Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Chris Warner
Artist: Patrick Olliffe
Editor: Randy Stradley
Release date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

Who would win a catfight between Barb Wire and Modesty Blaise? Who cares I just wanna see it!

Okay, enough adolescent fantasy, but you can be forgiven for thinking that is the way this book is going based on the rockin’ cover by Adam Hughes. If the interior artwork doesn’t match the levels of salaciousness promised by the cover, well, that’s what covers are for, to hook you in and make you keep reading in the hope that things perk up.

Not that there is anything wrong with what’s between the covers of Barb Wire #5, it just seems a little pedestrian. Even when the blondest bounty hunter in the business is going up against super-powered psychopaths you somehow expect a little more from such an iconic brand. Throw in a sub-plot where Barb gets arrested by Government suits concerning some allegedly stolen property and things take a sideways twist in Barb Wire #5 as the eponymous hero comes up against a seriously creepy interrogator who prompts her to tell him, and us, her origin story.

Barb Wire #5 is a good, solid read but no real fireworks. Personally I’m still rooting for that catfight.

Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker