Unfortunately, they close out with an uninspired last gasp. The inks are quite heavy but do not serve to make the panels look more realistic.The Forgiving of Monsters is the third and final volume in Gail Simone and Walter Geovani’s wonderful Red Sonja run. An interesting line style makes the action flow better but makes some faces look a little crumpled. The colors are solid and the lettering is good from what I know about lettering.Ĭassandra James is in charge of the final pages of art, and she does just as well as the previous two. This might be a result of heavier inks, but whatever it is, it works. It comes off as a little cartoonier than the first style, more 3D looking too. The second artist, Mel Rubi, has a very different but fun style. It is a very dreary color palette, lots of beiges and browns juxtaposed with the bright reds of Sonja’s hair and all the blood around her. His lines aren’t exceptional but his colors and shadings really leave a lasting impression. Jack Jadson does fantastic things with Gail Simone’s story in the first third of the comic. The dialogue is well flowing and the concept of the story (although underwhelming) is made into an entertaining comic. Other than that one little bother the writing is pretty good. I know that such people exist in the world but it certainly isn’t everyone, as Meljean Brook seems to suggest. While I appreciated, again, the sense of bringing women out as powerful and independent people, I must comment on the fact that every male in the story was portrayed as lustful, drunk and a rapist. Sonja, the woman and the woman’s daughter travel through the wilderness together, and yes-like every other issue of Red Sonja ever, there is a campfire powwow. A woman is threatened at a market and forced to strip down in front of these guys in some religious cult before Sonja tears them apart, thus starting a war of sorts with their leader and comrades.

The other two stories were related and worked to tell the same overall narrative but were both by different creative teams. If she just eliminated all inner dialogue we would get much more from the subtle facial expressions or body language of the characters and overall a more enriching experience. It also detracts from the art by cramming pages of dialogue into panels. Instead of leaving things up for interpretation we have to have everything spelled out for us.

I still feel like she doesn’t trust her reader. I am still irked by the fact that she feels the need to write down everything going on in the comic.

The writing in this little tale is actually a lot better than I have come to expect from Ms.

Legends of Red Sonja by Gail Simone