Chainmail bikinis are a faux pas. Except they’re not when they’re worn by a barbarian woman wielding a bastard sword, then they become appropriate for all kinds of reasons. Such as, she looks badass. Or… actually I can’t think of a good reason for a woman or a man to wear so little armor, it just looks like it would chafe to no end. Carrying a sword is a different matter. But all the criticism of Red Sonja and her equally scantily-clad ilk has fallen by the wayside with the launch, as Gail Simone is helming this series.
Simone’s presence doesn’t justify or outright eliminate the absurdity of a character like Red Sonja, but she does elevate Red Sonja to a respectable and well-justified entity within the world of the series. And Red Sonja Vol. 1 Queen of the Plagues is a great way to re-launch the series, whether you’ve been an avid fan from the beginning or just discovering the red haired barbarian for the first time. In the first six issues that make up Red Sonja Vol. 1 Queen of the Plagues, Sonja is faced with more than overcoming a rampaging horde of sword-swinging ne’er-do-wells, but must conquer her own weaknesses, face an unknown enemy and free a people from the tyranny of court politics.
From the get-go Red Sonja Vol. 1 Queen of the Plagues does justice to the character of Red Sonja, with Simone expanding the character to be a fully-realized person who suffers doubts and dismay, and doesn’t always choose the best way to overcome her own failings. Red Sonja isn’t some 14-year old boy’s ideal of a woman, but a person in her own right who has been shaped by the world in which she lives. She is not, nor was she always, a woman capable of taking a life but she resorts to violence when she has to, and will lead others to do the same even more begrudgingly.
Walter Geovani’s art focuses on the characters. The starkness by which they stand out from the background helps to focus the attention to them and the details Geovani has included based on Simone’s script. The blurred nature of the backgrounds gives Red Sonja Vol. 1 Queen of the Plagues an ethereal quality, the stories being told are neither here nor there, but together with Simone’s words equal a tale that resonates across all worlds. The scale of the world of Red Sonja, be it from her view point, or the realm in which she travels is always small, almost claustrophobic. The battles remain tight and in doing so Geovani has conveyed the intimacy of Simone’s story.
It’s a story where the world is not in danger of ending. Rather the world a select few characters, and Red Sonja, are threatened. It’s a welcome change from the sprawl inherent in so much fantasy literature, where some malevolent force seeks a world destroying weapon or to subjugate all under its will. Simone has put actual politics into play with the foibles and follies of those in charge affecting their decisions even as you scream at them for their choices. The only shortcoming of this book stems from the fact that it’s a collection of six issues, and you don’t want it to end. That said, Red Sonja Vol. 1 Queen of the Plagues is an excellent well-contained story set in a wider world that will give Simone so much more to exploring in the succeeding volumes.
If sword & sorcery comic books are what you’re in need of then look no further than Red Sonja Vol. 1 Queen of the Plagues. It’s a great introduction to a newly revamped classic character that does justice to both Sonja’s origins in the work of Robert E. Howard and the original comic book by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. Don’t judge this book solely by its beautifully rendered cover, because Red Sonja is so much more than a chainmail bikini-clad barbarian, so read this book.
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Review by: Gregory Pellechi
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