68. BARDA...June 27
A review of Ngozi Ukazu's comic BARDA, a YA Romance featuring Jack Kirby's New Gods
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IMPRINTED IMAGE
Welcome to Imprinted Image, my weekly comics newsletter that has been coming out closer to bi-weekly, and perhaps might stay that way, if y'all have thoughts. If this is your first time, welcome! Most every week, I send out this post with a summary of what else I did this week, a collection links to comics news items I found interesting, and a rough draft essay on whatever topic I'd like. This week, I review the Patreon-selected BARDA by Ngozi Ukazu.
But first! Last week, I gave my usual new comic shop book recommendations, the Marvelous Market for June 25. My current biweekly-ish effort is an in-depth annotation of THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, a personal favorite written by Kieron Gillen, drawn by Jamie McKelvie, colored by Matt Wilson, and lettered by Clayton Cowles. Most recently, I published my notes on the 1831 Historical Special. The first of these drop-ins on previous pantheons, this issue uses analogs of the Romantic writers to tell a properly gothic story of death, occult attempts at immortality, and many, many references to FRANKENSTEIN. This was one of my longest posts yet, so give it a look and tell me what you think!
The Wicked + Divining Comics 1831 Special
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I also created a resources tab on my website. It's a collection of reading guides, tutorials, and free legal resources like public domain image archives. I want this to be as useful as possible, so if you have any additions please send them my way.
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BARDA
I, and many others, have long advocated for books like BARDA by Ngozi Ukazu, cartoonist behind the hit CHECK, PLEASE (and letters by Wes Abbott). The DC and Marvel universes are so large, with long histories and many characters. It is silly to think they all have to operate in the same mode or genre constantly. And, to be fair, there has been an increase of YA influenced books like this over the past decade. Even still, BARDA functions specially: there is nothing preventing this from being canon.
To be clear, I don't actually care whether or not this series is "canon." I don't think mainstream DC comics will reference the romance novel that Barda finds, setting her on the anti-Darkseid path. Nor should it. But, even though this is written and drawn in a cute, digital pencil YA style, everything that happens here could be referenced in direct market DC comics. In fact, elements that I would have assumed were original are actually from the original Jack Kirby Fourth World run, just brought to the forefront here. While I love a good alternate universe as much as the next guy, I really think the Big 2 benefit from having this off-center views of their publishing universe.
Better still, the comic itself is great. So much of YA Romance can, to an outsider like me, feel forced and trope-bound. That isn't the case at all here. It is clear why Barda falls in love with Scott Free, the future Mister Miracle. It's even clear why Scott reciprocates, despite not being the focus of the book. Barda's journey from a soldier of Darkseid and Granny Goodness to a rebel against it is told with simplicity and clarity. While tastes may vary, this book also refrains from the same-voice quip-heavy style I dislike from so many YA books (and direct market comics, let's be fair.)
In fact, there is only one possible criticism I can levy against this book, and it is one I'm not sure is entirely true or fair. I wonder if someone unfamiliar with these characters entirely would get as much out of the book as I did. Darkseid and Granny Goodness aren't explored in much detail other than as pure villains. That's probably enough for most children reading this book, and comic fans can fill in the details. But I don't know if an adult reading this as their first exposure to the Fourth World would connect. This is, to be clear, me supposing a lot about a person I'm making up in my mind, so I would very easily concede this point with any counter evidence.
I would recommend this book to young readers, especially if they are looking to explore more of the DC Universe. Don't let me categorizing this as a YA romance fool you: the setting and subject matter keep this as dark as you can get in the genre and with plenty of action. The art and paneling are eminently readable. If you are an adult familiar with Jack Kirby's Fourth World and want a snapshot of a particular moment in time from that saga, this is a great add-on. Did you read this book before you knew anything about the characters? Write in and let me know!
A Port of Links
There were some big and rather unfortunate developments in the ongoing Diamond bankruptcy saga. People were worrying that Diamond might go the way of Hastings, which was previously bought and liquidated by a company controlled by the current managing director of Ad Populum. As evidence of these fears, publisher Fantagraphics was claiming Diamond, which holds books on consignment, was holding books hostage. These fears were realized when it was announced that Diamond planned to sell of the inventory it holds, again, on consignment, to pay off their debts. This would give the actual owners of the books, publishing companies and creators, nothing. A court has to approve this plan, but it could be entirely legal. Some publishers are calling foul play, indicating they saw this coming and did the necessary steps to avoid it, which Diamond is allegedly ignoring. They have three weeks to dispute this plan. Alliance Entertainment and Ad Populum are making contradictory claims under penalty of perjury, and it is unclear who the courts will side with. Graphic Policy, who have done great coverage of the legal drama, put out a regularly updating timeline of the whole shebang, including the reveal that Alliance tried to buy Diamond in October to avoid bankruptcy entirely.
The Association of French Comics Critics and Journalists put out their Summer 2025 selection of ten essential reads, including BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES and NICE HOUSE ON THE SEA.
Data time! The Bleeding Cool Weekly Bestseller List using limited data from ComicHub has THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 6 just barely beating out ABSOLUTE FLASH # 4, BATTLE BEAST # 2, and AVENGERS VS. GODZILLA # 1. ICv2 has a look specifically at the best selling books of 2024 originally published on Webtoons, mostly either SOLO LEVELING or LORE OLYMPUS.
The great How To Love Comics has reading orders for Rick and Morty comics and, more importantly, The Smurfs comics.
Religiomics has an article examining the varied ways the original run of MS. MARVEL engages with Islam.
Do you like crowdfunding comics? Check out the Beat's list of campaigns you might be interested in, like a complete three-volume comic inspired by Mesoamerican mythology
It's my weekly links to other people's list of links! The Comics Journal posted their week's links, which focuses on news, reviews, and interviews. They lead with the Diamond news and updates on some lawsuits against generative AI companies. The Beat published its biweekly (that's twice weekly) Digest, with stories like Scott Snyder writing an Elvis comic and Red Band Marvel Zombies. Over on SKTCHD, David Harper published Comics Disassembled, his weekly list of 10 comics items of note. Last week, he lead with a new book from Tom Taylor and Daniele Di Nicuolo, the team behind SEVEN SECRETS.
In other SKTCHD news, David Harper on OFF PANEL has an episode with Tillie Walden about her third graphic novel featuring Walking Dead's Clementine. He also has an interview with Ryan Browne, artist of THE LUCKY DEVILS, who unfortunately suffered a stroke several months ago.
Podcast HISTORY OF COMICS IN 500 ISSUES published an episode on SUPERMAN # 1, focusing specifically on the character's Jewishness.
In the Comic Book Heraldverse, the MY MARVELOUS YEAR podcast posted 2011 Variant Cover B, chatting about the best comics of the year thus far with Zack Quaintance. You can also watch them do that on YouTube, or read Dave's picks on the website.
Question of the Week
How many YA books do you, a presumable adult, read?