CONAN / RED SONJA

Script by: Gail Simone & Jim Zub | Pencils by: Dan Panosian (#1-2) & Randy Green (#3-4)
Inks by: Dan Panosian (#1-2) & Rick Ketcham (#3-4) | Colors by: Dave Stewart
Letters by: Jimmy Betancourt at Comicraft
Conan was created by Robert E. Howard
Red Sonja is based on a character created by Robert E. Howard

At some point in the nineties, the rights to Red Sonja and Conan split apart. Sonja had been created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel's CONAN THE BARBARIAN comic series, but somehow her intellectual property was deemed separate from Conan's but also separate from Marvel's. Both IPs were allowed to make use of Robert E. Howard's Hyborean Age settings and concepts, but neither could use the other's title character. Thus, for close to two decades, Conan has been published by Dark Horse Comics while Sonja has had a home at Dynamite for about the past ten years. And for a while, rumor had it that Dark Horse and Dynamite were not willing to play nice for any sort of crossover.

So it was kind of a big deal in 2013 when the two publishers jointly announced a CONAN/RED SONJA mini-series to be written by the characters' respective ongoing writers, Brian Wood and Gail Simone, and published by Dark Horse. The series eventually saw print in 2015 with Wood replaced by Jim Zub, and a collected edition was released later in the year -- which brings us here.

The story by Simone and Zub follows Conan and Red Sonja across a handful of meetings spanning several years of their lives. The first encounter each other in their youth, a pair of brigands hired separately to steal a precious box from a corrupt prince. The container's contents are eventually revealed as deadly "bloodroot seeds", and the man after them is a servant of the evil wizard Thoth-Amon. Conan and Sonja are unimpressed, burning the seeds before they can be turned into a weapon of mass destruction, then killing their employer and going their separate ways.

FANTASTIC FOUR #262

"THE TRIAL OF REED RICHARDS"
Story and Art: John Byrne | Letters: Jim Novak | Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Michael Higgins | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: John Byrne and assistant editor Mike Higgins discuss the next issue of FANTASTIC FOUR over the phone. Following their call, Byrne is abducted by the Watcher and taken to observe the trial of Reed Richards. Lilandra of the Shi’ar conducts the trial with the Watcher serving as Reed’s defense counsel.

A Skrull warrior testifies for the prosecution, condemning Reed for his indirect role in the destruction of his home planet. The Watcher then calls Odin of Asgard as his first witness, and Odin explains that Galactus is a force of nature, a test all planets in the universe must face sooner or later. Next Galactus appears and together he and the Watcher summon Eternity, living embodiment of the universe. Eternity allows all present to see through Galactus’s eyes, and they realize that he has no free will; he is indeed a force of nature which the universe needs.

Later, Byrne prepares to write and draw the scene he just witnessed and the Watcher urges him to do it quickly, as knowledge of the trial’s specifics will soon fade from the minds of all involved.

FANTASTIC FOUR #261

"THE SEARCH FOR REED RICHARDS"
Story & Art: John Byrne | Colors: Glynis Wein | Letters: Jim Novak
Editing: Bob Budiansky | Searching: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Namor and Marrina drop Sue off at the Baxter Building and depart. After calling Avengers Mansion and learning Reed had been there, Sue and the Silver Surfer travel to the mansion as well. The Avengers are out, save the Scarlet Witch, who informs them of Reed’s kidnapping. The Surfer uses the Power Cosmic to divine that Reed has been taken out into deep space.

Sue summons Ben and Johnny and together they head for the Moon to enlist the aid of the Watcher. He guides the Fantastic three to a ragtag alien fleet comprised of the survivors of numerous worlds destroyed by Galactus. These aliens plan to execute Reed, but the Watcher convinces them otherwise. As the aliens begin to deliberate over Reed’s ultimate fate, Empress Lilandra of the Shi’ar Empire arrives and declares that Reed must die.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Namor lays a big wet smooch on Sue before leaving, as a reminder of what she might have had if she had accepted his advances many years ago. A footnote tells us that Sue’s return to New York takes place a few hours following the conclusion of ALPHA FLIGHT #4.

X-MEN BY CHRIS CLAREMONT & JIM LEE OMNIBUS VOLUME 2

Hardcover, 2012. Collects UNCANNY X-MEN #273 - 280, X-FACTOR #63 - 70, X-MEN #1 - 11, and GHOST RIDER #26 & 27.

Following from the X-MEN BY CHRIS CLAREMONT & JIM LEE OMNIBUS volume 1 and the X-TINCTION AGENDA hardcover, both released in 2011, 2012 saw Marvel issue the second book in their Claremont/Lee duology. And where the first volume was extremely light on contributions from Lee, volume 2 more than makes up for it -- of the 27 issues collected herein, more than half are illustrated by Lee.

The book opens with a recap page stretching all the way back to the "All-New, All-Different" era, giving broad strokes of the entire Chris Claremont X-MEN canon -- appropriate, since this book collects the twilight of his long, long run. From there we head into X-FACTOR 63 and 64 by Louise Simonson and Whilce Portacio, pitting the original five X-Men against a group of cyber-ninjas for the life of Iceman's girlfriend. Honestly, I'm not sure exactly why these issues appear here, since they really serve no purpose in the volume's overall narrative; however the issues are notable for being long-time writer Simonson's final X-FACTOR story.

Next are UNCANNY X-MEN 273 through 277 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee, featuring the X-Men in space against the Shi'ar while Rogue, Magneto, and Nick Fury battle Zaladane in the Savage Land on Earth. After this epic comes the final saga of the original X-Factor in X-FACTOR 65 through 68 by Claremont and Portacio (the former presumably on board to better set up the X-books' impending linewide realignment while the latter turns in the near-final issues of his brief X-FACTOR run before assuming penciling duties on UNCANNY X-MEN).

SPIDER-MAN / RED SONJA

Writer: Michael Avon Oeming | Artist: Mel Rubi
Colorist: Brian Buccellato | Letterer: Simon Bowland
Assistant Editors: Alejandro Arbona & Lauren Sankovitch | Editor: Bill Rosemann
Consulting Editor: Joe Rybrandt | Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada | Publisher: Dan Buckley
Special Thanks to: Tom Brevoort, Josh Johnson, Juan Collado, Nick Barrucci, Jason Ullmeyer, Arther Lieberman, and Luke Lieberman
Red Sonja is based on the Heroine Created by Robert E. Howard

In 1979, Marvel, then holder of the license which (at the time) included both Conan and Red Sonja, published a MARVEL TEAM-UP issue pairing the She-Devil with a Sword and Spider-Man in a fight against the evil wizard, Kulan Gath. in 2008, Marvel and current Red Sonja rights-holder, Dynamite Entertainment, teamed up for a sequel to that tale by the then-current RED SONJA creative team of Michael Avon Oeming and Mel Rubi.

It's worth noting that in the interim -- only a few years after the original team-up -- the scripter of that MTU issue, Chris Claremont, penned a sequel story sans Sonja in the pages of UNCANNY X-MEN, in which Kulan Gath transformed New York into a replica of his native Hyborean era and set various mind-controlled superheroes against Spider-Man for revenge. But by that story's conclusion nearly everyone involved, including Spider-Man, had all memory of the incident wiped from their minds.

For this story, Oeming borrows a cue from Claremont as Gath's sinister necklace turns up in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where a visiting senator is drawn to it and puts it on. This transforms him into the embodiment of Kulan Gath, who promptly turns Manhattan once more into a Hyborean world, and plants a sword for Mary Jane Watson (Parker?) to discover, even while placing a suggestion in her head that Spider-Man is her enemy. Thus MJ finds the sword, turns into Red Sonja as she did years earlier in MARVEL TEAM-UP 79, and goes out to kill the web-slinger.

ALPHA FLIGHT #4

"RESOLUTIONS!"
Writer-Artist: John Byrne | Letterer: Rick Parker | Colorist: Andy Yanchus
Editor: Denny O'Neil | Resolved: Jim Shooter

The Plot: The Invisible Girl and Namor, the Sub-Mariner, explore the North Pole in search of a mysterious force which weakened Namor. They locate a complex hidden beneath the sea, but it lashes out, destroying Sue’s Fantasticar.

Inside the complex, the members of Canada’s resident super-team, Alpha Flight, are embroiled in a quest for their missing teammate, Marrina. But Sue and Namor find her first, having snuck inside after being saved from the explosion by one of Sue’s force fields. They watch as the complex’s Master explains Marrina’s origins to her, then they leap into action against him.

Soon, Alpha Flight meets up with Sue, Namor, and Marrina, having damaged the complex to the point that it is near exploding. The heroes escape in one of Sue’s force fields, then go their separate ways.

FANTASTIC FOUR #260

"WHEN TITANS CLASH!"
Story and Art: John Byrne | Letters: Jim Novak | Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Bob Budiansky | Titan: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Prince Namor of Atlantis flies over the sea near Northern Canada, but some force drains his strength and he plummets into the water. Meanwhile, in New York, the Human Torch and the Thing battle Tyros the Terrible. The Invisible Girl soon joins the conflict as well, but Tyros’s enhanced stamina proves a match for the full trio.

Doctor Doom observes the fight from his airship overhead and eventually realizes Mister Fantastic is not coming to his teammates’ aid. Doom descends to the battlesite below and orders Tyros to halt his assault -- but Tyros attacks Doom instead, fusing his armor and rendering him immobile. As Doom struggles to figure a way out of this predicament, the Silver Surfer descends from the sky and engages Tyros. Using his full power against the Surfer burns Tyros out, disintegrating him. Even as that happens, Tyros and the Surfer collide with Doom, apparently killing him.

Later, Sue returns to the Baxter Building with the Silver Surfer and leaves him in the medical room while she searches the FF’s headquarters for Reed. She finds no sign of him, but before she can continue her investigation, Namor arrives, pleading for her aid.