Prolific comic book author, and creator of The Boys, Garth Ennis, is set to unleash his latest madcap, irreverent action story: the epic miniseries BABS. Taking his talents to the “sword & sorcery” genre, Ennis can be expected to deliver another can’t-miss tale, pushing his signature style and attitude to yet another level.
BABS – written by Ennis, with art by Jacen Burrows – will be a six-issue series, published by AHOY Comics. The satirical story will follow its eponymous lead character, along with her companion, “the world’s worst enchanted sword (named Barry),” as they travel “a fabulous fantasy universe.”
According to the initial plot synopsis for BABS, Garth Ennis’ latest comic book project will bring his familiar provocative flare to the fantasy genre – but rather than satirizing the genre itself, as he did with superheroes in The Boys, the writer appears to have aimed his scrutiny at some very real-world targets.
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Garth Ennis’ BABS Is A Thrilling “Sword & Sorcery” Satire
BABS #1 – Variant Covers By Chris Burnham & Amanda Conner
As revealed in the press release announcing BABS, Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows’ upcoming miniseries will pit their new hero against a villain named “Tiberius Toledo, and his band of very white knights,“ who seek to “exploit the baser instincts of the local townsfolk.” With this, Ennis has signaled that he has something vital to say about contemporary American politics; those familiar with his previous work, from Preacher to The Boys, and beyond, will know that he won’t be making his point gently.
Introducing the new series, Ennis had this to say:
“Writing BABS was an absolute hoot. The character is one of my favorite types – good at the job, but crap at life, with a lousy attitude to boot – and the world of Sword & Sorcery provides endless opportunities for deeply disrespectful humor. Having our heroine smash her way through goblins, ogres, imps, incels and other vermin was extremely satisfying; nobody’s going to be Making Middle Earth Great Again while she’s around.”
Readers have long gravitated to the author’s work because of his ability to synthesize comic book action and insightful cultural commentary. Now, he appears ready to skewer the forces of bigotry and intolerance that have increasingly polarized American political discourse over the past several years. That said, given his track record, BABS can be expected to display Ennis’ creative talent for delivering a fist-pumping, exciting narrative, with a resonant underlying message, all without being didactic.
BABS Is Garth Ennis’ Twist Take On Familiar Fantasy Storytelling
Ennis’ First Title For AHOY Comics
The new series, BABS, comes as part of Garth Ennis’ collaboration with AHOY Comics, a publisher “specializing in humorous takes on horror, space opera, social satire, and superheroes,” making them a natural fit for the author’s work. Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer described the exhilarating upcoming book this way:
“Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows master the genre of orcs, dragons, and living swords, adding an ill-gotten bounty of humor and heart. Babs herself – an outsized spirit of greed, frustration, courage, and comic violence –will linger in your memory.”
Described as “a skilled barbarian thief,” one who “never found a bad situation she couldn’t make a hundred times worse,” Babs sounds like an ideal Ennis character, one who can dole out equal parts acerbic commentary and hack-and-slash action in any situation she encounters.
The world of BABS will be a familiar fantasy landscape, strained through the unique perspective of Garth Ennis. It will be “a world of wizards and dragons, trolls and demons, towering palaces and piles of magic treasure,” with the creator’s razor-sharp sense of satirical humor applied accordingly. Promising “an epic battle,” the six-issue miniseries will almost certainly operate at a high-octane pace, leaving readers few opportunities to catch their breath. Given the singular creative mind it is originating from, readers should be in for as many shocks and laughs as they can handle.
BABS Re-Teams Ennis & Artist Jacen Burrows For An Epic Journey
Dream Team For A Fantasy Project
For artist Jacen Burrows, BABS offered not just another opportunity to work with Garth Ennis, but the chance to illustrate a genre he’d been interested in exploring for years. As he put it:
“I’ve been lucky enough to work in a lot of genres over the years but I have always wanted to work on a fantasy story. I’m having such a great time getting to design the world and characters and I can’t wait to take readers on this wild ride. The humor, the action, the wild creatures, and settings, this really is a dream project for me!”
Burrows is no stranger to working with legendary comic book authors before, having collaborated with Alan Moore, as well as working with Ennis on several previous projects. Most notably, the artist worked on Crossed, which many consider to be Garth Ennis’ bleakest, most brutal work. Certainly, BABS will not be without its darkness, but early indications are that it will be lighter far, by the creative teams’ standards.
Burrows and Ennis’ comments make it clear that both of them thoroughly enjoyed working in the fantasy genre, and that it was another fruitful collaboration for the pair. With Burrows illustrating BABS, readers know that Garth Ennis’ scripts are in the hands of someone who can be trusted to pull off his vision in a way that is both clear and visually exciting. While the story will without a doubt have its share of dark, and possibly even disturbing moments, the “sword and sorcery” context will make it distinct from their previous work together.
Ennis’ Work Continues To Evolve With BABS
Other Recent Stories Include: James Bond, 007 & Marjorie Finnegan, Temporal Criminal
As with any Garth Ennis project, BABS is immediately one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year. The author has been busy lately, writing a James Bond series for Dynamite Comics, publisher of The Boys. It may very well be that BABS represents Ennis working at the top of his game, on a creative level. Given the teases of the plot, it seems the author has waited as long as he could to unleash his perspective on the current state of American political culture.
Though this has always been latent in his work, BABS is set to be his most unequivocal, unmitigated commentary on the subject. For some reason or another, Garth Ennis’ stories are always going to prove controversial – something that he has long since embraced, which has become effectively baked into the DNA of his fiction. BABS will apparently be a meditation on political power that will add to the foundation of Garth Ennis’ worldview, as has been established over the past several decades with series like Preacher and The Boys, making it a must-read for comic book fans.
The Boys
The Boys is a superhero/dark comedy satire series created by Eric Kripke based on the comic series of the same name. Set in a “what-if” world that reveres superheroes as celebrities and gods who experience minimal repercussions for their actions. However, one group of vigilantes headed by a vengeance-obsessed man named Billy Butcher will fight back against these super-charged “heroes” to expose them for what they are.
