Forgiveness is divine.
Creative Staff:
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Walter Geovani
Colors: Adriano Lucas
Letters: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
Red Sonja’s new soul-searing epic, the FORGIVING OF MONSTERS, continues, as a brutal and repulsive parasite has infected the She-devil, right as she is on the trail of the last survivor of the marauders who murdered her village! This is Sonja as you have never seen her before, don’t miss it! Gail Simone’s epic story ends with issue #18, so prepare for the culmination of her epic run!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Sonja the Devil hunts the last member of the raiders who butchered her village and family. Driven not only by old scars, but by the curse to never forgive, she pushes herself to lengths she typically would never go, bringing a bloodlust to a boil that will engulf both her and the people around her.
However, Sonja is not the only one hunting. The brother of the wizard she killed visits the village that hired her in order to learn her identity and to exact a horrible vengeance upon them. And Fellan the Woodsman—the prey Sonja seeks—does what any cornered quarry would do and goes on the offensive, making the hunter into the hunted.
Stuck in the middle of this is Havan, the fire sorcerer who lost his magic and hopes that Sonja can help him regain it. He also displays genuine concern for Sonja and acts as her Jiminy Cricket. As he says, “To be unable to forgive is to be without a soul,” effectively stating the premise of this arc. Havan manages to reach Sonja at least partially, but not before she slaughters most of a band of mercenaries Fellan hired to protect himself from her. His words stop her, but she also realizes that her return to sanity is momentary, and she drives him off to save him from her sword. She then does something incredibly rash, but brave, to prevent her from hurting others ever again. Of course, with a vengeful wizard on her trail, this might not be the best decision.
One of the best parts of this issue was Fellan. I half expected him to turn out to be a boy when his group destroyed Sonja’s village, dragged along in the undertow of madness of his fellow raiders, or somehow not involved at all. I thought that we would be given a reason to forgive him that would also drive home the point of the terribleness of Sonja’s inability to forgive. I should have known better. Simone is too good a writer to give us an easy out. Instead she complicates the matter further, making Fellan worthy of Sonja’s wrath, while at the same time worthy of her forgiveness as well. All of this makes Sonja’s speech about how she will kill him all the more chilling.
Half the power of the speech, naturally, comes from Walter Geovani’s art. The expression on Sonja’s face—the fire in her eyes, the snarl on her lips, the interplay of light and shadow all make for a powerful image. Lord knows that I never want her (or anyone else) to look at me the way she looks at Fellan.
And yet that’s not my favorite panel in the work. There’s a great sequence on page eight (or seven. It’s hard to tell when you’re working from a pdf) of Sonja hunting. The page consists of four panels overlaying a full-page image of Sonja standing in a river or stream in the rain. There’s purpose and power in her pose and in her expression, and I love the way her white cloak flutters in the rain. There’s also a starkness to Lucas’ colors that really sells the image. I’m not entirely sure why I’m so taken with the page, but I am. I would love to get a framed print of it.
The only downside to this issue is that this will be the final arc Simone will write. If I’m reading the solicitation correctly, Simone will be leaving the book with issue 18. This has been a great run, and perhaps it’s best to leave on a high note, but I sure will miss her on this title. As I’ve said multiple times, this is one of the most consistently high-quality, entertaining comics out there and I suppose that I’m a little greedy in wanting more. I hope when her run is wrapped that Dynamite will release a collection of all eighteen issues in one book. I’ve held off buying the trades so far and it would be great to have them all in one bound copy.
In Summary:
Red Sonja 14 is another great issue in a consistently solid, thoughtful, and entertaining book. Although knowing that Simone will be leaving makes it a bit bittersweet, I’m still enjoying the ride and am happy that I’ve been reading it since the first issue. As always, check it out.
Grade: A+
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Dynamite
Release Date: 21 January 2015
MSRP: $3.99
