Harley Quinn #60
(W) Elliott Kalan (A) Carlos Olivares
I AM DA KNIFE! My body is full of DC K.O. energy! After the thrilling conclusion of our latest crossover, I’ve got a new lease on life — and it’s darker and grittier than ever! You know Batman? Well, you can call me Batquinn now! I’m like Batman, but I do things… a little differently! Bricks are gonna be flying tonight, baby!!!
The Barbarian is making a break from behind bars — but between freedom and our hero from another world stands a squad of taser-wielding prison guards! Luckily, a solitary confinement cell is a great place to receive a mystic visitation from a goddess of cosmic justice. Meanwhile, the Barbarian’s public defender, Irene Chang gets much too close for comfort with her client’s possessed, blood-thirsty battleaxe! BARBARIAN BEHIND BARS is the high-fantasy grindhouse story you’ve been dreaming of!
Story: Elliott Kalan
Art: Andrea Mutti
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
Barbarian Behind Bars #2
(W) Elliott Kalan (A) Andrea Mutti
The Barbarian is making a break from behind bars — but between freedom and our hero from another world stands a squad of taser-wielding prison guards! Luckily, a solitary confinement cell is a great place to receive a mystic visitation from a goddess of cosmic justice. Meanwhile, the Barbarian’s public defender, Irene Chang gets much too close for comfort with her client’s possessed, blood-thirsty battleaxe! BARBARIAN BEHIND BARS is the high-fantasy grindhouse story you’ve been dreaming of!
Harley Quinn #59
(W) Elliott Kalan (A) Carlos Olivares
THE DEATH OF ROMANCE! It’s finally time — Harley Quinn and Althea Klang go on a date… to the death! Honestly, I didn’t think I was gonna say yes to Althea, but then I got a ton of fan letters in the mail with your signatures on them demanding that I do it! You’re not gonna want to miss this outrageously spicy issue of Harley Quinn. And by spicy, I mean the food we’re going to eat!
Who is the mysterious, musclebound warrior who came to our world in a storm of magic and violence?! That’s what public defender Irene Chang wants to know. This guy came out of nowhere, doesn’t speak English, and now she’s supposed to help him beat a murder charge after he chopped some other weird dude’s head off with a magic axe in broad daylight? Of course, he may not live to go to trial, with all the enemies he’s making in prison. Good thing his cellmate grills a mean cheese sandwich.
Story: Elliott Kalan
Art: Andrea Mutti
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
Who is the mysterious, musclebound warrior who came to our world in a storm of magic and violence?! That’s what public defender Irene Chang wants to know. This guy came out of nowhere, doesn’t speak English, and now she’s supposed to help him beat a murder charge after he chopped some other weird dude’s head off with a magic axe in broad daylight? Of course, he may not live to go to trial, with all the enemies he’s making in prison. Good thing his cellmate grills a mean cheese sandwich. Barbarian Behind Bars #1 kicks off a concept where you wonder why it hasn’t been done before.
It’s no surprise that I’d enjoy Barbarian Behind Bars #1. Written by Elliott Kalan, art by Andrea Mutti, and lettering by Taylor Esposito, it’s the team behind Maniac of New York, a series published by Aftershock that I loved and hope we get more of. And honestly, Barbarian Behind Bars #1 feels like a series that would have been released by that publisher.
The concept is very simple. A warrior from another time and place is arrested after battling his evil foe in modern times. Now, the justice system has to figure out what to do with him and he needs to continue hist quest against evil. It’s so simple, it’s brilliant.
Kalan delivers a fantastic start focusing on each aspect of the comic and doing so in a way that makes it really intriguing. A defense attorney needs to figure out how to deal with her client who speaks a language no one knows. A justice system needs to figure out how to deal with a murder of an individual who doesn’t exist by a person who doesn’t exist. And the barbarian needs to keep fighting evil to save his world but he’s behind bars. The combo is a series that nails it at every step.
The art by Mutti is excellent. It’s not too surprising as we’ve seen over and over what to expect. The initial battle looks epic in scope, to the point I hope we see more in flashbacks. The frustration of so many feels very real as you can see it in their body language and faces. The guards feel sleezy just looking at them. It’s all fantastic visuals that balance the fantastical and the grounded.
Taylor Esposito deserves and extra mention for the language spoken by the Barbarian. While it’s translated, you almost want to take the time to decipher it yourself, something that’s a challenge by others in the comic.
I had high expectations for Barbarian Behind Bars #1 when I saw the creative team and heard the concept and they’ve exceeded the high bar set for the debut issue. Like their previous team-up, this is a debut that you should absolute check out.
Story: Elliott Kalan Art: Andrea Mutti Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy
Mad Cave Studios provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle
Barbarian Behind Bars #1
(W) Elliott Kalan (A) Andrea Mutti
Who is the mysterious, musclebound warrior who came to our world in a storm of magic and violence?! That’s what public defender Irene Chang wants to know. This guy came out of nowhere, doesn’t speak English, and now she’s supposed to help him beat a murder charge after he chopped some other weird dude’s head off with a magic axe in broad daylight? Of course, he may not live to go to trial, with all the enemies he’s making in prison. Good thing his cellmate grills a mean cheese sandwich. BARBARIAN BEHIND BARS is the fight-packed fantasy prison thriller you didn’t know you always needed.
Harley Quinn #58
(W) Elliott Kalan (A) Carlos Olivares
AIR PIRATES AHOY! Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a Batplane! No, it’s Colonel Blimp! Just when I thought I was done with ring-dings raining on my parade, a guy with a literal zeppelin shows up to rain on my figurative parade. It’s an all-out battle in the sky! I’m gonna give this japlonsky a piece of my mind… or my bazooka!
Harley Quinn #57
(W) Elliott Kalan (A) Carlos Olivares, Terry Dodson
200 fast 200 furious! Two hundred issues, baby! We did it — I’m a certified bicentennial woman!
I’m making my triumphant return to Gotham in style — in an oversize clownstravaganza! And I’m bringing friends! No, I’m not talking about the Gunbuddies or Convoy (though they are here too) — my very first artists, Terry and Rachel Dodson, are making their triumphant return to help tell a story about what makes me me. Plus, the epic final battle between wrong and wrong as I face down the Deconspirator in a fight for the future of Throatcutter Hill!
When the smoke clears and the dust settles, one barbarian finds himself in a place no sword can save him from: prison… This February, Mad Cave Studios presents Barbarian Behind Bars—a five-issue prison-action-fantasy miniseries that throws high adventure and hard time into the same cell. From writer Elliott Kalan and artist Andrea Mutti, with letterer Taylor Esposito, this brutal genre mash-up drops readers into a world where muscle meets bureaucracy and magic meets maximum security.
Who is the mysterious, musclebound warrior who came to our world in a storm of magic and violence?! That’s what public defender Irene Chang wants to know. This guy came out of nowhere, doesn’t speak English, and now she’s supposed to help him beat a murder charge after he chopped some other weird dude’s head off with a magic axe in broad daylight? Of course, he may not live to go to trial, with all the enemies he’s making in prison. Good thing his cellmate grills a mean cheese sandwich. Barbarian Behind Bars is the fight-packed fantasy prison thriller you didn’t know you needed.
Barbarian Behind Bars melds high-fantasy spectacle with cynical prison-yard grit. It’s what happens when you drop a mythic hero into the concrete jungle—and let the sparks fly!
Barbarian Behind Bars #1 arrives February 11, 2026, with FOC on January 19, 2026.
