The end of a saga which critics haven't been raving about but which actual Red Sonja fans have absolutely loved. This isn't the best issue mainly because Moritat's art is massively inconsistent - there are some fantastic panels, such as the full-page splash showing the fate of Zaria's father, but the faces in some panels look really rushed. I know artists hate that word but in this case, it felt like Moritat's mind wasn't on the job, even though the comic came out about two months late. The colourist for this issue does a great job and the writing is on point though; we get some typical Hyborian Age brilliant vocabulary from Amanda Conner and while there's a lot shoved into this issue, it's better than having an entire issue of Sonja saying her goodbyes to the royal couple. Palmiotti and Conner get that Red Sonja fans want ***ACTION*** unlike some other Red Sonja writers of the past and they also get that Sonja should be the main character of the story, not a sidekick. Shame more couldn't be done with Neenia, an intriguing character but she gets her revenge at least. more

Neat concept, well-written and nice, expressive art. Good job all round. Hope to see more Sonja from both Jordan Clark and Andres Labrada

Really fun entry in this series. Once again, the tight panels mean plenty of ground is covered in terms of plot advancement, and there's an excellent balance of action and chat/relaxation. Amanda Conner is clearly having a ball with the dialogue, throwing together as many outrageous OTT insults as she can and staying true to Sonja's roots without injecting a load of 21st century slang a la Gail Simone. Moritat's art isn't always detailed but he is as crazy with his posing, muscular anatomies and grimacing or leering facial expressions as Amanda is with her choice of words. A new colourist comes onboard this month and does a nicer job, generally laying off the browns and reds compared with previous issues but giving Sonja herself a deeper tan, which suits her. Lastly, Jimmy Palmiotti signals his affection for old-school Sonja via the appearance of a classic outfit and a hint of Sonja's vow of chastity following the appearance of Scathach a couple of months ago; Palmiotti has cleverly not thrown everything out there early doors but has carefully cast out teasers about Sonja's origin and belief system each month.

This is an odd series in that it generally receives lukewarm reviews from critics such as those from Comicbook.com and Comical Opinions but is beloved by the actual fans, and the sales reflect such. Hopefully Dynamite listen to the readers instead of professional reviewers when it comes to Sonja's direction going forward. more

Ignore the low scores from the professional reviewers, this series is a blast and this issue is no exception. The sales don’t lie in this case. Plenty of action and typical overblown HyboriN language plus some clever meta- commentary on Sonja’s choice of armour. Moritat’s art is really strong this month

Not a bad ending to the series but nowhere as good as the preceding two issues overall and there was nothing outstanding here. The final story had a surprisingly downbeat ending as well - I wish they'd ended this series on a higher note.

Abnett/Kambadais - 8/10
Federici - 7.5/10
Marques/Kubert - 7.5/10

Another pretty damn good issue of this series, even if it wasn't quite up to the standards of #6 overall. Three great artists this time with very different styles and some original ideas for the stories. The best overall IMO was 'Unbowed', a brilliant display of Sonja's physical endurance and loyalty to those who made her into the woman that she is. It showed scenes from Sonja's childhood, which is something we seldom see in the comics outside of her parents being killed. Ron Marz wrote a more conventional story but did it really well, whilst Amy Chu's tale was a different concept but showed how the She-Devil's able to think on her feet; Amy has always said that Sonja's greatest asset is her adaptability.

Marz/Colak: 8/10
Hester/Blair: 9/10
Chu/Labrada: 7/10 more

Start of a new arc - more questions than answers but an interesting encounter at the beginning and sone typically beautiful art from Moritat

This was by far the best all-round issue in the series so far. Three very different tales that worked equally well and each with stunning art that suited the story. David Avallone's story was a rescue mission with a twist at the end that didn't disappoint. Shannon Watters wrote a funny story about an imposter taking credit for Sonja's work and driving the She-Devil into a rage as a result. Bob Q gave us Sonja facing a seemingly unbeatable foe and using her wits and skill to come out on top. Bob Q and Jonathan Lau are two of the very best frequent Sonja artists in recent years, and Ro Stein's art reminded me of Sergio Aragones but with a more realistic spin and with a ton of background jokes.

Avallone/Lau - 9.5
Watters/Stein - 9
Bob Q - 9.5 more

Nice, strong start to the series, which should hopefully improve upon 'Sonjaversal'

A bit of an odd duck this month because while there's nothing here that touches the best efforts of the past months, there's nothing bad either and this has one of the highest batting averages in the series so far. All three stories are very readable but the art varies massively in quality - the Alex Moore art is crystal-clear and leaves no ambiguity but is probably the most simplistic work in the series so far, whereas Ferguson's art is the closest to a traditional Sonja style but there are glaring issues with proportion and Sonja looks like she hasn't had a meal in months.

Edgar/Spalletta - 8.5/10
Gerlach/Moore - 6/10
Tieri/Ferguson - 7/10 more

Strong end to a really strong story, which perfectly captures the spirit of the classic Marvel tales with extra sex and violence. There's an incredible amount going on here with a nice long fight scene and a couple of surprises; the writers skilfully tie off most of the loose ends but leave it on a cliffhanger. Great OTT period exclamations, beautiful art, loads of action ... can't wait for the next issue. I'm docking half a point for a couple of places where the art wasn't crystal clear and also a somewhat bizarre reaction from Sonja and friends towards the end of the story. more

Another great issue, the last few issues of this title have been consistently excellent. This is a really important chapter in the tale as we find out more about the prince of thieves Bahira and his past with Sonja and Erkhara, as well as the rest of the plot surging forward effectively. I've docked half a point because the art's a little inconsistent and some pages look more rushed than others but overall Moritat's done a great job again. more

A real mix of quality this month - two of the stories are substandard but 'The Iron Queen' might be the strongest contender in the series so far, with jawdropping art and a rousing narrative. Sanya Anwar's tale presents Sonja as an angry simpleton and gives us a boring story about how all men are evil, women are under the cosh etc. etc. Chuck Brown's story is just confusing and isn't helped by Drew Moss' uninspiring artwork. Such a shame we couldn't get three 'Iron Queen's here.

Anwar - 4/10
PKJ/Beach - 10/10
Brown/Moss - 4/10 more

Weakest entry in the series so far.

Simone/Geovani - 5/10

Kelly/Lee - 7/10

Outsmane-Elhaou/Lau - 7.5/10

Great stuff once again. This is a key issue as it answers a ton of questions and skilfully brings us back to where we started at the beginning of #1. Beautiful art once more, with a trippy dream sequence and some blistering action, and the script is once again on point, although if anything, Sonja sounded a mite TOO archaic this issue. Moritat couples his usual statuesque and muscular Sonja with a terrifying new villain, all crazed eyes and gnashing teeth. We get quite a bit of nudity this time with conveniently-placed wisps of smoke but I gather that's a trademark of Conner and Palmiotti's work, so who am I to complain? more

Really strong start to the new series. Good art, good writing and dialogue, good plot. No glaring weaknesses at all IMO.

A nice mix of stories and art styles here. It should be said that nobody here really capitalised on the black, white and red colour scheme the way Benjamin Dewey did in Busiek's tale last month.

Meyers - 10/10

Starting off on a high, this is a blinding Sonja short story with incredible visceral art and a writer who's taken time to really investigate the Red Sonja lore. This is the perfect tale for anyone new to the character who wants a 10-page teaser capturing the essence of the She-Devil with a Sword. The ending worked superbly using Comixology's 'Comic Reader' feature. Absolutely brilliant.

Parker/Nourigat - 8/10

Really fun little tale with a more Disney-esque art style - this works really nicely as an all-ages story. The basic plot marries up well with the art. I only wish Sonja hadn't said 'Crom' at one point - that's always the mark of a new Sonja writer. Otherwise, very competent all-round and it'd be fun to see another Sonja story from Natalie Nourigat at some point. It's cool to see something a little different and this title is the perfect venue for experiments like this.

Walker/Robson - 7/10

Definitely the weakest of the three stories thanks to the writing. Robson's art was good and he clearly had loads of fun designing some of the characters, be it the giant minotaur slain by the She-Devil near the beginning, the evil and corpulent king or the gorgon. There was a nice twist in the tale halfway through and then another at the end, although it came across almost as an attack on certain folks who've criticised the casting in the planned 'Red Sonja' movie. I wasn't a fan of Sonja's speech patterns in this one either, and the whole 'Ass Man' joke felt laboured the first time round. Not a bad effort though and still better than Amanda Deibert's contribution last issue. more

Tremendous art, significant plot advancement and a script that’s witty but also really captures the language of Roy Thomas’ classic barbarian comics … this is the best issue of the series yet.

Neat concept for a series - the art’s great and the dialogue is witty

Good start and hopefully Bronwyn becomes a cult favourite

Russell/Bob Q - 9/10
Busiek/Dewey - 9/10
Deibert/Staggs - 6/10


Strong start to this new anthology series.

I think some critics were unduly harsh on this issue. The artwork is lush, even if overly cheesecakey but as soon as the following issue, Gomez was scaling back the T&A on Amy Chu's orders. The plot was fine as a setup, even if Amy hadn't quite captured Sonja's voice yet with her mumbling about 'beasties'. It's not as good as Mark Russell's first issue but it's a welcome return to form after two lacklustre runs from Simone and Bennett. more

Not good at all. Eric Blake's art is nice but the colours looks amateurish and Amy Chu's worst habits come through in the writing ... a good concept, poorly executed and a story filled with coincidences and empty whimsy. It's a shame because the opening pages were really strong but the quality drops like a stone once Sonja appears in 1982 and it just becomes a fashion show and a whirlwind tour of 1982's must-have gadgets more

A bit of a shambles. It has its moments but the whole thing seems really rushed; Vincenzo Federici covering art for the whole issue, rather than just the beginning and end, would've been a big improvement. It gets boring seeing Sonja slugging back wine over and over as well - Mark Russell's Sonja certainly wasn't a Red Simoneja-like alcoholic. Lieberman's whole arc comes across as Russell-lite with a few of his own trademarks thrown in. more

Really busy but satisfying end to the current arc. There were a couple of confusing panels for me but Hastings nailed the characterisation of each Sonja as usual. It's going to be interesting to see where they go from here.

The art this issue took a dip in quality overall, although there’s the odd tremendous exception. The humour and action were as good as last issue though and the plot advanced nicely.

Still a long way off Russell's standard but this was a big improvement over the last issue at least.

Strong start to the series. Conner and Palmiotti do a great job channelling the wild and crazy spirit of the old Thomas/Thorne issues and while Moritat's art seems to have divided critics, I think it's perfect for this book. He draws a muscular Sonja who looks like she can take anything on and the fight scenes are chaotic and gory. His facial expressions are brilliant and add a ton of humour to the book. Highly recommended and I can't wait to see where the series goes next. more

Not good, unfortunately. Luke Lieberman has latched onto Mark Russell's run but totally ignores his characterisation and writes Sonja as a selfish and hedonistic slob. I get that she's meant to be different from the way Isolde presents her but this is too much of a stretch. Drew Moss' art worked in Vampirella/Red Sonja with all the dark colours and inks but it just looks rushed and bush-league here.

The backup by Will Robson is much better, a cute short story featuring a different, much younger Sonja.

The backup gets 7/10 but the main gets 3, so 5/10 average. more

A muted end to a tremendous saga with typically excellent dialogue and art. Not an action-fest but Russell did a nice job tying up almost all of the loose ends and giving Cyril the best possible resolution, also demonstrating how compassionate his Sonja is.

This is now the benchmark for Red Sonja runs.

This issue was a little uneven. Most of the attention is being paid to Red Sonja both in her own past and present, and the other Sonjas are little more than bit players right now, Saint Sonja aside. Hastings did a good job this issue with unravelling a little more of the big mystery and introducing a few more players but hopefully the pace with the other Sonjas will pick up next time. The art and lettering was fantastic. more