The fight that never stops.
Creative Staff:
Story: Tate Brombal, Jeff Lemire
Art: Gabriel Hernandez Walta
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
What They Say:
In this blood-chilling finale, the martian hero Barbalien faces age-old hatred from Mars and Earth as he clashes with the bounty hunter after his head—and tensions finally boil over between his two lives as a police officer and hero, leaving the young man hes come to love in the dangerous crossfire of an inevitable riot.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Barbalien series has been a lot of fun to read, though fun isn’t what the story is. It’s been that kind of work where it’s engaging and enjoyable in presenting these tales in a way that have long been largely ignored in mainstream books, going with the tradition of science fiction and superheroes to bring them to life. Brombal and Lemire bring Mark’s story to a close with this issue, in a sense, and does it in a way that really hits home in a way that Mark’s experience in the main Black Hammer series never could. Walta’s artwork has been one of the strong points throughout and I really loved how he brought both distinct storylines to life with all the bits of culture and detail as needed, especially considering how distinctive each of them are.
This installment blends the stories together that are happening and it does make for a bit of a jagged and chaotic read, which was a bit frustrating. While the two stories do come together, part of both of them happening on the same page ends up undercutting each of them in the build to those key moments. But there is a lot of power there, watching as Miguel goes through the hard time of rallying people for the protest that turns violent, his desires to be heard after so much has been decided for him and so much taken from him, and to reach that pinnacle and to be able to get his voice out even for an instant. It’s powerful stuff from an extremely shameful chapter in my country’s history that so many are still willing to blindly ignore or simply handwave away.
With Mark’s storyline on Mars, it’s definitely complex in his own way as we see him work through the anger and the problems cast upon him because of the role his parents have played in events of the planet. Though his life is more about the choices he made himself and the repercussions of them, there are still moments where he’s had things acted out against him as well, forcing him to react to it rather than carve his own path. There are some really brutal moments that he has to go through here in seeing what happened to his parents with all of this, his mother in particular, and reliving these things highlights a long and hard pain for him. When it ties him back to earth and has him understanding that he can’t hide in the way he has, and has to really chart his own path, it’s wonderfully played out with all the heartache it should, especially in that final sequence between him and Miguel
In Summary:
The Barbalien series probably wasn’t what most people would have expected it to be in a general sense but I really enjoyed its working through the 80s period and all that it entails. There are a number of distinctive storylines working throughout here but it covers some really good material, highlights things that still aren’t talked about a lot, and makes it clear what some of the real evils of the day were. It’s something that I hope finds an even bigger audience in trade form down the line as people get to sink their teeth into it as a whole work and what it represents. It’s not just another spinoff book with our Martian character doing superheroes and it’s a strong work because of that.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 24th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
