Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword, Vol. 5: World on Fire

Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (2005) (Collected Editions)

by Michael Avon Oeming, Brian Reed, José Homs (Artist)

"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 fifth volume in the epic saga of Red Sonja contains issues #25-29 by writers Michael Avon Oeming, Brian Reed, and artist Homs, as the creative team presents the ultimate showdown with Kulan Gath.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels

144 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2008

About the author

Michael Avon Oeming is an American comic book creator, both as an artist and writer.

His 1998 comic book Bulletproof Monk was made into a film of the same name.

The previous mentioned collaborations are The Mice Templar from Image Comics, which he draws and co-authors with Bryan J.L. Glass,[1] and Powers from Icon Comics which he draws, and sometimes co-authors, with Brian Bendis. His creator-owned projects include Rapture, on which he collaborated with his wife, Taki Soma,[2] and The Victories, both for Dark Horse Comics.

As of 2010, he is employed as a staff member of Valve Corporation, working on Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2 and Portal 2 webcomics.

Reviews

[47Time · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume was marginally better than the last one. At least Kulan Gath is dealt with, but he is far from the all-powerful character he was built up to be. The final part dealing with Sonja and Gath's confrontation is a rushed and unsatisfying affair. I'm still hoping that the other writers from the next volume onwards will have better tales, so I'm not giving up on this mediocre comic yet.

Kulan Gath's oppression has reached all corners of Hyboria. The ones who bow are blessed, while the ones who oppose are swiftly disposed of. Sonja and her ally, the ship captain Valera, join the weak resistance, but they fight an uphill battle.

They first battle one of Kulan Gath's acolytes, a powerful necromancer. Their victory comes at great cost, but Sonya refuses to be discouraged. They plan to liberate the land town by town if needed. The story is rushed after this, so the resistance movement is not needed after all.

Kulan Gath captures Sonja to show her just how helpless she is against his magic. Her goddess, Scathach, is depowered and unable to help her. Worse, the goddess tells Sonja has inside her a spirit that was created by Scathach and Gath when they courted each other. She is initially demoralized, but realizes that her blood can kill Gath. Unfortunately, the explosive release of his magic in the moment of death also kills Sonja. She is last seen on the river Styx where the boatman tells her that her story is far from over.

[Luana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never any less than easily-readable, but turning Sonja into a pawn between two ancient sorcerers is kinda antithetical to her whole deal; if she's Girl-Conan, then she should be about somewhat the same things as Conan - being the hardest motherfucker alive, the pinnacle of human achievement. The Ultimate Libertarian fantasy.

Making her an eternally recurring concept imbued by an external party turns her into Girl-Shazam! You'd think it'd be Elric-ish, but the book is definitely not cosmic and weird enough to be Moorcockian.

[Tina Olah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book, though the dialogue and storyline were both very simple, the type of story we've seen 100 times. The art and colors were nice to look at especially during the scenes of the camp at nighttime, Red Sonja herself could probably be a little more muscular though....I prefer the way Ron Adrian draws her in the "cover art" section at the back.

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What fun.
Nothing much seem to happen and some plot twists are just stupid but there is that mysterious undercurrent.... the one that forbids you to put what you are reading, down.
But that art was again rushed and clumsy. Just as it very often seem to be in Dynamite Comics.

[Cuchi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hay una razón de porque deje pendiente por más de un año las dos últimas partes del arco hecho por Micahel Avon Oeming.

No es lo que esperaba.

La mayoria de las historias no son sobre "Red Sonja viviendo aventuras" o "Mira como ella es más fuerte que cualquier otro mortal" sino de lo que representa Red Sonja para el mundo y como es vista por ello, esto va más por un hilo de sucesos, en su camino o fuera de lo que puede hacer en el momento, pero que en algun momento tendra que actuar.

No sé mucho de la Era Hiboria más de lo que me mostraron acá. (Y de que a menos que seas el protagonista, vas a morir, si sos el protagonista no te morís, pero la pasas horrible y te quedan traumas de cuando eras un niño jurando crecer y volverte más fuerte).

No hay tantas peleas, pero el mundo es tan llamativo que realmente te interesa saber más de él, pero al mismo tiempo hay otras cosas que te tiran para atras, como si fuera amor/odio, por eso estoy entre 3/5 o 4/5, podría haberse hecho mejor pero la verdad es que por algo que agarre a 50 pesos en "La Revisteria" (Sucursal de Comics) no esta nada mal.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is as vacuous as modern comics get. No plot to speak of. Kulan Gath (he of the silliest hat and necrotic visage) sort of looms about being evil (again) while a girl in a chain mail bikini chops all and sundry up with her sword. Repeat, repeat, repeat. There isn't a single character who engages at all. The action is just dull. Where is the adventure and wonder?