Swords of Sorrow: Dejah Thoris & Irene Adler #3 - A Review

Irene Adler is returned to London and just in the nick of time!  For the alien beast Mycroft Holmes recruited her to track down is still on the loose. So is Dejah Thoris, who has really not enjoyed her time in London at all and would have words with the woman she thinks tried to assassinate her!


After two rather exciting and witty issues, the final third of Swords of Sorrow: Dejah Thoris & Irene Adler proves surprisingly weak.  Given how artfully Leah Moore had avoided the same-old-scenes where the heroes fight because of a misunderstanding, it's sad to see the sum total of this issue's action devoted to that cliche. And the conclusion involving the final fate of the wild Martian beast is a little too pat for my tastes.


The artwork by Francesco Manna seems seems somewhat rushed at times. There are a number of panels set in the mid-distance where there is hardly any detail at all on the individual characters and barely any inks separating the characters from the backgrounds. There are also some moments - like the top panel in the page above - where it seems a panel break would have been more efficient than layering one bit of the artwork on top of the other.

Swords of Sorrow: Dejah Thoris & Irene Adler #2 - A Review

Unlike the other Swords of Sorrow tie-ins thus far, this issue does not feature our titular heroines teaming-up or fighting one another. Instead we find them trading places, with Dejah Thoris now lost in Victorian London and tracking the Martian monster that is terrorizing the city. At the same time, Irene Adler tasks herself with chasing down an equally displaced big-game hunter, who is launching a one-man invasion of the city of Helium.


Leah Moore's script compares and contrasts both protagonists with surprising subtlety. Both Irene and Dejah are strong-willed women who suffer fools poorly and refuse to feel out-of-place on an alien world. But that is where the similarities stop.

Much like her famous foe Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler is unabashedly oblivious to the feelings - or indeed existence - of the people around her. She can't even be bothered to ask the name of the cab driver she recruits as a sidekick, never mind remembering it! By contrast, Dejah tends toward a more holistic view of the world around her, at one point admonishing a crowd not because she was insulted for her scanty dress but because they stood idle and let anyone be treated so rudely. And Dejah has more than a few words for a certain Mr. Holmes when their paths cross...


The artwork for this issue is equally delightful. Francesco Manna finds the perfect balance of rich detail and fluid simplicity in the pencils and inks. And the color palettes utilized by Inlight Studio are well chosen.

Swords of Sorrow: Dejah Thoris & Irene Adler #1 - A Review

In the royal palace of Helium, Dejah Thoris ponders two mysteries - the disappearance of her ally Tars Tarkas and the gift of a strange sword.  It is as dark as the night sky and strong as any metal on Barsoom, yet as light as a feather in her grip.

On another world in another time, Irene Adler is concerned with two mysteies as well.  She's been secretly hired by Mycroft Holmes to track down an otherworldly creature that attacked the House of Commons and finds herself in possession of a remarkable new sword-cane. But she is not the only one hunting the lion-like beast and the secret of its origins will bring two equally remarkable yet completely different women face to face.


Leah Moore's script for this issue is wonderful.  The lion's share of it is devoted to Irene Adler and the story is largely told from her perspective in a wonderful emulation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's oeuvre. Then we reach the bits with portals leaving to other planets, an English big-game hunter being let loose on Mars and half-naked, red-skinned amazons in the streets of London and this book becomes sort of original pulp lunacy Moore excels at writing.


The artwork for the issue is of similar high quality. Francesco Manna fits an amazing amount of intricate detail into the backgrounds, faltering only in how forced some of the character poses seem. The color art by Inlight studios, however, is without fault.

All in all this is a rollicking ripping yarn that lives up to the concept of this crossover!

Legends of Red Sonja #3 - A Review

Legends of Red Sonja continues to be one of the best bargains for your comics-buying dollar.  This third issue offers up a trio of stories, all dealing with the theme of vengeance.  The first story details the background of another member of  The Grey Riders - a mercenary band devoted toward hunting down and killing the heroine Red Sonja for one reason or another.


This story by Leah Moore is fairly standard stuff but it is still entertaining, centering upon Sonja as she is forced to save another adventurer from his own stupidity.  The artwork by Tula Lotay has a rough and dirty look to it that suits a story set in a necromancer's lair filled with zombies.

The second story is reportedly the first fiction published by Earth 2 artist Nicola Scott.  This story tells the tale of a witch with a grudge of her own against Red Sonja - one that makes her all too happy to deliver aid unto The Grey Riders.  Scott proves to be as skillful a writer as she is an artist.  And as in the previous chapter, Doug Holgate's artwork - while not the sort of style one usually sees in a sword and sorcery title- is appropriate to the story at hand.  


The third and final chapter of this issue is probably the best of a good bunch.  Written by Rhianna Pratchett (writer of the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot) this amusing story gives us yet another origin story for Red Sonja's famous chainmail bikini.  Gerd - the armorer who tells the tale - is a real hoot and I hope she shows up again in the regular Red Sonja title.  The artwork by Naniiebim has an aspect that puts me in the mind of medieval woodcuts.  This seems appropriate for a story that is light on action but high on humor.




Bottom Line: If you're a Red Sonja fan, you'll love this book.  If you aren't a Red Sonja fan, this book will make you into one!