The bigger they are the crazier they are.
Creative Staff:
Story: Chris Warner
Art: Patrick Olliffe, Tom Nguyen
What They Say:
Bounty hunter Barb Wire goes after the lion in its lair when she confronts the drunken powerhouse named Wyvern Stormblüd in his squat—a decaying steel mill almost as hazardous as he is. It’s a battle between the swift and smart and the ’faced and ferocious!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Barb Wire’s third installment isn’t a make or break installment for fans of the character but it’s at that point where you’ve definitely got a good idea of what it wants to be. Though I’ve enjoyed the first few issues there’s a part of me that laments that it’s kind of gone this route when it could have gotten a lot grittier and more interesting. Working with a bounty hunter concept in this particular world works well enough though for what it wants to do and being able to draw on the Steel Harbor environs also opens it up to a lot of possibilities. At the same time I really wish they had gone for an unsafe and more creative route of staking out something that would talk about the nature of the city, the troubles of the people and just the rawness of a city that has collapsed as it has. Those elements can still be explored as it goes on but right now it’s just in an extended sequence of catching a pretty odd bounty.
With Stormblud having been the cause of so much trouble in Steel Harbor lately it’s no surprise that the powers that be are looking to take him out of the equation. That has Barb on the job in a personal way as well and with the camera crew in tow they’re going to take him down. The plan is one that actually makes sense instead of just going at Stormblud straight out as they figure out where he resides after his drinking and set up a trap to get him. It’s something that feels like a welcome turn from the usual approach. Unfortunately for the team it just gets hella awkward pretty quickly as they discover that his crib is pretty much literally a crib. Just on a larger scale and in a disturbing way because it really is a crib in an abandoned smelting factory. There’s a sense of concern from the team and Barb herself as it’s not what’s expected and it makes them all rather uncomfortable with it.
Interestingly, a good chunk of the book delves into Stormblud’s return to the warehouse and we see the way he talks to imaginary people along the way. There is a kind of charismatic way about him according to those in the crew watching it but it also delves into some disturbing areas as well with how he deals with himself. Some of it is just kind of sad but you have to put it into the context of the chaos he’s creating. But there is a sense of someone dealing with some real mental illness here and not getting any help. Nor is he as Barb is intent on taking him down, collecting the bounty and moving on. That does give us some kind of silly fun with the action in the last third but it just reinforces that Stormblud is pretty much unstoppable at this point. Which isn’t bad but it does remind us that Barb can be easily outclassed in a lot of ways.
In Summary:
Barb Wire is pretty much living up to expectations and I keep wishing it would be more than that. It’s a book that I can certainly enjoy on a simplistic level but the potential to do so much more here makes it feel like a swing and a miss. But in a sense it didn’t even step up to the right plate. The third installment drags out the Stormblud storyline just a bit more as Barb and the crew go to take him down but it ends up turning into a fair disaster as one might expect. There are some fun moments along the way, some decent action and also a lot of sadness that things are going as they are. Stormblud is by no means a sympathetic character but he’s one you can definitely feel bad for as you realize there are some real issues here that goes beyond his excessive drinking and violence. But violence is what will solve it all of course.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 2nd, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
