Where It All Went Wrong With Red Sonja: Birth Of The She-Devil #2
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Red Sonja reflects on her last job with Ozzyus and Shashana and where everything went wrong. In the present, Sonja and Ozzyus are looking for a ship to give them passage. Unfortunately, their would-be captain has already sold them out. This means Ozzyus and Red Sonja must get creative if they’re going to get across the sea. In Khawaris, King Andol is on the trail of Raka and his fanatics, but Raka is already one step ahead of the king. Finally, we get the rest of the story of how Sonja, Ozzyus, and Shashana were separated.
Red Sonja: Birth of the She-Devil #2 finds Sonja and Ozzyus working together once again, even though Red Sonja desperately wants to kill her old mentor for what he’s done.
Much of the comic is the history shared by Sonja, Ozzyus, and Shashana, which makes sense considering this story is called Birth of the She-Devil.
We have a far less joyful Sonja in this issue, as Ozzyus has cooled her recklessness and tempered her free spirit.
It is still quite strange reading this story in between issues of the current Red Sonja ongoing. This story doesn’t match up with what we know about the history of Sonja in that story whatsoever, and it doesn’t seem that a connection will be forthcoming–not that there necessarily needs to be one.
Sonja and Ozzyus also get a stowaway in this issue, though she doesn’t get much space to change the chemistry of the crew. The relationship between Sonja and Ozzyus is compelling enough on its own, though.
We get a lot more of Raka in this issue too, and he is turning out to be one hell of a death-worshiping bad guy.
Sergio Davila brings a great visual style to the story. It’s highly-detailed, makes the fight scenes satisfying and kinetic, and provides a good degree of texturing to the world. Ulises Arreola’s color art is quite affecting as well, bringing a balanced and potent color palette to the comic.
Red Sonja: Birth of the She-Devil #2 follows up on the promise of the title far more than the opening issue. We learn more of the relationship between Red Sonja and Ozzyus and see where it all went wrong. Plus, we see how Raka is connected to it all. This one is worth a recommendation for sure. Feel free to check it out.
Red Sonja: Birth of the She-Devil #2 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: 7.5/10
