(February 21, 2024) Garth Ennis, the award-winning award-winning writer of Hitman, The Punisher, Sara and Marjorie Finnegan, Temporal Criminal, and co-creator of The Boys and Preacher, is teaming up with acclaimed artist and frequent collaborator Jacen Burrows (Crossed, The Ribbon Queen) for BABS, a sharp satire of sword & sorcery. The six-part mini-series will debut from AHOY Comics, a Syracuse-based publisher specializing in humorous takes on horror, space opera, social satire, and superheroes.
“Writing BABS was an absolute hoot,” said Ennis. “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.”
The series introduces Babs, a skilled barbarian thief with an itchy metal wardrobe and the world’s worst enchanted sword (named Barry). Together Babs and Barry travel the highways and byways of a fabulous fantasy universe—a world of wizards and dragons, trolls and demons, towering palaces and piles of magic treasure—aiming to strike it rich. But Tiberius Toledo, and his band of very white knights, have different plans. While enacting her latest half-assed get-rich-slow scheme, Babs uncovers Toledo’s foul plot to exploit the baser instincts of the local townsfolk, landing her headfirst into an epic battle. Babs wasn’t looking for a fight…but then again, she’s never found a bad situation she couldn’t make a hundred times worse…
BABS artist Jacen Burrows has worked extensively with Alan Moore and Garth Ennis on projects including The Ribbon Queen, Crossed, Neonomicon, and Providence.
“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,” said Burrows. “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!”
“Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows master the genre of orcs, dragons, and living swords, adding an ill-gotten bounty of humor and heart,” said AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer. “Babs herself—an outsized spirit of greed, frustration, courage, and comic violence—will linger in your memory.”
Best selling artists Chris Burnham (Batman Inc, Nameless) and Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn, The Pro) will both provide a variant cover for the debut issue. BABS #1 will land in stores on July 17, 2024, ahead of Comic Con International.
For more updates on AHOY Comics, visit them on X, Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram.
About AHOY Comics
AHOY Comics debuted in the fall of 2018 with the bold promise for readers to expect more from its line of comic book magazines, featuring comic book stories, poetry, prose fiction, and cartoons. The independent, Syracuse-based company is the brainchild of publisher Hart Seely, an award-winning reporter whose humor and satire has appeared in The New York Times and on National Public Radio. AHOY’s editor-in-chief Tom Peyer is committed to publishing comics with a (dark) sense of humor with titles like the religious satires SECOND COMING and HIGH HEAVEN, the superhero parodies THE WRONG EARTH and MY BAD, the sci-fi spoofs CAPTAIN GINGER and HIGHBALL, the time travel tales PLANET OF THE NERDS and G.I.L.T., and the humor/horror anthology series EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SNIFTER OF BLOOD.
About the creators
Garth Ennis has been writing comics since 1989. His credits include THE BOYS (adapted into a hit TV show for Amazon), PREACHER (adapted for AMC), HITMAN, and CROSSED, as well as successful runs on THE PUNISHER and FURY for Marvel Comics. He is particularly known for his war fiction, including the series BATTLEFIELDS and WAR STORIES; the graphic novels DREAMING EAGLES, OUT OF THE BLUE and THE STRINGBAGS; and a recent revival of the classic British character JOHNNY RED. Originally from Northern Ireland, Ennis now lives in New York City with his wife, Ruth.
Jacen Burrows is a Pacific Northwest-based comic book artist who has been drawing comics for more than 20 years now. He has worked extensively with Alan Moore and Garth Ennis on projects including the Ribbon Queen, Crossed, Neonomicon, and Providence. Recently he has been drawing for Marvel, including Punisher: Soviet, Get Fury, Moon Knight Legacy, and Warhammer 40,000.
