Image Comics Review: SONATA #7
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer:Â Â Brian Haberlin and David Hine
Artists: Geirrod van Dyke and Brian Haberlin
Colors: Geirrod van Dyke
Letters: Frances Takenaga
Reviewed by: Carl Bryan
Summary
“Did I die? Is that thing saying I am dead? ” – Pau
“Good…Bad…Meh…The pursuit of knowledge is beyond good and evil” – Korby
“THE CITADEL: RISE,” Part One War comes to Perdita as Sonata finds herself lost in a desolate landscape where death has dominion over all. Is this a vision of the past, the future or something outside of time and space?
Positives
Brian Haberlin and David Hine provide quite a time jump with Sonata reading like a movie sequel from issues 1-6. This is Perdita – Seventeen Rotations Earlier…
Sonata finds her friend Treen on death’s door as it appears he has been crucified by his own people. A lot of religious overtones pepper the opening of this story. Flashback to her finding Pau alive, but with Pau questioning his own existence in this land of gods.
Meanwhile in the Southlands, Pau and Sonata’s parents are contemplating their new situations. And writers Haberline and Hine provide another new vocabulary word – Millitaks (a unit of time). Korby, the delusional comic foil in this story,continues to survive despite his ramblings and his talking to his imaginary friends. However, we gain a bit of insight in this issue as to how his “team” met their demise and is that a syringe in his hand? Whew!
Elements of Romeo and Juliet abound in this issue as Pau’s mother, while kind to Sonata’s face, vehemently disagrees with Pau’s choice in whom he is falling in love with. And Pau’s mother suspects something is amiss with her son…is he really dead and this is a duplicate? It is science fiction?
More Positives
I love that Pau and Sonata can communicate via telepathy. Not sure who has the power to initiate it…presumably Pau since he starts the conversation, but what great lettering to let you know it is happening! Kudos to Frances Takenaga for that contribution to story telling!
Story telling like no other….The rhythm of this issue is great. Kantor has obtained the “weapons of the gods” as Korby puts it. And Pau’s mother starts by blowing away two of Treen’s tribe, Leemarrh and her daughter, on an Thermasaur.  While Treen swore the weapons would not fall into Pau or Sonata’s tribes’ hands, it is evident that Kantor has put into play a move that cannot be ignored by all three tribes. So Treen’s tribe puts a new move into place…by calling the old gods into play. And they will come….
Negatives
None. Nada. Nothing. The artwork, story telling and lettering is great! And the mixture of pop cultures seems to have settled down a bit so readers can get used to a nugget here and there of homages to other science fiction and literary nods.
Verdict
This should be on your shelf! And with a trade paperback on the market now that details issues 1-6 (Sonata, Volume 1: Valley of the Gods), you have a chance to catch up on the story!
