I do not know enough about Barda to understand all the ins and outs of her story. However, you can pick up some of it (the idea she is not the villain Granny Goodness wants, who Granny is, the Furies, etc.), in Ngozi Ukazu’s graphic novel of the same name. Some of the world was lost on me (why is the prisoner Scott Free the way he is? How did he get his name? What about the background he has with another person of Barda’s group?). But overall, it is a fun graphic novel talking about love and the true meaning of that. But a lot is left in the air (Do Orion and Scott know the secret about them? This explains Orion’s personality, but now what?) but if you are a fan of DC or Barda, you will enjoy it.
Overall, I did not love or hate Barda. I have read one other book where she and the Female Furies are shown (Mister Miracle: The Great Escape by Varian Johnson ), and you start to see the softer side there but I had no real background in either book. And I feel that would help most readers if you really want to get “down and dirty” with her story. But this is a nice, cozy book to read. Now it is not nice, after all the planet Barda is from (I won’t call her Big Barda as it just sounds wrong in my minds ear) is a hellscape of torture and evil, but it not necessarily gratuitous. Yes, we see some tortures (a girl is forced to dance herself to death, Scott Free is put in a box that shrinks) and the monsters (the guards don’t look human, therefore act animalistic) but there is nothing that isn’t PG friendly. If not even Y (not for the sensitive reader). So, no, your 8 year-old might not be the audience even if they like superheroes.
I have enjoyed Ukazu’s other graphic novels: Check, Please! Book 1: # Hockey, the sequel, Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones, and the solo work Bunt!: Striking Out on Financial Aid. I look forward to reading DC Pride: To the Farthest Reaches (contributor) and Flip (due September 2025).
