DC has big plans for Big Barda via a self-titled YA graphic novel.
Barda, written and drawn by Ngozi Ukazau, is set during Barda’s earlier years on Apokalips, under the command of Darkseid and Granny Goodness. Moulded by Granny to be the leader of her Female Furies, Barda, in this story, is tested in ways she never expected. This is the latest in DC’s line of YA graphic novels that are meant to introduce young readers to DC’s iconic line of heroes through contemporary examinations of what forged them into the people they are now. For Barda, this would be the first time such layers of the character have been examined to this extent.
DC Expands With Barda’s Discovery of Love and Her True Purpose
Likened to a journey of self-discovery for the fierce warrior, Ukazau describes the plot as a young woman pushed to her limits:
Barda is a story of a very tough soldier who slowly realizes that her loyalties are more complicated than it seems. Barda is a great character because she is so complicated. She’s big, she’s mean, she’s tough. But on the inside, she’s very scared. But she’s a defender. The story calls her to be a bit more cruel than she actually is. And we start to see the tension. Does she like defending people or does she like causing pain? And she figures out who she is through the course of the story.
The key player in her turn away from Apocalypse stays in tradition, as her future love, Scott Free, aka Mister Miracle, is part of Granny’s “education.” For those new to Jack Kirby’s Fourth World and the New Gods, Scott Free is the son of Darkseid’s counterpart, the benevolent Highfather of New Genesis. In a treaty between both worlds, Darkseid gave his son, Orion, to Highfather, and Highfather, in turn, relinquished custody of Scott to Darkseid. His very name was a way of mocking the hopelessness of his situation. Expected to break the young New God’s spirit, Barda, instead, begins to question her own motivations as she finds herself falling for Scott. Coincidentally, another YA graphic novel focuses on Scott, entitled Mister Miracle: The Great Escape.
Other DC YA graphic novels include Batman: Nightwalker, I Am Not Starfire, Mera: Tidebreaker, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, Swamp Thing: Twin Branches, and others.
Barda is set to debut on book shelves in June 2024.
Official Source – DC’s BARDA Gives The New God Warrior A Graphic Novel of Her Own (screenrant.com)
