Christopher Priest Takes on the She-Devil with a Sword
May 16, Mt. Laurel, NJ: One of the most legendary creators in comics history meets one of its most celebrated characters, as Sonja Reborn slashes into stores and readers’ pull lists this August!
Reborn is a tale of survival which takes a hard look at what life in the Hyborian Age might actually be like for a modern woman who finds herself suddenly thrust into it! How might a single woman survive a land of mystical threats and monsters without caving into her fears, dying of infection, or losing the at-best conditional loyalty of her ragged band of male cutthroats? What might this woman really be like and how could she possibly survive?
Christopher Priest (Superman Lost, Conan the Barbarian, Black Panther) has been a boundary-smashing figure in comics for nearly five decades, both on and off the page. With works of his serving as the foundation for billions-grossing blockbusters, Dynamite has been fortunate to work with him through the years and particularly on the Daughter of Drakulon, Vampirella. While he continues innovating in those tales, now in 2025 he also presents an inventive take on the other crown jewel among the Women of Dynamite, Red Sonja.
“We might have called this book ‘Becoming Red Sonja,’” Priest said. “The book delves into the culture shock of a presumed nightmare from which you cannot awaken. Both Black Panther and Quantum & Woody employed observational humor of the sidecar character, a voice from outside of the conceit of the fictional universe it observes, which can underscore both the drama and the humor of a world gone completely insane. Sonja Reborn is our “Kelvin Universe” alternate take on the classic, branching off from familiar paths in order to spiral chaotically into the unknown. I’m having a blast writing it, which is equal parts endorsement and warning!”
Priest acolytes and Hyborian Age scholars may know that Priest is no stranger to the mythos or even Sonja herself, who featured prominently in storylines from his runs on her barbarian compatriot. Yet now, back after more than three decades, with full focus and creative rein, fans will experience his unparalleled approach to the character and her world. This new series brings his trademark missing-puzzle-piece plot assembly and twisted sense of humor, for a historic reimagining of the classics by Roy Thomas, Frank Thorne, Barry Windsor-Smith, Esteban Maroto, John Buscema, and more.
Sonja Reborn presents a new Sonja for a new age. Ancient and codependent gods The Light and The Dark are engaged in a cosmic contest to decide the fate of the world. Young British diplomatic clerk Maggie Sutherland, stolen from the year 2025, suddenly finds herself their pawn in play. Ripped from a modern 21st century world and transported into the wilds of Hyboria, Maggie awakens transformed into the fiery-haired Hyrkanian reaver Red Sonja.
Caught perilously out of her environment amidst a world of gods and monsters, constant threats, new friends and foes alike, Maggie / Sonja must try to figure out what fate has beset her and struggle to find her way home. Together, Priest and Sonja veteran artist Alessandro Miracolo set out with their readers on a quest to reexamine the crimson-maned warrior from the inside out, creating a riveting reinterpretation of Maggie’s hero’s journey to reveal what it might actually take for a woman to survive and thrive in a brutal world of swords, sorcery, and barbarism!
