'Red Sonja Volume One: Queen of Plagues' – Gail Simone, Walter Geovani (Dynamite)

The last comic book I reviewed here was only just over a week ago (good old 'Slaine'...) but before that, we have to go back about a month for a quick post on 'Judge Dredd: Judgment Day'. It's clear then that comic books are not being spoken about enough here right now; lets do something about that, shall we...?

Now, I love a good 'Sword and Sorcery' tale as much as the next person and seeing it all happen in a comic book is pretty much my idea of heaven; the two forms just go together perfectly. I've never read any 'Red Sonja' though, mostly because I used to think it would just be full of ;chainmail bikinis' and that wasn't something I fancied reading on the bus to work... Don't judge me (well, judge me a little), I didn't know any better. Until now that is. Watching the 1985 movie got me interested (and lockdown means no more bus rides) so I thought I'd check out some 'Red Sonja' comics. I picked 'Queen of Plagues' because it said 'Volume One' and that's always a good place to start... ;o)

Red Sonja, the She-Devil with a Sword, intends to pay back a blood debt owed to the one man who has gained her respect... even if it means leading a doomed army to their certain deaths! Who is Dark Annisia, and how has this fearsome warrior accomplished what no god nor demon has been able to do: force Sonja to her knees in surrender?

I'll come straight out and say it. I picked up 'Queen of Plagues' yesterday evening and didn't put it down until I'd finished it. I'm actually more than a little disappointed that the second volume is going for more money, second hand, than I can find. It looks like I'm going to have to jump straight to Volume Three and miss out on on a large chunk of story. The first volume of Gail Simone's 'Red Sonja' has done this to me.

The plot appears very simple but that's just to draw you in and get you reading; no great chore as the payoff is that we get these little snippets of backstory that gradually build into Red Sonja's life. It's all very gradually done and it's like you're getting a whole other story for free. Can't complain about that ;o)

The plot remains fairly simple throughout (although there are a couple of neat little twists right at the end) but I wouldn't necessarily see that as a bad thing as this approach frees up room and really gives the characters a chance to shine, Sonja in particular

Simone's treatment of Red Sonja really fleshes the character and lends her a depth that is vital, at this early stage, if Red Sonja is going to carry a run of books by herself. Red Sonja is almost peerless with a sword but that is driven by childhood trauma and a desire to do right by people who can't look after themselves. So, She's a character with depth and a character who makes for any number of battle sequences that are all great to watch play out. Sonja is also a character with an enemy that can easily best her and you don't get a lot of that in theses kinds of comics. It's really refreshing to see, to be honest.

This approach also casts the whole 'chainmail bikini' in a new light. It's almost like Red Sonja is saying, 'Here I am, a woman, and that doesn't matter; what matters is that I'm going to kill you if you stick around. Please, just go while you can.' Men never seem to learn that lesson though and the fun lies in seeing them get taught. There are some great swordfights and they're not all abut how great Sonja is, just most of them ;o) For such a simple plot, it's surprising how much other stuff is happening here. There's even a little examination of how Red Sonja's world can be moved to come to terms with, and benefit from, science. This leads to the question of how much Sonja's honour sets society back in terms of what could have been achieved.

All of this is illustrated wonderfully by Walter Geovani who just gets the machismo of Sonja's world, and how easily it can be popped by the right woman with a sword (or ladies with bows, it's great to see how Sonja's attitude encourages other women to be the best they can be, it's also funny to see Sonja slope off to the nearest Inn while this is happening). Simone's storytelling Geovani's art just work really well together and I'd love to see how it develops over future books.

It may be a while before I make it onto Volume 2 (payday is a way off yet) but I'll have to now because 'Queen of Plagues' was so good that I don't really have a lot of choice in the matter ;o)

Anyone out there reading Gail Simone's run on 'Red Sonja'? What did you think of the books?