Why it took 2 decades for Dark Horse to try Barb Wire again
1 Comments Published by Avi Green on Friday, April 17, 2015 at 5:04 AM.
The Dark Horse editor who created the futuristic lady bounty hunter, Chris Warner, was interviewed by Bleeding Cool about the relaunch of Barb Wire, though he doesn't give exact reasons why:
I wish Warner well in seeking an audience for his creation today, and I hope the people in charge of Dark Horse won't be turning their products into movies that don't have solid scripting. (In fact, of all the films based on several of their products to date, very few other than The Mask did well, and the 2004 sequel to that film certainly didn't.) On his other points, he's right that mainstream superhero comics have become far too serious, post-modern and overwritten. He's wrong, however, that they became continuity-choked. DC and Marvel threw away all consistency long ago.
William Wright: The obvious question everyone wants to know is, why bring back Barb Wire now?He avoids explaining the exact reasons, but I'm aware of what they really are: the abortive 1996 movie starring former Baywatch starlet Pamela Anderson in the role. It was a movie that opened to negative reception, and tanked at the box office after barely a month, grossing less than a quarter of its approximately $20 million budget. What might've been better suited as a made-for-video production was turned into a theatrical dud. And it must've embarrassed Dark Horse for quite a while, since it took nearly 2 decades for them to try it again. Warner's right, they can't change the past. But with a little work, they can ensure the future will work better for the source material.
Chris Warner: Well, now is the only time we could bring it back, since we can’t change the past, and the future isn’t here yet. There is no better time for now than the present. I dunno, just seemed like a good time to do a fun book and kick some ass. Over the years I’ve wished that comic books were more like comic books and not the deadly serious, overwritten, postmodern, continuity-strangled torture chambers so many have become. I read a typical mainline comic book these days and I want to jump off a bridge, which interferes with all my other reasons for wanting to jump off a bridge.
I wish Warner well in seeking an audience for his creation today, and I hope the people in charge of Dark Horse won't be turning their products into movies that don't have solid scripting. (In fact, of all the films based on several of their products to date, very few other than The Mask did well, and the 2004 sequel to that film certainly didn't.) On his other points, he's right that mainstream superhero comics have become far too serious, post-modern and overwritten. He's wrong, however, that they became continuity-choked. DC and Marvel threw away all consistency long ago.
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