THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #10

“The Invincible Red Sonja End”

Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti

Artist: Moritat

Sonja has brought princess Zaria back home. Only the kingdom has been pillaged and most of the subjects killed including the king. This was the work of a fearsome bandit named Blackwing. Sonja and friends go after Blackwing to rescue the queen and other captive women. Sonja requests a meeting with Blackwing which is granted. Sonja stabs him and takes over the horde. She fights the challengers and the rest decide to leave and go home or join Zaria’s kingdom. Zaria and Ederak get married, and Sonja rides off for more adventures.

The ending was a bit of an anticlimax. Sonja had no trouble at all in defeating Blackwing which made for little excitement. The authors of this in an interview stated they wanted to channel Roy Thomas in their writing. It is very debatable if they accomplished this, but I do appreciate the intent. A strange story that meandered all over the place. Yet it was interesting, and I have no regret reading it.

THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #9

“The Invincible Red Sonja Nine”

Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner

Artist: Moritat

Sonja is in the arena fighting the monster son of the evil queen. Naturally Sonja wins then chops off the head of the evil queen. Everyone is ecstatic the evil queen is dead, and Sonja finds herself the queen of Capellia. Sonja has no interest in the job and has to find a replacement. She chooses Tuma and the winged warrior reluctantly agrees. Sonja then continues her journey to deliver Princess Zaria and her fiancé back to their kingdom. The ship arrives and finds the kingdom in flames.

This was a sort of laid-back issue. Sonja easily defeats the giant monster and evil queen. Then she becomes queen. After a romantic fling with Tuma, she makes him the new ruler and takes off in a ship to deliver Zaria. Only when they arrive the kingdom is in flames. So, there will be one big last battle before the series ends.

THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #8

“The Invincible Red Sonja Eight”

Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti

Artist: Moritat

Sonja and Tuma manage to escape the tree and kill the spider creatures after them. Tuma frees Edrik and Zaria while Sonja takes on the savage horde. Only the horde has many more and one uses a powder to knock Sonja out. She wakes and finds herself a prisoner in a city. The ruler a squat ugly woman who has lived for centuries rules. Sonja has to defeat her son so she and her friends can get their freedom. Only the son is a huge beast.

This issue had a lot of action. Sonja had fights almost nonstop. A very strange issue with many different weird and strange creatures. The ruler is an odd female with an equally odd son. I am interested to see where the story goes from here.

THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #7

“The Invincible Red Sonja Seven”

Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner

Artist: Moritat

Sonja seems to be dead and having a conversation with her goddess. Only it is an illusion for the spell on her still works. She survived the lava and after it cools, she busts out. Tuma arrives and takes her to a place where she can bath. She is attacked by a giant lizard which Sonja kills. After cooking it, she makes some clothes from its skin. Later the two find Prince Ederak and Princess Zaria are captive of some savages. The savages have two female cat creatures that track Sonja and Tuma. Hiding in a tree the savages release two large spiders with human female heads.

OK so this series is getting really weird. It seems to be all over the place. Sonja is still invincible enough to survive lava. She also is developing feelings for Tuma the winged guy. Ederak and Zaria are also developing feelings. Then they find some savages with all these freaky creatures. Weird but I will say interesting.

THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #6

“The Invincible Red Sonja Six”

Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti

Artist: Moritat

The land is literally blowing up after the wizard’s death. Sonja gets Tuma to take the royals to safety as she fights Bahira. The two have an epic fight that goes back and forth between the two. Finally, Sonja gets trapped under a tree and Bahira wants to draw out the torture. Only the land gets swallowed up as a volcano forms. Tuma with the prince and princess arrive and the three get surrounded by lava. Bahira gets crushed by a flying rock. Tuma finds out his wings really work and take the royals to safety. Sonja stays behind as the lava closes in.

This issue seemed to be all about a fight between Sonja and Bahira. They have a lot of discussions about their feelings while the fight goes on. I have to say that I found it amusing. Everyone has a laugh when Bahira gets crushed like Wiley Coyote by a flying rock spewed from the volcano. I would assume Sonja is still invincible so will survive. The story goes keep you curious to see where it goes.

THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #5

“The Invincible Red Sonja Five”

Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner

Artist: Moritat

Sonja is now under the control of a mad sorcerer and forced to fight off armies while being indestructible. While this goes on, we find out that the thief Bahira was made by the sorcerer as a child to be the friend of Ederik who is now king. Ederik asks for his help and gets it when he finds out it is Sonja who has been taken over. Sonja apparently castrated him which is why he has such a hatred for her. He goes because only he can have revenge on Sonja. Meanwhile the sorcerer gets really depressed and decides to kill himself. This frees Sonja from his control but unleashes a new threat.

OK so one of your main villains decides to kill himself. I guess that is one way of defeating your villain. I have to say that was completely unexpected. Also, kind of funny that Sonja castrated the thief guy Bahira. Now Sonja has more problems and there are some underground fire demons coming to wreak havoc. A fairly absurd storyline but I do find it interesting.

THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #4

“The Invincible Red Sonja Four”

Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti

Artist: Moritat

Sonja has found the thief of the crown. She confronts him and easily chops his head off. Putting the masked head in a bag she and her friend Tuma then go to save the king. They get to the palace and Sonja shows the severed head of the thief. It is the wizard’s son. The wizard goes mad with grief and kills the king. Then takes Sonja and transports them to his tower. There he puts Sonja completely under his control. He also makes her invincible so she will fight off the armies after him.

Now we know where the title to his series comes from. This was an interesting development. I will say that the plot has taken turns I didn’t see coming. Will be interesting to see how Sonja breaks the spell. For now, she is invincible and will be taking on two armies single handed.

THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #3

“The Invincible Red Sonja Three”

Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner

Artist: Moritat

Red Sonja goes to find the stolen crown. She believes it is the master thief Bahira Yakootah. The same guy who has a price on Sonja’s head. She goes to a seedy tavern to get information. She threatens the patrons and has to fight them. She gets help from the personal guard of the wizard Tuma. They have to kill everyone except the barkeep. He tells them the location of Yakootah. In a small cottage there is an underground cavern where he lives. Yakootah is visited by the thief of the crown and offers it to him and all the treasure in the king’s vault if Yakootah will kill the king. He agrees and summons demons to do the job.

This issue was an OK one. It had a cool fight with Sonja and her newfound friend Tuma. Tuma is a mysterious guy with wings which will make an interesting story about him. The thief Yakootah is also someone interesting. The really interesting reveal is some kind of demon who is responsible for stealing the crown. The writers keep the story interesting.

THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #2

“The Invincible Red Sonja Two”

Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner

Artist: Moritat

Sonja is escorting Princess Zaria when a rooftop assassin strikes. Sonja dodges the arrow and take off after him. She captures him and finds out she and not the princess was the intended target. A powerful man who Sonja spurned has a price on her head. She goes back to the princess and tells her the story. Sonja also stops an assassin at night. The next day at the wedding it is discovered the crown has been stolen. A reward for its return is offered.

This was a fun story. An interesting twist to have the assassin be after Sonja and not the princess. We get to see the princess who is very naive to the world. It also ends with the promise of some more adventure to recover the crown and Sonja getting vast wealth in the process. An enjoyable Red Sonja tale.

THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #1

“The Invincible Red Sonja One”

Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conners

Artist: Moritat

Red Sonja is under the control of a wizard and fights off an invading group of men. She flashes back a few days ago. She is a passenger on a ship that decides to plunder another ship. They are victorious and capture the Princess Zaria. Sonja bargains to take her to save her from being raped by the crew. Only Zaria jumps overboard. Later the ship is attacked by sirens. Sonja fights them and falls into the water unconscious. She awakes on a ship that has the Princess Zaria. Zaria makes a deal to hire Sonja as a bodyguard as she goes to a kingdom for an arranged marriage.

This story starts out interesting. Sonja gets involved with a precocious young princess. It had some good action. I read that the writers were big fans of Roy Thomas and wanted to emulate him. I don’t know well they have succeeded so far but I do support their goal.