Sonja Reborn #4 Review

 

Writer: Christopher Priest

Penciler: Alessandro Miracolo

Inker: Raffaele Semeraro

Colorist: Giovanni Caputo

Letterer: Taylor Esposito

Editor: Matt Idelson

Cover Artists: Stjepan Sejic, Stuart Sayger, Chad Hardin, Greg Land & Cosplay (Ani-Mia)

Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

Price: $4.99

Release Date: December 17, 2025

 

Margaret Sutherland fell in love with her boss’s boss. She told herself that it didn’t matter that the Deputy Assistant to the Junior Adjutant of the HMG Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was embezzling money from the British crown. Then Margaret discovered that Justin Brand was two-timing her with a coworker.

 

Anger consumed her. When two souls lay at her feet, Margaret hungered for a third. Instead, like Alice, she fell down a hole and landed in the Hyborian Age. How is Margaret adjusting to life as Red Sonja? And why is a red bird like a She-Devil with a Sword? Let's grab our swords, leap into Sonja Reborn #4, and see!

 

Story

Despite Justin Brand's infidelity and theft, what put Margaret's anger on turbo drive was his disdain for her feelings. When Justin was running late, he ordered Margaret to drive recklessly. When she struck a child on a bicycle, Justin told Margaret it was her fault.

 

In the Hyborian Age, Margaret struggles with who she is. Unlike Skye Ramsey, who arrived before her, Margaret's soul inhabits a different body in Sonja Reborn #4. Red Sonja's struggle with identity frustrates her squire Faolān. Worse, she displays classic feminine weaknesses in a world that values strength. Trevor, a Pict warrior, has pledged his loyalty to Sonja. But Gaeric the Gunderman is a slave merchant, and his only loyalty is to himself.

 

Christopher Priest tells his story across a sweeping tapestry. While portraying Margaret’s actions in the 21^st Century and the Hyborian Age, he also highlights Kade’s dilemma and Skye Ramsey’s plight. All this takes place as Dark threatens to remove itself from creation unless Light returns its child. Like the gods, Margaret yearns for return also. She hopes that the cellphone or "Fire box" Trevor found will provide clues to return to the world and body she left behind.

 

Amid this story stuffed with players and moving parts, Margaret's dilemma is how she moves forward. Whether she stays in this world or returns to her own, Margaret cannot erase the result of her dangerous driving. But, as Faolān points out, Sonja inhabits a male-dominated world. Margaret still holds onto 21^st-century perspectives on slavery, the rights of women, and the dignity owed to displaced indigenous people like the Picts. But if she is to remain a free woman and lead others, Margaret must act like Red Sonja. Ironically, that means hurting and killing others, something she seems more reluctant to do in the Hyborian Age than in the 21^st Century.

 

Art

Alessandro Miracolo and Raffaele Semeraro’s detailed art imbues the Hyborian Age and the Modern world with depth and believability. Two splash pages convey incidents of otherworldly terror in Sonja Reborn #4. Yet even half-page panels have an epic quality. The characters express their emotions as they discuss their dilemmas or engage in rapid action. Margaret moved with surety past a familiar figure from the Dynamite Universe in New York. Yet in the Hyborian Age, Margaret looks out of place in her chain mail bikini.

 

Giovanni Caputo introduces what drives the Hyborian Age by showcasing Kade the Slaver’s love of gold. Scenes from New York inhabit a green world, reminding us how Justin Brand’s avarice altered Margaret’s course. Sepia tinges memories of killing and death. Yet red makes the strongest statement. Clothing, saddlecloths, curtains, and upholstery all showcase red. Trevor and Gaeric, two people from tribal communities caught between more aggressive nations, wear red body paint or tattoos. Sonja’s red hair makes an intriguing link with the avian avatars of the Light. And then, there is the red that occasionally splashes the pages in Sonja Reborn #4.  

 

Taylor Esposito fills white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes with black uppercase text. The letters grow bold for inflection, swell for volume, and shrink for lowered voices. Panels featuring white letters locate readers in time and space. Sound effects accompany nightmarish attacks, and a condition that could prematurely end Margaret's visit to the Hyborian Age. Thanks to Dynamite Entertainment and Comic Book Dispatch for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Margaret's soul awakens in Red Sonja's body after the Battle of Venarium. Unlike Conan, who decided to leave his home country and travel the world, Margaret takes no joy in the slaughter. As the She-Devil with a Sword struggles to embrace her new life, a battle between the gods threatens to strip Margaret of the people supporting her in Sonja Reborn #4.

 

Rating 9.6/10

Sonja Reborn #1 Review

 

Writer: Christopher Priest

Artist: Alessandro Miracolo

Colorist: Giovanni Caputo

Letterer: Taylor Esposito

Editor: Matt Idelson

Cover Artists: Stjepan Sejic, Joshua Middleton, Chad Hardin, Greg Land, Cosplay (Ani-Mia) & Blank

Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

Price: $4.99

Release Date: August 27, 2025

 

Margaret Sutherland hungers for revenge. She fell in love with a man, only to have another woman steal him. It’s a familiar tale, and as the saying goes, there are more fish in the sea. But the facts don’t matter to Margaret. All she feels is the aching loss from Justin’s departure. So she uses her connections and crosses the Atlantic. Will a routine traffic stop in New York City prevent her from killing the woman who took Justin away from her? And how does Margaret’s plight relate to Red Sonja? Let's grab our swords, leap into Sonja Reborn #1, and see!

 

Story

Margaret inhabited a world of wealth and privilege. Yet none of that made her happy. Justin brought a ray of sunshine into her empty life and gave it meaning. Working for the Duchy of Lancaster meant the rules governing everyday life in Britain didn't apply to Margaret. Securing a gun and emulating pop culture icons seemed like an easy solution.

 

In New York City, Margaret gets a rude awakening. The police officer acts on his experience and pulls her over. But he is more interested in flaunting his importance than in why Margaret is in this neighborhood so early in the morning. Thus, he doesn't intuit her intentions and follow her into the subway tunnel. 

 

Christopher Priest tells Sonja Reborn #1 from Margaret’s perspective. When danger threatens, she compares her dilemma to classic stories. Unlike in Amy Chu’s series, where Red Sonja travels to New York City, Christopher Priest transports Margaret to the Hyborian world. Like John Carter, Margaret finds navigating her new surroundings a challenge. Her world might have descended into a nightmare in Justin's absence. But everything in Margaret's altered existence is unfamiliar, appalling, and threatening.

 

Still, Margaret senses that a part of her belongs in this strange land. If Margaret can channel that aspect of herself, perhaps she can find a way to survive. But first, Margaret must embrace who she has become. In Sonja Reborn #1, Margaret's soul inhabits the body of the Hyrkanian She-Devil With A Sword.

 

Art

The emergency lights atop his cruiser alternate between painting the officer red and blue. Red and blue also illuminate figures who crouch in darkness. Yellow dominates a treasured memory of Justin. Margaret wears a yellow shirt and gold jewelry. Giovanni Caputo's light pink and blue butterflies represent Margaret's hopes for the future. The yellow field they visit finds a companion later in Sonja Reborn #1, when two other beings meet to share their concerns. One shines with a radiant palette, while the other prefers black and white.

 

Alessandro Miracolo signals Margaret's determination from the first page. She doesn't bother to face the cop as he writes her up. Instead, Margaret clutches the steering wheel, tilts her head down, and fixes her smoldering gaze straight ahead. The visor of the officer's cap casts a mask-like shadow over his eyes, reducing them to white slits as he smiles down at her. With his black hat and jacket, the shadow-mask suggests he sees himself as a hero of the night. But he doesn’t halt her evildoing for long.

 

When she arrives on a dusty slope, Margaret tumbles when she pulls the gold hilt of her long sword from its scabbard. But it's not long before flame-haired Margaret rises again in her silver armor and brown gloves, boots, and cape. As black smoke rises in the distance, Margaret approaches a mounted stranger. Instead of regarding him as he answers her questions, “Margaret” leans toward the horse’s nostrils, as if expressing dominance.

 

As Margaret pursues her quarry, Taylor Esposito fills white dialogue balloons with black uppercase text. Margaret’s thoughts, observations, and reactions during her journey appear as white letters in red narrative boxes. Like her jewelry, translations of British terms appear in yellow-gold boxes, and most of her sound effects are yellow. Yet while sound effects and enlarged dialogue are color-coded to characters and emotions, white letters in black balloons signal a threat to Margaret's future in Sonja Reborn #1. Thanks to Dynamite Entertainment for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

When Margaret Sutherland plunges into the Hyborian world, she unwittingly becomes a pawn in a battle between cosmic forces. While one embraces reason, all the other knows is the pain of losing a loved one. Christopher Priest reshapes Cimmerian history and challenges Red Sonja's traditional orientation to men in Sonja Reborn #1.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.