After Sonjaversal and The Invincible Red Sonjaand the announcement of Hannah John-Kamen (Star Wars, The Dark Crystal, Marvel, Game of Thrones,Tomb Raider) cast as the next live-action movie Sonja, the big year of Red Sonja continues. With her 50th anniversary arriving in 2023, now we have a new anthology series from Dynamite Entertainment beginning next week. Red Sonja: Black White Red combines three pairs of well-known writers and artists with a final book published in classic black and white with a touch of red–sometimes for Sonja’s flaming red hair, and just as often for the blood of her enemies.
Fans of James Bond have six reasons to check out a new graphic novel arriving tomorrow at comic book stores everywhere. Ian Fleming’sJames Bond 007: Reflections of Death combines the writing talents of comics creators Benjamin Percy, Greg Pak, Andy Diggle, Gail Simone, Mark Russell, Vita Ayala, and Danny Lore, with the artwork of Dean Kotz, Luca Casalanguida, Kewber Baal, Eoin Marron, Robert Carey, Jordi Perez, and Fay Dalton. The result is a single graphic novel finding Moneypenny kidnapped and drugged, forced to recount some telling exploits of our favorite 00 spy.
Legendary artist Frank Cho is back this month with a new way to get your hands on an exclusive run of a variant comic book cover design he created for Dynamite Entertainment’s ongoing Red Sonja series. Initially part of an earlier crowdfunding campaign, Dynamite has just opened up the opportunity for anyone to get their hands on one of four styles of Cho’s beautiful rendition of the famous “She-Devil with a Sword,” with color work supplied by frequent Cho collaborator Sabine Rich. According to Cho, “When Dynamite asked me to draw the Red Sonja cover, I jumped at the chance. Who doesn’t love a redhead with a sword? The cover will show Red Sonja at her best – power and beauty. My goal is to make her look strong, classic, timeless and iconic.” This limited time opportunity also provides the opportunity to purchase other collectibles featuring this definitive image of Red Sonja.
Heroes of the past unite for a third time under Dynamite Entertainment management, as the trade paperback edition of The Lone Ranger: The Devil’s Rope hits the stands this week. It’s 1887 in rural Texas, and wealthy landowners who have pressed Indian interests off their native lands are now doing the same for the farmer and rancher. Their method? Illegally taking lands and establishing boundaries with barbed wire, while influencing political interests to allow the illegitimate squatters to shoot to kill if anyone cuts the wire on “their” lands. Sounds like a good time for a hero.
Enter The Lone Ranger, disturbed at lunch by a stampede caused by the first shots in the conflict. The first murder is an excuse to enlist another hero from his past, Tonto, to help him confront the heavy tide of “progress.” Writer Mark Russell(The Snagglepuss Chronicles, The Flintstones) incorporates an innovative technological marvel to build a simple, classic Western tale of frontier America. Equal to the writing is the artwork by the artist known as Bob Q, whose simplicity echoes the barren landscapes his characters are fighting to protect. The artist’s best feat is the expressions of his characters. Black hat villains are easy to hate, and provide fodder for some sporting Texas Ranger justice by the original dynamic duo. Lettering is provided by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
You won’t find a lot of bold vision or layered storytelling here compared to past stories of The Lone Ranger, but you will find a good, easy read, reflecting plenty of truths of the robber baron era, the struggle of Americans to build a nation, and pulp and cinema heroes who never grow old. Readers of recent Jonah Hex and Zorro stories will likely enjoy the style and story in this book. It also has bits of action and villains like you’ve met before in 3:10 to Yuma, The Magnificent Seven, and Django Unchained.
Here is a 12-page preview of the 138-page trade edition of The Lone Ranger: The Devil’s Rope, courtesy of Dynamite Entertainment:
