Red Sonja, Vol. 2: The Queen's Gambit

Red Sonja Vol. 5 (Collected Editions)

by Mark Russell, Bob Quinn (Illustrator), Mirko Colak (Illustrator)

Acclaimed writer and Eisner nominee MARK RUSSELL (The Wonder Twins, Second Coming) welcomes stunning artist BOB Q (James Bond Origin, The Lone Ranger) for the incredible next chapter of the ongoing saga of Sonja The Red, Queen of Hyrkania.
Hyrkania burns, from flames allowed by its ruler, Sonja. The invasion has taken its toll...hostage kings consider revolt...Sonja will venture into unfriendly lands, to seek an alliances.

Collects Red Sonja, Volume 5 #7-12, 2018 Halloween Special

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2021

About the author

Mark Russell is the author of God Is Disappointed in You and Apocrypha Now. He also writes the comic book series Prez and The Flintstones for DC Comics. He lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

deep thoughts within a story

What takes things a little deeper than what you might imagine in this genre is the social and political commentary the author brings about through discussions among the characters. There is always a philosopher in there somewhere.

There are actually several extra stories added in and I liked one that was about a Halloween style night where the ghosts and the dead really did come out. The art was very good and there seemed to be more of the Sonja I’ve known and loved in terms of her personality and spirit.

3.75

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Russell finishes up his first year of Red Sonja by ending Red Sonja's war with Zamara. He does so in satisfying fashion with his characteristic wit and social commentary. Bob Q's art is very good too.

[Artemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is slowly growing on me. Still not among the absolute best Mark Russell books, but filled with enough thoughtful social commentary and sharp humour that he's so famous for to be a really enjoyable read. Also the ending was just so satisfying, can't wait to see where this story goes next.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

RED SONJA: THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT is a direct follow-up to THE SCORCHED EARTH where Queen Sonja is trying to keep Hyrkania free from the King of Zamora. Well, it's not going well for her because he has an Empire and they are a very poor nation with only the barest hints of an army. Well, things are going very poorly for Sonja in this war and the Zamorans have realized that it's best not to engage her army directly. Our heroine is also betrayed and is forced to the very limits of her ability.

This wraps up the invasion and has a lot of really good moments. I have to really say it was a very strong story arc between these two volumes and is one of my favorite Red Sonja works overall.

[Zach Rust · Rating 4 out of 5]

Queen’s Gambit concludes the first arc of Russell’s run, with Sonja leading her people on the run from the invading army of Emperor Dragan. Russell does an excellent job slowly ratcheting up the tension as Sonja and her people slowly become more and more desperate as their options for survival, much less victory, dwindle. Also love how the finale involves Sonja pulling a Fury Road (I won’t go into further details less I spoil the comic).

[Mariano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still don't like Bob Q's art, but I'm getting used to it and I like where the series is going. I mean, I am a Russell fan so it's not like I'm objective here. The extra stories are kind of meh.

[BookishDramas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Running action

Another Entertaining storyline in the series.
The primary story of Sonja as Queen of Hyrkania facing a world conqueror who having been rejected as a suitor now seeks to kill her even after conquering the kingdom.
The acts are barbaric and the politics is real. People switch sides and the truth and trust never seems real.
Characters are well etched and we get to see ambition among acolytes as well as the raw ambition of power transforming a person to destroy his body to get the power.
Literally cutting the nose but not to spite the face but to get ahead in the race.
Foghor is a shining example of raw ambition and to be achieved at any cost.
In the end the cost is the same.
Expectedly we see what a true leader evokes, loyalty even after losing the kingdom.
The massive storyline evokes many emotions and is a story to be cherished.
The other shorts are fine with the ghostly one about valehei reminiscent of Halloween about spirits and a mother who looks out for her child in this world and beyond is heartening.
Loved the book.

[Brian Heinz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing Russell's great run. Red Sonja is put in charge of her country (A real S#!*hole) as the world's largest empire comes to crush it and take over. In vol 2, she and her rival, the emperor, have to deal with betrayals and use their own tactics to best one another. Russell avoids saturating the story with mythical monsters and magic (There's some of that though) It's two leaders trying to out maneuver one another. Sonja's outfit is more subdued. Not the usual over-sexual chain mail bikini. (Though you get that in the included R.S. Annual stories). Very interested to see where the story goes after the Emperor and Sonja have their reckoning in this volume.

[Luana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't be fooled, the "Halloween special" that ends this volume is as good a character study of Red Sonja anyone's ever written, just filtered through the POV of ghoul sorcerers in a skull tower.

Extremely petty reason why I'm not going full-five stars on this volume: where were Dragan's archers at the battle of the bridge? If that little nagging inconsistency hadn't popped into my head just before that final showdown, I'd have been as high on this one as I was on volume 1.

[Julia Cannistra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good continuation of story in this second volume

Good artwork and writing. Continues the conflict from the first volume. The dialogue does include some word usage that seems out of place for a story set during the Hyborian age, but it’s a relatively minor issue.

There’s two extra stories added at the end. The first was pretty good but the second was just ok.

As with other volumes, there’s some beautiful covers and alternate covers included too.

[Wm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Russell, Q and Colak continue their 5-star run. This collection is weakened by the ridiculous art from the 2018 Halloween Special. It's nice to see Sonja the Red drawn so muscular (though a near-eating disorder lack of body fat), but those barely covered, pendulous, overlarge breast implants are laughable, and that's being kind.

[David Turko · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying finish to the story arc. Russell's writing is as great as ever with some great social commentary thrown in. The art was good but nothing special. Very interested in where this series goes from here.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 1 had such a strong start, but volume 2 seems kind of phoned in with important battle scenes getting one of two panels of a handful of people.

[Shaun · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine conclusion to the arc that was going on, but it didn't seem exceptional, just good.

[Dubzor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, too bad Dynamite had to side with the Comics Gate people and drove Russell away.

[Parrish Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part 2, great story

Read this story so fast that I didn't want the story to ever come to the end, really have to say it is worth it!

[Burton Olivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just really solid fantasy.

[John Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and interesting take about two warring armies, but doesn’t feel too sword-and-sandally as a result.

[Childofhate · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely fitting ending to the politically-charged arc that began in the first volume. This actually seems like a very different take on Red Sonja from the ones I've had sporadic acquaintances with till date. But that's not a bad thing in this case. My only gripe with this run is the aggressively mediocre art.

FINAL RATING - 4/5

Worth a read, especially since this is free on Kindle Unlimited.