Dynamite Entertainment has announced a new prestige project that will showcase an experimental art style and feature the talents of longtime Red Sonja storytellers. Entitled Red Sonja: Black, White, Red, the line will hit shelves later this year.
The black, white and red art style is intended to "fully bring the linework and writing to the forefront" while adding exciting bursts of color to things like Sonja’s bright red hair and the splashes of blood. The first issue will be written by Kurt Busiek and illustrated by Benjamin Dewey and will detail Sonja’s quest to retrieve an artifact from the Mountains of Night. While this will be Busiek's first Red Sonja story, he has worked on other Hyboria characters and was previously responsible for Dark Horse Comics’ Conan series from 2003-2006.
"I’ve gotten to roam around in the Hyborean Age before… but the one part of those classic comics that I never got to write was Red Sonja," Busiek said. "So it’s great to have a chance to correct that, and do a full-on Sonja story, where we can showcase what makes her great…" He also mentioned that he and his collaborator came up "with a way to use the limited palette that I think will be very striking."
Amanda Diebert (Wonder Woman) and Cat Staggs (Smallville) will collaborate on Issue #2, and Eisner-nominee Mark Russell (Fantastic Four, Second Coming) will partner with Bob Q (Way of X, Champions) will be bookending their recent run on the character with Issue #3. The cover art is by Lucio Parrillo, Emanula Lupacchino and Phillip Tan.
The character of Red Sonja is a combination of Robert E. Howard’s characters Sonya of Rogatino and Agnes De Chastillon, first appearing in 1930s pulp magazines. These characters' stories took place in 16th-century France, but things were changed for the 1971 comic book adaptation, moving them to the mythical Hyboria in order to cross over with Conan the Barbarian. It also inspired a feature film starring Brigitte Nielson. The character has seen increased critical acclaim after the 2019 reboot line and received special recognition after she was revealed to be bisexual in late 2020.
Red Sonja: Black, White, Red #1, by Kurt Busiek and Benjamin Dewey, goes on sale in July from Dynamite Entertainment.
Source: Dynamite Entertainment