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!

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