Sonja slashes her way into a new problem.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner
Art: Moritat
Colors: Moritat
Letterer: Dae Sharpe
What They Say:
Written by the award-winning fan favorites AMANDA CONNER and JIMMY PALMIOTTI, Red Sonja finds herself on a spectacular journey filled with pirates, mermaids, princesses, and political intrigue as the threat of two kingdoms hangs in the balance. All this, plus the spectacular art of MORITAT and a cover by AMANDA CONNER and PAUL MOUNTS makes THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA a series not to be missed! With so many challenges, Sonja will need to be INVINCIBLE to overcome these odds!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It feels like forever since I’ve read a book by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner so I’m thrilled that they’re back and working a separate storyline for this eternally popular character. Their take is one that goes for a classic sword and sorcery take and in some ways it takes me back to my youth in a really fun form that I’m excited to see more of. What really helps with this series is that the incredibly talented Moritat has signed on for the art and this opening installment is just fantastic. Sonja has a bit more of a buxom look than she’s had in the main ongoing for a while and it again leans into that classic mold a bit without embracing the bad stuff along the way, giving us a book that’s just great to look at in detail.
The premise for this opens with events further down the road, which always frustrates me as an opening so I’m going to basically ignore here for the moment. Taking us back a few days from that, what we really open with is Sonja getting some transport on a ship and is about to earn her fare by working with the captain to deal with an opposing navy ship coming back. It’s a brutal battle that has earned Sonja some gold and booty to be sure, but what she ends up keeping through circumstance is the chest that contains a young woman in it. And not just any young woman, but the beautiful and snarky princess Zaria, who is on the way to her wedding involving the son from another country. But even this acquisition doesn’t last long for Sonja as Zaria escapes into the water and Sonja’s intent on drinking rather than swimming. Easy come, easy go.
But Sonja’s life is one that has some real ups and downs to it. Her journey on the ship goes awry when it comes across a group of sirens, forcing her to do some real damage before passing out only to be picked up by another ship that Zaria is actually on. It’s a really fun shift in events as we get Sonja doing her best originally to keep the snarky princess alive on a ship of pirates to now Zaria setting things to keep Sonja alive on her military ship of her father’s. While the opening pages tease us to how badly this deal will go for Sonja as it progresses, the initial bit here is definitely is interesting and you can see how Sonja is essentially just hopping onto the next adventure that has landed in her path. There’s so much to like in that respect with her that seeing this kick-off is definitely exciting.
In Summary:
There are times that it feels like the best way to do a good Sonja book is to do a good Groo book and just rework some of the parts. There are just so many similarities between the two! Palmiotti and Conner set us on a good path here with a couple of good action sequences to be had, some solid character drama, characters introduced (and some killed) that keep us on our toes about who to embrace. And a bit of the magical with the time spent with the sirens. I’m excited to see where this particular book will go as I like this interpretation of the character and Moritat’s artwork is just ideal in presenting us with something that’s exciting to look at in combination with the solid script. Easily recommended.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 5th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
