A Painful Reunion In Red Sonja: Birth Of The She-Devil #3
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Red Sonja, Ozzyus, and Elli arrive in the realm of King Andol, and they find a once-thriving port city now deserted and quiet. They soon find out why when the citizens spill out in a rampage and try to take our heroes’ heads. Thankfully, Talos, a friend of Ozzyus, is there to lead them out of the city and to King Andol’s camp. There, Sonja finds Shashana. She is still under the effects of Raka’s potion, but Andol knows the primary ingredient in Raka’s potion now. Sonja and Ozzyus want to scout the city again for more insight into what Raka has been doing, but Andol is worried that his enemies in Kosala will take the chaos as an opportunity to invade–and he is correct.
Red Sonja: Birth of the She-Devil #3 finds Sonja, Ozzyus, and Elli finally confronting the cruelty and madness Raka has wrought across the lands. This crisis makes for strange bedfellows, as King Andol is even willing to work with Red Sonja, who stole his prized horse years ago.
It’s an issue wherein we see both the kindness and unbridled fury of the she-devil herself. Her joy at finding Shashana is offset by her outright bloodlust for the death of Raka.
It gets quite dark too. Not only do we see endless slaughter courtesy of Raka, but Red Sonja contemplates exactly what a man like Raka would do with a young girl like Shashana.
Sergio Davila’s artwork continues to be quite brilliant, delivering a lot of detailing and texture to this dark tale in Red Sonja’s history. The battle scenes are fun and bloody, and the moments of high emotion are evoked excellently. Ulises Arreola’s color work is well-balanced and deep as well, adding even more vibrance and life to an already exciting comic.
Red Sonja: Birth of the She-Devil #3 is a brutal tale that nonetheless has plenty of excitement courtesy of the she-devil herself. We get to watch Red Sonja at moments both high and low as she and her allies at last bring the fight to Raka. Between that and excellent visual work from Davila and Arreola, this comic is well worth recommending. Check it out.
Red Sonja: Birth of the She-Devil #3 comes to us from writer Luke Lieberman, artist and variant cover artist Sergio Davila, color artist Ulises Arreola, letterer Taylor Esposito, and cover artist Lucio Parrillo.
Final Score: 8/10
