Issue One. Issue Two. Issue Three. Issue Four. Issue Five.
Issue Five
One of the strengths of the miniseries, brought here to its logical conclusion, is that Hastings never morally absolves Hell Sonja. Her confrontation with Asmodeus is not a clash between good and evil, but rather between evil and lesser evil. At the same time, however, the writer reminds us that her function is crucial to the survival of the multiverse, which would most likely collapse under Asmodeus’s rule. This significantly simplifies the conflict, because regardless of the characters’ morality, the comic makes it very clear whom we are supposed to support. As a result, the resolution lacks any greater sense of perversity or play with the reader’s expectations.
Hell Sonja is also capable of using the system under her control to reincarnate souls in other realities. Hastings thereby provides a kind of diegetic justification for the Sonjaverse: Red Sonja can die in one world and then be reborn in another Hyrkania, becoming not so much a single immortal individual as a recurring archetype. As long as Hell Sonja remains in control of the system, further variants of Sonja can therefore continue to emerge throughout the multiverse.
The miniseries’ finale leaves mixed feelings. On the one hand, it contains an interesting, almost Lovecraftian idea of cosmic horror and is visually appealing. On the other, it amounts to an enormous deus ex machina that leaves the reader unsatisfied. To make matters worse, Hastings immediately returns to his goofy humour afterwards.
Fortunately, he also includes a kind of epilogue, which I will not spoil here. It concerns the fate of Red Sonja—or, more precisely, her archetype—and is morally ambiguous, slightly sad and slightly cynical. Yet even here, the writer cannot resist inserting a joke that defuses the dramatic weight of the scene.
Art
Issue five is somewhat weaker visually than the previous instalments. The reason is the change of artist. Contrary to the information provided on Dynamite’s official website, the artwork was drawn by Andres Labrada, who replaced Qualano.
Unfortunately, his work is less polished, particularly when it comes to faces and character anatomy. The whole issue gives the impression of having been produced in a hurry. The colours by Ellie Wright help considerably, however. In particular, the pink-and-purple multiverse stands out strongly against the infernal oranges and reds of the earlier scenes.
Miniseries rating: 7/10
