"Know also, 'o prince, that in the self-same days that the Cimmerian did stalk the Hyborian Kingdoms, one of the few swords worthy to cross with his was that of Red Sonja, warrior-woman out of majestic Hyrkania. Forced to flee her homeland because she spurned the advances of a king and slew him instead, she rode west across the Turanian Steppes and into the shadows mists of legendary." - The Nemedian Chronicles This sixth volume in Dynamite's hit series is an all-star Red Sonja event featuring the She Devil's descent into purgatory, with each issue (#30-34) featuring a unique creative team
Marz is well known for his work on Silver Surfer and Green Lantern, as well as the Marvel vs DC crossover and Batman/Aliens. He also worked on the CrossGen Comics series Scion, Mystic, Sojourn, and The Path. At Dark Horse Comics he created Samurai: Heaven and Earth and various Star Wars comics. He has also done work for Devil’s Due Publishing’s Aftermath line, namely Blade of Kumori. In 1995, he had a brief run on XO-Manowar, for Valiant Comics.
Marz’s more recent works includes a number of Top Cow books including Witchblade and a Cyberforce relaunch. For DC Comics, he has written Ion, a 12 part comic book miniseries that followed the Kyle Rayner character after the One Year Later event, and Tales of the Sinistro Corps Presents: Parallax and Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion, two one-shot tie-ins to the Green Lantern crossover, The Sinestro Corps War.
His current creator owned projects include “Dragon Prince” (Top Cow) and “Samurai : Heaven and Earth” (Dark Horse).
My first exposure to Red Sonja since the Marvel comics of the 1970s, and this first impression is not a good one. I picked this graphic novel up dirt cheap as a used copy, and I'm glad I didn't pay full price. Red Sonja dies, yes, and as she floats down the River Styx, she is shown vaious moments from her life she is to learn something from. There are two main problems here. First, a different writer and artist helms each of the five chapters, and they are wildly uneven in quality. Secondly, some of these rapid-fire bits are told in such choppy shorthand that they don't make a bit of sense. What emerges is sort of a confusing Cliff's Notes version of Sonja's life. This makes for a muddled and uninvolving reading experience. Guess I'll stick to the old Marvel stuff, thank you.
How deep in the abyss of nothingness and pointlessness can a comic dive between two editions. Apparently very deep. Here we have a story about what happens after Sonja dies. She is made to see things she regrets. And it then she is reborn. That story could've been told in single issue. It does not need five. Worst thing I have read in ages.
This volume turned out to be the best one since the series started. It explores Sonja's past, her values and the fateful choice that, apparently, she has made many times before. I expected some inconsistency to the story and artwork, given that each issue has a different creation team, but was surprised to find the whole volume quite enjoyable. I guess I'll keep reading.
Sonja is being ferried by the Boatman on the river Styx. He gets her to recount various memories from her past.
The Boatman returns, apparently to be Sonja's judge as well. She must face her fears to be able to return to the land of the living. She has her destiny in her hands, so she must now choose between fighting the evil of man forever and giving up the life of a warrior.
"La diablesa de la espada, Vol. 6: Muerte" es una colección de historias que, imitando la novela de Charles Dickens "Cuento de Navidad" pretende adentrarnos en lo más hondo de la personalidad de la hirkania al tiempo que navega a través del río Esitigia de la mano del Barquero, Caronte.
El guion es sencillo y no tiene demasiados nudos, pero los dibujos han sabido captar a Red Sonja de forma magistral. Celebro el trabajo realizado por Pablo Marcos, Mel Rubi y Fabiano Neves en esta entrega. Ha sido realmente destacable en comparación, sobre todo, con mi anterior lectura recopilatoria de la hirkania, "Viajes".
Si eres fan de la Diablesa de la espada, te recomiendo que leas esta recopilación. A los fanáticos de las aventuras y la fantasía en general, no tengo dudas de que les gustará.
I'm not a fan of the direction they took this storyline (killing the main character), I'm looking forward to where it seems it will go after this with the rebirth of the character. The artwork is still outstanding, but the story is extremely dark without feeling grounded in any realism. This comes off as a bit of a nightmare fuel fever dream.
The alternate life sequences feel very vapid and disjointed. It isn't explained why Sonja's family surviving would have led to her becoming a sadistic evil dominatrix in black armor. These storylines are not as good as the character or the artwork deserves.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
My opinion, i thought the Kulan Gath storyline in Volumes 4 and 5 went on too long, but I really enjoyed this volume. After Sonja dies at the end of Vol 5 defeating Kulan Gath, Volume 6 is five very effective stories from five different writers showing the importance of Sonja to her world, setting up a rebirth in Volume 7.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
After sacrificing herself to rid the world of Kulan Gath, Sonja finds herself puttering down the river Styx, as the boatman regales her with tales of her past misdeeds, including one What If tale where Sonja never got Touched by the Goddess.
A lo largo del camino, van viendo varias cosas, entre ellas, dos historias que no fueron contadas y una versión alternativa de como sería si Scathach no hubiera agregado sucesos para tener una infancia traumática, muy resumido: Hubiera ido por un camino oscuro, matando gente, incluyendo los que podían haber sido sus amigos como lo vimos en los tomos anteriores y finalmente trabajando para Kulan-Gath, así que ahora se sabe que lo de la diosa no fue sin motivo, fue para que sea no solo una gran guerrera, pues eso lo hubiera sido siempre, sino una buena persona.
Se enfrenta a un ejército de la gente que mato o murieron por su culpa en forma indirecta, pero aparecen aquellos que pese a saber eso, la defienden, entre ellos, Karena la Oscura, una joven que murió sin tener la oportunidad de ser tan fuerte como Red Sonja con el tiempo.
Luego de eso descubre que Kulan-Gath en un punto de la trama quería convencerla de no rencarnar, pero interfiere el regente del inframundo, así que sabiendo que Kulan-Gath estaría al asecho, opta por rencarnar una vez más.
Lo único malo de esta historia es que fue dibujado por diferentes autores, y te das cuenta de eso, ya que en el tomo que tengo yo por lo menos, no hay una pausa entre número y número (Issue y issue) así que en la siguiente carilla puede que el estilo de dibujo sea distinto y eso es bastante raro.
Después de eso quedan los otros 7 tomos que siguen la historia ahora rencarnada y Micahel Avon Oeming dejando de ser el escritor de esta historia. Pero francamente preferiria seguir otro Run de Red Sonja si es que opto por leer o siquiera comprar los comics.
Como dije antes, a lo largo de estos 6 tomos, mi opinión fue variando entre 3/5 y 4/5 estrellas, siendo para mí el cuarto tomo el más aburrido y con potencial desperdiciado, al punto de que lo deje de leer por más de un año.