Barbalien: Red Planet is the next “From the World of Black Hammer” series, reuniting Vision artist Gabriel H. Walta and colorist Jordie Bellaire. Black Hammer mastermind Jeff Lemire is co-writing with Tate Brombal (The God of Roadside Memories and Aditya Bidikar (These Savage Shores) lettering. In a nutshell, it’s an all-star of a creative team.
My next project!!
From the world of Black Hammer: BARBALIEN: RED PLANET
With @JeffLemire , @tatebrombal , @whoajordie & @adityab @DarkHorseComics pic.twitter.com/TN1WF9R13B— GABRIEL H. WALTA (@ghwalta) March 12, 2020
Together, they’ll tell the origin story of Mark Markz, AKA Barbalien. When readers first encountered him in the pages of Black Hammer, he struggled with his feelings for a man of the cloth and it’s quickly established that he’s gay. For his solo series, Brombal and Lemire will explore that even further. Barbalien: Red Planet takes place during the AIDs crisis of the 1980’s, when Markz is still in the closet, developing feelings for an activist named Miguel and, to make matters worse (and more comic book-y), he’s also being hunted by a fellow Martian bound and determined to return him to their home planet at any cost.
Barbalien: Red Planet is told over five issues, with the first hitting shelves on June 24 to coincide with LGBTQ Pride Month. Walta’s cover is available for perusal below. Before this releases, Black Hammer fans should keep an eye out for the previously announced Colonel Weird: Cosmagog, set for an April debut.
