Red Sonja Fairy Tales // Review
A powerful red-haired warrior happens upon a woman in distress. She’s running away. Those who know her are grateful for her return, but this is no simple story of a damsel in distress...it is Red Sonja Fairy Tales. Writer Jordan Clark weaves the popular sword-wielding warrior into a fractured fairy tale courtesy of artist Andres Labrada. Atmosphere is breathed into the visuals thanks to colorist Kike J. Diaz. With only just under 30 pages to tell an entire story, complete with a little bit of worldbuilding, Clark faces quite a challenge that results in a fun, little excursion with a fantasy hero into a dark mutation of traditional folklore.
It was lucky that Sonja happened upon the woman when she did. When the offer is made from the woman’s kinsmen, Sonja’s not opposed to the idea of going to the nearest city for an ale and some amenities by way of celebration. She’s a little surprised to see a giant beanstalk shooting out into the heavens from the middle of the city. She’s perfectly willing to allow the strangeness of the local geography to pass, but she WON’T allow the woman she saved to be locked into a cage by the locals. Her desire to free the woman finds her ascending the beanstalk straight into a very strange danger.
The architecture of well-known myth is a fun place for any writer to play with. Expectations can be casually tossed aside to a variety of different effects. Clark does some pretty harrowing turns of tone over the course of the story. When the Jack and the Beanstalk city in question is enthusiastically announced as “New Jack City,” it appears as though things are going to get very, very silly. The sudden seriousness of everything in the climactic scene would seem like a pretty strange direction for a lighthearted spoof, but Clark manages the transition quite well.
Labrada’s manga-inspired rendering of the iconic Red Sonja gives the rubbery spoof of the story a warm springiness that feels dynamic enough to carry the story through the initial weirdness. Labrada’s delivery of the action is satisfyingly kinetic. The drama has a suitably heavy feel about it without ever taking the story as seriously as it could have been. Labrada rolls with the tumble of Clark’s mood quite well. With very little in the way of background outside of establishing shots, Diaz’s color aptly sets the tone for anger, action, and moodiness throughout a fun, little adventure.
Between this and the Arthurian twisting of Immortal Red Sonja, Dynamite Entertainment has been delivering some enjoyable mutations of traditional legends in the presence of a very charismatic fantasy hero. Dynamite’s treatment of Sonja is just generic enough to make her the perfect center for remarkably enjoyable little jaunts into the heart of popular sword and sorcery. The Red Sonja Fairy Tales one-shot not only delivers a fun mutation of a popular myth, but Clark’s treatment of the story even manages a satisfying little bit of dramatic depth with its action.
