Item: Barbarella
Rating: 7.0
Author: Tym Stevens

A mixed bag. The sexiness, design, and weirdess flow; the pacing, angles, and dialogue ebb.

A science fiction classic, psychedelic and hyper sexual.

By Tym Stevens

April 22, 2019 @ 9:05 am PT

In 1962, Jean-Claude Forest brought the sexual revolution to outer space.

His serials of the sensuous galactrix Barbarella collected in album form became the first Adult graphic novel. The erotic adventurer, stripped of all care for sensual convention, led to Peellaert's Jodelle and Pravda, Crepax's Valentina, the experimental Saga de Xam, Vampirella, Coben's Den, Taarna in Heavy Metal, Chang's Sin Metal Sirens, and Doctor Who's Captain Jack Harkness.

The film version of Barbarella made both her and Jane Fonda international stars, pushing the boundaries of screen heat and the buttons of the bothered. It is an uneven mixture, at times stolid and wooden in staging and tone, but by turns seditiously licentious and perversely well-versed. Its concept overrides its execution by sheer verve and gall, earning its classic status.