Dynamite Entertainment 2021
Written by Sarah Hoyt
Illustrated by Madibek Musabekov
Coloured by Ivan Nunes
Lettered by Carlos M. Mangual
Fresh off the chaotic conclusion to the riddle of Camelot, Barbarella finds herself out an ally but with no time to lick her wounds. A mysterious signal from space leads Barbarella to the water world of Encantado, where the remnants of a once-thriving situation lay hidden, as do many genetic shenanigans. And lest you think that’s all the Siren of Space must deal with, the armed forces of their deadly power behind the enslavement of Camelot is still hot on her trail—good luck outrunning lasers!
I am quite enamoured with this book. Maybe because it has a woman’s touch I don’t know but I do know that what we see is somewhat romantic, somewhat erotic and it all falls completely in line with what we think and what we know about Barbarella. Although I must say I can’t really remember when she’s fallen this hard for anyone because she’s a lot like Bond in the love ‘em and leave ‘em category. I’m also very much enjoying seeing Barbarella’s intelligence being shown more because she’s more than capable and it’s just a joy to see her putting the pieces together.
I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character development as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we’re left dumbfounded by the events we see unfold.
How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is magnificently rendered. I love how we see the layers open up avenues to be explored occur throughout the book and some are potential and others are already being explored but they all add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably rendered.
The interiors here are utterly fabulous. The linework is exquisitely rendered and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level and quality of the detail we see within the work here is absolutely extraordinary. While this story takes place underwater we see that in the work it’s portrayed to perfection. The backgrounds that we see, like the first shot of the city they live in, is incroyable! How they manage to enhance and expand the moments is beautifully rendered and the work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book is fantastic. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a brilliant eye for how colour works and how to maximise their effects. I mean seriously the water casting a hue over the colours is sensationally rendered.
This is a real treat of a read. Since her return to comics here at Dynamite Barbarella has been one of the most interesting, fun and perfect example of this kitschy science fiction books that I’ve ever read. This embodies everything that this style and genre story could possibly want to attain thanks to its strong writing and fabulous characterisation alongside these utterly brilliant interiors.