Red Sonja #71
Story by Eric Trautmann
Pencils by Edgar Salazar
Colors by Salvatore Aiala Studios
Letters by Simon Bowland
Cover by Walter Geovani
Edited by Joseph Rybandt
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 14, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Red Sonja #71 is a fantastic sword & sorcery comic. It’s got everything you want in a fantasy comic. Sword fights, magic and mystical artifacts, exoctic locations, and, oh yeah, a WICKED hot red head!

Writer Eric Trautmann crafts an interesting story. For 90 percent of the issue, Red Sonja is alone, so most of the story is told through a narrator. That doesn’t hurt the issue by any means, but I think it might have gone better if it was Sonja’s inner monologue instead of generic narration. It’s a great story of her quest in some ice land to take down an evil dragon and get revenge for one of her fallen comrades. The story moves along at a decent pace; most of the issue is a fight between her and the dragon and while it goes on for several pages, it never once drags or gets boring. Trautmann always keeps the pace up and actually gives us some of the history of the villain while the fights taking place. Very interesting storytelling and it ends on a mild cliffhanger that’s a nice touch.

Edgar Salazar is someone who I’m not familiar with, but he does a fantastic job here in this series. Needless to say, he’s got a talent for drawing very nice looking females, and, unlike other “hot girl” artists, he can draw other things just as well. Red Sonja #71 features an army, a land of nothing but ice, snow, and mountains, dragons, and mystic artifacts. All are drawn well and look just as they should. VERY nice job in this issue.

Even though this is the last chapter of a story arc, it’s pretty much a one and done. I wouldn’t say it’s a GREAT jumping-on point, but any new reader picking up this issue won’t have a problem at all. Give this one a try, you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise.