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Red Sonja, She-devil in a Bikini
Sadly, most people associate Red Sonja with that horrific cinematic abomination from 1985 starring Brigitte Nielsen (a new version is in production with Rose McGowan as Red Sonja – it will probably suck just as bad as this one).
Others may be aware of Sonja’s origin as a Marvel comic book heroine created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith in 1973 as sort of a female version of Robert E Howard’s Conan the Barbarian (the Sonja character is said to be based on an original Howard character, but really bears little resemblance to Howard’s invention: “Red Sonya of Rogatino”).
But enough nerd history – on to the reason I mention Sonja (and yes, even more nerdery)…
Dynamite Entertainment has been publishing the tales of Red Sonja for the past few years. They’ve put out a few different limited-series (even a crossover with Spider-man) and one shots as well as the primary series that has run throughout – Red Sonja She Devil With a Sword. I’m not entirely sure, but I think this series may have run its course with issue 49, to be replaced by a new series: Queen Sonja (following closely in King Conan’s steps again). The art work of the Sonja books is hit-and-miss, and the stories are generally pretty formulaic.
“So why?” you ask, “are you droning on and on about it if it’s so bad?”
Well, it’s not all bad. And the latest limited series, Red Sonja Wrath of the Gods, is one of the exceptions. The cover (generally there are several to choose from with every Red Sonja comic) is another amazing work of art by Luccio Parrillo (I don’t think it’s as breathtaking as the cover for the third issue of Queen Sonja, though).
The issue starts out with Sonja trudging through the snow in her chainmail bikini, her breath freezing in the air. Brrr…
The interior artist of this series, Walter Geovani, is doing a fine job rendering a very Sonja-like version of…well, Red Sonja in every panel (something many of the other artists struggle with). Here are a few of the pages from the first issue of Red Sonja Wrath of the Gods:
The writing for this series is keeping me interested, too. Sonja’s origin has been explored and re-explored through flashbacks in the regular series (most recently, she was reincarnated into a red-headed distant relative), but we’re now introduced to a “Highlander 2″ kind of revelation – Sonja is actually a descendant of a peaceful, red-haired people who go around getting bullied everywhere they go – but is a long-awaited abnormality, a warrior who will stand up for her people, kicking ass and taking names. There’s even a possibility of Norse (or Norse-like, as this is set in Howard’s fictional world) gods making an appearance by the end of the issue – if that is who they are.
Red Sonja might not be for everyone, but I like it. And so should you.
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