Barb Wire

Barb Wire is a tough-as-nails nightclub owner and mercenary operating in the fictional Steel Harbor, a city ravaged by a second American civil war. She funds her club by taking on dangerous freelance jobs, relying on street smarts and combat skill rather than superpowers.

Few characters from the early '90s independent comics boom carry the attitude and staying power of Barb Wire, who burst onto the scene in 1993 courtesy of creators Mike Richardson and Lee Weeks in Dark Horse's Special Limited Edition Steel Harbor Collection. A Copper/Modern Age creation through and through, she's a signature figure of Dark Horse's gritty, street-level universe of Steel Harbor, sharing pages across her run with compelling company like Ghost, Motorhead, X, and The Machine. With her own headline series — Barb Wire and Barb Wire: Ace of Spades — plus a collector-recognized key issue and a publishing presence stretching all the way to 2015, she's one of the more enduring original voices to emerge from outside the Big Two, and well worth tracking down for any fan who loves their comics with an independent edge.