Kulan Gath has been through a lot over the ages. The sorcerer entered an alliance to gain power from the demon Shuma-Gorath. He had sought the power of a Melnibonéan sorceress who was an ancestor of the legendary Elric. She disintegrated him, which turned out to be kind of a setback for him. Now he has to deal with the she-devil with a sword in Red Sonja #16. Writer Torunn Grønbekk continues a deeply s atisfying run with Sonja that is brought to the page by artist Walter Geovani and colorist Omi Remelante Jr. It’s a deeply enjoyable next chapter for Sonja in one of her more vividly enjoyable runs in recent years.  

There’s a guy who has been following around Sonja. He claims that she’s a goddess because of some of the things that she knows. She claims that she isn’t a goddess, but she knows how he’s going to die. It’s not going to be good for him. And so he’s thinking...y’know...if she’s NOT a goddess, then maybe she isn’t right about the fact that he’s going to die. And so maybe he’s got a point, but they still have to deal with a dark wizard for whom death was only sort of a minor inconvenience...this was a guy who stared down the X-Men back in 1984. It’s not going to be easy for them. 

Grønbekk shuffles around a lot of really fun and enjoyable sword and sorcery fantasy elements in an action story that manages to find some fresh life in a genre that's been around for a very, very long time. Sonia managed to seem like a very powerful and strong character in charge of her own destiny, even though she is in way over her head on a whole bunch of different level it's not an easy strike. Grønbekk makes it look easy.

Geovani manages a very intricate execution of action. For a issue that really does have its heart soul in the dark magic of the situation, so much of it is just exclusively in drama and brief bursts of action. Geovani manages a number of really clever moments over the course of the issue that manage to frame the action in novel and interesting ways without compromising the overall rhythm and power of everything that needs to happen in order for a compelling an coherent story to it the page running and keep going from cover to cover.

Grønbekk find the right rhythm to the action to make it all fit together quite well. It's really only a matter of time before the big climax hits. But it's going to be a hell of a journey for.Sonja as she makes it through headiness of the situation.Grønbekk has been bringing very powerful and novel energy to the page simply by plunging the title character directly into dark magic that is beyond her control and giving her power that she hasn't had the opportunity to really adjust to. So it's an interesting dynamic. And it's going to be interesting to see where it goes from here.

Grade: A