The Warrior, The Vampire Hunter, And The Demon Lord: ‘Red Sonja Age Of Chaos #2’ Reviewed
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Red Sonja makes peace with a fallen comrade when Chastity arrives to kill a vampire stalking from the shadows. Sonja is initially suspicious of Chastity, but she recognizes her language from her own time in New York. Soon after, Lady Demon arrives. Sonja and Chastity try to slay the demon to no avail. After rebuffing the two warriors, Lady Demon explains to Sonja and Chastity how the latter arrived in this time period, the Hyborian Age. Lady Demon also explains the plot of Mistress Hel that brought Chastity, Bad Kitty, Evil Ernie, Empress Jade, and Purgatori to the amulet of Kulan Gath. She also tells of how all human life has ended before it’s time and it’s all Red Sonja’s fault.
Red Sonja: Age of Chaos #2 brings together two powerful warriors of two vastly different ages: Red Sonja and Chastity. They almost fight, but that is side-stepped by Sonja’s understanding of the English language thanks to past adventures.
The main thrust of the issue is the knowledge bestowed by Lady Demon. It reveals the duplicitous intentions of Mistress Hel, but it also explains how Chastity arrived in the Hyborian Age.
That said, the comic is quite exposition-heavy as a result. Lady Demon monopolizes most of the comic with explaining how and why things happened and blaming it all on Sonja for trying to make sure a hated foe stays dead this time.
The flow of time and the concept of cause-and-effect are abused quite a bit in this book as well. It works off of Doctor Who logic; time is ever-shifting, flowing, and weird.
Jonathan Lau once again comes out on top in this comic. His visual work is quite impressive and he gives Red Sonja an especially weathered and wild look. The detailing is quite impeccable as well and he makes Chastity very emotive in this issue. Andrew Dalhouse gives the book an impressively atmospheric color palette, adding further to the stunning visuals.
Red Sonja: Age of Chaos #2 is a far slower issue than the first. Much of the comic consists of lengthy exposition which does little to keep the reader engaged. Lau and Dalhouse provide some stellar visual work, but it doesn’t save the book from the weight of its own info-dump. I can’t quite recommend this one.
Red Sonja: Age of Chaos #2 comes to us from writer Erik Burnham, artist Jonathan Lau, color artist Andrew Dalhouse, letterer Carlos S. Mangual, cover artist Lucio Parrillo, and variant cover artists Alan Quah with Komikaki Studio; Derrick Chew; and Ale Garza with Mostaffa Moussa and Omi Remalante Jr.
Final Score: 5.5/10
