Just when she thinks she’s out, they keep pulling her back in! Barbarella’s gambit last issue has paid off, eliminating the threat of everyone in the galaxy being converted to mind-controlled sheep through neural diodes. But she can’t relax yet, because the Director, desperate to make one final film with Barbarella that will make huge profits galaxy-wide, forces her to star in the film and sacrifice everything (including her life) to make it a classic.
Barbarella #5, written by Blake Northcott with art by Eric Blake and colors by Werner Sanchez, is the finale to the miniseries. It’s more pulpy than last issue, abandoning a lot of the sci-fi jargon and situations in favor of some good old-fashioned action, with Barbarella battling the Director in the skies over Alpha Prime while agent Jury Quire fights to escape her imprisonment on the distant world of Métrafusion. It makes the book feel like a James Bond story and it’s a reminder of how Barbarella isn’t just all about peace and love, she’s the perfect agent, an independent contractor for Earthgov who’s called in to handle the toughest cases.
Blake Northcott imbues the book with a mod ’60s spy vibe, making it feel simultaneously retro and futuristic. It’s like the book was written back in the 1960s by someone imagining how groovy the future and outer space would be, filling the story with exotic locations and a jazzy philosophy that’s endearing. She does a great job maintaining everything that’s unique about Barbarella and her universe while putting her in a large variety of new dilemmas and tough situations.
There’s a thrilling battle with the Director halfway into the issue, with the two battling with energy staffs on a hover platform high atop the surface of Alpha Prime. It’s a very cinematic sequence enhanced by the artwork.
Dynamite
Eric Blake’s art, though not as streamlined as previous artist Anna Morozova’s work, is still beautifully detailed and in some places his art, the perspectives and postures of the characters, reminded me of Neal Adams’ art. Thankfully though, Mr. Blake avoids the stiffness that sometimes plagued Mr. Adams’ renderings.
I love the relationship between Barbarella and the female android Zephyraus (who Barbarella simply calls “Z”) that’s run throughout the miniseries and it continues here, adding a romantic spin to the book in the midst of all the action. Zephyraus is as formidable as Barbarella and not only serves as the love interest for Barbarella, she’s invaluable in a fight too. I hope Z’s carried over into future miniseries.
I also enjoyed the scenes with Jury Quire, a character who I would love to see have her own series. An Earthgov agent with a distinctive look and style (she reminds me of a punk version of Emma Peel from the ’60’s Avengers TV show), she and a fellow agent fight to help Barbarella in her battle against the Director from a Detention Center on planet Métrafusion, which is all metal and cybernetics. Barbarella may be a good fighter, but Jury’s a great one.
I don’t know what Dynamite has planned for the future of Barbarella, but I hope they keep Northcott as writer for the next project, because this Barbarella miniseries has been a blast!
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