SONJAVERSAL #1, available from Dynamite Comics on February 3rd, 2021, imagines Sonjas from across the multiverse with every background, ability, and color (of hair) you can imagine. When an evil entity decrees that there can be only one, the battle royale begins to become the last Sonja standing.
The Details
- Written By: Christopher Hastings
- Art By: Pasquale Qualano, Jordi Perez
- Colors By: Kike J. Diaz
- Letters By: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: February 3, 2021
Was It Good?
I enjoyed it quite a bit. The narrative and dialog are a little bumpy in the beginning while you get your bearings, but once the plot becomes clear, it’s a vastly different Red Sonja story than you’ve ever read before.
The art is very good when you consider the book jumps over several genres, futuristic to mystical to ancient times, all in a single issue. The art is a little rough in spots, but not so much that it was a distraction. Bonus points to the art team for maintaining a consistent style across the Sonjaverse.
Short Story Long
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
We begin with two women materializing on the streets of a futuristic city; one wearing advanced tech armor, the other wearing prehistoric skins and carrying an ax made out of an animal skull. The two begin talking as though they expected to see each other when suddenly, the tech warrior is tractor-beamed into the cockpit of a giant mech, and the prehistoric warrior transforms into a T-Rex. And then they fight!
Right away, the story is disorienting, and it takes a little while to figure out what’s going on. This reviewer is never an advocate for spoon-feeding but maybe a brief description or prologue was warranted in this case.
Also, it’s not clear from the art but the two warriors are identical in appearance except for their hair color. They’ll later be referenced as Purple Sonja (tech) and Green Sonja (prehistoric). It would have helped in these first few pages to make it more obvious that these Sonjas are identical.
The giants fight with little regard to the destruction they cause to the city around them. Nearby, Orange Sonja emerges from a nearby swimming pool when she’s alerted to the ruckus. She prepares to leap into action when she’s stopped by… another Sonja who describes herself as an emissary to the Master.
Emissary Sonja explains the battle is part of a punishment from her Master where all Sonjas across the multiverse have been deemed lazy disappointments and must be punished. All Sonjas must fight and kill each other until the last remaining is judged worthy to remain. And it’s time for Orange Sonja to earn her name.
It’s wacky stuff so far, but once Emissary Sonja lays down some knowledge, it gets easier and much more enjoyable.
Cut to Red Sonja attending the Viking-esque funeral of a friend. Her warrior buddies are drinking and whooping it up when one of the attending warriors aggressively begins putting his manly charms to the test on Red Sonja. Unfortunately, the warrior learns the hard way that Red Sonja will lay with no man unless he can best her in combat, and as Red Sonja beats him to a pulp, he realizes tonight is not his night.
Red Sonja calls it a night and heads back to her camp with a shadowy figure following her. Red Sonja, of course, know she’s being followed and jumps her stalker in a nearby cave. The two Sonjas fight, and we end the issue with the surprising discovery that the multiverse is much bigger and contains many more Sonjas than we were lead to believe.
Final Thoughts
SONJAVERSAL #1, available from Dynamite Comics on February 3rd, 2021, takes the “what if” scenario of alternate Sonjas and brings it to colorful and imaginative life. The narrative takes a few pages to get it’s footing in the very beginning, and the art has a few rough spots, but this comic is creative and fun. I have no idea where this story is going next, and I’m interested to find out.