I SAW RED SONJA 2025

The new, MGM Red Sonja, directed by M.J. (Solomon Kane) Bassett and scripted by Tasha (Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft) Huo, is a semi-remake of the 1985, Richard Fleischer exploit starring Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger, though in other ways, the revision returns to the character's Marvel roots and the subsequent novels by David C. Smith and Richard Tierney. (Keep in mind, Robert E. Howard's literary, Sonya [note the spelling] was not part of the Cimmerian world. In Howard's tales, she's a 16th century adventurer.) 

The 2025 retelling is akin to Furiosa and the Gladiator movies, in this case with a Hyrkanian forest/animal-loving lass, played by the striking Matilida (A Classic Horror Story/Reptile) Lutz, who's mother (Veronica Ferres) was slaughtered long before. Sonja has been left to fend for herself, hoping to find her people, progressing into a warrioress, adapting red hair from a magical dye and donning skimpy chainmail because, well, it pleases the arena crowd. She's been captured, of course, to fight in the grand, bread-and-circuses, Damanti arena, but instead of the circumstances breaking her, they catapult her into a champion, one to break the political arrogance that's come to define her. 

The prime antagonist is David Sheehan's Emperor Draygan the Magnificent, a former, vengeful slave with a secret past, who's joined by his "betrothed," Wallis Day's Dark Annisia, an addicted woman he keeps under his bewitching control and who's mad enough to seek Sonja's head, with marriage being the emperor's prize. 

Draygan, like Sandahl Bergman's Queen Gredren in the Fleischer adaptation, draws his power from an unworldly orb, which he manipulates through the inscriptions found on a partial, Hyrkanian text, with the other portion yet to be found. To ensure he obtains it, he attempts to enlist our heroine for his quest, but proud Sonja has other plans.  

However, before any of this befalls, Sonja converges with regal combatants, as well as other assorted friends and foes, all of whom are steely, sturdy and portrayed by Michael Bisping, Rhona Natasha Mitra, Luca Pasqualina, Katrina Durgan, Eliza Matengu and Martyn Ford (a general-ranked man-beast, who instills an old-school, Planet of the Apes charm). 

To depict Sonja's epic landscape, there's quality CGI, which reaches a fevered pitch when Draygan puppeteers a towering, ram-horned cyclops to rattle the fighting field. The sequence's visuals, even if computerized, are sharp, unpretentious and clear, benefitted (as is the case with the entire tale) by Lorenzo Sentatore's exquisite photography and a moving, majestic score by Sonja Belousova and Gloria Ostinelli. 

I've already read a heap of derision on how Lutz doesn't look formidable enough for a swordswoman and that her revealing attire is (here we go again!) sexist. One crass critic even dismissed the movie for resembling a direct-to-SyFy quickie, but all of this is balderdash, expressed by know-it-alls who don't know jack about the revisionist character's long-standing, pop lineage. 

Be aware that this Sonja isn't a bland, unerring token cut from the Rey Skywalker cloth (the sort the know-it-alls seem to prefer), but a lady who's struggled every step of the way. She wields an impassioned goal, which makes her entanglement with Draygan and Annisia inviting, and that in turn, gives unprejudiced viewers the cause to root for her. 

My verdict: Red Sonja 2025 isn't a world-shaker, but it's sure as hell forceful, beautiful and sexy. It would be great if it raised another chapter or even another Conan the Barbarian. I guess the odds don't favor either, but if the latest Red Sonja joins the 1985 version as another one-shot, that's still reason enough to rejoice. No matter what the myopic may want or wish, the movie exists! 

ROBERT E. HOWARD: A BIO OF LIFE AND DEPTH BY DAVID C. SMITH

Robert E. Howard is David C. Smith's mentor, even though Smith never conversed with the burly Texan. The Conan creator died well before any such meeting could have transpired. However, Howard's audacious journeys prompted Smith to shape his own stealthy sword-and-sorcery alternatives, including the towering tales of Oron of Attluma and six, successful Red Sonja novels with Richard L. Tierney. 

Smith emotes his gratitude in "Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography", published PulpHeroPress. The biography is detail-laden and because of it, essential for any Howard fan. 

The text covers a stupendous span, though I found Smith's allusions to Howard as an Ernest Hemingway variant most intriguing. The comparison makes sense, even without Smith's penned implicitness. After all, both men were moody, robust and when the opportunity rose, eager to seize life by the gullet. They also committed suicide, leaving their admirers yearning for stories that were never to be, though their existing labors continue to echo. Of course, there's more to Howard's presence than his tragic, Hemingway-esque traits, as Smith deftly demonstrates.

Smith introduces us to Howard's parents, Issac Mordecai and Hester Jane: the latter, a lifelong, nurturing force, whose passing left a horrendous hole in her son. Smith also caters to Howard's colorful contention with H.P. Lovecraft and his links to raconteurs, Tevis Clyde Smith and Novalyne Price: Howard courted Price for a spell, though their relationship never progressed beyond platonic. 

Howard's discourteous views are highlighted among these interludes, granting a comprehensive view of the man: an individual of plebeian restrictions and flaws, who yet administered the astounding penchant for mass-appeal exoticism. 

To heighten the biography, Smith supplies overviews of Howard's works. Through each synopsis, one absorbs Howard's genius and from the condensed but extensive queue, one comes to understand why readers grew captivated by the author's content, not only for its sensational scenarios, but its iconic, elemental personas: Conan, Kull...Red Sonya. (FYI: Howard's renowned redhead differs from Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith's chain-mail-bikini Sonja of Marvel myth, who Smith and Tierney further popularized per their ACE paperbacks. Sonya, unlike Sonja, swashbuckled the 16th Century.)

To make its varying ingredients gel, Smith mounts the biography's chapters like pieces of an ever expanding mosaic. From his passages, portraits and events (often poetic in their flow) cross, spotlighting the author's ascent to the prestigious peak of Edgar Rice Burroughs, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien: in other words, the stuff of legend. 

Howard's impact on audiences and artists throughout the pop-cultural sectors is indubitable and all-consuming. Smith's powerful profile proves this beyond debate, giving fans a vital reference source to appreciate and contemplate. 

David C. Smith's "Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography" can be purchased at https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Howard-Literary-Biography/dp/1683900979/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544912968&sr=8-1&keywords=robert+e.+howard+literary+biography.

AIRSHIP 27 PODCAST (MARCH '18): READY FOR TAKEOFF!!!

It's that wondrous time again, folks, when Captain Ron Fortier and Chief Engineer Rob Davis take us on another Airshp 27 flight of fancy with Podcast March '18!!!

This episode caters to the upcoming Pulp Factory Awards and Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention; plus special focus is given to legendary "Red Sonja" author, David C. Smith, who'll act as a panelist at the latter. (Smith, I might add, is a longtime friend, which makes his participation all the more exciting.)

Details on Airship 27's upcoming Brother Bones; Sherlock Holmes; Moon Man; and Allan Quatermain anthologies are also supplied. 

Tune in today at ... http://zone4podcast.com/airship27-37/... to fill your head with all the informative New Pulp fun!!!

I saw Red Sonja: Queen of Plagues...

As far as motion-comic presentations go, Shout! Factory's "Red Sonja: Queen of Plagues" is a peculiar one. The style of this Gail "Birds of Prey" Simone epic is unlike other motion comics, such as "Watchmen", "Killing Joke" or the various disjointed Marvel samplings that have surfaced over the years. This one is almost pure animation, except that Walter "Witchblade" Geovani's artwork flows at a surreal, sluggish pace: panels devoid of borders or caption balloons; but faithful to the original source in both an admirable and yet ponderous manner. In other words, traditional animation done in Geovani's style would have been a wiser choice in this instance. 

Regardless, "Queen of Plagues" is a rambunctious (and at times, quite austere) adventure, pitting the She-Devil with a Sword against a spiritual sister: the relentless and misguided Dark Annisia. Both women once fought in the arena. Both became friends, or so it seemed, but with the passing of time, they've ended up on opposite ends. 

Dark Annisia has sallied forth to purge villages of the plague, even slaughtering children throughout her mad crusade, while conversing with hideous spirits that others cannot hear or see; and dear Red Sonja is led to believe that she, too, is infected by whatever the hell is spreading across the land; forced into exile (marked by an ominous tell-tale bird upon her comely face) and accompanied by her youthful but supportive companions, Alya and Nias.

Through Red Sonja's ordeal, there's much reflection, most catering to her relationship with Annisia and an ill-fated alliance with a king, who she learns was assassinated. (Additionally, the king's disenchanted, alchemist son figures in, yearning to avenge his father's death.) The story also presents the heroine's development from an early age and the injustice forced upon her, making Simone's tale a tense and fierce reboot of the legend: an otherworldly "I Spit on Your Grave", one might say. 

The dialogue is excellent, using the vernacular at times, but otherwise credible for its classic setting. The voice actors (with sexy Misty Lee in the lead) do a marvelous job bringing the principals to life, and of course, Geovani's designs (whether flowing slowly or paused) are wonders to behold. 

With some retellings, there's the tendency to get too cute and clever along the way (a kind of reinventing of the wheel, if you will), so that the characters and their tales lose the spirit that once distinguished them. "Queen of Plagues" doesn't fall victim to that. It recaptures the best of Marvel's Robert E. Howard modifications and embodies the best elements of any given David C. Smith/Richard Tierney early '80s novel. Those-in-the-know will be pleased. 

On another admirable note, "Queen of Plagues" (whether in the Dynamite Entertainment printed form or the disc version) makes no apologies for its realistic and emotional depiction of revenge, and therefore well reflects the spectrum of the human condition. It boldly defines right from wrong, when to fight and when to set down one's sword: all practical tactics to live by, even if presented within fantastic trimming. 

Whether one be young or old, male or female, there's a lot to enjoy and ruminate upon with this entry: a powerful piece of storytelling of a make-believe age gone-by that's as relevant as any modern-life essay.