The other side of the coin.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jordie Bellaire
Art: Drew Moss
Colors: Rebecca Nalty
Letterer: Becca Carey
What They Say:
“Clearly…this is the work of devils.” From JORDIE BELLAIRE (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and DREW MOSS (Star Wars), travel with us to ancient times, and uncover the mystery of how Sonja The Red, a young adventurer in search of a family, came upon a haggard witch, who would show Sonja times and places beyond her own…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the first few issues focusing on events mostly from Vampirella’s point of view but keeping Sonja very much in play, Jordie Bellair shifts gears with the fourth book. It’s from here that we go back to the distant past and see where things started for Sonja in this tragedy-comedy that she’s now living in. Bellaire gives it some solid weight but it’s Drew Moss that gives it the real shine by providing heft and weight to the scenes as we get old school. But a lot of what helps it really resonate are Rebecca Nalty’s color work as it delivers some striking moments here and there but also a good handle on the murkier moments that exist throughout it.
A simple gathering at the end of the day as night has fallen sets the stage with Sonja and some of her fellow warriors enjoying a drink and time joking around. There’s a lot of camaraderies here and a sense of love toward each other that comes with fellow warriors and survivors, something Sonja has proved herself to be time and time again. It’s light and with a flourish as it plays out but when they talk of her as princes and should-be queen, that’s when the witch in one of the tents cackles and mocks. She knows better when it comes to Sonja but not well enough to not cause a problem here as the warriors decide that she must be dealt with. I like that we get a little shapeshifting here to ease away part of it but we also get the witch hit with an arrow, allowing Sonja to give proper chase.
All of this leads Sonja to the cabin in the woods where the witch has retreated to. It’s plainly obvious it doesn’t belong in this time and once inside we see all the artifacts of the modern world there. Sonja and the witch engage for much of this as we get a kind of sussing each other thing going on and Sonja’s curiosity about the items that are magical but not magic only increases. The reality is that the witch is dying and it looks like Sonja will be the inheritor of these things and that it’s put into motion that she’ll end up in 1969. All of this was a forgone conclusion once we got a look at the path of how she got there herself and it plays out well. I like how the witch teases with truths that Sonja can’t quite discern and that she does get her way here.
In Summary:
This is a different issue than what we got before since it’s coming from a different place but we know where it leads to and how off Sonja is once she reaches 1969. Getting her at her best here is definitely fun, though the witch outdoes her at each stage when you get down to it. I like what Bellaire brings to breathing life into Sonja at this point as she’s in a very good stage and hope that she finds what she’s looking for in this period since she’s struggled to find it in her own. A lack of Vampirella is a little frustrating but that’s not a surprise in how this mini is structured.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 11th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
