Gail Simone's Red Sonja takes a while to distinguish itself. The first half of the volume feels somewhat mundane, and it only really starts to shine in the second half, which has some moments of Sonja-esque greatness and some neat twists. The characters also start to gain more flesh by that time. I have faith that the second volume will be better, but this first volume wobbled on the edge between mediocrity and goodness.