After the successful Conan / Red Sonja miniseries from Dark Horse, Dynamite gets their turn with the Red Sonja / Conan four part miniseries to be written by Victor Gischler and drawn by Roberto Castro. Byron Brewer chatted with Gischler about the first issue.
BYRON BREWER: Victor, we just saw one team-up (the first in 15 years!) of this classic pair. Is this story self-contained or does it carry over from threads in the previous tale?
VICTOR GISCHLER: I think you could pick up this new arc and read it on its own with no problem, but there are definitely threads readers will recognize if they’ve read the Dark Horse arc. I think having a little connection there will enhance the reading experience. I know I’d want that feeling of continuation if I were a reader. As you say, this team-up was 15 years in the making, so it feels natural that there would be some connective threads.
BB: Tell us about your perceptions of these characters, their strengths, weaknesses and especially differences.
VG: They’re both proud and brave and skilled and won’t stand for an insult. If you get on the wrong side of them, you’re in trouble. I see Conan as a bit more reckless. Yes, he does have cunning, but Sonja is maybe a tad more thoughtful.
BB: Tell us about the storyline coming in this miniseries.
VG: A kingdom hires some mercenaries to fend off a hostile wizard and his armies. Turns out two of the mercenary captains are our old pals Red Sonja and Conan. Naturally they are confident. What army could possibly stand up to BOTH of these amazing commanders? But this isn’t a normal swing-a-sword-for-gold job, and our heroes soon find themselves in over their heads and are now tasked with taking care of some old business.
BB: Intriguing! Can you tell us about the big-bad in a non-spoilery fashion, and then about that “shadow from the past”?
VG: I’ll focus on the “shadow of the past” since it comes into play fairly quickly and isn’t too spoilery. Sonja and Conan ran afoul of an insidious plant known as blood root. In this new arc, our big-bad has found a completely new way to weaponize it.
BB: Why is artist Roberto Castro right for this book?
VG: Joe [Rybandt, Dynamite Senior Editor] told me that Castro was one of their go-to guys and had worked on Howard properties before, so I think there’s trust there. That’s an important thing. There’s a certain level of confidence that comes along with knowing the artist already knows the ropes.
BB: What is it about this Howard characters that brings out the best in all writers handling them?
VG: Might be the larger than life quality of the characters. Also their iconic nature. That sort of thing always gets me fired up as a writer.
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