Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Writer: Marguerite Bennett
Artist: Aneke
Editor: Joseph Rybandt
Release Date: 20 April 2016
Price: $3.99

To the sound of a rousing battle song in Red Sonja Vol. 3 #4, not just one, but three red-haired chain-mail bikini clad women warriors charge into battle on the Steppes of Hyrkania! If you thought having the female writing/artist team of Marguerite Bennett and Aneke (with Diego Galindo thrown in as the token male) was going to make Red Sonja any more PC, think again.

In Red Sonja Vol. 3 #4 up against General Taega’s Black Talons, Sonja is hopelessly outnumbered and needs someone to inspire the people. She seeks out former paramour Lyna, who turns out to be grumpy and drunk but also one of the most gifted orators in the world. Things get confusing when three Sonja lookalikes turn up to ruin the party and Raka, another of Sonja’s old flames, tries to lend a hand.

Things in Red Sonja Vol. 3 #4 do not go according to plan and we end with a lament on how relationships never end well for our flame-haired warrior maiden. This is not classic Red Sonja by any means but it still ranks higher than most sword and sorcery tales thanks to an iconic central character and a well-established backdrop of time and place.

 

Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker