REVIEW: 'Babs' #1 by Garth Ennis, Jacen Burrows, and Andy Troy

 

BABS #1

(W) Garth Ennis 

(A) Jacen Burrows, Andy Troy

Letters: Rob Steen

Cover A: Jacen Burrows

Cover B: Chris Burnham

Cover C: Amanda Conner

Cover D: Chris Burnham Line Art

From legendary writer Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher) and superstar artist Jacen Burrows (Crossed, The Punisher): Meet BABS, a barbarian thief with an itchy metal wardrobe and the world's worst enchanted sword (named Barry). Together they travel a fantastic landscape of wizards, dragons, demons, castles—and a band of very angry, very white knights. Babs wasn’t looking for a fight, but she’s never found a bad situation she couldn’t make 100 times worse! Featuring variant covers by Chris Burnham (Batman Inc.) and Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn).

August 14, 2024

$3.99

Score:

★★★★☆ (4/5)

If you're a fan of sword & sorcery comics like Red Sonja and Barbaric then you'll love Babs by Garth Ennis, Jacen Burrows, and Andy Troy. It's a fun satirical look at the genre that fits perfectly under the Ahoy Comics umbrella joining other satires like Justice Warriors and Billionaire Island.  Ennis goes one step further than Barbaric, a great fantasy series with a sense of humor, but Babs adds a little silliness and social commentary. 

It opens in much the same way Red Sonja stories do with a description of the great warrior in a series of captions. Instead, Babs isn't a legendary sword-wielding barbarian woman. She's just okay with a sword and her reputation isn't the best often badmouthed behind her back yet no one will tell her to her face. She arrives on the scene on horseback complaining about her scalemail chaffing her chest. The tone is set that Babs doesn't take herself too seriously. From there, a series of misadventures take place, a run-in with a giant bear, drinks with a colleague, and a bar brawl with a group of incels whose insults will sound very familiar if you've spent any length of time online. It's good-natured shenanigans similar to the delightful Dungeons & Dragon movie that came out last year. Babs is a saucier younger sister to Red Sonja with a talking sword and a bad attitude. 

Jacen Burrows provides a detailed and lush design from the forest to the villages. Characters are so varied and well-conceived bringing to life the familiar ogres, hobbits, and elves you expect to see. Burrows is very adept at choreographing action and while some artists detest drawing horses, he's got it nailed. Troy's earthy color tones make for a subtle palette except when Leprechauns are trampled into a bloody mess. 

'Babs' is a departure for Ennis and Burrows offering up something fun, mischievous, snarky, but still adult. It's a delightful romp made for laughs with some commentary thrown in. It's just a good time.