Is It Good? Red Sonja / Conan #1 Review

Dark Horse Comics recently wrapped up their Conan meets Red Sonja crossover so it’s Dynamite’s turn now to take these characters to task. The question remains…is it good?

Red Sonja / Conan #1 (Dynamite Entertainment)

This issue opens with our resident bad guys doing bad things in a flashback. It seems the blood root seeds that were present in the Dark Horse crossover are involved in this foray too and a seer and mage are up to no good with them. From there the plot takes us to an army awaiting battle and attempting to figure out who is their first captain. An odd idea, that an army might be sitting around figuring out who their captain is, but if it brings these two badass swordsmen together then so be it.

How is an army even brought together without a captain?

Writer Victor Gischler does a decent job with the script, but I wasn’t floored by any means. The setup works well and I’m greatly anticipating how formidable the mage and seer are. How Red Sonja and Conan become captains of this army, and why they care at all, seems a bit too easy though and it’s more to serve the plot than anything. I’m also not sure how to pin down the sexual tension between the characters. Red Sonja is drawn a bit like a sexual thing for Conan and doesn’t get quite as much first billing in the issue. That might be more because she’s drawn in a very sexual way, but she’s not as tough or gruff as she’s been in other series which makes her seem more like a supporting character than anything else. That’s especially surprising since she’s got top billing on the title.

The art by Roberto Castro is nice and a bit sketchy with and a muddy sense of color and ink work. The daylight scenes pop nicely and the action is choreographed well. I do think Red Sonja’s form is a bit too impossible. Gone are her curves and muscular nature here as she has an impossibly small waist and very thin arms. She’s drawn a bit too sexually for my tastes here and is more eye candy than anything else.

I gotta admit the blood seeds are a neat idea.

Is It Good?

Ultimately there’s some nice action when it does occur, however forced it is, and by issue’s end you’ll get your money’s worth of content. It’s just unfortunate this sequel to the Dark Horse series feels a bit too contrived and I would have appreciated a bit more of a mythical coming together than what we have here.