Red Sonja #13 // Review
She’s made her way to a prize fight somewhere in the lawless lands of South Cimmeria. She’s one of the most formidable warriors in the land. Naturally she isn’t going to have much of a challenge...even if her opponent is twice her size. They’re going to accuse her of cheating. That’s normal. When they start accusing her of being a witch, though...THAT’s when she’s going to need to run away in Red Sonja #13. Writer Torunn Grønbekk continues a very satisfying run with the she-devil in an issue drawn to the page by Walter Giovani and colorist Omi Remalante Jr.
There’s no reason why she should have been accused of witchcraft. She was being so cunning and careful not to let on that she might have had some power that might not have been entirely earthbound. Nevertheless, things got a bit carried away. It might hav started with the taxes on her winnings. It might have started somewhere at the tavern. Whatever it was, it was definitely going to be a situation where she was going to have to deal with the fact that she was going to be dealing with the ire of an entire town.
Grønbekk has an inventive flair for traditional sword-and-sorcery narration that suits Sonja quite well. The author has a clever mind for twisting the standard tropes of fantasy in just the right way to get something truly fresh. The standard trappings of fantasy are so solidly established that one doesn’t have to twist them too much to get something that feels like a breath of fresh air. That’s exactly what Grønbekk is doing by introducing characters into the narrative and instantly letting the reader know how they’re going to die. It’s very sharp and clever stuff that makes her writing truly captivating without completely reinventing the genre.
Giovani shoots the action around the page in a way that feels well-integrated with Grønbekk’s writing. The slight nuances in dramatic tension are contrasted against sudden explosions of anger. The action hits the page with the occasionally impressive impact. Sonja’s swordsmanship slices across the page quite capably in Giovani’s hands. It might feel a bit still in places, but the overall movement of action and drama across. The page is handled quite capably by Giovani while Remelante’s colors do a solidly respectable job of establishing mood, tone and depth on the page.
Sonja is on the run...again. And though there isn’t a whole lot that distinguishes her latest troubles from a lot of other issues that she’s had to deal with over the years, Grønbekk’s writing advances her heroism in interesting directions while respecting the legacy of a character who has had a great deal of success on the comics page in recent years. Grønbekk and company have been able to maintain a decent momentum that should continue to develop quite well as things progress. She even seems to be working with villains who might develop into a captivating new menace as things progress.
Grade: A
