Review – Red Sonja #14 (Dynamite)

January 20, 2015

2–3 minutes

Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Walter Geovani
Release Date: 21st January, 2014

After a dramatic opening to this latest arc – “The Forgiving of Monsters” – in the previous issue, Sonja now finds herself cursed, exiled and hunting Fellan, the lone survivor from the band of Kothians who slaughtered her family. She also finds herself playing the role of hunted as well as hunter, and we get a chilling look at the true power of vengeful dark wizard Kaltharas-Ra in the opening scene of this issue (which can be seen below). A truly menacing foe, his calm, matter-of-fact exchange with the villagers is guaranteed to make your skin crawl, and his eventual showdown with Sonja is a truly mouth-watering prospect.

Simone continues her note-perfect portrayal of Sonja here, writing her as a flawed, frustrated individual – something her inner narration during this issue definitely speaks to. During the course of this chapter we get to see all the different sides of Sonja’s personality, from lonely vulnerability to blade-swinging bloodlust – and everything in between. While some of her other incarnations have a tendency to paint Sonja as a somewhat one-dimensional character, Simone continues to add layer upon layer of depth, giving us a far deeper emotional investment in Sonja’s triumphs and failures.

Sonja’s relationship with naive apprentice Havan is also one of the most intriguing aspects of this particular arc, with the wide-eyed trainee wizard hanging on her every word and providing a light hearted – and occasionally almost tender – counterbalance to the violence and gravitas of the main storyline. The curse itself, while initially sounding a more than little unspectacular (the inability to forgive? really??) is beautifully executed here, with Sonja flying into murderous rage at any perceived slight against her, losing herself entirely in the process.

Artist Geovani does his typically impressive job throughout, particularly during Sonja’s fiercely intense speech midway through the book – a scene where you can practically feel the intensity of her gaze as it bores into you. He also keeps things flowing smoothly throughout the action set-pieces, and manages to beautifully capture Sonja’s diverse range of facial emotions throughout this issue. My one slight criticism would have to be of Adriano Lucas’ colours, which can be a little harsh and sterile in places, detracting slightly from Geovani’s otherwise kinetic action on more than one occasion.

Overall however, as an arc, “the Forgiving of Monsters” is off to an impressive start, and offers up some interesting questions about Sonja as a character. Particularly during her powerful monologue midway through the issue, I couldn’t help but find myself wondering how much her words were the result of the curse, and how much were just… well… Sonja being Sonja. Either way, this is shaping up to be the perfect culmination to Simone’s epic run on the title, and proves without a doubt just how much this character has to offer – in the right hands, of course.

Rating: 4/5.

Preview Artwork
[CLICK TO ENLARGE]