Filling in the past just a little more.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Russell
Art: Jacob Edgar
Colors: Dearbhla Kelly
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Enhaou
What They Say:
A 28-page special, directly connected to the events of RED SONJA #9. Know this, in a time before, Young Sonja The Red journeyed to the Sorcerers of Wigur-Nomadene. She would attempt to convince them to bring her family and friends back to life. But magic…comes with a cost…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Red Sonja gets a special here similar to another one recently that fills in some of the gaps of the larger story that Mark Russell is telling in the main series. But like that other special, he does it in a way where this stands alone very well but connects in a strong enough way to make it worthwhile for those reading the main book. It is not, however, a Halloween-focused book. Russell works with artist Jacob Edgar for this special and it comes across well as I like his style and take on this younger and more innocent Sonja which definitely feels like something that deserves this almost more innocent style. It works a different approach to detail and color design so that it feels a bit more lively than the ongoing and that factors in well telling a tale from Sonja’s past.
This tale serves as a good introduction to the basics of Sonja’s life, showing us her early days with her parents and how things went south from there when raiders attacked. It’s done off-page but the brutal murders hit, her father torn apart by horses, it’s all (sadly) standard fantasy fare origin story material. Sonja’s life shifts to her getting away from this group eventually and settling within the city of Shadizar where she met Javon. She basically becomes a part of his family and the two fall for each other well. Which, naturally, leads to them engaging in a little thieving when some critical information falls into their hands. There’s a kind of youthful innocence and sense of fun and adventure about it as it gets underway which is definitely lightly intoxicating and you can see why they pushed more and more.
That, naturally, leads to some pretty dark things to happen as it progresses. That’s what the bookends of this book is about as it ties into events in the present. Within the main series, we saw Sonja coming to the Tower of Wigur-Nomadene where she looked for help from the sorcerers there, noting that it was her second time. And most people never leave after the first time. It’s fascinating in seeing how this first encounter went with how she was trying to bring back people that had been lost to her in such brutal ways, and Javon in particular which she had a direct hand in. It explains a lot of her solitary nature going forward and why she would go into the Tower once again in the present storyline knowing the cost and price but finding an angle to work with.
In Summary:
Red Sonja continues to have a solid run with its main series and I like that Dynamite is bringing out a couple of specials to supplement it in order to expand on the story without slowing down the main narrative. What we get here is unfortunately billed as a Halloween special and that’s a big stretch. But as a story tied to the main book it’s one that expands well on the Tower and what happened with Sonja there some time ago while also giving us a fresh look at Sonja’s past. Russell’s got this book down easily with keeping it all connected and if we’re ever going to revisit more of this period of Sonja’s life I hope Jacob Edgar gets a good shot at illustrating it as I really liked his style with it here.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: October 16th, 2019
MSRP: $4.99
