BARBARELLA (VOL. 2) #10, from Dynamite Comics on June 1st, 2022, brings the arc to a nail-biting conclusion as Barbarella and TALN fight to escape the Lady’s clutches before the despot can take Barbarella’s place among the stars.
The Details
- Written By: Sarah Hoyt
- Art By: Madibek Musabekov
- Colors By: Ivan Nunes
- Letters By: Carlos M. Mangual
- Cover Art By: Carla Cohen (cover A)
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: June 1, 2022
Was It Good?
This is it, sci-fi fans. This is the end of Barbarella’s current arc before the title goes on hiatus until Fall 2022. The issue wraps up the story in a neat little package and introduces a much bigger threat to come, but does it deliver as a finale? Almost. There’s a lot of good, but you have to get through sandpaper-rough spots to get there.
The highlight of this issue, and the series as a whole, is Musabekov’s jaw-dropping art. We’ve praised Musabekov before for his super clean and crisp lines, gorgeous figure detail, and surreal photorealism with good reason. Combined with the herculean efforts of Nunes to color each and every detail with crisp clarity, this is the art team to beat in any Dynamite title.
The plot is generally okay in this issue. Barbarella is about to get carved up by the Lady’s surgical robots, and TALN appears to be destroyed. Through a series of red herrings and a decent amount of urgency, we get a happily ever after ending for now. The highlight of this story is two key pieces of information that have been sitting on the backburner for arguably too long. First, we learn about the Lady’s origins and the motivation behind her appearance. Second, we learn more about Vix’s secret mission.
The down points of the issue are the red herrings and the explanation of the Lady’s motivation. When you have a hero and villain who look identical, it’s natural to use that plot point for confusion. There’s confusion alright, but the sequence of panels makes no sense, and it’s unclear when or how the two characters would have switched places.
Regarding the Lady’s motivation, it’s weak. Some readers will say to themselves, “That’s it?”
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
If you don’t remember Barbarella’s surgical cliffhanger in the tunnels under the Lady’s city, first read our BARBARELLA (VOL. 2) #9 review.
We begin with Barbarella restrained and TALN held at gunpoint by the Lady. The Lady blasts TALN’s AI controller, destroying him for good, and the Lady orders her surgical bots to carry Barbarella away for dissection.
Midway down the tunnels, the bots carrying Barbarella short circuit, and TALN emerges from their mechanical bodies, explaining he transmitted his core into the bots right before the Lady destroyed him. The two head off to save Vix, Alexis, and Victoire before drowning in the Lady’s trap. As the two race ahead, Barbarella suddenly falls down a hole where she finds a dying Jaxtar. Before Jaxtar passes away, he explains the emotionally painful reason why the Lady adopted Barbarella’s appearance and began a deadly crusade of galactic domination. Unrequited love stings.
Eventually, Barbarella catches up to TALN where they desperately try to save their friends, but before the issue ends, all of Barbarella’s allies will die. We conclude the issue with confusion, death, a new enemy, and war!
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Final Thoughts
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BARBARELLA (VOL. 2) #10 is a solid-albeit-flawed end to the arc about the galaxy’s greatest lover and fighter for peace and justice. The art is immaculate, the action is exciting, all the blanks are filled in, and the ending concludes the arc cleanly. That said, the panel progression, in a few spots, was poorly executed, and the big reveal behind the Lady’s motivation is paper-thin.
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