It’s only a game to some.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Russell
Art: Bob Q
Colors: Dearbhla Kelly
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
What They Say:
Year Two continues, by MARK RUSSELL (DC’s Year Of The Villain) and BOB Q (Captain America). Chaos descends as Khitai’s new Master Of War, Sonja The Red, knows what she must do to restore order. But to do what is right, she may lose everything…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Red Sonja’s life as chronicled by Mark Russell continues to engage as she drinks of life when she can but largely works through the struggle of existence in order to do the best she can for herself and her people. Russell’s expanded story continues to be engaging here and it feels like we’re getting a proper adaptation of a novel with all of its side stories and details which makes it all the more engaging. Bob Q continues to be one of my favorite artists to chronicle the tale and his work here with Dearbhla Kelly delivers all the good stuff it needs to in order to work well. It’s a flat-colored world but one that reflects the ideas of the story quite well.
Sonja’s leading of the boys and some veteran soldiers is what causes her the most grief at this point but she’s able to utilize them in some decent ways in order to minimize the combat situations and provide for victories. With the fortress at the Mountain of Night in Vendhya being their main objective at the moment, I really like the creative way that Zo’ran came up with to get this accomplished using the boys and that she does see it as the smartest choice overall, giving them the fortress and a number of prisoners with the soldiers inside that they were able to capture after killing a few. Chunks of this remind me of the Berserk manga in some very good ways but with the use of Sonja and her background to accent it differently. Her time with Zo’ran also helps to provide a little more balance as well, including a mild sequence of intimacy that feels earned in the moment.
The problem that they face is that one of the Vendhya generals is going to come with a decent enough army to reclaim it. We get some decent material in the standoff between the two with them trying to salvage honor and their troops, but Sonja’s at the disadvantage with her food stores running out. Watching it unfold is really enjoyable as there are fewer and fewer options and seeing how it all comes together with a moment of inspiration that leads her to figuring out a way to get an edge here to try and win the day. It does go back to her time with her master here in her younger days where he would be able to game a situation like this out perfectly but she can’t look at it as a game, which is why Zo’ran is convinced that her masters liked her the best because of this.
In Summary:
There’s plenty to like here as Sonja is on her way with the campaign for Khitai that just goes against everything she knows about fighting and leading soldiers. She’s been placed in a bad spot in order to secure help for her people and it’s all she can do, so she does it to the best of her ability. Watching it unfold on both sides here and getting a good feeling for each leader and the soldiers they command makes it a really good installment. With solid writing and great artwork that captures the situation well, it’s a strong addition to the overall narrative of the series.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: July 22nd, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
