REVIEW: Altered States: Red Sonja

Cover A Main: Billy Tan
Writer: Brandon Jerwa
Art: Juanan Ramirez
Genre: Fantasy, Action/Adventure
Page Count: 32 pages
ON SALE DATE: March 11

At the risk of displaying my “Big Two” heart on my sleeve, I am old enough to remember the Elseworld series. During that run, there were some classics, Gotham by Gaslight, Superman Red Son for example, but for the most part they were quite forgettable.

Altered States may be Dynamite’s attempt to corral it’s other world properties into a modern worlds setting, but unfortunately, in order to do so, at least in this one shot, they have done so by bringing a lot of Sonja elements so in fact it is the main lead that seems out place.

If you have read my previous reviews, you will know my thoughts on inner dialogue; here it goes one step further with vocal monologue. In some places it can work, here, with so much having to happen, it becomes tiresome. The fact the Jerwa is saddled with a “one shot” book makes character development redundant and actions having repercussions even more so.

Art wise, the book looks ok. Just ok. Modern Sonja is drawn in a way that kind of negates the “gym body” comment. The images are engaging, with the required action poses, mixed in well with transition panels. I’m am sure that fans of the chain mail bikini will be happy and it could be said, it is the main selling point, despite the on going debate over women’s roles in comic books. I am not advocating either stance as the topic is more complicated than a couple of lines in a review.

Way back, in my teen years, I read a lot of Conan books and was looking forward to walking the Hyboran Hills again. Â I am left a tad disappointed but I realise, with the Altered State focus, this probably wasn’t the best book fit meet that expectation.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network