The Fellowship was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of RED SONJA #1 from Dynamite Entertainment. Gail Simone writes and Walter Geovani draws.
King Dimath is asking for her help, and Red Sonja feels that
she owes him one. He did free her from a dungeon not long ago, after all. But
now his kingdom is doomed, and he asks her to help him and his remaining people
to die well. She agrees, but little does she know who it is that threatens to
destroy Dimath’s realm – an old friend, of sorts.
There has been a significant amount of hype for this book,
especially if you pay any attention to a certain little blue bird on the
internet. Sonja has been a mainstay for Dynamite for some time now, and a good
title as well, but now the character gets a new perspective in the form of
popular writer Gail Simone. And to cut a long story short, Simone delivers on
all of that hype.
For me, this “introduction” to Sonja is based on contrast.
We see her at the beginning in as inhuman a state as most of us could imagine –
chained up and tortured in an honest-to-Pete medieval dungeon, barely able to
speak, on the very edge of death. By the end of this issue, we see her in a
very human light – wishing she could do more to save the only king she has ever
chosen to follow. And Simone manages to inject some humor into our stoic hero;
the look on Sonja’s face in the dressing room is complete brilliance on the
part of Walter Geovani.
I have the privilege to read and talk about a great many
wonderful comics, and this one ranks up there with the best of them. It had a
great deal to live up to, and it honestly surpasses all of my expectations. And
this is just the set-up; I really can’t wait to see what happens when the team
actually gets rolling. Get on this one now and enjoy the ride.
RED SONJA #1 is available now at your LCS or online at dynamite.net.
~Mike ( @MikeyGeek )
