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Dark Horse Heroes
Barb Wire Omnibus Volume 1
The comics series that inspired the movie, Barb Wire is over-the-top, bad-girl action that opened doors for the plethora of today's tough-girl characters. Steel Harbor is a hell of a town, with the emphasis on hell, an urban wasteland of shuttered factories, decaying neighborhoods, and broken dreams. Crime and street violence are the soup of the day every day, but if you're a bounty hunter, every day in "Metal City" can be Christmas - assuming you survive, since the worst of the Harbor's most wanted can fly, summon up tornadoes, or tear cars in half with their bare hands. But, a skip's a skip, and manhunter Barb Wire is the best tracker in the business, and no super-gangster is too tough-as long as there's a fat price on his, her, or its head. Beautiful as she is lethal, Barb Wire really puts the "drop dead" in drop-dead gorgeous Her boots may be made for walking, but they kick butt real pretty
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 2008
21 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Chris Warner
333 books6 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Chris Warner (born 1955) is an American comic book writer, artist, and editor for Dark Horse Comics.
(source: Wikipedia)
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Chris Warner (born 1955) is an American comic book writer, artist, and editor for Dark Horse Comics.
(source: Wikipedia)
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 8, 2014
Internet, I'm writing to you today to tell you that Barb Wire is complete dreck. And this is just depressing, a terrible thing, because of course it is dreck, that's not even interesting news. I would like to be able to tell you that there's something worth redemption here, that there was a reason I pulled up the crap-of-all-crap from the depths of Shitty Old Comics, that there's something salvageable in this utterly mediocre garbage.
But there is not, and it's not even worth saying there is not. This is an pointless and boring conclusion. I'll tell you, I still think Barb Wire was/is an interesting idea, a sort of cyberpunk-noir-adventure thing with a ruined city, streetgangs controlled by rampaging metahumans, and a bounty hunter who's just trying to keep her bar in business, whose best friend is a zombie cyborg and whose bartender destroys city blocks with his mind.
That is all just weird enough, and just open-ended enough, for me to see something good -- whatever made Robocop good, and Escape From New York good, and Mad Max good, is buried somewhere in Barb Wire. But the characters are depthless, the stories are repetitive, the art is garish, and there's just not a sense that anyone involved had a sense of the kind of atmosphere the book needed in order to survive.
The art, at least, gets an upgrade toward the end of the volume -- but this is also when they started drawing Barb as Pam Anderson, complete with bondage leather and overprimped hair. I'm telling you, this concept could not catch a break.
And so it is terribly, terribly, nauseatingly bad comicbooking that runs through Barb Wire. Even saying so makes me feel like I'm kicking a dog with no teeth. I feel terrible just calling it out -- but what total shit this is.
But there is not, and it's not even worth saying there is not. This is an pointless and boring conclusion. I'll tell you, I still think Barb Wire was/is an interesting idea, a sort of cyberpunk-noir-adventure thing with a ruined city, streetgangs controlled by rampaging metahumans, and a bounty hunter who's just trying to keep her bar in business, whose best friend is a zombie cyborg and whose bartender destroys city blocks with his mind.
That is all just weird enough, and just open-ended enough, for me to see something good -- whatever made Robocop good, and Escape From New York good, and Mad Max good, is buried somewhere in Barb Wire. But the characters are depthless, the stories are repetitive, the art is garish, and there's just not a sense that anyone involved had a sense of the kind of atmosphere the book needed in order to survive.
The art, at least, gets an upgrade toward the end of the volume -- but this is also when they started drawing Barb as Pam Anderson, complete with bondage leather and overprimped hair. I'm telling you, this concept could not catch a break.
And so it is terribly, terribly, nauseatingly bad comicbooking that runs through Barb Wire. Even saying so makes me feel like I'm kicking a dog with no teeth. I feel terrible just calling it out -- but what total shit this is.
March 8, 2016
Vote:3,5
Pure 100% crap bad-ass/bad-girl/(super)hero 90ties comic!
But that is why it is so fun!
Nice cyberpunk/Mad Max setting, funny gang/crime stories with a few superheros/villains and The Machine is really an hell of a character.
Art goes uphill with "Ace of spades" mini-saga when they start drawing Barb(ie) like Pamela Anderson in the Barb Wire z-movie inspired by the Dark Horse comics.
Funny read. Have to look for the movie. :D
[image error]
Old Barb Wire look.
Ok, I read too many comics... But is Blitzkrieg a far relative of Tanino Liberatore's Ranxerox? XD
Barb Wire Pam Anderson-style.
Avran Roman "The Machine" is literally a Zombie-Robocop from hell!
Pure 100% crap bad-ass/bad-girl/(super)hero 90ties comic!
But that is why it is so fun!
Nice cyberpunk/Mad Max setting, funny gang/crime stories with a few superheros/villains and The Machine is really an hell of a character.
Art goes uphill with "Ace of spades" mini-saga when they start drawing Barb(ie) like Pamela Anderson in the Barb Wire z-movie inspired by the Dark Horse comics.
Funny read. Have to look for the movie. :D
[image error]
Old Barb Wire look.
Ok, I read too many comics... But is Blitzkrieg a far relative of Tanino Liberatore's Ranxerox? XD
Barb Wire Pam Anderson-style.
Avran Roman "The Machine" is literally a Zombie-Robocop from hell!
January 10, 2022
A few chapters in this book, and well I am calling it. In the early issues, at least, Barb Wire is not sexualized that badly. The storyline could be interesting but we seem to be in that "only one girl" idea that I have no tolerance for these days.
The early artwork as I said doesn't sexualize the character too much. It's true her butt cheeks are highlighted by her costume and cleavage and sometimes midriff are displayed, but overall the poses are not cheesecake, and the focus isn't on sexual turn on aspect - at least in the early issues. But it is so-so artwork in general.
The early artwork as I said doesn't sexualize the character too much. It's true her butt cheeks are highlighted by her costume and cleavage and sometimes midriff are displayed, but overall the poses are not cheesecake, and the focus isn't on sexual turn on aspect - at least in the early issues. But it is so-so artwork in general.
March 30, 2018
This is a Dark Horse classic i got (bought) from Comixology.
And another 1990s comics i have explored now (2018), thanks to Comixology.
I love this one volume because it is these old stories that got this female hero a film adaptation (albeit a bad one) and it is chunkier than the recent/new two volumes about our favorite hot mess heroine.
I have not read enough female heroes on comics but i will definitely recommend this badass heroine because more than a fighter, she is a survivor too, with a heart.
;-)
And another 1990s comics i have explored now (2018), thanks to Comixology.
I love this one volume because it is these old stories that got this female hero a film adaptation (albeit a bad one) and it is chunkier than the recent/new two volumes about our favorite hot mess heroine.
I have not read enough female heroes on comics but i will definitely recommend this badass heroine because more than a fighter, she is a survivor too, with a heart.
;-)
February 26, 2022
Barb Wire is a product of the 90s in just about every way imaginable. This omnibus is a terrific time capsule of the era through its art and leather-based characters. It's still rather ironic to me that, in the 90s, we imagined the future as a Mad Max post-apocalyptic world that only functions on leather. The character of Barb Wire is nothing special and honestly, this might be the first, and possibly only, time I would recommend the 96 cinematic counterpart of the source material. The movie was terrible in just about every way imaginable but it was fun. Outside of the climatic, Ace of Spades and The Ghost in the Machine, these issues take themselves too seriously. The character development of Barb is one of the book's redeeming qualities. Though I don't know, I guess I was looking for something a little bit more.
June 29, 2022
A mixed bag, the start of the regular issues shows some promise but when they switch to the Ignition II story it becomes dull. I can see why the series never made it past issue 9 as a result.
The Ace of Spades mini series which rounds this out is actually quite good, even if I dislike that they put her in the costume from the godawful movie. But let's be honest the mini series, published over a year after the main series was cancelled, was to tie in with the movie. And probably to see if there was enough interest for a new ongoing series.
A fun trip into 90s comics, and an opportunity to finally read something I'd always wanted to as a kid.
The Ace of Spades mini series which rounds this out is actually quite good, even if I dislike that they put her in the costume from the godawful movie. But let's be honest the mini series, published over a year after the main series was cancelled, was to tie in with the movie. And probably to see if there was enough interest for a new ongoing series.
A fun trip into 90s comics, and an opportunity to finally read something I'd always wanted to as a kid.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2020
Barb Wire is peak 90's over the top action, and I love it for that.
Surprisingly, Barb Wire is a pretty interesting main character, who has some interesting motivations. She's a bounty hunter, but only to keep her bar working in a Gary-esque town with super powered gangsters running wild.
The action is pretty good, and the dialogue is pretty believable, though some of the costumes are a little dated.
My only real critique is that Barb Wire's poses can sometimes be unrealistic, but it's not as bad as some 90's comic series (cough Youngblood cough).
Definitely worth reading.
Surprisingly, Barb Wire is a pretty interesting main character, who has some interesting motivations. She's a bounty hunter, but only to keep her bar working in a Gary-esque town with super powered gangsters running wild.
The action is pretty good, and the dialogue is pretty believable, though some of the costumes are a little dated.
My only real critique is that Barb Wire's poses can sometimes be unrealistic, but it's not as bad as some 90's comic series (cough Youngblood cough).
Definitely worth reading.
Read
May 31, 2020A whole lot of barb wire.
Good color artwork. Dark horse freebie. A lot of these adventures seem repetitive? Set around detroit. Super power gangs make life interesting for a bar owner/ bounty hunter.
Good color artwork. Dark horse freebie. A lot of these adventures seem repetitive? Set around detroit. Super power gangs make life interesting for a bar owner/ bounty hunter.
January 21, 2020
This was just pure brain candy for me. Lots of action. Some plot development. More action. Fun.
September 11, 2023
I hunted down this omnibus mainly after watching the Pamela Anderson Netflix documentary & being reminded of the Barb Wire movie that both trashed Anderson’s film career and seems to have taken the comic character of Barb Wire down with it.
And, I’m going to do a little rebalance here after reading some of these reviews because you’d think both Dark Horse’s Barb Wire series’ were an isolated incident of overt action, incomprehensible story & overt sex & violence but it was the 90s and pretty much every comic company was pitching their version of a post Alan Moore/ Frank Miller-esque world.
I found both series really good fun & the character of Barb Wire as kick-ass as any of her male peers. And while there were any number of powerful women across the comics pages in the 90s there were just as many ‘bad girls’, sidekicks/ girlfriends & damsels in distress that Barb Wire stood out amongst the crowd.
I will say it helps to have read the preceding Dark Horse Heroes omnibus as this is the intro to Barb Wire’s world but there’s enough exposition to cover the back story.
The art in the second story is stronger but the world building & storyline is outstanding in the first story arc and I was hooked enough by both adventures in Steel Harbour to hunt down the 2015 mini series that was later released in the hope of rebooting the character (it didn’t take).
Barb Wire must have been enough of a draw card to have someone think a movie was a good idea at a time when superhero movies were few & far between, this omnibus goes a long way to remind us why.
And, I’m going to do a little rebalance here after reading some of these reviews because you’d think both Dark Horse’s Barb Wire series’ were an isolated incident of overt action, incomprehensible story & overt sex & violence but it was the 90s and pretty much every comic company was pitching their version of a post Alan Moore/ Frank Miller-esque world.
I found both series really good fun & the character of Barb Wire as kick-ass as any of her male peers. And while there were any number of powerful women across the comics pages in the 90s there were just as many ‘bad girls’, sidekicks/ girlfriends & damsels in distress that Barb Wire stood out amongst the crowd.
I will say it helps to have read the preceding Dark Horse Heroes omnibus as this is the intro to Barb Wire’s world but there’s enough exposition to cover the back story.
The art in the second story is stronger but the world building & storyline is outstanding in the first story arc and I was hooked enough by both adventures in Steel Harbour to hunt down the 2015 mini series that was later released in the hope of rebooting the character (it didn’t take).
Barb Wire must have been enough of a draw card to have someone think a movie was a good idea at a time when superhero movies were few & far between, this omnibus goes a long way to remind us why.
June 6, 2016
Oh, so VERY 90s, but still fun. I do wish it had more of the side stories of the supporting characters since it referenced them. Over all good and I think it actually made fun of the truly awful movie.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews