Sonja Reborn #5 // Review
Maggie is passed out on the back of a horse somewhere in Western Aquilonia. In the Hyperborian Age. In the body of one of the most legendary warriors of the age. So she’s not TOTALLY vulnerable. Still--it’s going to be really, really disorienting when she wakes-up and discovers that she’s again in an unknown place in a strange land surrounded by people she can not trust in Sonja Reborn #5. Writer Christopher Priest continues a thoroughly enjoyable new era for Sonja with artist Alessandro Miracolo and inker Raffeale Semeraro. Color comes to the page courtest of Giovanni Caputo.
The first thing that she sees is a man tied-up on a horse. Then she realizes that she’s seeing it upside down. She loses her balance. She falls. Evidently the people who had her on the back of the horse were going to try to sell her. Of course...there was some question as to whether or not she would be in any condition to be sold. She HAD been passed-out for six days after all. She’s going to have to think fast if she’s going to be able to save the life of a boy who just might have died because of her...
Priest’s plot begins to come into full view as Maggie begins to understand exactly how she's going to need to connect with Sonja. The realization that she has to play the role in order to survive in the world is something that's been filtering in gradually over the course of the previous four issues. And really hit a major turning point in this issue, which really brings the full reality of the heroism into sharp resolution. The fusion of the two personalities becomes a parent in a very sharply clever ways which almost began to feel like a kind of genius by the fifth issue.
The immediacy and urgency of the action is brought home with striking clarity by Miracolo and Semeraro. There's a great deal of forward, action, the catapult to cross the page with a strong momentum. Maggie's frustration with the situation is brought quite vividly to the page with incredibly compelling drama that is rendered by the art team. Caputo’s colors lend a stylishness to the page that amplify the intensity of everything deliciously. Visually it's a remarkably well executed issue from cover to cover. This is particularly good as this is probably one of the single best issues in the series so far with respect to a Priest’s script.
There's a lot more of that could add-in to the mix that would embrace both Maggie and Sonja (and Maggie’s portrayal of Sonja) and future issues. What at first seemed like it might be a kind of a novel approached his storytelling. It really feels like something that is delivering a whole new version of the character. This isn't just a novelty. It's actually a lot of fun and with any luck it will keep going in future issues beyond that the resolution of the current conflict. This is fun.
