Let’s cut to the chase … as far as I’m concerned, this is the best Red Sonja comic since the ‘Blue’ one-shot several years ago. With #2, the creative team has really found its feet. The art remains blinding –Gomez doesn’t take a single panel off and only skips backgrounds when it’s absolutely necessary. He still draws a tremendously athletic and beautiful Sonja but has toned down the cheesecake shots a bit since #0, and his facial expressions and use of body language are spot on. His full-page splashes and the scenes in Central Park are particularly good but his action sequences really crackle as well. When Sonja slams two thugs’ heads together, it looks like it really hurts. When she hurls a table clean across a bar with one hand into an aggressor or throws a makeshift wooden spear straight through a goose, you can feel the impact. By contrast, there’s real sensitivity to the quieter images in the final pages of the book – in particular, a panel showing Max’ loneliness at school is heartbreaking. Mohan’s colours are outstanding, using muted backgrounds as a stark contrast to Sonja’s mane and the bright colours worn by Luis– it gives the bar a suitably dingy and seedy atmosphere. The colours in the Central Park scene are amazing, with lights reflected in the river and Sonja clearly standing out against the snowy landscape. The story zips along at a rocketing pace, showing the barbarian acclimatising herself to a foreign environment at a breakneck pace, broken up by the odd page featuring supporting characters. Gail Simone’s run on ‘Red Sonja’ is probably better known than that of any other Dynamite writer but she seemed to enjoy making a fool of her leading lady - her Sonja was constantly horny, angry and thinking about booze. Amy Chu’s Sonja is far more rounded … deprived of her weapons at the outset, she’s immediately optimistic and makes use of what she can to survive. She shows typical Sonja pride, ignoring lowlife

SPOILERS Hats off to Amy Chu, Carlos Gomez and co here … this is a high water mark of the ‘Red Sonja’ series so far. It fires on all cylinders … as usual, Carlos’ art is exquisite (although he outdoes himself in one panel in particular) and as usual, Amy writes witty dialogue, effortlessly giving different voices to all the characters. So far, so ‘Red Sonja’. What separates this issue from the majority of the run though is the perfect juggling of a number of plot threads, allocating sufficient time to each without making the comic seem too crowded and without taking anything away from the main thread … Sonja’s own adventures. In the past, there have been occasions when the time spent on a supporting character’s escapades hasn’t been judged well and when too much space has been wasted on unimportant matters … #3 is the prime example of this. Here, everything is done fantastically well. Two new important characters are introduced, we see what Max is up to in the Hyborian Age, Gath makes his return but the lion’s share of the issue is still given over to Sonja and her beef with Las Aranhas. Another area where Amy’s fallen down in the past is lack of action and combat. ‘Red Sonja’ is, after all, ultimately a comic about action and combat. Here we have a blistering fight scene lasting several pages with Sonja assaulting the evil bikers in their main warehouse and ultimately bringing their activities to an end. We see Sonja’s stealth in infiltrating the warehouse and then the ridiculous ease with which she handles a large group of beefy homicidal gang members wielding uzis. It’s the best combat scene in Amy Chu’s ‘Red Sonja’ run so far by a country mile. All that and Elvis too. ‘Red Sonja’ #9 … when you absolutely, positively have to read a comic featuring a six-foot redheaded Amazon in a scalemail bra crashing a tractor trailer into a drugs lab … accept no substitutes.

Absolutely no quibbles with this issue. Sonja is in a more familiar setting and back in the driving seat, following a long stint often following others' lead while stranded in 21st century America. She's taken Professor Wallace with her and has little time for his incompetence or reluctance to take part in adventure. Unlike so many previous Amy Chu issues, there's very little diversion from the main plotline here; outside of a couple of pages showing what Gath's up to, this is all Sonja, with some magnificent action. There's a brief, one-sided bar-room brawl and a great fight in the desert with a legion of Ray Harryhausen animated skeletons. On top of the action, there's plenty of comedy but the comic finishes with an atmosphere of dread, a vibe Amy's not always fully mastered on this title before but she handles it here in spades. The artwork is off the charts, with Carlos Gomez being equally adept and comfortable drawing intricate Meruvian cityscapes, Sonja chugging booze and warriors getting their throats ripped out. Mohan's colours bring the harsh desert and the maelstrom in the sky to life. Easily one of the best issues of Amy and Carlos' run ... perhaps THE best.

Magnificent. One of the best Sonja comics ever. Great art by Alessandro Miracolo and a dramatic climax to a tale that’s spanned 30 issues across two series and two one-shot specials. Ignore the low review by the other reviewer, he clearly wasn’t the intended audience

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.

Great issue, as full of action as the previous issue was lacked it. We're back to one penciller/inker for the whole issue, which is great news, and back to Sonja being front and centre in her own back, insteread of being part of a crowd, getting to strut her stuff in battle with the Demon Beast of Khauron. The mildly annoying Holly thankfully took a step back here, and the old farts and their pooch barely featured. Max is impressive in this issue, showing more fire and guts than he has done all series. Gath is suitably dastardly and Jay also gets some action. A great finish to Amy Chu's first Sonja storyline which, overall, has been a huge success. There's a shocker towards the end, which I wasn't expecting... SPOILER Max tackles the headless Gath through the portal taking the pair of them back to Hyrkania ... the solicit for the next issue says Sonja and Max are travelling across America together, so I guess Max is going to travel back through time again to hook up with Sonja. Makes you wonder why he can't just magick her back there himself though, so perhaps things have changed since that solicit were written and Sonja needs to travel across the States both to return to her own time and to rescue Max? Sonja seems oddly calm about Max' vanishing act, which is probably the only misstep in this issue. She's not one to panic but after a splash page of her on her knees on top of the wrecked Wonder Wheel, she doesn't display any real emotion about Max' disappearance.

Really strong issue. A few minor quibbles, like the Aranhas' leader's unexplained name change and how Sonja tracked the gang to Vegas and then managed to pinpoint their casino immediately. Excellent action though, displaying Sonja's rapid learning, her inhuman strength and her fighting skill. What much of the run has lacked in action compared with many Sonja rungs is more than made up here. Carlos' art is fantastic as usual and Amy throws in some typically witty comments and scenes.

There have been complaints that #20 didn’t feature enough Sonja or action; those complaints should be laid to rest with this issue.

Another super-strong offering from the new creative team, who are writing a Red Sonja we've never seen before ... she's a mighty warrior, sure, but she's also incredibly cunning and is a master at capitalising on others underestimating her. Fantastic art and lettering, and Sonja's back in the scalemail bikini, which is bound to offend a lot of people.

Loved this issue ... the 'modern day' stuff was a great mixture of action and plot advancement, and the Khitai flashback was even better!

Great end to a tremendous debut arc from Mark Russell ... ties up a few threads nicely and we finally see the last days of Domo but the war with Zamora is far from over.

A real masterpiece by Mark Russell, shedding the spotlight on some of the supporting players in the main Red Sonja series. The leading lady doesn't show up much herself but there's some real imagination used in the artwork and the characterisation is fantastic. As Mark himself hoped, this works both as a standalone piece or to supplement the ongoing.

Fantastic start to the series. As great as Russell’s run on the main title is, this is more of a traditional Sonja tale with dark magic, high adventure and swashbuckling, and bar room brawls but it features a very young and rash She-Devil. This will please anyone for whom russell’s take was too much of a departure from regular Sonja stories. Welcome back, Luke Lieberman

A worthy prequel to Amy Chu's series. This gets a 9 for a fairly basic story that doesn't really add anything new (except perhaps wyvern-riding) but a 10 for Erik Burnham's witty interchanges between Sonja and others and for Tom Mandrake's dark but beautiful art, so different from Carlos Gomez' but just as good in its own way. One area where this really delivers, and which Amy's series hasn't reso far, is on fight scenes. There's a fantastic sword fight between Sonja and 9 or 10 guys after only a dozen pages and the fight with the demon at the end is better than Amy's version in #0 of the main series.

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.

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?

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

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.

One of the biggest criticisms about this series so far is that the big bad, Kulan Gath AKA Hank Gault, has been kept in the shadows too much and we haven’t been given any motivation to boo him. This issue, or at least the first half of it, remedies that and focuses on Gath, as well as Red Sonja’s cop sidekick Max Mendoza, confirming his origin. The She-Devil herself is pretty much a piece of scenery in the first half of the comic, bar a failed attack on Gath (and an awesome panel showing her springing into action). Once Gath summons reinforcements, though, the tone of the comic changes big time, and we’ve got Sonja and Max leading Gath’s demonic guard dog in a running battle through the Met Museum. In contrast to previous issues, the only diversions from the main story are brief snippets of Max’ partner Jay worrying about his whereabouts and flashbacks to the destruction of Meru and Max’ childhood. The format of the story in this issue is more straightforward than in past issues, especially #3, and we’ve only got a single setting so it’s easier to get it right. Amy Chu’s interpretation of Gath is a triumph … he’s camp and preening, cracking wise but is totally terrifying and unpredictable at the same time: by far the best depiction of Gath I’ve ever seen, and beautifully illustrated by Carlos Gomez. Max’ revelation of his true power inspires awe not only in Gath but even in Sonja, who’s usually hard to impress. The brawl with the demon through the museum is bombastic, with Max pitching in and a great panel of Sonja shattering a glass display case to grab herself new weapons when the monster knocks her blade out of her hand. We get another clear indication that Sonja’s not quite human herself when she launches herself 15 feet into the air to slash her enemy. Once again, Carlos and Mohan’s artwork on the museum is first rate. Amy Chu makes it easy for any new readers to catch up quickly with what’s happening. This series is stil

Strictly a set-up for a new Sonja arc and introducing Sonja to the previous owner of her sword ... this comic is therefore relatively short on the She-Devil herself and mainly focuses on the background of newcomer Lord Skath. His tale is beautifully told though, helped by excellent art from guest artist Daniel HDR, and the plentiful flashbacks to the previous stories make this an ideal place for new readers to join. Not the best issue if you’re after Sonja slicing and dicing her way through hordes of evildoers but as the first issue in a grand new arc, this couldn’t have been much better.

Really fun story just let down slightly by some inconsistent art. Great little romp though and pretty much self-contained ... you won’t need to be a regular reader to enjoy it

REALLY strong first issue, it did everything a setup issue should. Fantastic art that's less cartoonish than we've seen in the main 'Red Sonja' title for years, and a gloomy story infused with moments of humour; without those, the comic would have a really dark and relentless atmosphere. There are strong historical influences ... the Turkish Empire's abduction of Vlad Tepes' as a child and raising him at court really sprang to mind. Sonja gets a chance to strut her stuff but is already showing signs of being very different from previous writers' version of the She-Devil in a number of ways. Nevertheless, crucially this remains true to the essence of the classic character, unlike Gail Simone, who wrote Sonja as a female Conan. I couldn't go the full monty because it was only a set up issue but I have incredibly high hopes for this series based on this. There's every chance this could become the definitive Red Sonja run

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

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

Another great entry in a more traditional Sonja series than is currently being offered elsewhere. Beautiful art, as visceral as Lieberman's other series, and with a really dark atmosphere. This should be the series to propel Sergio Davila into the comic art big leagues, just like the last 'Red Sonja' ongoing led Carlos Gomez to a job at Marvel.

Fantastic, action-packed series finale. No complaints here, everything's tied up nicely and the action is frenzied and brutal in the best sense of the word. Fans of Gail Simone's Red Sonja would be horrified by this ... and that's a good thing! This is comic book sword and sorcery as it SHOULD be.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Pretty fun issue ... after a lift from a snarky Charon, Sonja gers back to her own world but there are strong hints that it’s not necessarily her own time. The funny partnership with Wallace continues, funnier than the double act Sonja had with Max in the first storyline because Sonja is less tolerant of Wallace. Carlos Gomez and Mohan’s art is up to its usual high standard and there’s some great bloody combat in this one but lots of plot advancement too.

Really cool ish ... tons of ground covered and some fantastic action ... all this plus a little nod to Star Wars! I docked some marks because Carlos Gomez’ art wasn’t up its usual levels on a couple of pages but overall this was one of the stronger issues in the series so far with a great fight scene in the second half.

Great wrap up to Amy Chu’s three stories. Carlos Gomez and Mohan’s art is superb, perfect for this character and setting. The final battle is a slight letdown IMO but Amy and Erik Burnham don’t skimp on tying up loose ends and that really redeems this issue.

For me, the art was slightly off this month but the story was great as Lera digs.a bigger hole for herself and Chu/Burnham’s Sonja continues to demonstrate that she’s the toughest woman in comics while also maintaining a strong code of ethics and not walking around in a perpetual rage, unlike Gail Simone’s version. This run has been so consistent and this has been the best story of the run so far.

Really fun issue this month and a big improvement on last month. All the loose ends were tied up although given how much was going on in this arc, some of them were a little rushed for my liking. The fight between Sonja and a huge great white shark was brilliant, though, and Carlos Gomez' art was as good as it always is. A good finish to a very strong story overall, even if #20 killed the momentum a little.

Fun enough issue with a welcome return from Carlos Gomez on art just in time for the series to end. A fitting finish for an overall excellent run

Wonderful art and a very fun, old-school style Sonja issue that contrasts big time with the main title and the Riverdale crossover. Maybe not quite as strong as #1 and Lieberman shows signs of going back to the well twice sometimes but he's done a good job of simultaneously showing the events that led to Sonja's fury at Ozzyus in the past, the onslaught of Raka and his army of demonic slaves, and Sonja and Ozzyus' own antics, first in a rough seaside tavern and then on the Vendyan Sea crossing. Now the flashbacks are out of the way, it's time for Sonja to kick zombie ass!

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.

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.

Kind of a filler story but it had its moments, like the Avengers in a bar room brawl with barbarians and She-hulk dressed as Red Sonja for a couple of panels. Plus you can’t beat Shulkie punching an elephant. Gorgeous art by Perez.

This issue has been dogged with art problems and was thus released nearly a month late. Carlos Gomez has received help from Marcio Fiorito, who previously helped with #5 and another unknown artist; neither of these two are credited at the front, which is a shame. The mystery artist is pretty good. Good story overall ... we get a nice, brief look at what Max is doing back in Hyrkania and the start of Sonja's road trip with Holly and Spike is loads of fun, with some entertaining banter and more of Sonja's naivete, despite being a cunning and resourceful warrior. There's a bar fight midway through which falls WAY short of its potential ... it could've been so much better but the creative team decide to bung in a splash page of Sonja drawing her sword, when they could've used the page to show the She-Devil actually, yanno, fighting. Luckily, we get a good display of Sonja's combat skills towards the end of the comic. Good start to the new storyline then, marred by artists failing to meet deadlines and adding full-page splashes where they're really not needed.

Pretty good issue ... covered a LOT of ground but all the various plotlines got enough attention. This was the first issue where I noticed Carlos Gomez and Amy Chu used splash pages to best effect, highlighting the most important panels to the plot rather than just cheesecake panels of Sonja leaping into action.

Pretty good, self-contained tale with some interesting ideas. Most of the art is excellent but Jonathan Lau's use of his own design for Sonja and her sword wasn't a great decision IMO

This issue was a game of two halves The first story, featuring Sonja hunting a werewolf, is a great little sword and sorcery/horror tale with really nice art and a fantastically well-written She-Devil from Erik Burnham ... far from the caricature some other writers have produced, she's really well-rounded, a true hero but with her fair share of shortcomings. Burnham hits the balance perfectly with her. Tom Garcia gives her some truly impressive *cough* 'assets but also takes care to draw her with a massive and jacked build, somebody who's convincing as the greatest warrior of her world. The other story is an 8-page bit of fluff with childish art 8 seems like a fair overall score.

Russell/Bob Q - 9/10 Busiek/Dewey - 9/10 Deibert/Staggs - 6/10 Strong start to this new anthology series.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Not the typical Red Sonja issue, this features Sonja on the defensive and engaged in some navel gazing in a bid to teach her some manners! If you read the comic, that last sentence will make sense. Little sword-slinging and combat here but we finally get a glimpse at Sonja's past under the creative team of Chu and Burnham. Artist Pasquale Qualano does an excellent job.

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

Neat concept for a series - the art’s great and the dialogue is witty Good start and hopefully Bronwyn becomes a cult favourite

The first half is a bit of a headache but that’s to be expected - it’s a set up in the far-flung future with a load of new characters. The Hyborian Era segment is *excellent* - I only wish Qualano could have done all the art. As a while, this issue sets up the series to come really nicely. 6/10 fir the first half, 9/10 for the second

This issue was a bit of a disappointment. Technically, it was fine ... the art was good, there was plenty of action and the plot moved forward. However, the creative team teased us with some intriguing ideas in the last issue and these were suddenly yanked away this issue. I loved the idea of Sonja entertaining the festival guests with stories of her exploits and putting on an exhibition of her skills but that was seemingly just a short-term plan to keep Lord Sandak on side. Other than a couple of surprises, the story for this issue was a bit predictable and linear, and too much time was spent recapping the story of Lord Skath, who may not be used again after this storyline. This storyline was so promising up to now but sadly #20 was a step down. Lord Sandak, though, was a delight ... his blatant money-grabbing deeds and withering putdowns make him so much more fun than Kulan Gath or Eson Duul over in the Tarzan crossover. He's not a necromancer who wants to conquer the universe or Kraven the Hunter's sadistic little brother ... he's the kind of evil guy you can meet any day of the week in our own time and world.

The main story is kinda meh. It's got some really funny bits and a nice intro and outro with Sonja in her own world, and Ricardo Jaime's art is fantastic in places, particularly the New York scenery. The vibe of the story though is consistent with Amy's whole New York run in that it's all about the contrast between Sonja and modern folks and less about the action ... there are two panels of combat in 20 pages. If you're looking for action, look elsewhere. I guess the reprinted backup story balances it out, being more of a typical Sonja sword and sorcery fest, and to be fair to Amy, she's bringing the action in the regular series as of late. Overall, though, the main Xmas story was a bit disappointing. It didn't feel like it really got going until 3/4 of the way in and then it was brought to an abrupt close with a cute riff on 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark'. The Thomas/Thorne backup brings the score up a bit ... the main story wouldn't have been more than a 6 by itself.

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

Mediocre issue. It's good that a single artist handled pencils and inks for this one and Dynamite deserve a ton of credit for cutting down the delay to the release date after the problems last month. This issue was really a lot of stalling for time though ... a lot happened but nothing particularly significant. We saw more of what Max was up to in Hyrkania, although Amy Chu seems to be under the impression that Hyrkania is the Hyborian Age equivalent of Paradise Island. In the present day, there was a lot of fuss that amounted to the girls losing their car and getting another one. In between, Sonja finds out she's really good with a crossbow and Spike vaults onto her soapbox to decry institutional sexism and racism. The feds pages were nice, although I don't know how they figured Sonja was the prime suspect for the murder of the biker at the end of the last issue and it's also interesting that they spotted a six-foot redhead at the scene of both the Wonder Wheel and the Met Museum from the last arc but somehow missed a 100-foot flying demon. And that was really about it. There were some nice nods to past issues, with Max showing off his lame coin trick and impressing nobody in the process, and Sonja once getting to enjoy a hot bath. It really felt that Amy was treading water with the Sonja part of this issue and was just biding time until she could get Sonja a little bit closer logistically towards her goal of assassinating the head of Las Aranhas. Ultimately, 'Red Sonja' really should be about action and there really isn't enough regular action in this run. It's all well and good having funny banter between characters and pretty art but a single splash page of action in a 20 page comic really doesn't cut it.

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

Good overall but not the masterpiece it’s been hailed as in some quarters. Geovani’s art isn’t his best IMO and Duul is strictly a pantomime villain with no depth shown yet, although there’s only so much you can do in one issue. I’m not a fan of Gail’s Sonja but at least she was generally portrayed in a more serious light here. OTOH I think Gail did a great job with Tarzan. Nothing mind boggling about the plot yet and the way some of the period Brits speak isn’t realistic but again this is only issue 1.

Weakest entry in the series so far. Simone/Geovani - 5/10 Kelly/Lee - 7/10 Outsmane-Elhaou/Lau - 7.5/10

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.

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.

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

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.

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

MASSIVE drop in quality from the rest of the series. The 2 is all for Gomez' art in the second hafl of the comic. There is no action in this story, none of the characters come across as likeable, particularly the two new old folks and their mutt, Sonja herself is barely in the story and when she is, she's reacting to other characters, instead of driving the show. Let's hope next issue will be a massive about-face as this is probably the most boring Red Sonja comic I've ever read. Coney Island residents might like it, otherwise steer clear.