It’s not easy surviving in Steel Harbor.
Creative Staff:
Story: Chris Warner
Art: Patrick Olliffe, Tom Nguyen
What They Say:
To keep her struggling club off the auction block, Barb Wire hunts one Wyvern Stormblüd, a human wrecking ball with a serious bounty on his head. But Wyvern is a psychotic drunk, even more dangerous soused than sober, who plans to set loose every caged gangster in Steel Harbor!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installment of Barb Wire brought us back to Steel Harbor and while it didn’t blaze any new ground, it did feel stronger in a way than the original series way back when. While there are touches and nods towards the bigger mildly shared world out there, the series is establishing itself as its own place and Barb as the central character. It introduced a number of characters and the basic situation well enough, though admittedly without a big enough hook to make it a must read kind of return book. But I liked that it was taking a similar but different enough approach to what we had before, modernizing it in some decent ways, that I’m curious to see where it’ll actually go. This issue doesn’t exactly answer that, but it hints at it a bit more.
With the new mayor, Victoria Castle, out and about more in an attempt to change the city and revitalize it, there’s the obvious adage of wondering where the backing and true power lies. That isn’t answered here, but the question does arrive. For Barb, it’s not something she’s focusing on though because what Castle is doing is getting a lot of bounties out there on the gangs and general bad guys in the city and that means a lot of work for her. A lot of work that she needs since the bar is a money pit and she’s most definitely feeling the pinch. That gives us a fun little montage as she goes through a bigger job and then a lot of smaller ones, all while Castle’s plans are talked about in the loosest of senses, though inspiring enough for those that hold onto some sliver of hope out there. Of course, because there’s so many bounties, the precincts are filling up quickly and that has its own problems.
For Barb, it comes in the form of Stormblud as he’s just as big, drunk and stupid as he usually is. His acting out ends up freeing a whole lot of criminals as he busts out of the precinct, which has Barb getting pretty pissed since she’s losing money this way with her latest grab. The continued push to make her struggle may be blunt in a lot of ways, but it does work. We also see how she’s being forced into doing things she doesn’t want, such as going after Stormblud. She’s not keen on the powered types, especially big and stupid ones, but when both Mace and Hunter make separate but obvious plays that she has to in order to keep the bigger truces alive, it sets events into motion. I rather liked her disinterested view of the whole thing when dealing with everyone who wants her to go after Stormblud, but you also knew that it would happen no matter what because the book has to progress.
In Summary:
Barb Wire is pretty much playing by the book here and it does it well enough. I’m holding out hope that there’s an interesting twist to it coming up, but I’m also kind of hoping for there to be something inspiring as well when it comes to trying to save the city. The focus on Barb through the camera crew, her bar and just the general bounty hunting job works to show the kind of rough life she has and what she has to do to make ends meet, but it’s got a kind of superficial feeling about it. The action sequences are fun here and I like the way that things work with Mace and Hunter. Part of it reminds me of Ostrander’s old Grimjack book with the bar, which hers could become with some simple nudges in a lot of ways. And that could make things a lot more interesting as a focal point rather than a struggling bar.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: August 5th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
