Graphic Novel Review - 'Barda' by Ngozi Ukazu

'Darkseid is...

and life on Apokolips is tough--

but then, it is hell, after all.
And no one knows this better than Barda,
Granny Goodness's right-hand warrior.'



I knew very little about Big Barda before reading the latest DC YA graphic novel, 'Barda', by Ngozi Ukazu, and it is indeed a good introduction to her character for newcomers.

It is a shame that she isn't as exposed and well known as other DC superheroes, even nowadays, in 2024, for she is an awesome and awe-inspiring heroine. Big Barda is like a bigger, beefier, and more aggressive and tragic Wonder Woman, with a cool helmet and golden Mega-Rod. She transforms from a villain and antiheroine from a severely abusive background - on Apokolips, DC's version of hell - into a full-fledged heroine. Out of love for a man, Scott Free aka Mister Miracle, yes, but I actually don't mind this, as long as that relationship is properly developed and the characters themselves are likeable.

Barda is a mighty muscle maiden, and 'Barda' does a wonderful job in its writing and development of her, as a toughened, calamitous soul with a hidden heart of gold; a strong and flawed abuse victim; a product of a sheltered, imprisoned, cultish upbringing, who you want to see escape and be free.

The art is nice, expressive and cartoony without undermining, shortchanging or sugarcoating the story's dark, mature themes. The colour palettes befitting a scene's mood and environment, and the shadowing, are very well done.

As short as 'Barda' is at 193 pages, it is terrifically paced, its themes are clearly established and integrated and interwoven into its storytelling fabric and binding, and all its characters are memorable. Some richly and joyously so.

As well as Big Barda herself - the top warrior woman who secretly wants to know about love, when it is forbidden and punishable by torture and death on Apokolips, as decreed by Granny Goodness and Darkseid - there are the Female Furies she leads: the bloodthirsty and jealous Lashina, the bookish, pompous stick-in-the-mud Bernadeth, the brawny meathead Stompa, the wild, violent and unhinged Mad Harriet, and the sweet, vulnerable and tragic Auralie. They're like female, villainous and humanoid versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The male characters consist of Darkseid, who only appears in one scene at the beginning, and the violent red-eyed "enemy" from New Genesis (warring with Apokolips), Orion, whom Barda thinks she might be in love with, and likes to spar with on their encounters, and Scott Free, her actual true love, who isn't nearly as interesting as the female characters combined, but he is a funny and clever little chap of an acrobatic escape artist (Barda and Scott - a tall, big woman and a small, skinny man - are subversive relationship goals). Oh and there's Himon, I guess, who is in a single scene. Seriously, who cares about that generic, useless old duffer?

But I have to highlight Granny Goodness here. Until now I never caught on to just how evil, sadistic and scary she is, or is supposed to be, in all my years of consuming DC media. In 'Barda', she is a psychopathic, sociopathic dictator, and an abusive maternal figure to Barda and the other Furies, who loves to manipulate, torture and break others, under the guise of a sweet little old lady (she is short in this graphic novel, anyway). Everything she does is twisted and cruel; she has no standards, there is no line she will not cross. If she knows your weakness, knows how to break you, either to subjugate you or just for fun, then you're as good as dead, if not actually dead by her torture devices. She dominates and controls out of "love" and "concern", see, like most domestic abusers in real life. She achieves both passive-aggressiveness and physical aggressiveness simultaneously and flawlessly - her words cut as sharply as her actions, and her tools and weapons. She is creative in her sick abuse.

She is terrifying. On a deep-seated, almost triggering level.

Has any incarnation of Granny Goodness ever worked with the Joker? I think they would get along like a literal house on fire, or the Joker would be too disturbed by her to want to be associated with her again.

It's great to see Barda eventually break free of Granny's abuse and brainwashing - that love is bad and wrong, and dominance and cruelty are right and necessary. She succeeds with the help of finding an old "propaganda" romance book on a battlefield, which she keeps hidden, and flowers that can't possibly grow on Apokolips (right?), and the prisoner Scott Free, whom she is assigned by Granny Goodness to torture. I have to wonder if the other Furies will also see the light someday, and escape Granny, Darkseid and Apokolips...

Oh, but I have to comment on the comic's problematic race representation: Why is Lashina, a Black woman and the only POC character (as far as I can tell), portrayed as unconscionably barbaric, and after Barda's position as Granny Goodness's right-hand soldier and torture instrument?

'Barda' - heartbreaking and devastating, yet amazingly hopeful by the end... though it's a slow burn, with baby steps towards change (it's a realistic depiction of the book's themes that way). It is a solid recommendation by yours truly, for anyone who is a fan of Big Barda, or is interested in her; curious about her and her origins. Her dark, painful origins. And bright, loving present and future.

Her story has a message to all abuse and trauma victims out there: There is hope. There is always a way out; a chance of escape. You are strong. Stronger than you think. Keep going. Keep trying. Move forward. Things will get better, even if it doesn't seem like it right now.

Believe in love.

Final Score: 4/5