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Dark Horse Heroes
Barb Wire Book 1: Steel Harbor Blues
Hard as nails and hot as hell, badass bounty hunter Barb Wire rides the meanest streets of America's toughest Steel Harbor, USA. Barb tracks gangsters who can punch through walls and crush cars like beer cans, but it's nothing personal, just business. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it!
The bitch is back! The comic book that inspired the motion picture, Barb Wire returns with pedal-to-the-metal action and full-metal-jacket girl power! Written by series creator Chris Warner and drawn by Catwoman and Spider-Girl artist Patrick Olliffe.
The bitch is back! The comic book that inspired the motion picture, Barb Wire returns with pedal-to-the-metal action and full-metal-jacket girl power! Written by series creator Chris Warner and drawn by Catwoman and Spider-Girl artist Patrick Olliffe.
96 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2015
39 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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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 17, 2020
This was far better than I expected. It's a more streamlined version of the
Barb Wire
series of the 90's. And much better than the cheesecake movie with Pamela Anderson who single-handedly ruined the character. Barb Wire is now a bounty hunter with her own reality show that she uses to fund her bar. Mace Blitzkrieg and Hunter (Wolf Ferrell) are still around as rival gang leaders but are toned down. Mace is basically The Rock. Their superpowered gangs have disappeared as well. The main baddy in this is Wyvern Stormblud, a dumber, drunker version of Thor. He's hilariously dumb, but strong enough to still pose a problem for Barb to haul in.
Pat Oliffe is a very underrated artist. You may remember him from long stretches on Untold Tales of Spider-Man or Spider-Girl in the 90's. The art is fantastic. He's better than a majority of the artists employed by Marvel today. I'm not sure why he's not more in demand today.
Pat Oliffe is a very underrated artist. You may remember him from long stretches on Untold Tales of Spider-Man or Spider-Girl in the 90's. The art is fantastic. He's better than a majority of the artists employed by Marvel today. I'm not sure why he's not more in demand today.
April 29, 2019
Scenariusz bliski beznadziei. Główny antagonista jednak trochę zabawny. Styl rysowania poprawny. Ogólnie rzecz biorąc - lekka kolorowa papką.
April 2, 2016
I was really disappointed with what I got in this trade. I was expecting a fun, gritty book, but instead got a whole lot of meh.
It started well enough with our lead taking down a baddie who skipped bail, but then started the descent. She owns a bar that gets trashed when two rival gang bosses show up followed by some giant brute of a man.
She is tasked with bringing the man in. After struggling to bring him down, she eventually does, only to have him taken off of her hands by one of the gang leaders.
The book never managed to get me going. It was allot more straight laced than I expected and the extremely odd writing with the gang bosses really threw me off.
The art definitely overshadowed the poor writing here and is the reason for one of the two stars.
I have already ordered the second trade, so I'm hoping that this one just had a tough time getting its footing in these first few issues and will stabilize and grow in the next volume.
It started well enough with our lead taking down a baddie who skipped bail, but then started the descent. She owns a bar that gets trashed when two rival gang bosses show up followed by some giant brute of a man.
She is tasked with bringing the man in. After struggling to bring him down, she eventually does, only to have him taken off of her hands by one of the gang leaders.
The book never managed to get me going. It was allot more straight laced than I expected and the extremely odd writing with the gang bosses really threw me off.
The art definitely overshadowed the poor writing here and is the reason for one of the two stars.
I have already ordered the second trade, so I'm hoping that this one just had a tough time getting its footing in these first few issues and will stabilize and grow in the next volume.
June 29, 2022
This is a confusing read if you haven't read the Barb Wire Omnibus that Dark Horse put out a while back.
Reading the Dark Horse Heroes Omnibus and Barb Wire Omnibus makes Steel Harbour Blues make much more sense than it does it's you just read it by itself.
It went from a 3 star rating to a 4 star rating after I read it after those. But I can see why this series never made it past 8 issues. It doesn't give enough back story or context to new readers.
Reading the Dark Horse Heroes Omnibus and Barb Wire Omnibus makes Steel Harbour Blues make much more sense than it does it's you just read it by itself.
It went from a 3 star rating to a 4 star rating after I read it after those. But I can see why this series never made it past 8 issues. It doesn't give enough back story or context to new readers.
August 31, 2021
This one oscillates between a 3 and a 2. I think Barb Wire does have the bones of something cool and interesting, but it doesn't ever commit or give anything really exciting with it.
Barb herself is alright. She's a bounty hunter, yet she also runs a failing dance club. I'd say that the story struggles with giving us reason to care about her. I just learned that this is a reboot of a 90s property, and that really makes sense here. Barb is pissed at everyone, apparently, throwing out quips every which way, but you never understand why she's here. Like, if she hates this life so much, why not move? I don't know. We were shown nothing in the story that explicitly keeps her here and nothing in the story that would make her want to stay, so as a reader I'm left confused as to why she acts the way she does. At least in a comic like "Low-Life" there's a point where the main character kinda cedes that this is her place now. Perhaps this is too much for a 100 page first volume, but still.
We also are introduced to the gang politics, where two gangs are in a turf war truce at the moment. I sort of wished they didn't rush through that either, because the author never really establishes what role Barb plays. She's obviously close to the gang leaders, but how does she factor in?
Our establishing villain was pretty good, though. Honestly, he's what made this volume. It's this big, celtic-inspired cosplay guy who has been barrelling through Steel Harbor and leaving destruction in his wake. I wish they established earlier that super-strength existed because it gets sprung onto us in the weirdest way. The final battle in this chapter was actually pretty well done. The fight takes great advantage of its setting, making it a joy to read.
The art was certainly passable. It wasn't anything to write home about, though. The action is where it shined most. Barb has herself a great design. I think I'm just not that big of a fan of that sort of plasticky design and palette. That said, I'm way more of an arthousy kind of gal, so I'm not that surprised.
I don't know. I think Barb Wire is a book that is doing its best, but if I had to give a critique, I would say that it has to slow down. Take some time and actually explain or give better dialogue. I totally appreciate not having a total info dump, but honestly I could have used a little something. Go read it if you want, but I don't think I'm going to seek out any more.
Barb herself is alright. She's a bounty hunter, yet she also runs a failing dance club. I'd say that the story struggles with giving us reason to care about her. I just learned that this is a reboot of a 90s property, and that really makes sense here. Barb is pissed at everyone, apparently, throwing out quips every which way, but you never understand why she's here. Like, if she hates this life so much, why not move? I don't know. We were shown nothing in the story that explicitly keeps her here and nothing in the story that would make her want to stay, so as a reader I'm left confused as to why she acts the way she does. At least in a comic like "Low-Life" there's a point where the main character kinda cedes that this is her place now. Perhaps this is too much for a 100 page first volume, but still.
We also are introduced to the gang politics, where two gangs are in a turf war truce at the moment. I sort of wished they didn't rush through that either, because the author never really establishes what role Barb plays. She's obviously close to the gang leaders, but how does she factor in?
Our establishing villain was pretty good, though. Honestly, he's what made this volume. It's this big, celtic-inspired cosplay guy who has been barrelling through Steel Harbor and leaving destruction in his wake. I wish they established earlier that super-strength existed because it gets sprung onto us in the weirdest way. The final battle in this chapter was actually pretty well done. The fight takes great advantage of its setting, making it a joy to read.
The art was certainly passable. It wasn't anything to write home about, though. The action is where it shined most. Barb has herself a great design. I think I'm just not that big of a fan of that sort of plasticky design and palette. That said, I'm way more of an arthousy kind of gal, so I'm not that surprised.
I don't know. I think Barb Wire is a book that is doing its best, but if I had to give a critique, I would say that it has to slow down. Take some time and actually explain or give better dialogue. I totally appreciate not having a total info dump, but honestly I could have used a little something. Go read it if you want, but I don't think I'm going to seek out any more.
April 14, 2018
Having ruined my reading challenge with Outlander books bigger than my whole face, I am shamelessly bringing my total up with graphic novels - sure me.
I've wanted to know more about Barb Wire since I saw the Pamela Anderson character on a Sky One countdown of 'super vixens'. I think she was actually rated at the bottom of that list :P But still - I had to know! And reading the comic seemed a better move than watching the Razzie-tastic film.
Welp....this might be 'book 1' but apparently I should have read some of the older stuff first because a lot of the characters that turned up were like 'oh YOU again' and I had no idea who they were or why I should care. Also the plot never really goes....anywhere? And the 'one liners' aren't funny - at all. They wouldn't even rate air time on Buffy season 1. That's how generic and flat they fell.
Art is good though, and there was enough action to keep me reading. I just think that as a written story, the writing needs to be good, and it just wasn't.
I've wanted to know more about Barb Wire since I saw the Pamela Anderson character on a Sky One countdown of 'super vixens'. I think she was actually rated at the bottom of that list :P But still - I had to know! And reading the comic seemed a better move than watching the Razzie-tastic film.
Welp....this might be 'book 1' but apparently I should have read some of the older stuff first because a lot of the characters that turned up were like 'oh YOU again' and I had no idea who they were or why I should care. Also the plot never really goes....anywhere? And the 'one liners' aren't funny - at all. They wouldn't even rate air time on Buffy season 1. That's how generic and flat they fell.
Art is good though, and there was enough action to keep me reading. I just think that as a written story, the writing needs to be good, and it just wasn't.
April 18, 2020
A fun modern rewrite of Barb Wire (that I think is in the same timeline as her appearances in the 90's?) Barbara is the same bad ass bounty hunter, and still running a "successful" bar.
The art and writing feel a little more refined (though that might be my bias showing, regarding art. The 90's art isn't bad, but the art in this book feels like they have the advantage of modern art techniques to make it pop more).
One thing I will say is that I miss Barb's wild costumes (albeit the 90's ones were VERY man gazy) they did seem to form a part of her character. When she goes on bounty hunting, Barb wears much more practical clothes, though I wish they'd thrown a little more color into it.
But that's not a major complaint. She's still a fun character to read. I hope it's not too long before I can find Book 2.
The art and writing feel a little more refined (though that might be my bias showing, regarding art. The 90's art isn't bad, but the art in this book feels like they have the advantage of modern art techniques to make it pop more).
One thing I will say is that I miss Barb's wild costumes (albeit the 90's ones were VERY man gazy) they did seem to form a part of her character. When she goes on bounty hunting, Barb wears much more practical clothes, though I wish they'd thrown a little more color into it.
But that's not a major complaint. She's still a fun character to read. I hope it's not too long before I can find Book 2.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2018
Barbara is a take-no-shit bar owner, up to her crimson red lips in debt and constantly undermined or otherwise unappreciated by everyone she is in contact with. Her actions speak louder than her words, and in stunning BANG BOOM BOP POW fashion.
The story is slightly cliched, and the characters mostly uninteresting and bland. Barb herself shows much promise, as does her hopefully growing roster of adversaries.
The story is slightly cliched, and the characters mostly uninteresting and bland. Barb herself shows much promise, as does her hopefully growing roster of adversaries.
May 8, 2018
[Rounded up from 3.5 stars]
I didn't expect much going into this so perhaps that's why I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. Bounty hunter Barb Wire struggles to keep her bar financially afloat in the tough town of Steel Harbor. The dialogue was often funny, the pacing good, and the action sequences well done. Fun.
I didn't expect much going into this so perhaps that's why I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. Bounty hunter Barb Wire struggles to keep her bar financially afloat in the tough town of Steel Harbor. The dialogue was often funny, the pacing good, and the action sequences well done. Fun.
March 27, 2017
I like the strength and determination of Barb and some aspects of her life and how she is depicted in this, but the story is kind of weak.
2 1/2 stars
2 1/2 stars
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews