Savage Red Sonja #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSavage Red Sonja #3 is a structurally notable chapter in the five-issue miniseries because writer Dan Panosian deliberately strips away the combat-driven formula that defines most sword-and-sorcery comics — using persuasion, manipulation, and psychological tension as Sonja's primary tools rather than her blade. This approach deepens the characterization of the Hyrkanian warrior by centering on her inner life and the personal oath that shaped her, a thread Panosian set out to examine from the series' inception. As part of Dynamite's 2023–2024 programming celebrating Red Sonja's 50th anniversary, the miniseries as a whole — with issue #3 at its narrative turning point — represents one of two concurrent anniversary titles deliberately evoking the pulp sword-and-sorcery register of Robert E. Howard rather than the superhero-adjacent direction of the main ongoing series.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Savage Red Sonja was teased at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 and officially announced by Dynamite Entertainment as a companion title to the anniversary flagship series by Torunn Grønbekk and Walter Geovani. Writer and cover artist Dan Panosian — a veteran of X-Men, Captain America, early Image Comics titles like Prophet, and creator-owned works including Slots and Alice Ever After — handpicked Italian artist Alessio Petillo, whose prior American work was limited, making this series a significant early stateside showcase for him. Colorists Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli, alongside letterer Dave Sharpe, completed the interior team. Issue #3, the third chapter of the five-issue run, went on sale January 3, 2024.
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- Written by Dan Panosian with interior art by Alessio Petillo, colors by Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli, and lettering by Dave Sharpe.
- Published by Dynamite Entertainment; on-sale date January 3, 2024, as part of a five-issue miniseries.
- The issue advances the Blood Ruby arc: having retrieved King Gresh's Blood Ruby at great personal cost (the deaths of Lucian and Celia), Sonja is approached by the map-seller Markus, who reveals a companion artifact — the Staff of King Gresh — held by Mayor Sem and guarded by the elite Slayers of Shadizar.
- Panosian writes the issue without a single sword fight, relying instead on Sonja's powers of negotiation and manipulation — a deliberate structural choice reviewers noted as the series beginning to 'solidify into something intriguing.'
- Sonja's central personal dilemma — the oath that made her a great warrior and the question of whether she can escape it — is brought into sharp focus when Markus claims the reunited Blood Ruby and Staff can grant any wish.
- Cover variants for this issue included a main cover by Dan Panosian, a Cover B by Frank Cho, a Cover C by Gary Frank, and a Cover D cosplay variant featuring Rachel Hollon; a limited CHO Virgin edition (Cover K) shipped January 17, 2024.
- Alessio Petillo had previously worked for Italian publisher Sergio Bonelli Editore; Dynamite positioned Savage Red Sonja as a major American debut for the artist.
- The series was conceived explicitly as part of Red Sonja's 50th anniversary celebration (2023–2024), running alongside — not replacing — Grønbekk and Geovani's concurrent ongoing volume.
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