Sonja’s mission reshaped.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner
Art: Moritat
Colors: Matt Carter
Letterer: Dae Sharpe
What They Say:
This issue is all out action as the Grim Reaper descends upon the kingdom of Erkhara in response to Red Sonja’s actions, dangerously destabilizing the realm, and as for Sonja herself? Let’s just say those glowing eyes of hers in issue #1 are a clue!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner take the series as it’s stood so far, which has already been a lot of fun and twisty in all the right ways, and adds one more twist to it here which puts Sonja on an even darker and more deadly path. Though there’s a lot going on here and it’s a fairly dense issue because of it, it’s a lot of fun in seeing just how Sonja rides this way. It allows for Moritat to shine even more than usual. His talent is not wasted here as we get some really great setup moments at the start and an absolutely gorgeous battle sequence. But it’s the bath sequence that almost wins me over as the best segment with how it unfolds, particularly with how Sonja’s expressions change. The end result is a really richly detailed book that has a ton going for it in making these places and characters engaging and alive in so many ways.
The time spent in the down below is grim enough in what we get here but seeing how Sonja and Tuma work together to understand everything delivers some really good material. The problem is that our cloaked and masked assailant attempts to showcase what he can do that nobody else has and attempts to kill Sonja. I’ll admit, I like his bravado and that he seems to have really trained, but the reality is that she’s just that much better. Without even unmasking him, she takes the head back with Tuma to the city to warn of what’s going on and the prepare for it since there’s a lot of bad stuff going down. The problem is two-fold in that they didn’t bring back the crown and that the face on the head is that of the king’s son, who was plotting to take over in a big way. And that clearly does not go over well with his father, regardless of the attempted regicide, as it turns him completely against Sonja – along with the other army joining suit.
What we get here is a bit more convoluted as it involves Berlaq basically going all hyper-wizard now because of how everyone is against him as well. He’s managed to use his magic to bond Sonja to him and boost up her abilities to make her invincible, presumably to a degree, so that he can survive what’s going on. For Sonja, it’s like a fever haze in trying to deal with it at first with what she experiences and it takes her to some dark places that are just visually striking in how they play out. Sonja’s denials are fun to see as well because she can’t believe that this is happening after all the other things she’s survived and it’s just making her all the more intense, and slowly perhaps more primal.
In Summary:
Sonja has become something more than herself here and her destiny and path, for the moment, is no longer of her choosing. How that will play out when not in battle remains to be seen, but for now she has nothing but battle ahead to keep herself alive and the wizard that has forced bonded them together. This is another solidly dense issue of dialogue and plotting that makes you really settle into it as it’s not a light flip-through, but rather a worthy spending of time. And that’s not even going on about the gorgeous artwork throughout that really captures something special. Definitely another strong installment.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 25th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
