Pick of the Brown Bag
June 16, 2021
by
Ray Tate
Welcome to the latest issue of the Pick of the Brown Bag where I review the newest and the newish comic books. If you haven't the time for the full blog, check me out on Twitter: #PickoftheBrownBag.
The latest issue of Sonya Devereaux is surprisingly good. I don't mean that as a backhanded compliment. I've enjoyed all of Todd Livingston's, Nick Capetanakis' and Brendan and Brian Fraim's previous issues of Starring Sonya Devereaux. Now collected in trade for those without a local comic book shop.
The premise of Starring Sonya Devereaux is film.
Sonya Devereaux is an actress who stars in Z to B Grade movies. The comic book is the movie.
Warrior Woman Death Team 5 is basically as the cover depicts. It's a sword and sorcery movie from the eighties or nineties but filmed with today's technology and given a better script.
If you look at Mystery Science Theater's cache of experiments, you'll find very few of this genre. That's because the subject is already absurd to begin with.
Unless the movie is truly inept and/or features bad acting like that found in Ator the Flying Eagle or Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell, it's very hard to riff one of these movies. Most of the risible elements are built in.
Warrior Woman Death Team 5 has high production values, unlike Spider-Shark vs. Snake-Bear where professionals were searching for cryptozoology rejects in Walmart greeting vests.
So, here, we have extras, suits of armor, suitable wardrobe, some good weaponry. Traditionally these accoutrements have always been available. Very few if any of these fantasy films go on the super cheap with plastic swords or aluminum foiled cardboard as one may have used for Halloween.
The strangest thing about Warrior Woman Death Team 5 is the casting choice of a stand-in for Larry Drake as Lord Tombstroke.
Although I can't see Larry Drake portraying a medieval-like villain, he would no doubt kill it. Larry Drake was one helluva an actor, and one helluva an actor can pull off a lot of parts. Even those you wouldn't envision him in.
What I'm saying is this sort of throwback to Roman Emperor Nero isn't the most unusual Big Bad I've witnessed on the cinematic battlefield.
Even the name isn't too far-fetched given some of the whacky monickers foisted on unsuspecting audience members.
As for the jester, one shared a pivotal scene with Henry the Eighth in The Tudors. So the presence of a jester doesn't necessarily throw a production on the trash heap.
The women are Barbarian Queen and Xena types.
And a shout-out to colorist James Couts
As you can see, none of this really strains the disbelief necessary to suspend in a sword and sorcery scenario. Even if perhaps a few of the amazons strain their bra sizes.
Nevertheless, big all over and proportionate. There's frequent nudity in violent fantasy presentations. While we get one nude scene in Sonya Devereaux--it's dictated per ancient Blockbuster rules, censored before it hits the metaphorical video store.
This nude scene is cleverer than you think because the creative team pay homage to a classic exploitation flick.
Unlike Pam Grier and Margaret Markov's masterpiece, our female fighters here are just fooling.
Believe it or not there's no lesbian subtext in this latest Starring Sonya Devereaux
Sonya Devereaux is risqué at times, but nothing when compared to sword-fests like Flesh and Blood. Rutger Hauer's Martin rapes Jennifer Jason Leigh's Agnes, but she falls in love with the villain. It's a lot more complicated than that, but you get my point.
I've explained just how Warrior Woman Death Team 5 isn't so much a parody of sword and sorcery cinema as it is just another in a long line. So, why should you buy it?
Because it's damn funny, and it's not funny because it makes jokes at the expense of the plot. With a few outliers, the narrative is bona fide fantasy fuel. The jokes on the other hand are, out of context or in context, hilarious. Some with a few unexpected comedic callbacks pages later.
You can compare Sonya Devereaux favorably with The Invincible Red Sonja by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner. Moritat, Palmiotti's erstwhile partner from All-Star Western, returns to provide powerful and distinctive artwork as well as the earthy colors.
A wraparound explains the title of the book. Red Sonja is indeed invincible, and this is the story of how she came to be that way. The story unfolds mostly in flashback, with Sonja appearing on a pirate ship.
This scene exemplifies where Red Sonja an authentic sword and sorcery adventure splits from the parody. Moritat's illustration is open for debate. See what I did there? Conner and Palmiotti leave Sonja's relationship with Captain Rhaf to the imagination. They portray him as a man in the vein of Robert E. Howard's fiction.
Neither good or bad, with a peculiar moral code. He reminds me of a debauched Sinbad, whom Dungeons and Dragons aficionados would consider Lawful Good. Literally in some instances.
John Phillip Law The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
In turn, Sonja may have slept with Rhaf to gain passage, also to protect herself from unwanted lower rank advances. Or let's be blunt. Gang-raped. Alternately she may have simply bartered her skill for the voyage.
In either case, the Captain's word is law. So if he told his crew not to touch Sonja, they would not. He in fact reminds the crew of his aegis in another scene.
After an off-panel bloody encounter on the high seas, the pirates and Sonja gather their plunder and an odd find.
Except it's not so odd because Sonja Devereaux features a similar scene.
Girls in boxes are a trope that can be found in many sword and sorcery plots. Though not just. I suspect magicians have a hand in popularizing the motif. Although we may blame Barbara Eden in this particular case.
Princess Zaria's fate seems assured. Until Sonja, who is just that amount of a sister, tries a more reasonable tact.
This scene demonstrates the difference between the cheerful send-up and the casual brutality in sword and sorcery, especially the works created by Robert E. Howard, without whom there would be no genre. Think about it. Before Conan the Barbarian John Carter was the most popular half-naked swordsman. He had nothing to do with magic but science fiction. In addition, the movie Conan the Barbarian jumpstarted imitations in the eighties.
Sonja cannot let on that she thinks raping the girl is the wrong thing to do. Because that's not the right answer. You cannot have such confusing lofty ideals in such a place. She also must weigh the consequences.
Number one, she's bonded with the pirates. She established her place on the ship. She cannot jeopardize the whole enterprise over principle especially in the middle of the ocean.
Number two, Sonja knows her limitations. She doesn't believe she can take on the entire ship without being injured, perhaps acutely, in the process. And there's a question of whether or not such battle would be worth the effort. Sonja doesn't know Zaria. So why should she risk her neck for her? It's a breach of barbaric etiquette just to even consider principle.
Number three, she likes Captain Rhaf. He's a good ally, possibly good in bed. Regardless, he could be useful in the future as well as the present.
Number four, protecting Zaria for the sake of the right thing exposes Sonja's weakness in the way she chided Captain Rhaf earlier.
There is no law and order in Robert E. Howard's universe. His heroes and heroines mete out their personal dictates which on occasion reflect humanitarian thought.
Just as Sonja's scheme seems to be working, the unexpected occurs, and we segue to a new aquatic danger. Ably illustrated by Conner on the cover and within by Moritat.
The encounter with the sirens renews Sonja's acquaintance with Zaria. Zaria's rescue from predicament isn't far-fetched given the explanation, and it plausibly doubles as an escape from doom for Sonja. Although one can argue that Sonja would have survived her dilemma, albeit not enjoyed it.
Now safe in theory, Sonja accepts an offer from Princess Zaria.
The debut of Invincible Red Sonja is frothy and lustful adventure filled with bloodletting and brutality but the creative team convey these potentially objectionable elements with artistry, warmth and humor. That could be a double-edged sword. I didn't fear for Zaria's health at all and didn't think Captain Rhaf would actually give her to his crew. However, the lack of threat didn't impede my enjoyment of the book. It furthermore allowed me to sympathize more with the cast.
No comments:
Post a Comment