RED SONJA: BLACK, WHITE, RED #3, available from Dynamite Comics on September 22nd, 2021, presents three, mostly wordless stories about the Crimson-Haired She-Devil and how her reputation precedes her.
The Details
- Written By: Gail Simone, Dearbhla Kelly, Soo Lee, Jonathan Lau
- Art By: Walter Geovani, Dearbhla Kelly, Soo Lee, Jonathan Lau
- Colors By: Dearbhla Kelly
- Letters By: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
- Cover Art By: Lucio Parrillo (cover A)
- Cover Price: $4.99
- Release Date: September 22, 2021
Wait! Don’t Forget To Sign Up For The Comical Opinions Newsletter.
It’s 100% FREE. Sign up NOW!
Was It Good?
This entry in the anthology series has possibly the most interesting and eclectic collection of shorts so far.
As hinted in the opening blurb above, two of the stories are completely wordless and the third is almost entirely just dialog from one character (not Red Sonja) in the story. Therefore, the overall strength of the finished work depends on how well the creators can tell a story through art alone.
Generally, the creators pulled it off. To be clear, there’s unevenness in the execution and one artistic “typo” in the continuity that nearly blew the ending for one of the stories. Not every artist turned out the same level of quality, but no one story was bad in any way. The artistic results range from fair to very good, so you’ll have to factor that into your buying choice
As for the point or the meat of each story, I enjoyed every one for what it was. Each story was complete. Two of the three focused on the effect Red Sonja’s reputation has on other people, while the third was more focused on telling Red Sonja’s life story with something fairly new added to her mythology.
You can find specifics about each story in the section below, and overall, each story was entertaining and well done.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Since this is an anthology, we’ll briefly describe each story separately, include what worked or didn’t, and loosely rank them.
Dawn of a Crimson Day
This entirely wordless story is a snapshot of Red Sonja’s life, from birth to something you’ve rarely if ever seen — her death. The snapshot largely focuses on her birth and formative years as Sonja is driven to revenge against the tribe/faction responsible for slaughtering her family and village.
This story is great for telling you everything you need to know about Red Sonja as a person, and it acts as a stellar jumping-on point for anyone who wants to get a feel for the character. The one down point is an artistic oops toward the end where an older Red Sonja reaches her final destination, but the artist forgot to add in an eye patch on one panel, and it completely breaks the tension of the final moments.
Small Tales
One day, Red Sonja is walking through the woods when she gets snared in an animal trap by a young girl. The girl claims to be a homeless orphan and begs Sonja to let her be a road companion. Sonja agrees to le the girl tag along only until they get to a town where she can be dropped off. After a couple of days of traveling, living, and tale-telling, Sonja is surprised when they get to the nearest village and find the girl’s story is not quite true.
This is the most lighthearted story of the three, and it’s a strong example of how Red Sonja’s reputation has an effect on even the youngest villagers in the surrounding lands. That said, the story resolution had a “representation” message that was a bit heavy-handed and the art in this story is reasonably the weakest of the anthology.
Ssshhhhh!
In this wordless short, Red Sonja arrives in a small town to try her hand at vanquishing a dragon in exchange for a bounty. When Sonja enters the dragon’s cave, she finds the dragon and the reward, are not what the villagers made them out to be. In the end, Sonja engages in a little secretive trickery of her own to set things right.
This is easily the best artwork of the three stories (not surprising since it’s done by Jonathan Lau), and the plot has a fun little twist that you don’t see coming. Again, we get a story that plays on how people take action based on Red Sonja’s reputation but combined with the stellar art and the clever twist, this is the best story of the bunch.
Final Thoughts
RED SONJA: BLACK, WHITE, RED #3 is one of the strongest entries in this anthology series with excellent examples of silent stories that let the art do all the talking. While the art quality varies from one short to the next, there isn’t a bad short in the bunch. All of the stories feel complete, have something to say, and make for an entertaining read.
Score: 8.5/10
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
If you’re interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com