Interview: Red Sonja vs. The Knights of the Roundtable
Apr 12, 2022
Interview by Nicki Faust
It is a time of British legend! A young Red Sonja, cursed by mysterious chainmail, seeks counsel with the mysterious MERLIN. She seeks to be rid of her curse, in order to forge a future of fantasy and adventure! She will be pursued by the loathsome GREEN KNIGHT, and if she survives and arrives at the Castle Of Merlin, what she finds would be infinitely more than she bargained for.
In the following interview, PREVIEWSworld talks with the all-star creative team of Immortal Red Sonja, Dan Abnett (Justice League Odyssey), and Alessandro Miracolo (Red Sonja)! Keep reading...
Dan, you're no stranger to writing about the legends of King Arthur Pendragon, going back to your work on Knights of Pendragon for Marvel. What's it like to bring Red Sonja into this set of legends?
Abnett: I think it’s great, and it certainly appeals to me. As you say, I have form in that area :) More than anything, I think it’s a chance to showcase Sonja in a slightly different world, even though it’s still one of high fantasy and utterly appropriate to her. This is a new quest for her, a new set of adventures, taking her on an odyssey through dark age myths and legends (and not just Arthurian ones). So it moves her away from her traditional Hyborian lands, into a new realm where she can encounter things that might not have fit comfortably into her original setting. It’s a great chance to showcase her in a fantasy world in a way we’ve never seen in a Red Sonja book before.
What pieces of the Arthurian mythos and major characters can readers expect to see interacting - or fighting - with Sonja in this series?
Abnett: All sorts of things! And not just Arthurian myths, either. It’s worth saying that this isn’t just an arbitrary shift - just taking her and dumping her in a different fantasy realm. The shift is all part of the metastory: she’s been magically sent into these new lands to perform a quest, and that ties very much into Arthurian lore, but she’ll meet many other elements of folklore on the way. This is not her taking part in a retelling of the classic Round Table story - this is her entering the world of Arthur in the aftermath of the classic tale of Arthur and his knights, and exploring that world. And we’re giving it a very cool, authentic and realistic edge too. Forget the glossy Hollywood version, this is a grim and savage vision of what it would have been like if it had really happened.
One of the characters we'll get to see a lot of is the fabled Green Knight. Depictions of this mysterious character seem to be in the zeitgeist right now, such as a major acclaimed film this year. For those less familiar, how would you describe the Green Knight, and what makes him so intriguing?
Abnett: The Green Knight of myth has many aspects, but he’s often seen as a figure deeply connected with the dark and primordial side of nature. He is one of the key spirits of the ancient woodlands, and you do NOT want to get on the wrong side of him. He’s also got a big secret that we’ll unfold as we go along.
At its core, this series - previous working title "Red Sonja: Chainmail" - is calling back to the Hyrkanian heroine's original appearance from Conan the Barbarian #23 as drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith, prior to her "chainmail bikini" look that is seen in most stories. What is it about this character that makes it fun to try on different looks across different tales? And for Alessandro, how fun is that from the artist perspective?
Abnett: The chainmail shirt, inspired by that classic story, is the magical artefact at the heart of this saga. It’s a great call back to those earlier stories, and it defines her look for this particular book. This is the Immortal Red Sonja, warrior of myth and legend entering a haunted wilderness and leaving her familiar homelands behind. And Alessandro’s doing a fantastic job of realising this new world.
Miracolo: CIAOOO! I love Barry Windsor-Smith and for me this opportunity is really fantastic. I enjoy being able to create my own twist on the concept and following in the footsteps of so many legends. My hope is to not blight the She-Devil for her fans. Haha.
Alessandro, can you describe your artistic approach to this series? How are you attempting to meld the aesthetics of Red Sonja's Hyborian Age alongside the more traditionally known European medieval high fantasy?
Miracolo: Great question. The Hyborian age is very vast with so many diverse aesthetics - wastelands, mysterious cities, sorcerer kings, barbarians, etc. Luckily I'm a fan of the sword and sorcery genre, but talking to Dan and his idea of bringing Red Sonja into medieval fantasy, it's fantastic. I love those tales combining two fantastic worlds - it's really stimulating. I am watching films and reading stories that can give me ideas for my art.
Project Superpowers: Fractured States #1 (FEB220446) is available on April 6, 2022, at your local comic shop.
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It is a time of British legend! A young Red Sonja, cursed by mysterious chainmail, seeks counsel with the mysterious MERLIN. She seeks to be rid of her curse, in order to forge a future of fantasy and adventure! She will be pursued by the loathsome GREEN KNIGHT, and if she survives and arrives at the Castle Of Merlin, what she finds would be infinitely more than she bargained for.
By the all-star creative team of DAN ABNETT (Justice League Odyssey) and ALESSANDRO MIRACOLO (Red Sonja)!
It is a time of British legend! A young Red Sonja, cursed by mysterious chainmail, seeks counsel with the mysterious MERLIN. She seeks to be rid of her curse, in order to forge a future of fantasy and adventure! She will be pursued by the loathsome GREEN KNIGHT, and if she survives and arrives at the Castle Of Merlin, what she finds would be infinitely more than she bargained for.
By the all-star creative team of DAN ABNETT (Justice League Odyssey) and ALESSANDRO MIRACOLO (Red Sonja)!
It is a time of British legend! A young Red Sonja, cursed by mysterious chainmail, seeks counsel with the mysterious MERLIN. She seeks to be rid of her curse, in order to forge a future of fantasy and adventure! She will be pursued by the loathsome GREEN KNIGHT, and if she survives and arrives at the Castle Of Merlin, what she finds would be infinitely more than she bargained for.
By the all-star creative team of DAN ABNETT (Justice League Odyssey) and ALESSANDRO MIRACOLO (Red Sonja)!
It is a time of British legend! A young Red Sonja, cursed by mysterious chainmail, seeks counsel with the mysterious MERLIN. She seeks to be rid of her curse, in order to forge a future of fantasy and adventure! She will be pursued by the loathsome GREEN KNIGHT, and if she survives and arrives at the Castle Of Merlin, what she finds would be infinitely more than she bargained for.
By the all-star creative team of DAN ABNETT (Justice League Odyssey) and ALESSANDRO MIRACOLO (Red Sonja)!
It is a time of British legend! A young Red Sonja, cursed by mysterious chainmail, seeks counsel with the mysterious MERLIN. She seeks to be rid of her curse, in order to forge a future of fantasy and adventure! She will be pursued by the loathsome GREEN KNIGHT, and if she survives and arrives at the Castle Of Merlin, what she finds would be infinitely more than she bargained for.
By the all-star creative team of DAN ABNETT (Justice League Odyssey) and ALESSANDRO MIRACOLO (Red Sonja)!
It is a time of British legend! A young Red Sonja, cursed by mysterious chainmail, seeks counsel with the mysterious MERLIN. She seeks to be rid of her curse, in order to forge a future of fantasy and adventure! She will be pursued by the loathsome GREEN KNIGHT, and if she survives and arrives at the Castle Of Merlin, what she finds would be infinitely more than she bargained for.
By the all-star creative team of DAN ABNETT (Justice League Odyssey) and ALESSANDRO MIRACOLO (Red Sonja)!
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Nicki Faust's heart is as cold as concrete in the Chicago winter. When not writing for PREVIEWSworld, Nicki is busy playing Limbo on Twitch, writing about the great robot uprising on Medium, and completing the untitled follow-up to the 2012 best-seller, Sue Storm: A Nude Photobook.
