Kopetski is better known by Barb Wire due to her being a bar owner and a bounty hunter. She became a bounty hunter in order to pay for her bar, The Hammerhead. She was the daughter of Marine who fought in Korea and a mother that was a cop. This upbringing has been attributed to several of the characters characteristics, such as being well trained in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat.

Her comic is based in Steel Harbor, a bombed-out town. Although she is often depicted as a loner, she has been said to affiliate with other Dark Horse Comic characters Ghost and Machine.

She became involved in high-powered gang warfare that dominated the town. One of her earliest actions was taking down a psychotic pyro-kinetic named Ignition I. She defeated him with a non-lethal rocket-propelled grenade. However, this landed her in trouble.

Ignition I was a part of the Prime Movers. She had underestimated them because not only was Ignition I back on the street soon after, the Movers were seeking revenge for her injuring one of their members.

She also had a run in with Deathcard, an assassin, who was piggybacking on her bounty hunter skills to complete his own missions.