Barbarella (comics)

Barbarella is a fictional heroine in a French science fiction comic book created by Jean-Claude Forest.

Contents
[hide]
 * 1 History
 * 2 Characters
 * 3 Bibliography
 * 4 Popular culture
 * 5 Adaptations
 * 6 Notes
 * 7 References
 * 8 External links

History[edit]
Jean-Claude Forest created the character of Barbarella for serialization in the French magazine V-Magazine in spring 1962, and in 1964 Eric Losfeld later published these strips as a stand-alone book, under the title Barbarella. The stand-alone version caused a scandal and became known as the first "adult" comic-book, despite its eroticism being slight and the existence of the Tijuana bibles well before this date.

Although published by a traditional company, the book anticipated the sexual revolution. For her creator, the character embodied the modern emancipated woman in the era of sexual liberation. This work is associated with the sexual revolution. The struggle for sexual freedom in comics was most prominently conducted in France through emancipated female characters like Barbarella (1962), Jodelle (1966), Pravda (1967), Scarlet Dream (1981), Saga de Xam (1967), Wolinski's Paulette(1971). Notable works in this trend outside of France have been Phoebe Zeit-Geist (1965) and Vampirella (1969) in USA, Modesty Blaise (1963) in the UK, Valentina(1965) and Angiolini's Isabella (1966) in Italy.[1]

Characters[edit]

 * 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 "orgasmotron". Roger Vadim directed a 1968 film adaptation that starred Jane Fonda.
 * Duran: 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 town of Sogo, surrounded by a maze, on the planet Lythion.
 * Lio: A brown-haired teenage girl saved by Barbarella who must save the town governed by her father in Les Colères du mange-minutes. (The chanteuse Lio drew her stage name from this character.)
 * Mado: Female prostitute robot (gynoïde), 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-portrait of Jean-Claude Forest. Named Browningwell in Semble Lune, he and Barbarella have a child together.

Bibliography[edit]
The stories have been reprinted by Dargaud and Les Humanoïdes Associés.
 * Barbarella (originally serialized in "V-Magazine", 1962; book by Eric Losfeld, 1964)
 * Les Colères du Mange-Minutes [The Wrath Of The Minute Eater] (Kesselring, 1974)
 * Le Semble-Lune [The False Moon] (Horay, 1977, ISBN 2-7058-0045-X)
 * Le Miroir aux Tempêtes [The Storm Mirror] (Albin Michel, 1982) (art by Daniel Billon, ISBN 2-226-01441-1)

Barbarella also guest-stars in Mystérieuse, Matin, Midi et Soir [Mysterious, Morning, Noon And Evening] (originally serialized in "Pif", 1971; book: Serg, 1972)

Barbarella was translated into English by Richard Seaver and published in the Evergreen Review (#37-39, 1965–1966) and Heavy Metal (vol. 1 #11 through vol. 2 #3, 1978).

An updated adaptation of book 1 is being released by Humanoids Publishing[2] on September 24, this new adaptation has been done by Kelly Sue DeConnick. Book 2 will see its first English adaptation in January 2015 by Kelly Sue DeConnick from Humanoids as well.

Popular culture[edit]
1980s pop band Duran Duran takes its name from a character in the 1968 film Barbarella: Barbarella's mission in the film is to find a scientist named Durand Durand (pronounced "Duran Duran").[3]

Adaptations[edit]

 * A Barbarella film adaptation was made in 1968.
 * A Barbarella musical based on the film was produced in 2004.
 * A Barbarella TV series is in development with writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, and Martha De Laurentiis, widow of the film's producer Dino De Laurentiis, are all involved.[4]In May 2013, Refn said to Vulture that they're still writing and are going back to the original comics. As of May 2013, no one has been cast for the series yet.