Writer: Chris Warner, Penciler: Patrick Olliffe, Inker: Tom Nguyen, Colorist: Wes Dzioba, Cover Artist:Adam Hughes
It’s been a while since I last looked at a Barb Wire book, the first issue of this series to be precise. So what’s been happening?
Seems that Barb has had some problems with what she thought was an easy job, resulting in a face full of mace and an interrogation of sorts by an unnamed blue suited organisation, looking for information about a previous case.
Written by creator Chris Warner, this issue covers Barb’s reactions to her interrogation / interview, which seems to follow her usual approach of anger first then everything second. Warner has a love for his character; the focus on her under the table gestures helping to display her level of frustration to the situation. The walk down memory lane is fun, despite its chaotic nature which I am assuming is part of the mystery surrounding Avram Roman. However, the script seems to suffer with how the interrogators interact. I understand that they may be playing bad cop and not so bad cop, but the script and the art don’t seem to mesh particularly well, leaving me unsure which one is which.
The art by veteran Pat Olliffe is more than adequate, which may seem like a backhanded compliment. I don’t mean that in a negative way, but there is nothing really spectacular about the work. It’s pretty much is as you’d expect. Again, that isn’t a bad thing, at least Olliffe is consistent. He is not helped with the number of panels featuring a conversation in a small environment. Inks and colors by Tom Nguyen and Wes Dzioba respectively adds a similar level of competency. As we are talking about the art, I have to mention there is another great cover by Adam Hughes.
Initially, I was looking forward to reading Barb Wire again, but find myself feeling a little bit nonplussed by it. Maybe it’s me, but I don’t see anything in the book that stands out.  The industry is looking for strong female characters, but Barb Wire can come across as clichéd as a female-ized version of a male superhero, meaning that whilst she may not fit into female superhero role, she may find herself cast in a different role all together, but still stereotyped.
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Author Profile
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I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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