Barbarella is a fictional heroine in a French science fiction comic book created
History
Jean-Claude Forest created the character of Barbarella for serialization in the French V Magazine in spring 1962. In 1964 Éric Losfeld published these strips as a stand-alone book titled Barbarella.
The book caused a scandal and became known as the first "adult" (erotic) comic book, though American pornographic comic books known as "Tijuana bibles" had long predated it.
For her creator, the character embodied the modern, emancipated woman in the era of sexual
liberation, and as a result, this literary work has come to be associated with the mid-20th
century sexual revolution. The comic would stop publishing in 1978.
Barbarella was relaunched as an ongoing series by the American publisher Dynamite Entertainment in December 2017. The creative team included writer Mike Carey
and artist Kenan Yarar. The comic would be supervised by Jean-Marc Lofficier,
who worked with the original creator.
It ran for 12 issues with a holiday special.
Another relaunch was announced in May 2021, with writer Sarah Hoyt and
artist Madibek Musabekov. This run continued for 10 issues.
After the announcement of a movie remake, Dynamite announced in
November 2022 it would
relaunch the comic with the title Barbarella: The Center Cannot Hold. Sarah Hoyt
would return as writer, this time joined by artist Riccardo Bogani.
In July 2024, a new series was announced with writer Blake Northcott
and artist Anna Morozova.
This iteration of the comic will return more closely to Jean-Claude Forest's
concept for the original comic series.
Characters
Barbarella: a young woman who travels from planet to planet and has numerous adventures,
often involving sex. The aliens she meets often seduce her, and she also experiments
with a "machine excessive" or "orgasmatron".
Professor Ping: a one-eyed old man who helps Barbarella.
Pygar: a blind 'angel' guided by Barbarella, he is the last of the ornithanthropes (bird-men).
La Reine noire (The Black Queen): a villainess who reigns in the maze-surrounded town
of Sogo on the planet Lythion.
Lio: a brown-haired teenage girl saved by Barbarella; she must save the town governed
by her father in Les Colères du mange-minutes.
Mado: a fembot sex worker whose "breakdown" Barbarella repairs.
Narval: an aiguiote (aquatic man) who comes from Citerne IV to complete his scientific
research in Les Colères du mange-minutes.
L'artiste: a self-insert of Jean-Claude Forest. Named Browningwell in Le Semble-Lune,
he and Barbarella have a child together.
Jens Terje offers us the following files:
01 - Barbarella 1962-64 (1966)
02 - The Wrath of the Minute-Eater (1974; 2013) [Digital Humanoids - fixed]
03 - The Moon Child (Heavy Metal, April 1978)
Barbarella [Forest, Jean-Claude] - 1962-64 (1966)
Jean-Claude Forest - The New Adventures of Barbarella T01-T04 (1974) EN
Jean-Claude Forrest - Barbarella - The Moon Child (1977)
Thanks to Jens Terje for this excellent contribution.