Comicphiles: Sex, Gods And Bounties
As I said with my first ‘Comicphiles’ I’ve only been able to barely dip my toe into the pool of comics and graphic novels over the last few years. I know from talking to friends and reading reviews that I’ve missed out on some serious gems, but thanks to the power of the Internet, I can read these digitally instead of diving into dusty back issue boxes in the hopes of a first issue!
To keep things fresh, though, I did pick myself up a copy of Barb Wire so, not to worry, there is something new for those of you who keep up to date… you lucky efficient so-and-sos!
The Wicked + The Divine
Image Comics really know how to push my buttons and by proxy so do Kieron Gillen and James McKelvie, the writer and artist for The Wicked + Divine. There are a couple of things that grab my attention and keep me intrigued while I’m trying to get my head around a comic and that’s mythical deities, mystery and magic. The Wicked + Divine #1 has that in buckets!
In fact, the comic opens with all three.
As a reader, you’re given a strange glimpse into a strange scenario; several individuals set round a table discussing matters which at first (and still) seem confusing and then the building they’re in blows up. Flash forward nearly a century later and we meet our protagonist Laura, staring depressingly at her reflection in the mirror, wishing and hoping to be someone else before she steps onto the floor of a concert. Her experience of the show is strange; the way she reacts, her inner thoughts, the people around her. I can understand being moved by a show but Laura is experiencing something else and then it falls into place – this isn’t just some flash in the pan pop diva on stage – Laura is witnessing a deity incarnate perform.
The comic threw Laura and I into the deep end right after this and it becomes obvious that this is something she and I are going to love.
The first issue of The Wicked + Divine does everything right! It has a hook that snares you, the story and characters are so interesting and, couple that with the beautiful artwork, and of course you’re going to have a success!
Will I Continue To Read? It would be wicked not to!
Sex Criminals
When I say we’re on a roll here, I mean it! The Wicked + Divine is good, but Sex Criminals is great! That said, I do find the title of the series a little jarring and I tend to rush the words whenever I tell people I’m reading it. 
Sex Criminals is published by Image Comics, written by Kieron Gillen and drawn by Chip Zdarsky, and issue one was first published in 2013 (told you I let my collection slip!).
Issue one, if you’ll pardon (or giggle at) the pun, really kicks off with a bang! We’re introduced to Suzie, a young woman desperately seeking to save her library from being repossessed. She also happens to have the ability to stop time after she reaches orgasm, an ability she discovered when she was a teen. An ability that freaked the living daylights out of her at the time, but she’s grown accustomed to it. That is, until she meets Jon at a party she hosts. Suzie quickly learns she’s not the only one with the power to freeze time!
Sex Criminals doesn’t make a joke out of the topic, it’s actually handled very well. Sex isn’t a gimmick nor do they completely suck the life out of it. Suzie, her friends and her situation (with the exception of having special powers) feel very real, and Gillen has crafted characters that are very relatable.
Will I Continue To Read? Yes! Yes! Yes!
Barb Wire
I know I’m supposed to talk about the comic as a first issue, to explain a little about the story and to highlight the things I liked and maybe didn’t like. That’s the whole point of ‘Comicphiles’; to examine first issues and decide whether I’ll continue on with the series. 
I just don’t think that should apply to Barb Wire but I guess for the sake of the format, let’s struggle on.
Barb Wire sees bounty hunter Barb appear on page, returning nearly twenty years after she first appeared. The original comic spawned a movie adaptation starring Pamela Anderson as the titular character, and it was canned by critics and fans alike. This added to my confusion surrounding her return.
“Nail-hard tough and drop-dead gorgeous, Barb Wire is the baddest bounty hunter on the mean streets of Steel Harbour, where gangsters can lift bulldozers and leap rusting factories in a single bound. The hunting is stupid good and the bounties are hella big—if Barb lives long enough to collect!”
Here’s hoping she doesn’t, because I just couldn’t get into it at all. She’s a bounty hunter who catches crooks for a reality series to pay for her nightclub but is also some sort of community leader preventing rival gangs from killing each other… or something!
Will I Continue To Read? No but I’m going to look at the original series for some hope!
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
