Barbarella

Barbarella is a space adventurer in a future time. Her adventures inevitably involve her having sex with someone or something.

Barbarella è un personaggio dei fumetti femminile protagonista dell'omonimo fumetto di fantascienza ideato dal francese Jean-Claude Forest, pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1962 sulla rivista V-Magazine, in cui è presente una sottile vena di erotismo per la personalità disinibita della protagonista, i cui lineamenti ricordano quelli dell'attrice Brigitte Bardot. Il personaggio raggiunse presto il successo sia per i contenuti che per il disegno, vivace e curato, che proponeva un'eroina spaziale al centro di avventure al limite della morale dell'epoca.

Storia editoriale

In Francia, il mensile V-Magazine pubblicò la prima puntata il 2 Aprile 1962. La serie è stata in seguito raccolta in un volume edito da Eric Losfeld.

In Italia venne pubblicato per la prima volta nell'Ottobre del 1967 sulla rivista linus.

linus dal n. 31 al n. 36 (1967/68)
Ali Baba Speciale (n. 3 - riservato agli abbonati dei supplementi linus - 1968)
Speciale Barbarella (1970)
Barbarella (1975 - Milano Libri)
linus dal n. 151 al n. 157 (1977/78)
Barbarella - L’altra luna (1979 - Milano Libri).

Il successo del personaggio diede inizio al genere cosiddetto "fantaerotico" con il proliferare di imitazioni e epigoni in tutto il mondo che professavano l'emancipazione femminile e la liberazione sessuale. Tra le varie eroine si ricordano Saga de Xam, Phoebe Zeit-Geist, Scarlett Dream, Scarth A.D. 2195 e l'italiana Alika.

Remake

In occasione del suo 55º anniversario, la Dynamite Entertainment in un comunicato stampa ha annunciato che verrà realizzata una nuova serie di fumetti con protagonista Barbarella sotto la supervisione di Jean-Marc Lofficier, che già lavorò con Jean-Claude Forest nella metà degli anni novanta a un progetto di sequel a fumetti di Barbarella rimasto incompiuto. La figlia dell'autore, Julien Forest, ha dichiarato che segnerà un rilancio "multimediale" del personaggio di Barbarella.

Biografia del personaggio

Il nome venne scelto dall'autore pensando "a una ragazza un po’ selvaggia, e quindi barbara, ma al tempo stesso gentile, da qui la scelta del diminuitivo, quasi un vezzeggiativo". Selvaggia ma anche molto sensuale, Barbarella è una ragazza curiosa e intraprendente del pianeta Lythion nell’anno 40.000 D.C. dove affronta, sempre con successo, criminali e mostri di ogni razza, riuscendo finanche a liberare pianeti oppressi dalle dittature.

Barbarella fu precursore di una tendenza del mondo del fumetto del periodo nel quale i personaggi femminili - soprattutto italiani, come Valentina, Isabella, Satanik e altre - non erano più eterne fidanzate, ma protagoniste. Forest del suo personaggio disse che "è una donna finalmente libera, padrona delle sue azioni e del suo corpo". Nel corso delle sue avventure amoreggerà anche con un robot ("I miei slanci hanno qualcosa di meccanico"), ma senza nulla di torbido o di proibito come altre eroine di quel periodo.

Altri media

Ispirato al personaggio, nel 1967 è stato realizzato un film di fantascienza di produzione italo-francese intitolato Barbarella, diretto da Roger Vadim con Jane Fonda nel ruolo principale e con Ugo Tognazzi, Véronique Vendell, Anita Pallenberg e Giancarlo Cobelli.

Nonostante Barbarella nascesse con le fattezze della Bardot, quando il regista riuscì a girare la pellicola era sposato con Jane Fonda, alla quale darà la parte della protagonista. Nel film la rappresentazione del mondo fantastico in cui si muove Barbarella non riesce a raggiungere i livelli presenti nel fumetto e fu un insuccesso sia di pubblico che di critica. Per essere riuscito però a descrivere lo spirito del tempo e i cambiamenti in atto nella società degli anni sessanta, è oggi ritenuto un cult movie.

Televisione

Nel 2014 venne data la notizia che Amazon Studios era intenzionata a realizzare una Serie TV ispirata al personaggio di Barbarella prodotta per la casa francese Gaumont Television International. Amazon Studios aveva incominciato a sviluppare il pilot della cui sceneggiatura si erano occupati Neal Purvis e Robert Wade e sarebbe stata prodotta da Nicolas Winding Refn che si sarebbe dovuto occupare anche della regia, affiancato da Martha De Laurentiis alla produzione. Il progetto non si è concretizzato come comunicato da Refn nel 2016.

1. Barbarella 12/1964

Scénario : Forest, Jean-Claude
Dessin : Forest, Jean-Claude
Editeur : Le Terrain Vague

Barbarella 2. Les colères du Mange-Minutes

Scénario : Forest, Jean-Claude
Dessin : Forest, Jean-Claude
Couleurs : Dopilar, Manuela
Lettrage : Mouminoux, Yvette
04/1974

Editeur : La Marge-Kesselring Éditeurs

2Poche . Les Colères de Mange-Minutes

Editeur : Le Livre de Poche

07/1975

2a1985 . Les colères du Mange-Minutes

Editeur : Dargaud

01/1985

Barbarella 3. Le Semble-Lune

Scénario : Forest, Jean-Claude
Dessin : Forest, Jean-Claude
Couleurs : <Quadrichromie>

Editeur : Pierre Horay 09/1977

Barbarella 4. Le Miroir aux tempêtes

Scénario : Forest, Jean-Claude
Dessin : Billon, Daniel

Couleurs : Dubos, Danie

Lettrage : Gautray, Isabelle

Dépot légal : 01/1982

Editeur : Albin Michel

Barbarella INT1. Premier Tome

Scénario : Forest, Jean-Claude

Dessin : Forest, Jean-Claude

Couleurs : <N&B>

Editeur : Les Humanoïdes Associés 10/1994

Barbarella: Burning Down the House #1

Barbarella: Burning Down the House #1 - Volume Three released by Dynamite Entertainment on November 2019.

Barbarella has been lied to. Worse, she's been weaponized, and someone's going to answer for that, for sure. (Well, assuming she survives the judgement of the Esseverine sun-giants, and an armada of a thousand ships...)

Barbarella/Dejah Thoris #1 - TPB released by Dynamite Entertainment on August 2019.
From opposite ends of time, two heroines unite for an otherworldly adventure! Barbarella, the siren of space, meets Dejah Thoris, Princess of Barsoom, and together they must solve a murder mystery that spans time and space in order to find their way home. Leah Williams (Adventure Time Comics, Age of X-Man: X-Tremists) teams with German Garcia (Action Comics, X-men) for a fun, deadly, mind-bending epic!

Barbarella: Hard Labor #1 - Volume Two released by Dynamite Entertainment on February 2019.

Barbarella's never ending quest to repair her ship's regulator and be on her way takes a detour to Falladim, where there's a rush on for R.U.S.T.-Radically Unstable Space-Time! The rarest and most valuable stuff in the universe, even Barbarella can't resist its mighty call. But competition brings out the worst in humans and aliens alike, and the Siren of Space is about to see what the worst really is!

Note: The digital edition (2/20/2019) for this volume was released before the print edition.

Barbarella Holiday Special One Shot #1 - Murder On the Christmas Planet released by Dynamite Entertainment on December 2018.

Comics legend Jean-Marc Lofficier (Mobius, Doctor Strange) steps aboard the Barbarella Cosmic Express to tell an intergalactic tale of Christmas and…murder?! Hélas, c’est vrai! Someone’s been given the ultimate gift, and jolly old St. Nick must figure out by whom. Enter the space siren for all holidays, Barbarella! Guest-starring France’s Hexagon Comics’ super-patriot hero: The Guardian of the Republic.

Barbarella: Red Hot Gospel #1 - Volume One released by Dynamite Entertainment on October 2018.

Earth's star-crossed daughter is back! When Barbarella wanders into a war zone, the theocratic rulers of Parosia arrest and imprison her. A prison break is brewing, but now that she knows what the Parosians do to their own citizens Barbarella decides to make this fight her own...

Barbarella Deluxe Edition #1 - HC/SC released by Les Humanoïdes Associés on September 2014.

Jean-Claude Forest's timeless erotic sci-fi classic - from which the cult-favorite movie of the same name stems from - is now available as a deluxe limited and numbered Coffee Table edition. Featuring a brand new, contemporary English-language adaptation by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick (Marvel's Captain Marvel, Avengers Assemble, Dark Horse's Ghost, Image's Pretty Deadly) and published in a beautiful duotone edition, limited and numbered to 1200 copies only.

Barbarella: The Moon Child #1 released by Heavy Metal on January 1, 1978.

Barbarella #1 - TPB released by Grove Press on January 1, 1968.

Barbarella #1 - Barbarella released by Grove Press on January 1, 1968.

Barbarella/Dejah Thoris #1 released by Dynamite Entertainment on January 2019.

From opposite ends of time, two heroines unite for an otherworldly adventure! Barbarella, the siren of space, meets Dejah Thoris, Princess of Barsoom, and together they must solve a murder mystery that spans time and space in order to find their way home. Leah Williams (Adventure Time Comics, X-Men: Black) teams with German Garcia (Action Comics, X-men) for a fun, deadly, mind-bending epic!

Barbarella/Dejah Thoris #2 released by Dynamite Entertainment on February 2019.
The Femmes from the Future find themselves on a world entirely covered by oceans. That’s no big deal, what with Earth 70% covered, but for the desert-born Dejah of Mars, some water wings are needed, stat! Really, though, the endless depths are the easy part… it’s the creatures lurking in the unknown that are the real threat, especially the intelligent ones!

Barbarella/Dejah Thoris #3 released by Dynamite Entertainment on May 2019.

Barbarella and Dejah Thoris make their way across the vast, endless waters of the mysterious water planet they find themselves marooned on. But after encountering all manner of never-before-seen creatures, they find there’s not one but two dominant species here…and they’re at war! And if that isn’t enough to rattle our heroes, the discovery of just what planet they’re on surely will!

Barbarella/Dejah Thoris #4 released by Dynamite Entertainment on June 2019.
In the final, climactic installment of Barbarella and Dejah Thoris’ adventure together, they must rearrange events of the past in order to figure out their respective ways home! Meddling in an ancient war has consequences, though, and Dejah Thoris must decide if she is willing to pay the price despite knowing how it will impact Mars for thousands of years to come.

Barbarella #1 - Red Hot Gospel Part One: Spoils of War released by Dynamite Entertainment on December 2017.
Earth’s star-crossed daughter is back! When Barbarella wanders into a war zone, the theocratic rulers of Parosia arrest and imprison her. A prison break is brewing, but now that she knows what the Parosians do to their own citizens Barbarella decides to make this fight her own…

Barbarella #2 - Red Hot Gospel Part Two: Fall From Grace released by Dynamite Entertainment on January 2018.

Our spacefaring heroine may have been enlisted by Earth’s underground, but that doesn’t mean she trusts her new allies. On the run in an alien city, hunting for a doomsday device that might end a war, Barbarella has to choose a side and stick to it. But it might not be the one you expect…

Barbarella #3 - Red Hot Gospel Part Three: Fire and Sword released by Dynamite Entertainment on February 2018.
To stop a war a planet must fall. For Barbarella the ends don’t justify the terrible means, but if she acts to save billions of innocents it may spell defeat and disaster for Earth. Oh, if there were only another way…

Barbarella #4 - Pest Control released by Dynamite Entertainment on March 2018.

Barbarella may have narrowly averted a galactic war—as only she could—but she’s still in need of a null-d regulator. Hitching a ride on a cargo transport seems like a no-brainer, but these great seas in the final frontier are rife with pirates! Plus: someone’s about to learn first-hand the dangers of emotional intimacy!

Barbarella #5 - Hard Labor Part One: After the Gold Rush released by Dynamite Entertainment on April 2018.

Barbarella’s never ending quest to repair her ship’s regulator and be on her way takes a detour to Falladim, where there’s a rush on for R.U.S.T.—Radically Unstable Space-Time! The rarest and most valuable stuff in the universe, even Barbarella can’t resist its mighty call. But competition brings out the worst in humans and aliens alike, and the Siren of Space is about to see what the worst really is!

Barbarella #6 - Hard Labor Part Two: Rust Never Sleeps released by Dynamite Entertainment on May 2018.

The great R.U.S.T. rush has pitted Barbarella against fellow prospectors, the Glain family as the old west meets the final frontier (and please, no “Cowboys and Aliens jokes)! With an inconceivable fortune at stake the fighting is getting dirty, and Barbarella finds herself on the defensive in a maze where time and space have no meaning! But the heart of the maze is stranger still…

Barbarella #7 - Hard Labor Part Three: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere released by Dynamite Entertainment on June 2018.

Barbarella is lost in a maze of Radically Unstable Space-Time, with Pulver Glain, his boys, and his smarter-than-smart gun Sally-Anne hot on her trail. But what’s at the heart of the maze is a threat – and a miracle – that none of them are ready for.

Barbarella #8 - A Thousand and One Nights, Give Or Take released by Dynamite Entertainment on July 2018.

Barbarella has a corporate target on her back, and only the arrival of an old friend can save her bacon. But the mistress of the spaceways whose heart belongs to no one is out of the frying pan and into the fire-literally! For her latest adventure has her headed for the heart of the sun!

Barbarella #9 - Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun released by Dynamite Entertainment on August 2018.

Barbarella has been lied to. Worse, she’s been weaponized, and someone’s going to answer for that, for sure. (Well, assuming she survives the judgement of the Esseverine sun-giants, and an armada of a thousand ships…)

Barbarella #10 released by Dynamite Entertainment on October 2018.

An Alien Heart

Barbarella is missing, presumed dead: fallen into Firu Fenzu’s sun, from which there’s no coming back. But the core of this star is a brave new world, where Barbarella will learn how badly she has been betrayed – and where she just might find the allies she needs for an epic comeback.

Barbarella #11 - Burning Down the House released by Dynamite Entertainment on October 2018.

In the red corner: a titanic space armada with the last word in planet-busting weaponry. And facing them: the Esseverine, a peaceful people with no technology or tools at all. Nothing. Not even a pointy stick. But they do have Barbarella. Place your bets!

Barbarella #12 released by Dynamite Entertainment on November 2018.

Truth & Consequences

“A Place Called Overkill” The event horizon of a black hole is a bad spot to have your ship break down -- especially if the breakdown isn’t an accident. But who wants Barbarella dead? And why have they chosen to bury her so very, very deep?

Barbarella #1 - Agent of Chaos Part One: Woman Untamed released by Dynamite Entertainment on July 2021.

The Siren of Space returns for a series of all-new adventures by a dynamic new creative team! Multi-award winning author SARAH HOYT and rising star artist MADIBEK MUSABEKOV are at the controls as Barbarella leaves space dock on a new mission fraught with unseen layers of danger, duplicity and perhaps a dose of romance! Camelot is home to the rich and powerful class seeking escape from an increasingly crowded and decaying galactic empire. Desperate clandestine transmissions from an enslaved underclass bring Barbarella to investigate, uncovering secrets that lead to more secrets—and the distinct possibility that someone knew she was coming. High concept sci-fi meets the greatest aspects of the human soul in a series that will reveal wonders that both terrify and delight, plus covers by fan-favorites LUCIO PARILLO, DERRICK CHEW, BRIAN BOLLAND and more!

Barbarella #2 - Agent of Chaos Part Two: The Price of Freedom released by Dynamite Entertainment on August 2021.

Mystery abounds on the planet Camelot, and it’s up to Barbarella to unravel it all in order to save a secretly enslaved populace in what’s supposed to be a literal paradise. Answers will be forthcoming, but getting there will be half the fun—at least for you, gentle reader! And those answers may just bring down paradise…and lead to an even greater galactic evil! Love, lasers and liberty—this one’s got it all, courtesy of acclaimed novelist SARAH HOYT and visionary artist MADIBEK MUSABEKOV!

Barbarella #3 - Breathless released by Dynamite Entertainment on September 2021.

Fresh off the chaotic conclusion to the riddle of Camelot, Barbarella finds herself out an ally but with no time to lick her wounds. A mysterious signal from space leads Barbarella to the water world of Encantado, where the remnants of a once-thriving situation lay hidden, as do much genetic shenanigans. And lest you think that’s all the Siren of Space must deal with, the armed forces of they deadly power behind the enslavement of Camelot is still hot on her trail—good luck outrunning lasers!

Barbarella #4 - Men of Steel released by Dynamite Entertainment on October 2021.

Having come face-to-shocking face with the identity of her would-be assassin, Barbarella’s quest has turned from merely combatting tyranny to one of survival! How handy that the two quests amount to one and the same. Barbarella and Vix follow the trail to Automata, a factory world populated solely by worker drones, which begs the question: do androids dream of electric freedom?

Barbarella #5 - The Fun Never Stops released by Dynamite Entertainment on November 2021.

The dominos keep falling, but still, there are more to tumble as Barbarella seeks the source of a malevolent evil that enslaves, mutilates, and now can add mass kidnappings to the list. And so, Barbarella brings the love -- and the outrage -- to the pleasure planet, Rio, ‘cause there’s nothing pleasurable about being kidnapped -- or on the wrong end of a Vix scorned!

Barbarella #6 - The Architect of Her Destiny released by Dynamite Entertainment on December 2021.

She is known only as “the Lady.” Her identity, her origins, even her rise to power, are shrouded in utter mystery. And make no mistake, that’s purely intentional. That she rules increasingly larger portions of the galaxy with an iron grip and a wave of fear is not remotely in question. Why she wants to wipe out every human is. And why Barbarella is targeted to be the first and most important human to die is the deadliest question of all!

Barbarella #7 - The Land Before Time's Running Out! released by Dynamite Entertainment on February 2022.

In hot pursuit of The Lady, Barbarella trashes yet another ship with nothing to show for it. Actually, things are worse than that—Taln is missing, Barbs finds herself caged… and on display in a zoo. Please don’t feed the animals! The danger lies not in who caged her, but what lies beyond the walls of this alien menagerie. Let’s just say they are very, very big.

Barbarella #8 - The Truth Shall Set Them Free released by Dynamite Entertainment on March 2022.

As the stakes grow higher, we enter the second half of our first two-parter! Barbarella and Vix find themselves stranded on a world with intriguing connections to the Lady, but overwhelming numbers of opponents to get through if they’re to escape with their skin/fur intact. It’s sci-fi-meets-Mesozoic madness. Or to put it another way, it’s all a bunch of Jurassic (Arthur C.) Lark(e). Come discover the land that time really should have forgotten!

Barbarella #9 - Double Trouble released by Dynamite Entertainment on April 2022.

The penultimate issue for this current installment! Beauty meets beautiful (and highly defended) beast as Barbarella takes the fight right to The Lady’s doorstep. Doing so means tracking down The Lady’s hidden home world and doing that means fighting throuh the masses determined to keep it hidden! If it’s that hard to make planetfall, what the heck awaits our hero? And what is the incredible, tragic connection between The Lady and Taln?! All this, and cringy one-liners, too!

Barbarella #10 - The Gang is All Here released by Dynamite Entertainment on June 2022.

This is it - the big battle you've been waiting for! Barbarella and the Brotherhood have launched a covert strike on Quryx, home of the Lady. Of course, they're walking into a trap, and brute force is no match for a crazed tyrant with an army of thousands! But where strategy fails, the truth behind the Lady's actions may prevail...though at what cost? After all, what is an ending but a new beginning? Sci-fi meets the human condition on a battlefield like no other in this explosive final chapter!