[NOTE: Potential spoilers! Buy and read the book, then come back here for some colossal commentary!]
Two series – Red Sonja: The Superpowers and Vampirella: The Dark Powers – – dovetail in this dynamic issue. While readers may have been expecting these two companion series to cross-over at some point, I hope the way they do, and the mechanisms that pit the characters against each other are both unexpected and satisfying. Both series have been about famous non-superheroes characters becoming superheroes, unlikely and potentially silly turns of events that nevertheless were played ‘straight’ to see what would happen.
So the whole point of this issue is that the series come together, that the characters come together, and that they battle each other: not just as two very famous but mismatched characters (the ultimate game of ‘who would win a fight between….?’) but also as the superheroes they have become.
It’s also a throwback to classic comic stories I read and enjoyed as a kid, and which perhaps happen less often these days: an entire issue given over to one, extended, choreographed battle.
Pages One to Four
Once our characters are dynamically introduced, and the reasons for their opposition established, the battle begins. The idea was to showcase their abilities, and almost stage the fight ‘blow by blow’, following each action and reaction. On paper, Sonja is the weaker of the two, a fact you have to accept even if she’s your favorite character ever. Despite her courage, skills and sheer tenacity, she ought to be no match for a genuinely post-human, super-powered being like Vampirella.
But, thanks to the Project, Sonja has been upgraded.
Pages Five to Eight
The beat by beat begins properly. Each skill, talent, trick and power is countered by another, sometimes in ingenious ways. Vampirella, who simply can’t even given the day she’s just had, is actually surprised at how well Sonja holds her ground. This is not the push-over she was expecting. Sonja, meanwhile, is Sonja. She just will NOT give up.
Pages Nine to Ten
Jonathan’s art is, as always, amazing. He’s one of the most kinetic and cinematic artists around, and perfect for this kind of throw-down, choosing angles, switching perspectives, and making the most cinematic use of the ‘effects’… impact, pneumatic force, collateral damage – as realistic punctuation in what might otherwise have been a slugfest. A character hits a character — so what, so very comics. But when we see, for example, the way a car is crushed or damaged as a consequence of that hit, or the way glass shatters, we suddenly start to FEEL the energy and power of the battle.
This is, to me, a text book exercise in visual storytelling, flowing — like great dance — from panel to panel. You could actually take off all the lettering and all the story, and still be able ‘read’ and understand exactly what the flow is, and follow the course of events.
Pages Eleven to Fourteen
Let’s not forget the ancillary creation at work here either. Hassan’s lettering is always top notch, and throughout he uses the sound effects to regulate impact and effect, demonstrating variations in scale and power, and even establishing the direction and ‘tone’ of the fight. His lettering fits perfectly, adding, in a beautifully designed and integrated way, to the visual storytelling. The sound becomes part of the kinetics and part of the flow.
Andrew’s colors are also fantastic. Most of the time he is coloring ‘like for like’, in what might simply be called ‘realistic ways’, but he is able to ‘drop back’ backgrounds in flatter or neutral tones in panels where it’s necessary to emphasize the foreground figures or — and page eleven is a great example — drop into block color for more expressionistic sequences, where color, in this case solid reds, are more about the emotion and rage and violence then they are some literal depiction.
Pages Fifteen to Nineteen
By page fifteen, Vampirella is backing off. It’s not that she thinks she’ll be beaten, it’s more that she’s had enough of what she regards as a pointless clash. She’s annoyed: Sonja is so tenacious. Spectacularly, she uses her powers to take to the sky… and Sonja follows, kicking in the powers of her own Project suit, which she has already been able to deploy in various ingenious ways.
The outcome? Well, read the issue. The battle is decided by sheer determination and ingenuity, and also in a way that is perfectly ‘in character’ with these two, given the agendas they are locked into. It’s probably not the ending or result either one of them was expecting… or the reader either, for that matter. This is what happens when two ‘non superheroes’ have to play by superhero rules of engagement.
Pages Twenty to Twenty Two
In our finale, we turn our attention back to the ‘big story’, the problem that has kicked this clash off and which underpins the entire saga. It’s big indeed, a major threat… and for those of you (all of you, I hope) that have enjoyed these series, it promises a major sequel where the greater threat is confronted head-on. That epic is coming soon… so make sure you come back soon, too.
Red Sonja: The Superpowers #5 is available from comic stores and via digital at comiXology
