Red Sonja #12 Review – Voilà! She Is Clean!

Red Sonja #12 Cover by Jenny Frison

You ever read a comic that you knew was amazingly good, made you laugh out loud at least a couple of times, had some great action, but you knew there was one thing that kept it from being perfect? Well, that’s this comic in a nutshell. So what was it that kept it from being perfect? Well, basically that this issue is the end of the current story arc that’s been going on since #7. Why is that a problem? Well, it just feels like this could’ve been stretched out to two issues, would’ve lost nothing, and instead had a bunch of extra added on to help build to the conclusion of this story. Instead, it feels kinda rushed, but I’m almost certain I know why that is: The last arc was six issues long, as is this one. Chances are, Dynamite wants the arcs to each be six issues long specifically for the sake of the trade paperbacks sold later on. And I’m not even against that idea. I just think it kind of bit the ending of this particular arc a little bit.

Red Sonja #12 Variant by Joyce Chin and Ivan Nunes

But whatever. It’s still a great issue. Gail Simone’s interpretation of Red Sonja remains awesome, and while I feel it was rushed, the conclusion to the story was still alright, not only in how Sonja finally gets these six people to the Emperor’s party, and sees to his slaves’ release, but she FINALLY gets clean, and as we can tell from the ending, she FINALLY gets laid…THANK GOD. XD Lemme tell you something: Not the Anti-Monitor, not Galactus, not Heath Ledger’s Joker, not Freddy Krueger, NOTHING is as shit-your-pants terrifying as Red Sonja when she has not had sex in a LONG TIME, and has to be told everywhere she goes that she smells. As she said when she barges into a place in this comic, and this was what made me laugh out loud first…

…Honest to God, the day that Gail stops writing Red Sonja will be a SAD FRAKKING DAY, because I could read this Red Sonja for YEARS. But yeah, great issue if not a bit rushed to end this arc, can’t wait to see what they do with the next story. Ja né!

What I Bought Today – Red Sonja #6, Harley Quinn #1, Batman and Robin #26 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Thank goodness Mom and Dad decided to go out tonight, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to tell you all about…

‘Cuz it was a freaking snow storm out today, the second one we’ve gotten in the past few days. Nonetheless, let’s talk about the three books I got this week (X-Men wasn’t there due to a mail order error of some sort), starting with Red Sonja #6.

The finale to Gail Simone‘s first arc on the book, this issue managed to wrap up all the plot points of the previous five issues pretty well. I don’t wanna spoil too much, since there’s one or two major twists. Suffice to say, Annisia won’t be a threat anymore, and I think the kingdom is left in decent hands. And when all was said and done, when the comic ended, and one of Red Sonja’s bodyguards asked if there was anything they could do to repay her, all that Sonja could say in response was “Re-open your taverns, dear one, because I’m going to get drunk in legendary fashion.”

Seriously, if you haven’t read this book yet, go and find it. If you can’t find all six issues of the initial run, it’s going to be collected in trade paperback in February as “Queen of Plagues”. Gail Simone and Walter Geovani more than earn your money with this one.

Harley Quinn #1 sadly did not have any fourth wall breaking, but it DID have a ton of dark humour and insanity from Harley, over-the-top violence and mayhem, roller derby (thus explaining the costume), a little stuffed beaver buddy that talks to Harley in her own mind (I’m so not kidding), and tons more. It’s still not quite Harley Quinn as I remember her, and it does go a bit too over-the-top at times, but it’s still a ton of fun. I will say this, though: If yer not a fan of dark comedy, this probably isn’t for you. Fortunately, I DO have a sick sense of humour, so I’m able to enjoy it thoroughly. ^_^ I will say that, for those complaining about the lack of plot in #0, you can relax. The plot here mostly revolves around Harley getting a new place in Coney Island, but learning that, to keep it, she needs to collect pay from the tenants in all of the other apartments, and get a job. To further complicate matters, it seems that someone has put a bounty on her head, meaning there’s gonna be assassins looking to take her out. And yet, for all her psychotic faults, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Chad Hardin manage to capture Harley’s more vulnerable and loveable side, so you kinda want her to make it through all of this. A good read, and I think will probably stay on my pull list from here on out.

Batman and Two-Face (really Batman and Robin #26) was great, and I love how they’re telling the tale of Erin McKillen, her sister, and their history with Harvey Dent in reverse order, where they tell what happened, and then discuss WHY it happened. My one complaint, however, is that, as great as this arc has been, this entire book has suffered a lot from changes occurring in other books, tie-ins, crossovers, etc. Here, it’s clear that the book was originally gonna lead into a story where Carrie Kelley was gonna become Robin while also telling a story about Two-Face and Erin. I’m fairly certain of that, especially considering that, since the hints started popping up that Damian was coming back, Carrie just kinda faded into the background and hasn’t been seen since. Maybe she still will become Robin and the hints are just a fake-out, but even if that is the case, it’s clear this was supposed to happen earlier and it got forced back. Still, this IS a good story that Peter Tomasi is writing. However, I really hope this book gets back to being about Batman and Robin, fast.

Anyway, that’s all for this week. Next week, I get to tell you all about What I Got For Christmas, though I may wait until I can use whatever gift cards I obtain first. Ja né!

Related articles

• Village Comics in Bedford, NH Reviews Harley Quinn #1 (villagecomics.net)
• Red Sonja #6 Brings the Queen of Plagues to a Close (whatchareading.com)
• New Comics Day: Our December 18 Pull List (theimprobablechuck.wordpress.com)
• 15/12/13 Batman (toddalevel3media.wordpress.com)
• Batman, Harley Quinn top November comics chart (digitalspy.co.uk)
• Controversial ‘suicide’ scene doesn’t appear in ‘Harley Quinn’ #0 (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
• Harley Quinn #1 (comicvine.com)
• Gail Simone Continues Red Sonja’s Rollicking Rampage [Interview] (comicsbeat.com)
• Preview: Red Sonja #6 (graphicpolicy.com)
• THE BAT SIGNAL: Palmiotti Talks “Harley Quinn,” Gothopia & Jonah Hex in the Modern DCU (comicbookresources.com)

What I Bought This Past Week – The Marvel and Dynamite Books (Fearless Defenders #11, X-Men #7, Legends of Red Sonja #1, Red Sonja #5) (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Time for the other half of…

Hey Woolie, “When’s Mahvel”? Right now! XD We got two Marvel comics, two Dynamite comics, a double helping of Gail Simone, two superheroine team books, and just about every well-known woman writer and artist in the biz these days (that was available) teaming up to do a single book, so let’s get started! It’s Ladies Night, starting with Fearless Defenders #11!

Dammit, why is this book getting cancelled next month?! WHY?! We just started a subplot involving Annabelle and Ren, and knowing my luck, it could be months before we ever see either of them again! Seriously, we need to get as many people as we can to buy the trade when it comes out, maybe that’ll convince Marvel to bring this book back. In the meantime, though, it looks like the last two issues revolve around the Amazons and Warrior Woman’s attempts to try to steer them into being a more peaceful race than the army of bloodthirsty warriors they’ve been. Only problem is that the literal mother of all monsters has decided to give them a better deal than Hippolyta is. Oh, and also, Annabelle and Ren had sex…I don’t know how they managed it, given Ren’s little situation with her hands, but they did it. Good issue, just sad that there’s only one more to go.

X-Men #7 was a little odd at first, since I had to get adjusted to some of the changes that occurred during Battle of the Atom. Long story short, Jubilee met a future version of Shogo (the kid she’s looking after), and Kitty and the past versions of the X-Men from All-New X-Men decided to join present day Cyclops because…I guess they like working with obvious terrorists? No, I’m sorry, I’m not over this: Scott Summers is a villain now. I keep hearing people defending, and I don’t know how they cannot argue this point. He got sent to prison for a pretty damned good reason, got busted out, and is now working underground with Magneto and Emma Frost, not to mention the fact that he’s always been kind of an asshole, a point he even kinda admitted to at the end of Avengers vs X-Men when he said that Charles Xavier was responsible for the best in him. Speaking of which, whatever happened to Professor X? Oh yeah, he got MURDERED BY SCOTT SUMMERS! You can’t even say it wasn’t his fault since the Phoenix to possessed him and his group, when he was allowing the Phoenix to come back in the first place! Scott Summers = EVIL!

…What was I talking about? Oh yeah, X-Men #7. So yeah, Jubilee’s gone, and I’m assuming Rogue has stuff she needs to do with the Uncanny Avengers, since she’s not around either. Instead, we have Karima Shapander, the former Omega Sentinel now back to normal and trying to get her life back on track, and Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix…Or just Monet, that works too. o.O Long story short, Ana Cortes, the heir to a billion-dollar company with diversifications in shipping, oil, real estate, and weapons, has uploaded Lady Deathstrike‘s consciousness into her body, becoming a combination of the two. At first, she wants to get ahold of the Omega Sentinel. When a confrontation with Money and Karima ends bad for her, she then learns about something far more powerful that she plans to obtain: Arkea. On a side-note, it seems Jubilee is actually going to be able to legally adopt Shogo without any problems, and we finally get an explanation for the little scuffle between Bling and Mercury in X-Men #1: Bling asked Mercury out, and Mercury freaked out and punched her…Okay, I’ll admit, I’m not very knowledgeable on either character, but I was under the impression that Mercury was supposed to be a bit likeable than that. However, Bling tells Jubilee that it’s alright, because she doesn’t like Mercury like that anymore, and that she likes someone else now…while looking right into Jubilee’s eyes…Um, I feel the need to again point out that I’m not very knowledgeable about Bling, but considering that she’s attending the school while Jubilee USED to be a student and is now simply staying there…Okay, I’ll just ask. How sizeable is the age difference between the two? Because if it’s just a few years, that’s fine, but if it’s more than that, this could get into kinda icky territory. So yeah, somebody in the comments section, let me know what the approximate age difference is so I can move on from that. Overall, though, a good jumping-back-on issue.

Legends of Red Sonja #1, the name pretty much says it all. It’s about a bunch of people telling their own stories of the exploits of Red Sonja. However, to me, the true appeal of the Legends of Red Sonja series is the fact that Gail Simone has gathered an all-star team of female writers, authors, artists, and more to put this book together. Names like Carla Speed McNeil (Finder, Queen & Country), Marjorie Liu (Astonishing X-Men, Tiger Eye, X-23), Nancy A. Collins (Swamp Thing, Jason Vs. Leatherface, the Final Destination tie-ins), Kelly Sue DeConnick (Captain Marvel, 30 Days of Night, Blue Dragon, Fruits Basket), Molly Mahan (Vampirella, The Mocking Dead, Codename: Action), Devin Grayson (Batman, Catwoman, Black Widow, and even Linkara’s favourite comic book series of all time, The Titans), and many more. Women who love comics, feminists who love comes, you owe it to yourselves to, at the very least, give this book a look.

Speaking of Red Sonja, Red Sonja #5 gives us even more bloody barbarian brilliance. We get some more awesome dialogue between her and her bodyguards, where we see she has actually become MORE pissed off by Annisia shutting down one of her favourite taverns. By the end, the late King’s son uses leeches to cure Sonja of the plague, and she takes on Annisia in the arena where they battled together for their lives as slaves. However, this seems to have worked out in someone else’s favour, as they are cornered by the forces of the man who made them slaves, King Bazrat. And just that name, Bazrat, makes him insanely evil to me. lol But yeah, the conclusion comes next month, and I can’t wait to see how Gail Simone wraps up her first arc with Red Sonja.

Anyway, that’s it for everything I bought for this past week. Check in next week as we see what our favourite Talon, Calvin Rose, is up to. Ja né!

Related articles

• Marvel Comics cancels ‘Fearless Defenders’ (digitalspy.co.uk)
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• Five Reasons to Read … Red Sonja (girls-gone-geek.com)
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• Review – Red Sonja #5 (bigcomicpage.com)
• New Comics Day: Our November 20 Pull List (theimprobablechuck.wordpress.com)
• Preview: Legends of Red Sonja #1 (of 5) (graphicpolicy.com)
• FRIDAY FEATURE: A Look Back at Xmen: Battle of the Atom (geeksyndicate.co.uk)
• Brian Wood’s X-MEN: Lady Deathstrike & New Recruits Are Coming (drhiphop85.com)