Barbarella #4 Review

Writer: Mike Carey

Artist: Jorge Fornés

Colorist: Celeste Woods

Published by: Dynamite

Barbarella continues to be a really fun read every month and I’m starting to like it with each new issue. This month sees Jorge Fornés join the art team and his style brings something different to the table, but not unwanted. The best part is, this comic is starting to really come into its own as Barbarella is becoming a lot like other “right place wrong time” heroes like Doctor Who.

The story in this issue is simple: Barbarella has charted passage on a freighter “carrying” five custom-made planets to their new destinations. However, something goes terribly wrong when one of the planet’s machinery that allows it to be moved (i.e. become light as a bubble) malfunctions, putting the whole crew and passengers in danger.

Enter Barbarella! Carey is really bringing out the heroine in this character - she’s not afraid to jump into the action if it means saving lives - but maybe a little to save her own as well? Motivations aren’t yet that clear, but it does seem that she has that devil-may care attitude that is sorely lacking sometimes in adventure comics.

As I mentioned at the beginning, Fornés joins on art with this issue with Celeste Woods on colours. They do a magnificent job throughout the issue. Fornés has really clean lines and great use of perspective, but Woods’ colours are what really steal the show here. Using more flat colours with heavy emphasis on shadow makes Fornés’ art just come off the page. Really good job here.