RED SONJA: BLACK, WHITE, RED #1 – An Honest Review

In RED SONJA: BLACK, WHITE, RED #1, available from Dynamite Comics on July 7th, 2021, a cavalcade of creators brings three stories to life absent all colors except the fiery red of hair and blood.

The Details

• Written By: Mark Rusell, Amanda Deibert, Kurt Busiek
• Art By: Bob Q, Cat Staggs, Benjamin Dewey
• Letters By: Hassan Otsmane- Elhaou, Simon Bowland
• Cover Art By: Lucio Parrillo (cover A)
• Cover Price: $4.99
• Release Date: July 7, 2021

Was It Good?

It’s a mixed bag.

There are three stories in this anthology that range from a great, classic Red Sonja story to a bland, not great Red Sonja story.

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Two of the three stories have exciting, vibrant art (or at least as vibrant as you can get without color), and the art teams generally do a good job pumping up the stories with action and high-energy pacing.

You can see for yourself in our RED SONJA: BLACK, WHITE, RED #1 preview.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

Since this is an anthology, we’ll briefly touch on each story and how they stack up compared to each other.

The Sorcerer of Shangara!

• Written By: Mark Russell
• Art By: Bob Q
• Letters By: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Red Sonja wakes up in the dungeon prison of the great sorcerer, Shangara. She easily finds means to escape but every prisoner she encounters seems reluctant to help her or themselves. It seems everyone is under some enchantment that convinces them that remaining where they are is far better than risking the wrath of the great wizard once he inevitably re-captures them.

Plot Twist – the sorcerer has been dead a long time but the court jester has been keeping the legend of the sorcerer alive through rumors and misdirection to maintain power for himself.

Russell tells a story with a message about the power of the people to do exactly what’s against their own best interest when the power of the lie is stronger than their own common sense. You could say this story is Russell’s statement on the power of #FakeNews.

Bob Q’s art is good. Otsmane-Elhaou’s lettering is top tier as per usual. But Russell leaves out key points that make the story make sense (e.g. if the sorcerer is dead, how did Red Sonja wind up in the dungeon?), so the quality of the narrative takes a back seat to the message.

The Hunted

• Written By: Amanda Deibert
• Art By: Cat Staggs
• Letters By: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Red Sonja encounters two lovers in the woods and takes on the task of saving them from assassins and cutthroats that surround them at every turn. When she eventually escorts the pair back to the safety of the village, we learn she used the two as bait to draw out the killers for her true mission to protect the village.

By far, this story is the weakest of the three. The art is highly referenced (ala it looks like the artist traced over photos of posing models) and it’s neither clean nor stylized to give it some unique visual interest. In other words, the art is bland.

The story doesn’t flow very well, which could be a result of the static nature of the art. The net result is a choppy, disjointed reading experience that deflates all the energy out of the twist ending.

Seeing Red

• Written By: Kurt Busiek
• Art By: Benjamin Dewey
• Letters By: Simon Bowland

Red Sonja is hired to retrieve a large ruby that is described as a family heirloom. When she enters the treasure-filled tomb containing the precious jewel, she’s forced to survive against an invisible monster who hungrily guards its treasure.

As she fights for her life, Red Sonja discovers her mission is actually a trap meant to sacrifice her to the monster for her employer’s own devilish desires.

This story is the best of the bunch by a country mile. Busiek knows how to tell classic sword and sorcery stories, and this story fits the mold perfectly. Quests for treasure, deadly monsters, and a twist that forces Red Sonja to fight and turn the tables on her back-stabbing employer.

Likewise, Dewey’s art is a classic comic style that feels reminiscent of the golden age of Marvel’s Conan B&W magazines. So, this story fits the genre perfectly and it adds a little nostalgia for good measure. Even Bowland’s font choice for the narration boxes gives off a classic vibe that should make fans happy.

Yep, best of the bunch.

Final Thoughts

RED SONJA: BLACK, WHITE, RED #1 is a mix of great to not-so-great stories featuring the crimson-haired She-Devil. For the cover price, this anthology is worth it only for die-hard Red Sonja fans.

Score: 7/10