I have done so well this month with reading that I'm going to take a short break to splurge on these piled up graphic novels and comics. I have so many to choose from. Transformers, GI Joe, Dredd, and a lot of indies. This promises to be fun.

A lot of these quasi-feminist icons are, as they say, problematic. Wonder Woman solidly formed my childhood notions of the expanse and limits of female empowerment: you can save the day, absolutely, but you're going to need a patsy/beard to pin all the credit on. She was also the bondage fantasy of the dude who invented the lie detector. 

Likewise, there's a lot of fuckery in Howard's Hyborian books, way moreso than in Wonder Woman. That WW's creator was into bondage and polyamory feels quaint and sweet compared to Howard's literally barbaric escapades, with sexual violence lurking around every corner. I'm not sure that anything Howard wrote is reclaimable, because his stuff (like Kipling) is just too damned entrenched in the mores of the day.

Ms Sonja stands out in such a place, revenge playing her way through grubsome slavers and bandits. You go girl! Etc. But she stands out precisely because every other woman is backdrop or victim, and I don't have a lot of time for fictions that posit a single woman in the "strong female character" role, not including villains, who are just domme fantasies anyway. 

So, point being, taking on such a creature as Red Sonja is going to be no easy feat. I see her appeal, which hits me in much the same place as, say, Slave Leia does: good lord that's hot, but also, ish. In fact, I think probably the hotness is a function of the recoil, a sort of attraction/repulsion. You've got to put in enough transgression to get the blood running, but not so much you get all grossed out and overwhelmed. 

I was excited about Gail Simone taking this on, because I like her stuff. But, alas, this just felt a little wan. The narrative slips around through Sonja's life, a retrospective of How We Got Here. There's a fair amount of killing and revenge killing. Some of it treads real lightly into crazy lesbian tropes, which didn't so much make me mad as bore me: if you're going to go there, then by god go there. I feel like so much that makes a character like Sonja compelling/infuriating was just skipped over, and we end up with this stock badass.

Which is fine. I like stock badasses; we could use more of them. First volumes are often kinda wobbly, and maybe this character will tighten up as the writers learn to write for her. So a success of a sort, considering how difficult it is the thread the needle of this kind of character. 

Red Sonja, the legendary She-Devil with a Sword, returns to Corinthia, to repay the blood-debt she owes to its ruler. Facing a battle against impossible odds, Sonja nonetheless agrees to lead what remains of Corinthia's fighting forces against its enemies, and comes face to face with Dark Annisia, a woman from her past. Having to face crushing defeat on the battlefield, unable to keep her promises to a man who once saved her life, Sonja is exiled and doomed to die. Always a fighter, even the plague cannot stop Red Sonja, who returns from the wilderness to wreak her vengeance.

Red Sonja, created by Robert E. Howard in the 1930s, is pretty much the archetypal barbarian warrior woman now. Known for her mane of red hair, her chainmail bikini and her prowess on the battlefield, Red Sonja has been a pulp heroine in books, a really bad movie and several comic books. In this, Gail Simone's reboot of the character, we get her origin story, several blood-soaked battles and more than enough sword and sorcery. Simone's Sonja is a cranky loner with a serious drinking habit, who despite her ridiculous fashion choices is able to take down seasoned warriors with ease. The book balances several dark storylines with a fair amount of comic relief and while Sonja's costume may be exploitative, this is a feminist comic book with a lot of themes of female empowerment throughout.

The book is fun enough, and the art is absolutely gorgeous, but I never really emotionally connected with the characters and even when the story was at its darkest and tensest, I wasn't all that bothered with how things were going to play out. Of the many Gail Simone comics I have read, this was one of the more forgettable. Maybe pulpy sword and sorcery wasn't exactly what I wanted at the specific time I read it? Who knows? If my budget allows, I may keep reading it, but it's not going to be lower down on my list of comics purchases in the future.

Judging a book by its cover: All the covers in the trade are done by Jenny Frison, who strikes an interesting balance between functional and exploitative. While she is wearing her trademark chainmail bikini (seriously, the chafing, why would you choose to fight in this?), she is also portrayed as decisive, strong and capable. On the red cross-piece, the readers get a glimpse of the two principal female characters in the book in a more action-packed part of the story.

This is Simone's take on Red Sonja, and it's far more rich than I really expected.   Then again, I'm not much of a fantasy person, so I didn't know that much about Red Sonja.   Perhaps previous incarnations were just as good, or even better, but as a newbie?   This series gave you all the backstory you need to feel comfortable in Sonja's world, and it provides a gorgeous character study.  

Sonja is full of contradictions: she can't kill white stags, but she murders men who do evil or stand in the way of her doing good without batting an eye.   She doesn't want children to be like her, but she never changes or even tries to change.   This actually makes sense.   The world, and innocents, need protection, especially if they are to keep their hands clean of blood. 

By the time she was in her mid-teens, Sonja had what seemed to be an ocean of blood on her hands.   I'm not sure she could conceive of a way of living that didn't include bloodshed after all she'd seen.  She's both protective and optimistic optimistic about the people who show her kindness, but cynical about the world in general.   Again, this makes sense.   Her origin story is pretty horrific.  

That being said, it was nice seeing a barely clad woman who was taken seriously.   No one tried to grope her after she took the name Red Sonja and the nickname The Devil.   Mostly because they were afraid of what she'd do if they dared.  She's smart, she's caring and protective, but at the same time she drinks and swears, and acts more like a son than a daughter.  She is in fact called the son his father always wanted by a prince.   

In a lot of ways, she defies conventions.   While, yes, she's viewed as a woman, I'd say she's simply written as a person who's been influenced more by her past and her set of morals than her gender.   It's not at all what I expected fro a fantasy series set in a medieval type world, but it was a pleasant surprise. 

I did have trouble getting into it, though.   The start was a little rocky, mostly because it was slow to get where it was going, and I'd argue necessarily so.   Most of the characterization didn't come in the set up, but in the later parts of the story, so I'm not sure why the beginning was so slow.   Still, if you can push through that, a worthwhile read. 

This volume starts out several years ago with Sonja being found in a gladiators fighting pit and being set free by the new ruling King. She was found with another female warrior, Annisia, and both were shown kindness by the King. Sonja returns to fulfil a blood debt she feels is owed and to help the city prepare for battle.

Her former fighting mate is at the helm of the invading army, she kills the king and declares that the plague has settled on the city including Sonja. She exiles Sonja to the wilderness to die and orders that no one is to enter or leave the city, leaving the inhabitants to die. With the help of her loyal bodyguards she fights the sickness but finds that there are worse enemies than Annisia and she is brought face to face with an evil she thought long gone.

I loved this series, I've now read quite a few issues with Red Sonja and the more I read about her the more I like her character. Getting a bit more backstory on her gives her more depth, she's more than just a hard drinking, wise cracking warrior, she is also compassionate and loyal, these are the qualities that made me like her so much. I'm even getting used to her rather questionable armour or lack of to be more precise.

The art itself is pretty stunning; beautiful, brightly coloured panels that show a lot of consistency with the drawing style. The fight and battle scenes have lots of energy and they are pretty brutal with the amount of gore that is displayed. There  is also a gallery of artwork at the back of the volume and lots of beautifully styled covers are displayed.

Fantastic volume, great art and a character that is becoming a favourite.