Tell me, Mr Holmes, do you meet many women?

Gail Simone et al “Swords of Sorrow: Complete Collection” (Dynamite, 2016)

This is bold and brave and I love it.

The story is that Dynamite approached Gail Simone & said that they wanted to do a massive crossover event featuring all their female characters, and they wanted her to write it. 

Keep in mind that unlike Marvel or DC, or even Archie for that matter, Dynamite does not have a shared universe. How do you write a story with aliens, supernatural creatures, pulp heroes, & other characters who exist separated by hundreds of years?

Simone said yes and then enlisted a group of very talented women to help with the writing chores.  Simone would write the main series, and the other writers would write the various spin off titles.

A baddie wants to destroy all realities, so a group of women are brought in to fight against this evil plan.  By my count we have 14 heroines involved, but the “big three” are Deja Thoris, Vampirella, and Red Sonja.

This series is huge and sprawling and a ton of fun.  Yes it is a bit uneven at times. It’s chaotic and feels a bit crowded at times as well.  I’m still not exactly sure who some of the characters are.  But it’s the closest I’ve felt to back when I would read crossovers in the early 70s.  Big, jumbled, chaotic—that’s just part of the fun!

As is so often the case with Dynamite, I feel like the art is where things are a bit less than top notch.  It was too hard to tell characters apart at times, and there were moments that were a bit too cheesecake for my tastes.

But my only real disappointment was that the eARC I received doesn’t have the full story! 400 pages & I’m still hanging!  Oh the inhumanity!

Such Sweet Sorrow

Gail Simone & Walter Geovani, “Red Sonja Vol 3: The Forgiving of Monsters” (Dynamite, 2016)

This volume is the end of Gail Simone’s run on Red Sonja, & so it seems appropriate for a couple of thoughts about the run as a whole.  My big takeaway is that Simone made Sonja into a real character for me.  While the concept had always been appealing, as a character Sonja seemed too much of a blank slate that existed just to show a chainmail bikini.  Simone’s take on the character has made her three dimensional to me.  I hope that someone else can continue this rehabilitation, or perhaps Ms Simone could move to some other characters in the Dynamite stable.

If you’ve been following this series, you know that Simone & Geovani have been doing top notch work.  How is the final chapter? Do they stick the landing?

Intriguingly, the finale story arc concerns Sonja being cursed so that she is unable to forgive.  That sounds minor, and yet we find that even a barbarian like Sonja has to forgive.  It’s surprisingly emotional.  

But hey, if you are in this for the swordplay, don’t worry – there’s plenty of it!  And one of the final battles is truly of mythic proportions.

This is a run that people will be talking about & seeking out in years to come.  Cut to the chase & read it now.