There but for the grace of Mitra….
What They Say:
The She-Devil continues her quest to find and capture the greatest artisans of the Hyborian Age, with hundreds of lives in the balance. In this saucy issue, she is on the trail of the land’s greatest (and most dangerous) courtesan, in a world she has never before experienced! The epic run by Gail Simone and Walter Geovani continues!
Creators:
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Walter Geovanni
Colors: Adriano Lucas
Letters: Simon Bowland
The Review:
Sonja has found two of the six artisans a dying emperor has tasked her to retrieve, and now she is on the trail of the third—the courtesan Aneva. Unfortunately, the Guard Captain Ferox has a stake in the courtesan’s trade and won’t give up his meal ticket easily. And while no man is a match for Red Sonja, the feelings and questions Aneva brings out in her may be just the right distraction to prove fatal to the Devil with a Sword.
In the hands of a lesser writer, this issue would have devolved into a series of “Will they? Won’t they?” moments, perhaps ending with the two women kissing on a full page spread. Sonja’s fascination with Aneva (and one could look at it in the more traditional meaning of the word, to be caught under another’s spell) has more to do with the questions of where her life took her and very little with the desires of her loins (although that has been a leitmotif throughout this entire story arc). Aneva is fair, graceful, gracious, and somehow more feminine than Sonja—or at least that’s how Sonja regards her. She wonders “What if my tribe hadn’t been killed? What if I had not become the Devil? I wonder if I could have been like Aneva?” These questions lead Sonja to allow Aneva to make her over in a nice gown and makeup.
Unfortunately, Sonja is so caught up in the moment and the fear and delight of seeing a different, unrealized aspect of herself that it almost proves fatal as Captain Ferox arrives just in time. Thankfully Sonja can fight just as well in a dress as in armor, and she manages to take care of herself, but this is the first time we’ve actually seen her being vulnerable in a broader sense. As a character, Sonja rarely questions herself or her femininity, but Aneva’s very existence seems to cut through her defenses and leaves her more naked than a chainmail bikini ever could.
Sonja is a very Earthy, solid character (practically to a fault), so seeing her like this was unexpected. It made for an issue that had all the hallmarks of Simone’s run up to this point: action, humor, and a real sense of empathy and compassion for the characters, but it also opened up a new dimension to Sonja’s character that adds a great deal to her. Nothing revealed here will change who Sonja is, but it does help us understand her a bit better and lets us see the person behind the legend.
In Summary:
Issue 9 went in unexpected directions and added extra layers to Sonja’s character. As is the case with the previous nine issues, this one is full of action, adventure, humor, and a real sense of empathy and humanity. I’m greatly enjoying how Simone and Geovani are taking a more-or-less one dimensional character and making her fully realized while staying true to the core of her personality. As always, this is highly recommended.
Grade: A
