Review – Red Sonja: Black, White, Red #1
Review – Red Sonja: Black, White, Red #1
Writers: Kurt Busiek, Amanda Deibert, Mark Russell
Artists: Benjamin Dewey, Cat Staggs, Bob Q
Genre: Sword and Sorcery
Publication Date: 7th July 2021
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Variant, Cosplay and Virgin Covers: Lucio Parrillo, Emanuela Lupacchino, Philip Tan, Gracie Cosplay Lass
Synopsis
Dynamite proudly presents a prestigious project by the world’s greatest storytellers! Red Sonja, like you have NEVER seen before…all presented in beautiful black, white, and red!
KURT BUSIEK (Astro City, Marvels) and BENJAMIN DEWEY (King In Black: Namor) take you to The Mountains Of Night, a foreboding haunt where the She-Devil With A Sword seeks a precious, priceless item…
AMANDA DEIBERT (Wonder Woman) and CAT STAGGS (Smallville) wind you through a mysterious adventure of crimson and ebony…
MARK RUSSELL (Red Sonja) and BOB Q (Red Sonja) return to put their final stamp on their classic Red Sonja series, with a coda that will leave you breathless…
Writers: Kurt Busiek, Amanda Deibert, Mark Russell
Holy shit! A Red, Black and White issue that doesn’t suck. each of the self-contained short stories allows new and continuing fans of Red Sonja to see her in her glory. The team at Dynamite need to have words with the big two DC and Marvel about creating self-contained stories for beloved characters using a limited colour palette.
In Sorceror of Shangara, the She-Devil is trapped in a dungeon, with two very happy prisoners. In fact, everyone in the castle seems happy that they are being forced to do things by the sorcerer. Aided by the court jester can Sonja find the secret of the sorcerer or will she succumb to his snake beard? This tongue in cheek tale is the perfect appetiser for the issue.
In The Hunted, Sonja comes across some lovers in the forest and protects them from bandits. She encourages them to follow her and perhaps there’s room for three in her bedroll? The bandits are hot on their trail but why is Sonja going round in circles?
In the final tale Seeing Red, Sonja is hired in a tavern to retrieve a gem for a local nobleman, however, she gets a horrible feeling when she recognises the wearer of the gem and is ambushed by an invisible foe.
Artists: Benjamin Dewey, Cat Staggs, Bob Q
Each of the artists’ styles suits the Red Sonja genre, Q’s artwork in the Shanara storyline is both stunning and silly with two prisoners reminiscing about how great the dungeon is or the women peeling potatoes in pillories.
Staggs has wonderfully drawn Sonja draws your eye on in the second, Hunted, story. The snow-covered background and hints of red hair below her cape.
Dewey’s work provides the classical depiction of Sonja with tombs and monsters a-plenty for swords and sorcery fans.
There are loads of variant and virgin covers too and you’ll find one that takes your eye at your local comic shop, hurry though as short volume productions for some are driving up the prices. As with previous issues, Dynamite has got world-class cosplayers for the photo cover.
Overall Thoughts
This is how you take a beloved hero and boil their essence down into short, engaging stories back up with stunning minimal artwork. Each quirky story needs no previous knowledge or commitment and allows new readers to sink their teeth into a character many write off as the girly Conan. The first story alone is hilarious and makes you relax while setting the tone
Check out BGCP’s new list of Scottish Comic Shops to see if they have a copy of Red Sonja: Black, White, Red #1 in stock and buy local
[yasr_multiset setid=1]
[yasr_visitor_multiset setid=1]
Buy tickets for BGCP Comic-Cons in and around Glasgow Scotland – BUY TICKETS
Check out all of our Comic, Movie, Television and Videogame Reviews HERE and our Podcasts/Interviews HERE
If you want to be part of the BGCP community, Join us on Discord, Twitter, Instagram etc then click HERE
