Review: Barbalien: Red Planet

From Jeff Lemire’s World of Black Hammer comes Barbalien: Red Planet, written by Tate Brombal. If you’ve never read the main Black Hammer series, do so at once. It was one of the best books of the last decade; a layered homage/parody/love letter to 80 years of superhero comics, that comfortably stood on its own as a gripping story. Many of the characters were amalgamations of various Marvel and DC favorites – but not Barbalien.

No, Barbalien had just a single, very obvious, Big Two analogue. The character is a shapeshifting Martian, and his name is Mark Markz. In his human guise, he is a police officer who became a private detective. In Martian form, he wears a cloak that contrasts with his skin in a red-green color scheme. He is the Justice League’s Martian Manhunter in almost all but name. If DC forced Lemire to change the Starman-inspired Doctor Star to ‘Doctor Andromeda’, it’s amazing that they allowed Barbalien’s existence.

But allow it they did. And so here is a standalone series for the Martian, following on the heels of solo books for several other Black Hammer characters. In the original series, Barbalien’s sexuality was key to his story. It emerged as the reason he left the violently bigoted society of Mars. Once on Earth, he struggled with homophobia in the Spiral City Police Department. Finally, we saw him in the strange town of Rockwood, more comfortable with his identity and searching for romance.

As the World of Black Hammer universe has expanded, its initially fuzzy timelines have resolved. The year in which the heroes left Earth was narrowed down to 1986. This means that the character of Mark Markz, a gay man, would have worked as a city cop in the early to mid 80s. During the Reagan administration and the AIDS crisis. Jeff Lemire realised that there was a story to be told there, but it was his friend Tate Brombal who asked to develop it further. In Lemire’s words, “Tate is also an openly gay man and it seemed to me that if we were going to tell this story, it was not mine to tell and he would have much more to say.”

This is Brombal’s first series for a major publisher. Some Black Hammer fans may have been disappointed not to see Lemire scripting the series himself. After all, he has taken the reigns for almost all the other titles in this universe. However, it was an admirable decision to turn the story over to a writer with whom it would have deeper emotional resonance; and one that has paid off. The storyline is engaging, cohesive, and incredibly moving. Lemire receives a plotting credit, but has said that “this story is 99% Tate”. The dialogue could have benefited from more subtlety, particularly in the earlier chapters before the stakes ramp up. But it is overall an extremely strong debut series from Brombal. Black Hammer fans have high expectations, and he has more than met them. He’s definitely a young writer I’ll be keeping an eye on.

The art by Gabriel Hernández Walta complements the tone and setting of the story very well, and excels at bringing Spiral City’s underground gay scene to life. Faces are drawn in a way that slightly resembles those from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, appropriately for a story set in 1986. Colorist Jordie Bellaire uses a pleasing watercolor-esque style, and plays a strong part in bringing out the book’s themes. At one point she deploys the rainbow flag colors onto a double-page spread of 9-panel grids, a simple but great idea executed well.

Barbalien: Red Planet is an excellent addition to the World of Black Hammer. It’s a universe that has yet to let me down, and long may that continue.

Writing – 4.5 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4.5 Stars

Overall: 4.5 Stars

Writer: Tate Brombal (with Jeff Lemire)
Artist: Gabriel Hernández Walta
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Author Profile

Yavi Mohan

Yavi Mohan is a comic writer (and more frequently, comic reader) based in London. He is frequently overwhelmed by the number of comics in his reading list, to the extent that it sometimes delays his reading. This list includes every issue ever published with Spider-Man as the main character.