Holy jeez, Gail Simone is absolutely nailing it on Red Sonja.
After completely shattering the warrior in the last issue, Simone now shows us the defeated, broken, diseased woman in exile, after two fortnights of wandering the frozen tundra. The plague is weakening her, and as she sees (or perhaps hallucinates) a majestic white stag, she finds she can no longer muster the will to kill animals to feed herself. That’s how demolished she is.
The white stag is also a remnant of her youth, which we see here in flashbacks as she sinks further into reverie while her final demise fast approaches. Life comes full circle for her, since we see her as a young, more innocent girl who is an expert tracker and hunter, but cannot bring herself to kill beautiful animals. Her brothers tease her for this, as does her father with a gentle touch. Soon, though, the humble, idyllic life of her people is decimated by a pack of Kothian marauders led by a nasty piece of work called Ryshak. They ride into the simple farming village and murder everybody out of nothing more than boredom, and Sonja is forced to watch as everything she loves dies painfully. It’s a real gut-punch to see.
She manages to escape and kill her captor, though, and after taking the time to honor the ways of her people by burying each and every one of the dead, she heads out in search of revenge, through her expertise at tracking and stealth. Once she hunts down the marauders, she finds the ruthlessness that will define her battle prowess. She finds it in herself to truly be a hunter. She kills every last one of them, and earns the moniker of The Devil. But now, as an adult, she’s been broken down to her core once again, and this time, she’s trying to find a way to give up and join her family in the ether. To the point of attempting to dig her own grave despite her weakened state.
It’s a strong story of murderous horror, dark triumph and utter hopelessness. In fairness, my unfamiliarity with the history of Red Sonja means I can’t tell if Simone is simply rehashing her origin story or revamping it, but it really, really works. It’s a highly personal, emotionally charged saga that nonetheless feels epic and mighty in its heaping amounts of adversity. In three issues, I know her better than I know most other characters anywhere. Walter Geovani’s artwork is fantastic as well.
If you’ve ever been curious about Red Sonja, this is the series to read.
