Red Sonja She-Devil with a Sword #5 Cover A by Stuart Sayger from Dynamite Entertainment

Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword #5 Review: Dynamite Entertainment Unleashes Demoroq on Khorshemish

Dynamite Entertainment pushes its latest Red Sonja series into full-scale chaos with Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword #5, a brutal sword-and-sorcery chapter that throws Sonja directly into the path of Demoroq while the hordes of the Rising Sun overwhelm Khorshemish.

Writer Rory McConville and artist Pablo de Bonis have steadily built this run around violence, survival, and the consequences of Sonja’s battles. Issue #5 feels like the point where all of that tension erupts at once.

The city is burning. Civilians are being slaughtered. Demoroq is loose. And Red Sonja has little choice but to meet the monster head-on.

Khorshemish Falls Into Chaos

The opening pages establish the scale of the disaster immediately.

Khorshemish is no longer simply under threat. It is being consumed.

Buildings burn in the distance as bodies fill the streets, and survivors struggle to understand what has happened. The destruction has moved well beyond the boundaries of an ordinary military assault.

The situation becomes even worse once it is revealed that Demoroq has been unleashed on the city.

That instantly changes the stakes.

The warriors defending Khorshemish are no longer fighting only an invading force. They are facing something supernatural and nearly impossible to control.

For readers who have been following the current run, this issue builds naturally from the events of the previous chapter while dramatically increasing the scale of the conflict.

Demoroq Is More Than Another Monster

Demoroq works because the creature is not treated like a disposable boss fight.

The preview pages make the monster feel catastrophic.

Bodies are torn apart.

Soldiers panic.

The battlefield becomes a blur of blood, fire, and helplessness.

When the defenders ask how they are supposed to destroy the creature, the answer is simple and terrifying:

They cannot.

The horn that once offered some measure of control is gone, and the spell used to imprison Demoroq is apparently too complicated to reproduce.

That puts everyone in an increasingly desperate position.

The creature is not just strong.

It represents a problem that the characters do not know how to solve.

That difference gives the confrontation far more tension than a standard sword fight.

Red Sonja Enters the Fight

Of course, impossible situations are exactly where Red Sonja tends to thrive.

The preview quickly delivers on the central promise of the issue: Red Sonja versus Demoroq.

Pablo de Bonis gives the confrontation tremendous physical impact.

Sonja is dwarfed by the creature, but she never looks passive.

She attacks.

She cuts.

She moves.

And when Demoroq retaliates, the size and power difference becomes immediately apparent.

One particularly effective sequence shows Sonja hacking into the creature before being violently smashed into the ground.

It is simple visual storytelling, but it works because the scale is so clear.

This is not an evenly matched duel.

Sonja is fighting something larger, stronger, and supernatural.

That is exactly the kind of impossible opponent that makes a Red Sonja battle compelling.

Rory McConville Keeps Sonja Defiant

Rory McConville continues to understand that Red Sonja’s appeal comes from more than physical strength.

She is stubborn.

She is resourceful.

She refuses to surrender simply because the odds tell her she should.

That attitude matters in Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword #5 because Demoroq represents precisely the sort of enemy that should force a normal warrior to retreat.

Sonja does the opposite.

She closes the distance.

The larger conflict with the Rising Sun also prevents the issue from becoming a one-note monster battle. There is still a war unfolding around her, and the destruction of Khorshemish gives every sword strike a broader consequence.

If Sonja loses, the cost is not merely personal.

An entire city may fall with her.

Pablo de Bonis Delivers a Brutal Battlefield

Pablo de Bonis is given plenty of room to make this issue violent, and the preview suggests he takes full advantage of it.

The battlefield imagery is harsh.

Blood is everywhere.

Demoroq tears through bodies with almost casual force.

Sonja herself is repeatedly placed in visually dangerous positions.

That brutality fits the tone of the series.

The action feels dirty rather than glamorous.

Armor does not guarantee survival.

Swords are not clean.

People are maimed.

Bodies break.

The contrast between burning orange backgrounds and darker foreground characters also gives the Demoroq sequences an almost infernal quality.

The creature does not merely enter the battlefield.

It appears to consume the visual space around it.

A Strong Sword-and-Sorcery Tone

This current Red Sonja run continues to benefit from leaning into classic sword-and-sorcery ingredients without simply imitating older stories.

You have invading armies.

Dark magic.

Ancient spells.

Monsters.

Political instability.

Burning cities.

And, in the middle of all of it, one warrior trying to survive long enough to stop something far worse.

That is familiar territory for Red Sonja, but the execution is what matters.

Issue #5 makes the conflict feel large without losing sight of Sonja herself.

She is still the center of the story.

The armies and supernatural threats simply give her a bigger battlefield.

The Cover Lineup Gives Collectors Plenty to Chase

Dynamite continues its expansive variant strategy with five primary covers for Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword #5.

Stuart Sayger’s Cover A goes dark and atmospheric, presenting Sonja in shadow against a monstrous presence.

Lucio Parrillo’s Cover B delivers the painterly realism collectors have come to expect from Parrillo, with Sonja caught in the middle of a violent confrontation.

Joseph Michael Linsner’s Cover C takes a quieter approach, placing Sonja in a more contemplative pose while still emphasizing the character’s iconic sword-and-sorcery aesthetic.

Mike Rooth’s Cover D surrounds Sonja with skull-covered supernatural imagery that fits the issue’s darker tone.

Katy Rose’s cosplay Cover E brings the character into live-action form with a classic Red Sonja costume presentation.

Collectors looking beyond the standard lineup can also find additional editions, including a Lucio Parrillo ultraviolet variant.

Why Red Sonja #5 Matters

This issue feels like a major confrontation point for the current series.

The Rising Sun invasion is no longer background pressure.

Khorshemish is collapsing.

Demoroq is free.

The people who might know how to contain the creature do not appear to have an easy solution.

And Sonja is being forced into direct combat with something that clearly outmatches her physically.

That combination gives the issue momentum.

More importantly, it creates uncertainty.

Sword-and-sorcery stories work best when survival never feels guaranteed.

Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword #5 understands that.

Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword #5 Details

Title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword #5
Writer: Rory McConville
Artist: Pablo de Bonis
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Genre: Sword and Sorcery
Rating: Teen+
Format: Full Color, 32 Pages, All Cardstock Covers
Price: $4.99

Covers: Stuart Sayger (A), Lucio Parrillo (B), Joseph Michael Linsner (C), Mike Rooth (D), Cosplay by Katy Rose (E)