Seriously if this series and the Dark Horse series of last Spring don’t make somebody in Hollywood realize a team-up of these characters would be sweet I don’t know what would. They’re both awesome fighters, have a sexual chemistry and fight all sorts of wizards and monsters. What’s not to like! Well…bad pacing for one, but how is the latest issue? Is it good?
Red Sonja/Conan #3 (Dynamite Entertainment)
A bad man who’s also a wizard has some blood root and he’s using it to create beasts to destroy Conan and Red Sonja. They’ve recently acquired an army and came knocking on his door only to have him smite the heck out of their forces. Luckily his forces were taken down and Conan and Red Sonja are storming the castle. This issue picks up right there.
Why does this comic book matter?
The Dark Horse crossover was pretty sweet and this one has been too. For the most part. Considering this is a crossover between the publishers you have to give it credit for upping the ante. These characters don’t meet every day, after all!
He kinda looks like Conan.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
This issue is broken up between our heroes storming through the wizard’s last remaining forces and the wizard being pissed off at his oracle for not warning him of their impending attack. I had a problem with the last issue and how it was organized, but this one is much more straightforward. Writer Victor Gischler keeps the action going and keeps it fun with all sorts of things to battle through. They work together and revel in the fight, which is everything we want, right?
Victor Gischler introduces a twist of sorts as Conan and Red Sonja encounter an old man who tells a tale of woe. It’s a surprising aside and it helps to humanize things a bit and make it feel a bit more realistic. It’s short lived, but a nice addition.
The art by Roberto Castro is particularly sketchy this issue and reminds me of classic 80’s tales. The action continues to look fantastic and is choreographed very well too.
It can’t be perfect, can it?
Castro continues to draw Red Sonja supermodel skinny which is annoying, but I guess I need to get over it, don’t I? She certainly looks sexy, but it makes her more of a cartoon when she’s fighting with a two inch waist.
The wizard’s story is a bit boring and it certainly tries the reader’s patience. He’s basically whining the entire issue and saying the same thing over and over. Heck, even his oracle points out he’s being a baby. Instead of doing something about it he’s given a good amount of time in these pages and it’s rather pointless. There’s a twist of sorts that it builds towards I won’t ruin here, but it could have done a better job establishing this twist instead of watching the wizard whine for so long.
Ouch.
Is It Good?
A stronger issue than the last. Its action is exciting and well choreographed and there’s a surprising twist as we delve into the plight of an enemy Conan would normally just hack through.
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