With a borrowed face, shapeshifting Martian hero Barbalien explores the gay night scene and a buried part of himself. But his fractured identity takes another hit when he comes into conflict with his new friends, his fellow police officers, and the murderous lunatic who followed him to Earth.
o Origin story for Barbalien.
o Art by Gabriel Hernández Walta (New Mutants, X-Men)!
Just as Barbalien: Red Planet #2 comes to a close, we see the Martian bounty hunter begin to close in on Mark. What will happen next is unknown for our protagonist, but I feel life will not be getting any simpler for him. Read Full Review
Barbalien: Red Planet #2 is another illuminating chapter in Lemire and Brombal's exploration of Barbalien's early days on Earth. Like all of Lemire's Black Hammer titles, it's a pure joy to read. I look forward to reading more of the events that shaped the character we have seen in the main series as the series continues. Read Full Review
Two issues in, and Tate Brombal, Jeff Lemire, Gabriel Walta, Jordie Bellaire, and Aditya Bidikar's Barbalien: Red Planet is easily my favorite story set in the Black Hammer universe (Black Hammer '45 is fantastic too.). It's the one I've been able to personally connect to. It's a soul-searing character study for Barbalien/Mark Markz/Luke, and how he struggles with his identity and place on Earth/Spiral City while also centering the role of BIPOC in LGBTQ+ activism during the 1980s and telling their stories as well. And it does all of this with a superhero secret identity/shapeshifting twist. Read Full Review
Set in a world of massive tales and interdimensional stories"see Colonel Weird: Cosmagog, as an example"Red Planet is a deeply personal read that makes the Black Hammer world better with each passing panel. Read Full Review
Barbalien goes all-in on dealing with the AIDS epidemic and what it was like to be gay in the 80s in the big city. It helps to reinforce his outsider aspect that he felt even among his own people and that he's even more on the outside here than he realized before. There's an emptiness to Mark that's a little unnerving as it seems like he still hasn't understood at least some of what humanity is really like and it's keeping him from really figuring out his place in everything here. But he's starting to figure it out and it's just as grim as things were for him on his home world. I really liked the exploration and complication of events with Miguel, the club itself, and the dashes of history mixed into it all that helps make it feel more fully realized. The big moment for this is like the arrival of Boa Boaz but there's a lot to get into here overall to see brought to life this well. Read Full Review
BARBALIEN: RED PLANET loses some of its magic in this issue. But the passion is palpable. This creative team may yet provide us with a magnificent series, if they can just dial back the dialogue. Read Full Review
Mark Markz wrestles with the conflicting aspects of his life as this fascinating character study continues. Read Full Review
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