“Dichastic Voyage”
Creative Staff:
Story: Sarah Hoyt
Art: Ricardo Bogani
Colors: Werner Sanchez
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
What They Say:
Having met the Innumerable and joined their cause against the Architects, Barbarella must clandestinely return to the home of the Architects in order to retrieve Vix, left behind when Barbarella was extracted by an agent of the Innumerable. See? We’ve come full circle! As is often the case, it’s not what you see that’s the danger, it’s what you can’t see, and Barbarella sees plenty of that wherever she sees an Architect. And lest we forget, there is the small matter of the Unnamable out there…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With a really strong ten-issue run out previously, this new series opened with some interesting ideas and a good sense of crazy. The first series had that as well as Sarah Hoyt turned in a very strong, engaging, and enjoyable read in that run that I really dreaded the thought of losing them as the writer behind it, especially with such a great art team bringing it about visually. This series did a great job of connecting with past works while still feeling connected to the film in its own way so I’m beyond glad that they’re back for more. This time around, Ricardo Bogani is on board for the artwork and they’re bringing their own look and style to the series, especially with Werner Sanchez coming on for the color design. It’s not a carbon copy of what we had before and I’m excited to see more of their style with this run as it goes on and they get even more comfortable and experimental with it.
The exploration of Homeprairie and getting an idea of what’s been going on with Vix’s people through Jack helped to flesh things out, but we certainly know enough to not just trust his narrative of it. And seeing how Barbarella has been handling it by going exploring herself and then questioning Jack directly helps a lot. She’s intent on getting the truth out of him and one of the first steps, and a concession on his part, is to bring Taln back into things. He’s not quite himself anymore as in his escape he basically shared half a brain with Vix so he’s able to see things through Vix’s eyes but also understand some of what’s going on. It’s why Vix is as mixed up as she is as well, which definitely makes for a lot of blended fun as we watch Taln work with Barbarella and Jack for what must be done – to rescue Vix.
Jack’s not keen on it but he knows he can’t stop them and it may be a chance to pick up Durix as well and get more information. What we get in the book is a lot of chaotic moments, from seeing the vast underground base Jack has and all of its creative and sometimes illegal options – by going back and extricating Vix. And that has Barbarella using a bit of love with the troops to get into the place and then just going old-school in getting Bix and grabbing Durix along the way. It’s a good run of crazy situations with the world tree, devices, and just Durix being Durix. And seeing Jack pull off a wild escape from it all. It doesn’t give us any new answers but we get the whole situation fleshed out a bit more and just having Vix back with everyone and Barbarella trying to suss out the situation with what Vix’s truth is makes for a good time.
In Summary:
While not quite as strong as the first two issues, and Jack still rubs me the wrong way, this series continues to be a weird and fun ride with what it’s up to. All set against a crazy big backdrop of what the Architects have done and are planning to do. It continues to be interesting overall and we get some fun stuff with the way Barbarella handles the local tough guys that are guarding the place as well. At this point, there are plenty of unanswered questions and nobody is coming across well overall, well, outside of Barbarella. But I’m curious to see what’ll happen next and what surprises are in store.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 3rd, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
