Savage Red Sonja #1 Review

 

Writer: Dan Panosian

Artist: Alessio Petillo

Colorist: Francesco Segala

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Cover Artists: Dan Panosian, Frank Cho, Arthur Adams & Cosplay

Publisher: Dynamite

Price: $3.99

Release Date: November 1, 2023

 

A fabled blood ruby tantalizes Red Sonja. Following clues, she reaches a tavern and purchases a map. The seller warns her of ghosts and other dangers. Red Sonja shrugs these off. How will she fare on her quest? Let’s ride into Savage Red Sonja #1 and find out!

 

Story

Red Sonja rides across a wasteland. The barren land reminds her of the vow she made long ago. Red Sonja has become a skilled warrior. But she is alone.

 

Footsteps awaken her at night. A couple stand before her. The man warns Red Sonja to flee. Instead, she saves them from the attackers. Red Sonja learns he is Prince Lucian, heir to King Gresh’s castle, lands, and the blood ruby. Lucian’s companion is Celia, who he hopes to make his queen.

 

 

 

In Savage Red Sonja #1, Dan Panosian bares the she-devil’s soul. By probing the loneliness of her solitary life, he contemplates the despair that lurks behind her mask of invulnerability. Red Sonja’s willingness to help the travelers reveals a need to protect others from the fate that stripped her of conventional life and forged her into an extraordinary hero.

 

Art

A horse stands tethered before an inn, bathed in the light of a full moon. Inside, the skull and tusks of an animal hang over the stone hearth. The roaring fire illuminates Red Sonja, her informant, and the map he sells her. His thrilling tale bores her. Yet when he leaves her to study the map, he grins as he peers back at her. 

 

 

 

Alessio Petillo applies his pen sparingly, allowing readers to wonder at the details he presents. Whether it is Francesco Segala’s spartan coloring or Petillo’s angular drawing, characters occasionally look flat. Yet together, the artists convey the mystery and horrors haunting the wasteland. As with Dan Panosian, they reveal the travelers' fragility. Celia's appearance reminds us of the woman Red Sonja might have become. At the same time, Savage Red Sonja #1 evokes King Solomon's Mines, the novel by H. Rider Haggard that birthed another legendary hero.

 

As Dave Sharpe hurls black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons and yellow narrative boxes, the text looks small and fragile. Yet his sound effects are vivid and energetic in Savage Red Sonja #1. Swords thrust into bodies and slice off heads, and large letters bleed. Yet the attackers' hissing makes one ponder the Blood Ruby's dark power.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Fending off the claws of loneliness and despair, the She-Devil With A Sword battles inhuman beasts and aids a prince and his consort while seeking a legendary gemstone in Savage Red Sonja #1.

 

Rating 8/10

 

For a two-page preview and more covers see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Amazing Spider-Man #36 Review

 

Writer: Zeb Wells

Penciler: Ed McGuinness

Inker: Mark Farmer

Colorist: Marcio Menyz

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Ed McGuinness & Marcio Menyz; Arthur Adams & Alejandro Sánchez; Kris Anka; John Romita Jr., John Romita Sr. & Marcio Menyz

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: October 25, 2023

 

Rek-Rap’s back, and he’s causing problems in the Big Apple. Mayor Luke Cage wants to solve them, but will Madelyne Pryor help? And how does Rek-Rap’s idol “Parker Pete-Man” factor into the equation? Let’s fwip into Amazing Spider-Man #36 and find out!

 

Story

Rek-Rap wants to check out a man's attic. Then his nemesis arrives! As Madelyne Pryor says, Rek-Rap means well. The way the Insidious Six keep attacking him makes destruction inevitable. The voters have had enough, so Luke Cage visits the Limbo Embassy. If only the Goblin Queen would put the New York City’s Mayor at ease. Perhaps Luke shouldn't have brought Spidey along.

 

While Rek-Rap conducts his investigation, Peter’s friend Randy Robertson works to help Luke reverse Wilson Fisk’s anti-vigilante law and put pressure on organized crime. But after Spidey unplugged Randy’s future Father-In-Law in the ICU, will Tombstone pour water on gang violence or enflame it? 

 

In Amazing Spider-Man #36, Rek-Rap searches for answers, while Madelyne Pryor seeks to cement her power. Intrigued by Peter’s description of himself to Luke, I also wonder at the identity of Madelyne’s agent. But I worry about her. With Orchis itching for an excuse to invade her Limbo Embassy, should she be making Power Man squirm? Her actions remind me why people believed Orchis’ lies and welcomed the internment and exile of their mutant neighbors.

 

 

 

Art

Muscular Luke balances his big and tall torso on a child-sized office chair while the Goblin Queen reclines in a claw-shaped one. Spider-Man waits in Limbo's lobby, watching Luke leave in his limo before he shows his masked face in public. Sweat pours down Hammerhead’s forehead as he bows before his Maggia master. Madelyne digs in a garden surrounded by foliage-free trees that fail to grow straight. Rek-Rap’s confrontation with the Grave Goblin threatens to make readers turn Amazing Spider-Man #36 sideways. But don’t worry. You haven’t wandered into a ‘90s Image comic. Ed McGuinness and Mark Farmer's Dark Web reunion is all Marvel and 100% Excelsior in Amazing Spider-Man #36!

 

 

 

Gray skyscrapers pale before the reddish hue of Madelyne’s Limbo Embassy. Light streams through an office window, highlighting the grain in her wooden desk. Her golden crown and red tresses glow as her gloved, ringed fingers point down at Luke and Spidey. Light plays across the supplicants as shadows fall on the floor and walls of her office. Hammerhead’s skin contrasts with gleaming metal, while a robotic welder sends sparks flying. Yet nothing compares with the ruined attic's blue-and-purple ceiling. The colors streak and change, suggesting muted watercolor, while Spider-Man dominates in his bright red and blue. Don't worry about Rek-Rap looking his best! Marcio Menyz highlights and shades every muscular inch of the un-sinister symbiote in Amazing Spider-Man #36.

 

 

 

Joe Caramagna’s black letters in white dialogue balloons are easy to read. As Rek-Rap ponders his Spider-Brain Tingle, his white thoughts fill red narrative boxes. Sinister sounds slice through a rooftop battle. Yet Amazing Spider-Man #36 ends quietly with a cowering character fighting to recall another's identity.

 

Final Thoughts

Heroes and villains vie for power, while an aspiring hero seeks identity and purpose in Amazing Spider-Man #36.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.