REVIEW: Red Sonja #23

Amy Chu and Erik Burnham“s Red Sonja #23 (Dynamite Comics) might be the most complete story on shelves this week. It is an opportune time to come on board with the series and as a one-shot story, this issue encapsulates all of the great features that Chu, Burnham and company have established in this iteration of the Red Sonja character. She is powerful and self-possessed, wandering the world in all of her Hyborian glory.

The issue opens with Red Sonja riding east, fulfilling her primary desire as a hero ”“ to ride, wander and conquer when necessary. She is confronted by a Goddess, an arbiter of justice who forces her to balance the scales for taking the life of a prince. The process requires Red Sonja to take on a mission that will require her intellect as much as her swordsmanship. The mission may not have much meaning for the protagonist, but it is a potent vehicle for understanding just how she gets down and why Red Sonja is not a hero to mess with.

Because Red Sonja has historically been cast as a Conan subsidiary, every move that Chu and Burnham make in this story (and in other chapters of the series) works to re-order Sonja“s world with her at the center. In this issue the patriarchy ”“ via the King, his dead son, and the King“s desire for a perverted form of patriarchal justice, is the real enemy even though it is the weakest adversary for Red Sonja as she must confront a sphinx and a gryphon before all is said and done. It is the Goddess who sets all of this in motion ”“ the King himself has no power over Red Sonja even though she has killed his son. No spoiler alert needed to say that Red Sonja wins the day. This character wins whether she is defeated or not.

Roberto Castro and Salvatore Aiala (studio) deliver classic kinetic visuals that magically capture the wit, brute force, and sexuality of the character without reducing Red Sonja“s heroic stature in any way. It will be interesting to see and read where goes and who she conquers next. This book continues to deliver interested stories with compelling art work each and every month. 4/5.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) Amy Chu, Erik Burnham (A/CA) Carlos E. Gomez