Picking up from the ending of the previous issue, the majority of this one revolves around Barbarella and Vix’s continuing efforts to escape from Planet V. Now allied with Spearean, a sentient robot owl, who was narrating her “story,” they continue to navigate the dangerous environment of the planet, as they search for an escape pod to take them off-world. Along the way, they meet a woman named Jakkanah, who is busy experiencing her own sci-fi action show on Planet V and immediately mistakes Barbarella as her enemy, leading to a brief but intense action sequence that only ends thanks to a device that’s literally named a deus ex machina. Meanwhile, Spegur, the “director” of the planet, continues to throw every creative cliche that he can think of at Barbarella and Co. to thwart their escape and keep the ratings as high as possible. In the end, Barbarella figures out a way to use the galaxy-wide fame Spegur has unwittingly given her against him.

This issue also continues the adventures of rogue Earthgov special agent Jury Quire and Earthgov representative Driecus as they investigate the planet from which they received a mysterious distress signal and possibly uncover a corporate conspiracy with far-reaching implications. So far, Jury seems to be a pretty interesting character in her own right. I’m eager to see what happens when she and Barbarella are able to team up.

Writer Blake Northcott continues to excel in the dialog department, maintaining each character’s unique voice while pushing the story forward and skewering various Hollywood tropes, from derivative storytelling to the drive to push ongoing franchises for guaranteed profits rather than investing in original ideas. It’s an enjoyable metafictional adventure.

Anna Morozova’s art continues to impress me, she’s as good at drawing alternative versions of Barbarella from across the multiverse as she is at drawing an armada of unique spaceships.

This creative team is crafting a story that’ll keep the reader riveted from one page to the next. Our sexy sci-fi siren is in great hands! Chacebook rating: FIVE STARS

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON