Marc Andreyko is wasting no time pulling in the public domain characters for Legenderry Red Sonja #2, adding a certain submarine to the mix. He is giving it a new twist, however, delivering a Victor Frankenstein bent on world domination while Elizabeth attempts to stop him.
Most of the book is narrated by Elizabeth as she tells Red Sonja the story of her creation. For much of the backstory, Andreyko sticks surprisingly close to Frankenstein when he recounts the original monster’s motives, intelligence, and actions. Later, of course, things move onward as Red Sonja and Elizabeth begin to deal with the scientists’ abductions. Andreyko continues to put his own stamp on Red Sonja who, in this iteration, is a hard-drinking, piratical sort who walks with a swagger and calls her crew “boys.”
Aneke’s work gives the issue character. She portrays the swagger and the devil-may-care look of Captain Sonja. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s face is a good mix of the innocent she once was with the rebuilt, Frankenstein’s monster she now is. On the style front, it is not clear why being stitched together means switching from a full-length gown to a ruffled miniskirt, particularly not in someone trying to hide all the bandages and seams. Aneke’s design for the Nautilus is a great mix of everything that is terrifying about sharks and the metal of a submarine. She gives the machine an impressive entrance, but she and Andreyko also know when not to show everything for the best effect.
Legenderry Red Sonja continues to be an enjoyable marriage of old stories and new twists.
Legenderry Red Sonja #2 is available March 18, 2015 from Dynamite Comics.
Writer: Marc Andreyko
Artist: Aneke
Colors: Impacto Studios
Letters: Dave Lanphear
Cover: Sergio Fernandez Davila and Ivan Nunes
