Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Amy Chu, Carlos Gomez, Comics, dynamite, entertainment, Erik Burnham, red sonja

Writer's Commentar: Erik Burnham on Red Sonja #13

Dynamite has sent us a writer's commentary by Erik Burnham. He talks about Red Sonja #13 which he did with writer Amy Chu and artist Carlos Gomez. It features covers by Ben Caldwell and Brent Schoonover.

Red Sonja and her time traveling companion Professor Wallace take a wrong turn on their way back to the Hyborian Age, and now they find themselves in … Hell. Can the She-Devil fight her way back out? Or is this where they finally belong?

* * * * *

Hey, folks! It's time for a commentary on Red Sonja #13, and I'm taking time from my weekend to give it to you!

Don't worry, you've all earned it.

First, look at that Ben Caldwell cover with the walk of fame. It's a cool design! Sadly, it was done before I was brought on, so I don't have a star. Which… which is fine. I guess. I'll just pretend it's been obscured by the logo.

There are also covers by Moritat; Fernando Ruiz, J.Bone, and Dan Parent; my pal Brent Schoonover & Chris O'Halloran; and, just to even it all out, there's a cosplay cover. We have a good mix.

Now, on to the story, once again drawn up and made pretty by Carlos Gomez on linework and Mohan on colors (with Simon Bowland slinging letters!)

ONWARD!

PAGE 1:

Sonja has a nice little flashback to some of the other times she's been to hell. When you're a sword-and-sorcery style adventurer, I'm sure it comes up a lot. I bet the Hyborean Costco has discount packages.

Good plot thread for the future. We can call the story "And the membership fees are DEATH!"

Okay, maybe not.

PAGE 2:

Turns out it's not simply hell, but one particular hell — for the Set Priests who hired Sonja and the other mercenaries to help them escape.

Hell is diverse. You can also tell this by the fact that the dude in the background has a cowboy hat. This wasn't in the script, so we must just assume all hells have cowboys. Carlos knows what he's doing.

PAGE 3:

Sonja with sarcasm and pragmatism. She's not stupid. They need to escape. They need a plan B.

PAGE 4:

Hey! Wait! Wallace can make a portal spell! We shouldn't forget about that. Surely in hell, with a group of Set Priests, he can draw enough magic to conjure one up, right?

PAGE 5:

Oops. Right. Hell isn't going to be easy to just escape. I'm glad we thought of that. It would've been embarrassing if the story had ended there.

On the other hand, we could have spent the next 15 pages having Sonja singing songs in a bar. We could've got a melody chip inserted into the comic… next level stuff, folks. Shame I didn't think of that until just now.

We're all losing out because of it.

PAGES 6-7:

Looking for another way out, Sonja moves to explore the ziggurat. And, I mean, they have a giant snake in the basement. Would you trust these guys?

PAGE 8:

This is one where artistic representation made me chuckle. I fully expected a rendering on the walls to resemble carvings or hieroglyphics… and then I see this, looking all airbrushed. It's fantastic. And I bet those set priests have a bitchin' van.

Now youngster with the sneak attack!

PAGES 9-10:

… But he's no match for Sonja. And his little attack screwed the whole crew — she's decided they deserve the hell they're in. She's not going to try and save them.

Rough luck, fellas.

Cowboy hat's down with leaving 'em, though.

PAGES 12-13:

Okay, I actually went back and looked to see if I accidentally cut and pasted a double-hurl into the script. It's just an oopsie, but I have a no-prize worthy explanation.

We, uh, we were paying homage to Tony Jaa and showing the same stunt from 30 different angles in a movie instead of picking the best for story flow. That's it.

This is Wallace's Tony Jaa moment. If I could've worked in an elephant, it would've been perfect.

PAGE 14:

Now, since it's hell, some kind of complication was gonna pop up — and here it is, everyone Sonja's ever killed, coming for revenge.

That's … a lot of revenge.

Like "Hyborean Costco had a sale" level of bulk revenge.

PAGE 17:

AND WHAT'S THIS?

A rescue! All the Meruvians who were unjustly killed by Kulan Gath show up to hold back the forces of Sonja's doom, giving them a chance to escape.

Hooray, dead innocents! You saved the day!

PAGE 18:

No snark here, I really love the rendering of the ghosts in the forest. It's very creepy and has great atmosphere.

PAGE 19:

Aw, poor Wallace.

PAGE 20:

And here it is, the way out of hell: the River Styx!

It may also be the shuttle to a Megadeth concert.

Sonja's down either way.

THAT'S IT!

We'll see you in a few weeks for Sonja's proper return to Hyborea!

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