Gail Simone’s iconic run on Dynamite’s Red Sonja will now be collected in a deluxe all-in-one oversized hardcover volume this fall. Featuring art by Walter Geovani, the 528-page book reprints Red Sonja #0-18 as well as various extras including covers from Jenny Frison, Nicola Scott, Fiona Staples, Amanda Conner, Stephanie Buscema, and more. The omnibus has a Frison cover and dust jacket.
Simone’s 20-year career includes runs on Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman, Deadpool, and Secret Six as well as original properties Clean Room and Crosswind. The scribe is currently reuniting with Geovani on the upcoming Death-Defying ‘Devil.
Simone’s Red Sonja gave the fantasy heroine a fresh new attitude and a revamped origin story.
In a statement, Simone said, “Dynamite essentially said I could do any book I wanted, and I was frankly leaning towards Vampirella a bit. And my mom, who doesn’t read comics, begged me to take Red Sonja. We’re both redheads, and for some reason, Sonja meant a lot to her, something about a woman with red hair who takes no S#!+ from anyone really resonated. I wanted a Sonja who was bawdy and crass and a bit of a hot-blooded wild child. We see this kind of male character often but they’re still pretty rare for females to this day. The idea that this Sonja sometimes gets a little dirty and smelly and can STILL throw down hard made me happy. But it was artist Walter Geovani who made her one of my all-time favorites. He could draw whatever complex emotion I requested, and I learned to trust him and love him like few other artistic partnerships I have been blessed to be part of. I’m proud that we helped put a shine on her chain-mail bikini again. I adore her. I adore Walter. I adore the wonderful team at Dynamite and I love everything about Sonja.”
“When Gail came aboard, I had already been working on Sonja books for about five years, but she made me feel like I was drawing something new,” said Geovani. “One thing I remember is that a Brazilian fan wrote to me saying that he had counted more than 100 Sonja cosplayers and he had never seen so much of them before Gail became the writer. I think this proves how the popularity of the character grew so much, and I am proud of being part of that.”
Red Sonja by Gail Simone Omnibus will be available for pre-order in July and is slated for release in September.
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