Red Sonja #79 Review


The shroud of the scarlet drenched vampire has fallen, but can our heroine regain enough of herself to fend off evil?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

“The Crimson Well” Part 4 (of 6) – Our tale began on the 8th day following Red Sonja’s return from a long absence. The events of the first 7 days have remained a mystery, even to Sonja herself…until now. Now, the terrifying truth will be revealed…but Sonja may wish that those memories (and some other nasty things) had stayed buried forever!

As the ever present end to this current volume comes hurtling toward a captive audience, our protagonist is attempting to muster the gumption to take on Dracula.  Thanks to the efforts of the creative team the obstacles that line her way do just enough to keep these somewhat over the top proceedings quite enjoyable.

Brandon Jerwa pens the script and he does a splendid job realizing and toying with the core mechanics of our lead.  He uses Prophecy as a spring board but as we enter the latest chapter in the narrative it’s become apparent how much fun the scribe must be having.  By blending the worlds of Dracula with the she-devil with a sword the man behind it all might have found something.  And despite some bad dialogue here and there this jaunt could very well outlast even some of the more competent runs.

The art by Sergio Fernandez Davila bridges the world of the supernatural with fantasy quite well.  He uses his pencil strokes to evoke horror and truth as the written word demands as the results, for the most part, yield some truly appetizing scenarios.  I did however find a couple of the minor visual elements to be a tad bit underdeveloped creating some solid but altogether unimaginative renditions that are sure to leave even the most devoted followers wanting.

Red Sonja #79 is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but as this arc barrels forward it’s becoming more apparent that even with some hiccups and an over reliance on a past event, it’s still very entertaining.  Recommended.

4/5

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