic review. WAIT WAIT WAIT.
- “but Sam, I just don’t like comics, they’re boring and childish and shallow”.
- Honestly, you’re right. At least about a lot of comics. But while lots of the comic industry is cheap action slop, there exists a sub-genre of psychological science fiction that has the philosophical weight akin to brilliant SF writers like Le Guin, Vonnegut, Ballard, and beyond.
- In that genre there is one man that stands out, pretty unilaterally labeled as the GOAT is Brian K. Vaughan, and today I’m here to review a miniseries of his called “Barrier”.
- “But Sam, I don’t even have any comic book stores around me”
- Well you’re in luck! The series I’m reviewing has all issues available online via a “pay-what-you-want” model, meaning you can get them all for as little as free!
- All you have to do is go to the link in the description and download the issues. Download them as .cbz files and then open them with the free comic reader app I also linked in the description.
- “But Sam, why even do comics? There are so many good books to read!”
- That’s true, there are, but comics can tell just as deep a story as books, just in a different way. I find it frankly tragic that more SF readers have not read Vaughan’s works, and to be honest I think a lot of it is just that they don’t know about it or have the wrong idea about comics.
- A comic can tell a just as deep if not deeper story than a book. In the same way I’m sure all you science fiction readers think of Star Wars and 2001 as part of the required viewing for a well-rounded view of the SF, I find a handful of Vaughan’s works, like “Paper Girls” and Saga”, to be on that level as well.
- “Alright dude but I’m not reading an 80 issue series, I’ve gotta go read my, uh, 32nd PKD novel”
- Well this series, Barrier, is just a 5 issue miniseries.
- But let’s be honest. I know most of you probably won’t take my advice and go read this, so let me convince you that social SF comics, or at least Vaughan’s works, are worth your time. I’ll walk you through this comic before discussing the brilliant themes and other things I love about this work.
- Walkthrough
- (Issue 1)
- We start off with Liddy, one of our two main characters. On her ranch, right on the Mexico/USA border, one of her employees finds a severed and mutilated horse head, something she assumes is a “message” from the cartel.
- And before long, we switch over to Honduras where a transgender woman is being harassed by some scary-looking men as she tries to board a truck, presumably to be smuggled north.
- In walks Oscar, who pays off the men with some American cash, covered in blood, and boards the truck with the woman.
- The rest of the issue swaps perspectives back and forth between Liddy and Oscar.
- Liddy, reeling from some sort of past trauma surrounding a man named “Wyatt”, tries and fails to find help securing her property.
- Hundreds of miles south, Oscar goes through Hell and high water, almost literally, making his way north, taking care to hold on to his one possession: a book bag.
- Their paths eventually converge as Oscar has tripped and fallen into a pit on Liddy’s property, badly injuring his leg. Hearing screams, Liddy comes out, training a rifle at Oscar’s head, as he attempts to explain himself.
- They’re getting nowhere, as neither speaks the other’s language, but at the height of their confrontation, seemingly out of nowhere, a massive alien ship appears overhead and abducts them.
- (Issue 2)
- After a flashback showing Oscar with his young son outside an English immersion school, we join him on the alien ship. Surrounded by other Earth artifacts and animals, he stumbles through the massive ship, and seems to have his leg healed by some material that gets squirted on it.
- Soon, he finds Liddy, and they continue their frustrating attempts to communicate. It starts off very hostile, Liddy still convinced he’s part of the presumed gang terrorizing her ranch, but they soon notice they’re on the same team. Liddy even makes a remark implying that her husband, presumably the man mentioned earlier, is dead.
- Before they can get comfortable, however, an alien comes to grab Oscar, Liddy saves him, only to then be taken away herself.
- (Issue 3)
- Next we get a chilling flashback sequence, showing Liddy as she attempt to scream, warning to a man on horseback of an approaching tornado. The perspective changes, though, and we see the man is dead, a bullet through his brain, and the horse he’s on decapitated. Liddy wakes up, crying.
- Back in the present with Oscar, we follow him as he makes his way through the gigantic, eerie ship. And he’s actually able to find his book bag before himself being taken away by one of the aliens.
- He’s placed in the same, sterile-looking room as Liddy, and readers notice now both of them seem to be bleeding from the ears, unable to hear, something that was apparently caused by the alien’s speech.
- As they go through Oscar’s book bag he shows Liddy why it’s so important to him: a comic, with him as the main superhero, drawn by his son.
- After a touching moment between them, we notice, now through the eyes of the aliens, that the two are able to get the door to the cage open if they light up a fire with Oscar’s lighter. So they do so, burning the sketchbook sans the comic, which Oscar tears out first.
- (Issue 4)
- We get another flashback from Oscar, this time we see him roaming the streets, humbly selling horchata. He is accosted and mentions that he’s looking to make it to America, and the group offers him money to participate in some gang activity. He rejects the offer, something they’re not happy about.
- Back with Oscar and Liddy, the cage door opens, but it fills the cage with liquid. Oscar returns Liddy’s favor from earlier, saving a passed-out Liddy by blowing air into her lungs and guiding her up to safety: a huge room that looks to be some sort of greenhouse.
- Notably here we spend a scene with the aliens, and we witness a conversation between two of them, although, obviously, we can’t understand it.
- Oscar and Liddy start exploring the area, finding random detritus before stumbling on a human corpse. One that is graphically and mercilessly flayed from the waste up.
- Overcome with fear, Liddy reminisces on Wyatt’s depression, or as she calls it consistent “terror”, seeming to think he was right for his anxieties.
- (Issue 5)
- After some more miscommunication another alien shows up. Liddy is able to lasso it, and after creating some homemade earplugs to prevent deafness again, they confront the aliens who came to save their brother, demanding they put them back where they found them.
- The aliens converse for a moment before plunging their appendages into Liddy and Oscar.
- We now see the final flashback of Liddy, with one change: the speech is all done in the alien language.
- After being dealt an eviction notice, Liddy hears a single rifle shot. Riding back to her house, she finds her husband Wyatt, dead via a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
- Next we shift perspectives into another flashback, this time a flashback of one of the aliens. The language is in Spanish, though.
- Readers see the home planet of the aliens. A parent consoles their daughter. Surrounded by dead animals they tell her that their world is sick, and they need to find a cure.
- They’ve looked everywhere in-system, though, so the parent suggests broadening their search. The daughter mentions how this is illegal, but her parent doesn’t care. Searching for a world with diversity, which they say breeds health, they propose Earth.
- Finally, we cut to Oscar’s flashback, in English. Coming home after a day of selling horchata, he walks in to a graphic scene: his wife and son dead in his kitchen, butchered by machete.
- It was the local gang, angry at his denial of service to them and his audacity to dare consider leaving the community. “No one escapes Hell, Oscar. You just get to go a little deeper”.
- Gun to his neck Oscar acts on instinct, killing the two gang members.
- Back to the present. Liddy expresses sadness for the terror of Oscar’s tragedy, who tells Liddy, “Life doesn’t end with your people. There’s always someone that needs us”.
- Resigned to death, Liddy and Oscar are instead transferred back to earth. Unfortunately, directly into a war zone.
- Theme: Misunderstanding immigrants
- Probably the most obvious theme in Barrier is the misunderstanding of immigrants. There’s obviously the literal aspect where Liddy literally can’t understand spanish, but the real misunderstanding comes through the Texans showing they really don’t know what most immigrants are like.
- In issue 1 we see that pretty much every American has a messed up and misunderstood view on immigrants. There’s the obvious assholes like the bloodthirsty minuteman, but even the “nice” Americans like Liddy and the border patrol agent have some ignorance.
- Upon first seeing Oscar, Liddy is sure she’s caught a cartel member, and even on board the ship, she seems first and foremost concerned with Oscar, thinking he’s a gang member.
- This is juxtaposed with the people we see trying to immigrate who seem genuinely nice or at least like people one would want to help (the man helping Oscar catch the train, the transgender woman trying to escape Honduras, etc.).
- Oscar visually might be scary to someone like Liddy, a man from another country that doesn’t speak her language and is covered in tattoos, but he had the purest immigration intentions, originally just looking for a way to better specifically his son’s life.
- I do like how Vaughan acknowledges the nuance, though, showing that there are gang members heavily involved in the process running things.
- Here’s probably a good time to bring up the recurrence of “barriers” as well (literally the title of the comic). This shows up pretty much multiple times an issue through things like the literal barrier between USA and Mexico, the language barrier between Oscar and Liddy, electric barriers on the ship’s jail cell, etc.
- Visually, my favorite depiction of this is the 7 panels in issue one showing the narrowing physical barrier between Liddy and Oscar.
- The logo is even literally the word barrier being shattered, something you could argue is the whole point of this comic.
- Something I didn’t even notice in my first reading of the comic is Vaughan’s depiction of the aliens as humble immigrants as well. Like most immigrants they didn’t want to leave but they were forced from their homeland and left, not will ill intent, but out of a desperate need for survival.
- They are “illegal immigrants” to, well, the entirety of earth in a way.
- There are many sub-themes as well, like common humanity of human beings, which is apparent in a relative sense as Liddy and Oscar traverse the alien ship, but I especially appreciate Vaughan’s depiction of trauma, something that, unfortunately, is something dealt with across all cultures.
- Lastly, I want to mention Oscar’s hopeful message to Liddy at the end, where, thinking about the loss of his family he tells her “Life doesn’t end with your people. There’s always someone that needs us”, meaning that our duty as humans doesn’t end with our race or neighbors but also those a little different to us: immigrants.
- Theme: Language
- On literally page one of issue one, we see a multi-language sign, signifying the variety of languages we’ll be in for the rest of the series. And the multi-languages really does make this such a unique comic in my eyes.
- Vaughan actually says in the afterword of issue 1 that the tale is written to be understood by readers who understand either just English, just Spanish, or neither of the languages.
- And I can guarantee you’re going to not know at least one of the languages, because late in the story we are introduced to the alien language.
- That being said, it’s certainly meant to be interpreted somewhat differently depending on what you naturally understand. The second time I read this series I decided not to translate the Spanish, and it lead to a different experience as a reader. I felt more of a disconnect with Oscar, especially early on.
- Naturally, Liddy felt more like the protagonist. The confusion and any assumptions you make about Oscar and his situation are meant to be something to reflect on for purely English readers.
- It definitely comes to a head for me, with English as my first language, in the final Oscar flashback scene, where we’re hit with his brutal history full-frontal, completely in English. Almost like Vaughan is saying, “Is this what you wanted? Here you go. Deal with this.”
- I also have to mention the most impressive issue in the series to me, issue 3, which is a legendary archetype in comics, a “Silent Issue”. On top of just being extremely technically impressive to pull off, it emphasizes the disconnect language can cause and forces our characters to move beyond it.
- Conclusion
- Something really incredible about comics is that you get so much bang for your buck. Like, take the “minuteman” character in this comic. We see him for barely 3 pages and I have remembered that character for years and thinking about him fills me with so much ire.
- And that’s why something that takes about as long to read as a short story holds as much weight as a series for me.
- Something I really like about Vaughan is his use of what I call “jumpscare” panels, which are essentially panels that happen when the flow of the story is moving steadily, but all of a sudden you flip the page and there is a full page panel of something absolutely shocking.
- This works great with his comics because he does not shy away from extremely graphic depictions. On the fourth page of the book there’s a mutilated horse’s head, there are literally hate crimes committed, full nudity, hardcore porn, flayed corpses, and more. His works are not for kids.
- So, wrapping up, I know I don’t get millions of views on my videos, but if I convince literally one person. One person in the whole world to give Vaughan a shot, and I open up a new world of brilliant media to them, then honestly, that’s one main goal of my channel checked off the goals list.
- And this isn’t even, like, top 4 Vaughan works in my eyes, so if you liked this, you have no idea what’s in store for you. You’ve still got Saga, Paper Girls, Y: The Last Man, Private Eye, Spectators… *breath*… the world is your oyster.
- So thank you for joining me as I try something a little different on my channel and venture into another avenue of passion, one I think is embarrassingly under appreciated by the booktube community, and something I see as a spiritual brother of social science fiction novels, and that’s social science fiction comics.
- Thanks for watching.
February 27, 2025
Barrier, the 2018 comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan is a captivating exploration of cultural misunderstanding and the immigrant experience. Told through the lens of science fiction, the story follows Liddy, a Texan rancher, and Oscar, a Honduran migrant, who are both abducted by aliens and forced to overcome their differences to survive. This kind of story feels relevant especially today within the current political climate and public discourse surrounding issues such as immigration, illegals, border security, etc. The narrative expertly weaves together many of these issues through the two main characters. Liddy, hardened by her experiences on the border, embodies the anxieties and prejudices surrounding illegal immigration. Oscar, driven by the need to escape his harsh reality, represents the human cost of these political and social issues. Their forced cooperation in the face of a common enemy highlights the absurdity of the barriers that divide them.
The artwork in Barrier is a key element that contributes to its unique reading experience. Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente utilize a widescreen format, which gives the comic a horizontal feel, a wall-like barrier aesthetic. The panels are quite expansive and detailed, immersing the reader in the story's world. The artists effectively use facial expressions and body language to convey emotions and advance the plot, even in the absence of dialogue. Which brings us to one of the most striking aspects of Barrier, its use of language. Vaughan incorporates both English and Spanish dialogue, with no translations provided. This bold choice forces the reader to experience the story in the same way that Liddy and Oscar experience their encounter – with a significant language barrier. While this might seem frustrating at first, it ultimately enhances the story's impact. The lack of translation mirrors the characters' inability to understand each other, emphasizing the challenges of communication and cultural differences. The latest issues almost have no dialogue at all, forcing the reader to rely much more on the artwork's visual cues and non-verbal communication much like the characters themselves.
The artwork also creates a striking contrast between the realistic portrayal of the borderlands and the fantastical elements of the alien abduction. This juxtaposition emphasizes the collision of two worlds and the blurring of boundaries between reality and fiction. Vicente's vibrant colors further enhance this contrast, shifting from the earthy tones of the Texas landscape to the otherworldly hues of the alien spacecraft. The "aliens" and the characters' forced cooperation can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger forces that drive conflict and division in the world. The aliens represent an external threat that transcends national borders and cultural differences, forcing Liddy and Oscar to confront their prejudices and work together. This external threat could be interpreted as a representation of societal forces like fear, xenophobia, or even climate change, which create divisions and require cooperation to overcome. The comic also explores the dehumanizing aspects of the immigration experience. Oscar is reduced to a commodity, exploited by those who profit from his desperation. Liddy, on the other hand, is trapped by her own fear and mistrust of outsiders. Through their shared ordeal, they begin to see each other as individuals, breaking down the barriers that separate them. The aliens, in this context, serve as a catalyst for empathy and understanding, forcing the characters to recognize their shared humanity.
The ending feels a bit rushed and lacking compared to the rich character backgrounds that were developed. However, overall this is a short and potent comic that is definitely worth checking out.
The artwork in Barrier is a key element that contributes to its unique reading experience. Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente utilize a widescreen format, which gives the comic a horizontal feel, a wall-like barrier aesthetic. The panels are quite expansive and detailed, immersing the reader in the story's world. The artists effectively use facial expressions and body language to convey emotions and advance the plot, even in the absence of dialogue. Which brings us to one of the most striking aspects of Barrier, its use of language. Vaughan incorporates both English and Spanish dialogue, with no translations provided. This bold choice forces the reader to experience the story in the same way that Liddy and Oscar experience their encounter – with a significant language barrier. While this might seem frustrating at first, it ultimately enhances the story's impact. The lack of translation mirrors the characters' inability to understand each other, emphasizing the challenges of communication and cultural differences. The latest issues almost have no dialogue at all, forcing the reader to rely much more on the artwork's visual cues and non-verbal communication much like the characters themselves.
The artwork also creates a striking contrast between the realistic portrayal of the borderlands and the fantastical elements of the alien abduction. This juxtaposition emphasizes the collision of two worlds and the blurring of boundaries between reality and fiction. Vicente's vibrant colors further enhance this contrast, shifting from the earthy tones of the Texas landscape to the otherworldly hues of the alien spacecraft. The "aliens" and the characters' forced cooperation can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger forces that drive conflict and division in the world. The aliens represent an external threat that transcends national borders and cultural differences, forcing Liddy and Oscar to confront their prejudices and work together. This external threat could be interpreted as a representation of societal forces like fear, xenophobia, or even climate change, which create divisions and require cooperation to overcome. The comic also explores the dehumanizing aspects of the immigration experience. Oscar is reduced to a commodity, exploited by those who profit from his desperation. Liddy, on the other hand, is trapped by her own fear and mistrust of outsiders. Through their shared ordeal, they begin to see each other as individuals, breaking down the barriers that separate them. The aliens, in this context, serve as a catalyst for empathy and understanding, forcing the characters to recognize their shared humanity.
The ending feels a bit rushed and lacking compared to the rich character backgrounds that were developed. However, overall this is a short and potent comic that is definitely worth checking out.
March 10, 2025
3.5 ⭐️ no sabía que fue escrito en español and in english.
March 4, 2020
Magistral parábola sobre la incomunicación y la capacidad (si hubiera voluntad) de superarlos. Y de cómo se alimenta la incomunicación y la xenofobia para fines espurios.
September 13, 2018
I love Brian K. Vaughan but I don't love this comic. It is probably 50% in Spanish, which I know enough to get by in the Spanish speaking countries I visit but am not conversationally fluent. This means that every page I can either ignore the text (???) or struggle through translating (or use Google translates camera feature). All of these break my immersion and slow the reading way down.
Here's the thing though, even I spoke (read) perfect Spanish, I don't think this would be that good. The theme of "if there were fewer barriers (emotional, physical, linguistic), we'd like each other better" isn't that exciting of theme to me. Not because I disagree, but because it is so obvious.
I'm sorry, BKV, I love your work and I loved The Private Eye series, but this one wasn't for me.
Here's the thing though, even I spoke (read) perfect Spanish, I don't think this would be that good. The theme of "if there were fewer barriers (emotional, physical, linguistic), we'd like each other better" isn't that exciting of theme to me. Not because I disagree, but because it is so obvious.
I'm sorry, BKV, I love your work and I loved The Private Eye series, but this one wasn't for me.
December 16, 2019
As of yet BKV has done no wrong (for me anyways). And even though I feel this is a mess, I feel that the groundwork for something universally engaging has been laid. The problem lies in the medium he chose to produce this on.
This should have been a passion project movie script, where, with the proper director, score composer, lead actors and budget - would be out of this world entertainment.
Maybe one day someone will break the barrier preventing this from lifting off.
This should have been a passion project movie script, where, with the proper director, score composer, lead actors and budget - would be out of this world entertainment.
Maybe one day someone will break the barrier preventing this from lifting off.
May 9, 2020
Este tebeo es de esos que estarían bien que se use en las escuelas. No sólo por el gran despliegue de recursos del medio, si no lo bien que ficcionaliza algo que es un drama de nuestra sociedad. Muy bien llevado de principio a fin.
May 8, 2021
Comicazo bilingüe sobre las barreras: físicas, ideológicas, mentales... llena de costumbrismo y ciencia ficción.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews