Red Sonja: Empire Of The Damned #1 Review

 

Writer: Steve Niles

Artist: Alessandro Amoruso

Colorist: Salvatore Aiala

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Cover Artists: Joshua Middleton, Joseph Michael Linsner, John Tyler Christopher, Philip Tan & Cosplay

Publisher: Dynamite

Price: $4.99

Release Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2024

 

Skeletons litter a valley in Hyrkania. A legend tells of a battle fought long ago. Might tales of sorcerers and treasure draw Red Sonja there? Let’s grab our broadswords, leap into Red Sonja: Empire Of The Damned #1, and find out!

 

Story

Red Sonja quenches her thirst in Nemedia. When a patron buys her a drink, the She-Devil tips the ale onto the floor. The man’s ire fades as soldiers burst into the tavern. The other customers flee, but Red Sonja and her admirer fight for the right to continue drinking. Both hold their own for a time. But numbers are not on their side, and the soldiers don’t fight fair.

 

Adjoining cells in Blackworm Prison affords the man a second opportunity. He can't offer her a drink this time, but she entertains his proposal. The adventurer tells a variation of the tragic tale revealed in the opening pages. Might Red Sonja consider a partnership? Perhaps. But first, they must escape.

 

Red Sonja: Empire Of The Damned #1 is a quick, bracing read. Steve Niles doesn't explain why the warrior sought Red Sonja’s aid. Still, the adventurer reveals how much finding the hidden valley in Hyrkania means to him in the final pages.   

 

 

 

Art

A wizard hovers overhead as armies clash. Energy surges from one hand while runes encircle the other. The wizard becomes the fulcrum of explosive energy that sweeps across the valley. When the clouds part, a skull on the ground testifies to the devastation he unleashed.

 

Red Sonja sits back, clutching a glass as she watches people drink, fight, and do the Unskinny Bop. Soldiers burst in with spears and grim expressions. One holds an order bearing a wax seal. Red Sonja’s fist slams into his nose, splattering the reader in blood. Her admirer stands with her against a squad of angry soldiers. Their weapons cleave spears, armor, and flesh, leaving a whirl of air to mark their passage.

 

Red Sonja: Empire Of The Damned #1 reveals the nasty, brutish, and short nature of life in the Hyborian world. Alessandro Amoruso doesn’t flinch from revealing missing teeth and eyes. Scars mar the adventurer’s features. Among her fellow death dealers, only Red Sonja looks untouched by violence. But then, her bargain with the red goddess Scathach grants her strength, prowess, and vitality.

 

This issue could be called Red Sonja: Red, Brown, And Gray. And yet, Salvatore Aiala lends a wealth of color and nuance to Red Sonja: Empire Of The Damned #1. Buildings reveal texture, and shading breathes reality into this Sword And Sorcery adventure. After all the spurting and splattering crimson, Red Sonja kneels in the forest, her body covered in shadows cast by light streaming through nearby trees.

 

Dave Sharpe fires uppercase black letters into colored narrative boxes and white dialogue balloons in this action-packed story. His sound effects enliven the brawl in the bar, the pummeling in the prison, and the fury filling the skies in the fraught finale.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Red Sonja: Empire Of The Damned #1 is a blood-splattered story filled with fighting and death. Fueled by an adventurer’s ambition and Red Sonja's lust for life, the fast-paced story leaves you breathless to discover the truth behind a haunting legend.

 

Rating 8.6/10

 

For more cover art and a short preview see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.