There are sword fights and then there are sword fights.
Creative Staff:
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Walter Geovani
Colors: Adriano Lucas
Letters: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
To save the lives of hundreds of people she’s never even met, the She-Devil is forced to face the world’s deadliest swordsman, the only man whose skill with a blade threatens to dwarf Red Sonja’s own! The acclaimed run by writer Gail Simone and artist Walter Geovani kicks into even higher gear in this epic duel of blood and steel!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Red Sonja, the Devil, the Conqueror, may have finally met her match with the sword. Tasked by the dying emperor, Samala the Wise, Sonja must seek out six artisans for his final feast in one month’s time. If she succeeds then he will free one thousand slaves as payment. So far she has found the chef, the beastmaster, and the courtesan, and now she hunts for the swordmaster. However, convincing Osric “The Untouched” to join her may be nearly impossible, and time is running out.
As always, Simone and Geovani’s Red Sonja is an incredibly fun read. It’s funny, smart, and full of great action while containing a solid core of theme and character. Sonja is a hero: flawed? Yes. Tempermental? Yes. Bawdy? Very yes. But also intelligent, kind, and brave. Without that solid core built on character, all the wit and action would be so much hollow prattle in the wind.
This issue plays with and inverts part of the character’s history. When she was originally conceived by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith, Sonja was a rape victim whose people had been destroyed by raiders. She survived by calling out to the red goddess Scáthach, who saved her and gave her incredible fighting skills on the condition that she never sleeps with a man unless he defeats her in fair combat. This plot element was played out in the Brigitte Neilsen movie and became one of her defining traits. That’s obviously not the case here, and what Simone does is invert the narrative. Instead of Sonja being the virgin (or at least celibate) warrior, it’s the swordsman Osric, who vowed never to lie with a woman until he found one who bested him in battle. Sonja’s reaction is priceless (“That is without question the stupidest thing I have ever heard”) and the whole setup is one that plays on multiple levels. If you know the history of the character, you immediately understand what Simone is doing, and if you don’t, it’s still a funny scene that prevents Sonja from having a bedmate—something she has wanted since issue seven.
Interestingly, the men in this story arc are chaste. They either have no desire for sex (as in the chef) or have pledge their virginity to some lofty goal (as in the swordmaster). Sonja craves sex in a healthy and human way, and the courtesan’s trade is sex. Both seem to have a healthier attitude towards sex than the men they’ve encountered. Right now I’m not sure if there is a greater point to this or if it’s just played for comedy, but it’s certainly an interesting inversion of traditional gender roles that is done with care not to make any sort of actual statements on it. The humor comes not from a man being celibate or preferring to be “romanced” but from Sonja’s reactions to them and the sillier aspects of their nature. In the case of Osric, the scorn he earns isn’t because of his celibacy, but because of his unwillingness to put his skills to a good cause out of fear for his safety. He wastes his potential, and that’s why he is a “spittle flecked portrait of a man.”
In Summary:
Red Sonja 10 is another solid issue in a comic that I look forward to every month. I’m sure I sound like a broken record right now, but it’s the best series Dynamite is currently producing. It’s smart, it’s entertaining, it has something to say, and the way it says it is unique. This is a title that can be enjoyed on multiple levels: as a purely fun adventure comic, as revision and resuscitation of a character who has been reduced to cheesecake too many times, and as a statement on the fluidity and multiplicity of gender roles and sexuality. Highly recommended.
Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite
Release Date: June 18th, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
