Aneke

In Red Sonja #2, Marguerite Bennett continues to layer political themes in the background while telling the story of Red Sonja trying to adapt to a more complicated Hyrkania after a long absence.

Red Sonja #1 has anything a fan of female fronted sword and sorcery comics could want from political intrigue and commentary to sweeping landscapes from Aneke and colorist Jorge Sutil, who gives Hyrkania the bluest skies and greenest woods as a facade for the corruption that infects this land that seems semi-utopian on the surface. (Namely, random settlers give Red Sonja sass when she offers to protect them for food, drink, and shelter.) And there also plenty of earthy humor and wit in writer Marguerite Bennett’s script, who continues to keep Red Sonja stinky from the moment she pulls the heart out of a bull monster. Bennett also explores Sonja’s approach to romance and relationships as well as her need to always be fighting or protecting someone and balances it nicely with the political intrigue.

On a surface level, it doesn’t seem that the sword and sorcery adventures of Red Sonja could fit in a Victorian steampunk story. However, in Legenderry: Red Sonja #1, writer Marc Andreyko and artist Aneke combine witty dialogue (and voiceovers), plenty of action, and hook readers in with a mystery/conspiracy plotline along with an equally mysterious foil for Red Sonja.