Red Sonja #60
Story by Eric Trautmann
Pencils by Patrick Berkenkotter
Colors by Marcio Freire
Letters by Troy Peteri
Covers by Fabiano Neves, Walter Geovani
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 14th, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

5 years of publishing at Dynamite and this book is still going strong! And Red Sonja #60 proves why it’s not going anyplace anytime soon. While not trying to change the world or win an Eisner, this book accomplished what it sets out to do-tell a fun tale of everyone’s favorite She-Devil with a sword!

I was not familiar with writer Eric Trautmann until a couple of weeks ago when I read his FANTASTIC Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1. And while I’m not a regular Red Sonja reader right now, I’ll be honest, the fact that he wrote it weighed heavily on my choosing to review it. I was NOT disappointed. He brings a certain level of fun-even in a deadly serious comic-to all of his projects and this one is no different. We have in this issue, just what we want out of a Red Sonja comic. Trouble in a small village, band of wandering heroes stumbles into a battle they are not at all prepared for and well…no spoilers here.

Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1
Plot and Script by Eric Trautmann
Plot and Art Direction by Alex Ross
Art by Daniel Indro
Colors by Slamet Mujiono
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Alex Ross, Paul Renaud, Francesco Francavilla, and Wagner Reis
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 30th, 2011
Cover Price: $1.00

Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1 is really the perfect first issue. It introduces the characters and the world and gives you a sense of where the book is, and at the same time, will have you very anxious for the next issue.

With a plot by Alex Ross and Eric Trautmann, the issue is perfectly scripted by Trautmann. There’s a number of nods to previous incarnations of Flash Gordon, from the 1980 live-action movie to the incredibly done animated movie Flash Gordon The Greatest Adventure Of All produced by Filmation in 1982. And while this issue is sort of a love letter to these other Flash Gordon medias, it’s never distracting and it won’t take anything away from readers who haven’t seen them. It only provides cool Easter eggs for those of us that have.

Each and every week “The American Dragon” MK2Fac3 and “Hall of Pain” Henchman21 read a lot of comics. Seriously you guys, a lot of comics. Maybe too many comics. I mean, it is possible”¦ theoretically. They look forward to some more than others, I mean, who doesn’t? So, let’s take a look into the depths of their pull lists, grab some comics, and we’ll let YOU know what the top books to look forward to are for the week of November 30, 2011. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

So, how was everyone’s Thanksgiving, huh? Did you get all full on your family dinners? Was it a lot of fun? Did you go out and shop at midnight on Black Friday? Or maybe you waited by your computer for all the Amazon Black Friday deals! I’ll bet that was a blast! Well, get over it! It’s a new week and hardly anything is coming out, so you can either be thankful that you don’t have to spend that much money this week, or you could head over to look at our Amazon wish lists and get US something! You ever think of that?? Sorry folks, I’m bitter and grumpy because I haven’t slept in days. Our editor has chained me to my laptop and it’s burning my arms. Make it stop!

Red Sonja #57
Written by Eric Trautmann
Art by Noah Salonga
Colors by Ranier Petter
Letters by Troy Peteri
Covers by Fabiano Neves, Walter Geovani
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 31, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

Red Sonja #57 was so action packed it is ridiculous, and I mean that in a good way. Out on an assassination assignment in Koth, she stumbles into a huge plot between members of an elite family and a ruler that may not be all he seems…one of whom she saved, another who she contracted to kill. The beginnings of the cross and double cross are brought to light, but only after Sonja battles a huge stone golem and dozens of men-at-arms.

Vampirella #9
Written by Eric Trautmann
Art by Fabiano Neves
Letters by Marshall Dillon
Colors by Marchelo Maiolo
Covers by Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic, Paul Renaud, Fabiano Neves, Ale Garza
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 31, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

First off, let me be honest. I’m not a consistent reader of this character, but I used to be. I was happy to be able to read and review Vampirella #9 since it used to be one of my favorite comics. Over the years, Vampirella has had major upheavals to her origin story, so much so that it got a bit confusing at times. Eric Trautmann has been very mysterious about his version until this book. I got a few glimpses but no detailed information which, truthfully, is intriguing. Fabiano Neves brings a starker image of Vampirella than many artists have in the past…quite a few have given her a more bimbo-like appearance, but I was happy to see her dressed to kick ass, not for a lingerie shoot.