Swords and Sandals comics have quickly become a subgenre of comics that I very much enjoy. Digging into comics like Conan the Barbarian, Barbaric, and the Mighty Barbarians are what built my love for it. When it was announced that Ahoy Comics was doing a Swords and Sandals Fantasy comic by none other than Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows I was very excited to check it out. Ahoy is one of those publishers that I always have my eyes on because of the quality comics they produces, and the fact that they always tend to bring on creators that I love. But will Babs be my new favorite barbarian adjacent comic? Lets see.
Babs starts off with our titular lead in a very Conan-esc story structure. Quickly in this issue you see that differences between her and Conan with the humor added in, and her wit. She complains about the armor that she is wearing and seeks out to ditch it if possible. My favorite parts of this issue are the flashback stories told with Babs and her friend about recent adventures they went on, and how it devolves into a drunken night between two friends. The action is well done, and I always enjoy a talking animal, in this case her trusty horse. Add in a magical sword that is of little help to her adventure and there is plenty of good time to be had. The weakest part of this issue is the very obvious “culture war” politics thrown in. Garth shows a distaste for online trolls slash the anti-woke crowd, and the moments that dive into that take me out of the story. Honestly I don’t mind politics in my comics, or any media at that, but all I ask is that it be more clever and not so overt. Now I don’t really disagree with Garth in his comments but I didn’t enjoy these moments at all. They felt force in to make a statement as apposed to something that added to the story. That said it is the first issue so maybe he finds a way to make it work throughout the issue. But if these types of things in stories bug you this will probably be a reason for you to stay away from Babs, unfortunately, as there is a lot of good in this issue. Also as a man whose favorite animals are squirrels I could have done with less squirrel killing, just saying.
Cover Gallery
Jacen Burrows was a fitting choice of artist for this type of comic. His style works well with the different characters we meet, the different races of characters all have a unique style, and the armor sets all have a fitting medieval/fantasy look. I seems to say this a lot recently but I am impressed as well with how well he fills in the background of every panel. The world building done through the art is top notch in every way. By far my favorite panel in the issue is one where a side character is show running over leprechauns, which you can see in the preview pages below. That is a panel that I kept going back to just to look at the details of every line in that massacre. I would love to see him get a shot at something more mainstream down the line like a Conan or Dungeons & Dragons comic.
Preview Pages
Babs is a comic that I have mixed feelings on overall. As a first issue it does a great job of onboarding the reader to this world, and introducing us to the elements of it. While I enjoyed the action scenes and seeing someone new to this life trying to maker her way I thought that some of the more real world political elements of the comic took me out of the story. I’ll be back for issue two but with less excitement than I had going into this issue. My recommendation is for those that enjoy Barbaric or Conan the Barbarian but with a more dark British humor but add the caveat that if heavy “culture war” political conversations are a turn off to stay away.
Babs #1 will be available at your local comic shop and digitally on August 14th 2024. All cover art, preview pages, and the review copy of this comic were provided by Superfan Promotions and Ahoy Comics.
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Comic Review!: Babs #1
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Writer-Garth Ennis
Artist-Jacen Burrows
Colorist-Andy Troy
Letterer-Rob Steen
Swords and Sandals comics have quickly become a subgenre of comics that I very much enjoy. Digging into comics like Conan the Barbarian, Barbaric, and the Mighty Barbarians are what built my love for it. When it was announced that Ahoy Comics was doing a Swords and Sandals Fantasy comic by none other than Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows I was very excited to check it out. Ahoy is one of those publishers that I always have my eyes on because of the quality comics they produces, and the fact that they always tend to bring on creators that I love. But will Babs be my new favorite barbarian adjacent comic? Lets see.
Babs starts off with our titular lead in a very Conan-esc story structure. Quickly in this issue you see that differences between her and Conan with the humor added in, and her wit. She complains about the armor that she is wearing and seeks out to ditch it if possible. My favorite parts of this issue are the flashback stories told with Babs and her friend about recent adventures they went on, and how it devolves into a drunken night between two friends. The action is well done, and I always enjoy a talking animal, in this case her trusty horse. Add in a magical sword that is of little help to her adventure and there is plenty of good time to be had. The weakest part of this issue is the very obvious “culture war” politics thrown in. Garth shows a distaste for online trolls slash the anti-woke crowd, and the moments that dive into that take me out of the story. Honestly I don’t mind politics in my comics, or any media at that, but all I ask is that it be more clever and not so overt. Now I don’t really disagree with Garth in his comments but I didn’t enjoy these moments at all. They felt force in to make a statement as apposed to something that added to the story. That said it is the first issue so maybe he finds a way to make it work throughout the issue. But if these types of things in stories bug you this will probably be a reason for you to stay away from Babs, unfortunately, as there is a lot of good in this issue. Also as a man whose favorite animals are squirrels I could have done with less squirrel killing, just saying.
Jacen Burrows was a fitting choice of artist for this type of comic. His style works well with the different characters we meet, the different races of characters all have a unique style, and the armor sets all have a fitting medieval/fantasy look. I seems to say this a lot recently but I am impressed as well with how well he fills in the background of every panel. The world building done through the art is top notch in every way. By far my favorite panel in the issue is one where a side character is show running over leprechauns, which you can see in the preview pages below. That is a panel that I kept going back to just to look at the details of every line in that massacre. I would love to see him get a shot at something more mainstream down the line like a Conan or Dungeons & Dragons comic.
Babs is a comic that I have mixed feelings on overall. As a first issue it does a great job of onboarding the reader to this world, and introducing us to the elements of it. While I enjoyed the action scenes and seeing someone new to this life trying to maker her way I thought that some of the more real world political elements of the comic took me out of the story. I’ll be back for issue two but with less excitement than I had going into this issue. My recommendation is for those that enjoy Barbaric or Conan the Barbarian but with a more dark British humor but add the caveat that if heavy “culture war” political conversations are a turn off to stay away.
Babs #1 will be available at your local comic shop and digitally on August 14th 2024. All cover art, preview pages, and the review copy of this comic were provided by Superfan Promotions and Ahoy Comics.
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