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You can’t keep a good warrior woman down. Red Sonja, the she-devil with a sword has been hanging around in comics for more than 40 years – ever since Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith mashed together a few characters from various stories by Robert E. Howard and made her Conan’s female counterpart at Marvel Comics. Sonja has been around in various incarnations ever since, but she’s getting a new series in January at Dyanmie, written by Amy Chu and drawn by Carlos Gomaz. And the storyline is one we haven’t seen before: Sonja comes to the modern world, secifically New York City! What will she find! How will she dress/ WE caught up with Chu for a few insights:

rsvol401covcpetersonTHE BEAT: Wow, this comic has one of my favorite concepts from the “36 Dramatic Situations for Comic Book Characters” playbook: the fish out of water story! Do we really see Red Sonja in the modern day?

AMY CHU: Sure, but is she really a fish out of water? Sonja is a badass warrior – from her perspective she’s in the future and we’ve seen plenty of present day heroes in scifi stories where they adapt just fine.

THE BEAT: Setting aside the obvious social commentary, is there anything for a giant red headed swordswoman to do in modern New York City?

CHU: She learns some new skills for sure. She’s going to need some help so there’s a whole new cast of characters to help her out.

THE BEAT: Also, the cover shows her in the subway battling demons. I do not know which would be worse, battling demons in the subway, or sitting on a subway seat while wearing a bikini, chainmail or anything else. Brrrrrrr. How will Sonja deal with that?

CHU: Sonja doesn’t sit, she stands and glares and hogs the pole…

rsvol401covdcamuncoliTHE BEAT: Obviously even since this story was pitched the world has changed in astonishing ways. What will Sonja make of our modern world with it’s wider embrace of feminism than one might have found in Hyrkania?

CHU: Interesting question. Sonja’s not the most intellectual gal but she calls it like she sees it.  Honestly there’s not a whole lot of talking in this arc – she’s too busy fighting…

THE BEAT: How long will this story run? Will we ever see Red in her native swords and sorcery milieu again?

CHU: Six issues. We take as far as it goes, I think. If Sonja tires of this world, as so many of us do, so be it.

THE BEAT: What was the most fun about writing this story?

CHU: Putting her on a motorcycle!

rsvol401covfsubrubiRed Sonja Vol. 1 #1
Writer: Amy Chu
Art: Carlos Gomez
ON SALE DATE: 1/11
A new chapter for the Queen of the Hyrkanian Age. Our favorite warrior has faced the toughest of demons, foes and strange magic, but nothing has prepared this 6 ft. tall barbarian for…the modern world. Emerging from a subway construction site in New York City, confronted by cops and guns, Sonja fights for her survival in a new and hostile world. Is she here by accident or by design? Who brought her here, and why? By the creative team of Amy Chu (Poison Ivy, KISS) and Carlos Gomez (Dresden Files).

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