Bounty hunters have been a part of literature for a very long time. Some of the most well-known ones are Boba Fett and Samus Aran. One of the newest bounty hunters can be found in “Barb Wire #1†by Chris Warner with art by Patrick Olliffe. Too bad it’s about as interesting as watching a bounty hunter do paperwork.
The story is about Barb Wire, a bounty hunter who also owns a night club in one of the worst parts of town. She’s also surrounded by people who like to make her life hell.
For a story about a bounty hunter, there’s very little hunting going on. In fact, the entirety of the comic is pretty dull. It’s understandable that a story needs a way to introduce the cast, but this just isn’t one of them. Introducing them in the main lead’s night club and have them do nothing is boring.
In fact, all the characters are boring. They are all archetypes that are defined by clichés. One example is a character is Hispanic who speaks random Spanish words and that’s it. These characters have been overused in so many different mediums that it’s hard to take them seriously. How many blind people who try to do things they can’t do but can because of some super scent do we need?
The art seems to be the only decent thing in the comic. The character designs look solid, as does the city and night club. There are some questionable moments, though. The first one is the scene where Barb bends a biker’s finger and he bends backward. It’s weird looking and it’s a little difficult to figure out exactly what happened. Shouldn’t he be bending forward or going down on his knees? Another example comes when we’re introduced to Mace. His eyes look horribly crossed- this makes it hard to look at him.
“Barb Wire #1†has a generic, dull story with boring characters and decent art. This first issue offers the reader no incentive to continue with the series. The second issue has to offer something big in order to get readers back.
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