I’m torn with the debut issue of the new series Sonja Reborn, which (I assume) takes place in one of the alternate universes of Dynamite’s multiverse, far away from gulp Earth-818793, Dynamite’s equivalent of Marvel’s Earth-616 and DC’s Earth-Prime, where the bulk of their stories take place. I admire Dynamite for wanting to do something different with Red Sonja, but Christopher Priest and Alessandro Miracolo’s Sonja Reborn #1 is a rocky start, presenting Margaret (Maggie) Sutherland, who comes to New York to take out Skye Ramsey, the woman who stole her partner.
The two have a face-off in the bowels of the New York City Subway, which leads to Maggie taking an Alice in Wonderland-style plunge into Aquilonia, one of the more civilized kingdoms in Robert E. Howard’s world of sword and sorcery. Yep, Maggie is now Red Sonja, sporting the trademark chainmail bikini-style outfit (can someone please put her in REAL fighting gear?), crimson red hair and meaty sword, and she has to adjust quickly to this new land or she’ll be toast.
Maybe this version of Sonja will grow on me, but having a spoiled upper class woman from the 21st century become Red Sonja seems more fitting to a short story or a one-shot tale than a series. This “stranger in a strange land” concept is a rich basis for comedy, and we get a couple funny situations here, but should Sonja be a comedic character?
Dynamite
The thing I’ve always loved about Sonja is her fierceness, her grim antihero flavor. She’s brutal in combat and loves gold, but above all else she loves justice and dignity. She’d gladly turn down a huge payout if cashing in meant tossing her dignity aside. Well, here we have Sonja falling off horses and fumbling around. This Sonja’s no longer a powerful Amazonian-style warrior, she’s Gilda Radner in chainmail. It’s like reading an odd Get Smart-style take on a barbarian warrior.
I’m sure as the series progresses she’ll grow into being a warrior and the scourge of Hyboria, but it all seems very unnecessary.
There are far better ways that Sonja could have been retooled. For example, they could have made her a sorceress instead of a sword-swinging barbarian and explored what a spellcasting Sonja would be like. Would she embrace dark magic? Would she still be all-in on killing when murderous magic would cost part of her soul? Christopher Priest is a great writer and I’ve loved his Vampirella work. He took a bland overdone character and made her his own, revitalizing her and making her interesting again. Red Sonja, though? Not so much.
On the positive side, Alessandro Miracolo’s art is dynamic and manga-inspired, fitting the comic tone of the book well. It’ll be interesting seeing how he handles the battle scenes that will inevitably come as the series progresses and this version of Sonja (hopefully) hits her stride in future issues.
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