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You may be surprised to learn that the comicbook Red Sonja isn't really the same character that Robert E. Howard created. For a start, Howard's heroine was named Red Sonya and was a female swashbuckler who lived in the 16th century. Writer Roy Thomas tweaked her name from Sonya to Sonja and borrowed aspects of her character from another Howard creation, Dark Agnes de Chastillon, and transplanted the warrior woman into the Hyborian Age as a sort of female Conan.
Marvel's Red Sonja first appeared in Conan The Barbarian #23, and then starred in Marvel Feature for seven issues, before being given her own mag which lasted for 15. Her history becomes a bit muddled after that, as when Dynamite Comics acquired the rights to publish her, they killed her off in #34, replacing her with a reincarnation in the next issue. Then in issue 50, Dynamite started following Marvel continuity, just in case we weren't all sufficiently confused already. While uncharacteristically doing a little light research into the character, I gave up at this point as my brain is befuddled enough without subjecting it to further strain.
Anyway, that's a brief background summary for those of you who didn't already know, so let's cut to the 'meat and potatoes' - the covers. In this post are all 22 from the colour mags published by Marvel back in the '70s. The interiors (not seen here) of numbers 12 & 13 featured art by John Buscema, with his brother Sal drawing the next issue. Big John returned for the 15th and final ish, though it wouldn't be until 1983 before Sonja turned up in her own Marvel mag again (Vol. 2, two issues, Vol. 3, 13 issues, and in 1985, a two-part movie adaptation of the Red Sonja movie), her last Marvel appearance being a one-shot in 1995 called Scavenger Hunt.
Anyway, you ready for the fabulous feast of cover artwork that awaits your impoverished orbs? Then let's go! And remember - comments welcome.
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Incidentally, looking at these covers now, the only issue I actually recall owning is #1 of her own mag - I either never saw the others or simply wasn't interested enough in the character to buy them. So recently acquiring these issues is a bit like returning to the '70s to remedy an oversight by now having them in my collection, as an aspect of the 1970s that wasn't part of my teenage experience now feels like it was. (Or, perhaps more accurately, as I say in my reply to TF's comment, I now feel part of something I wasn't privy to at the time.) I find that fascinating for some reason - how about the rest of you?
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| Pin-Up from #5 |
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| Drat! Now I've got to wait for an Epic Collection to find out what happens between issues |
9 comments:
I already knew about Red Sonya Of Rogatino and I've read "The Shadow Of The Vulture" in which she appears but why did Roy Thomas borrow that character when Valeria from the Conan story 'Red Nails' already existed? Valeria is a sword-wielding warrior-woman, Red Sonja in all but name, and Valeria is a genuine REH creation from the Hyborian Age. A couple of years ago Valeria finally got her own Marvel mini-series!
To be honest, I don't have a scooby, CJ. Maybe Roy just liked the name, or perhaps Marvel avoided having to pay for the rights to use the Howard Sonya by changing a few things about her? 'Tis a mystery beyond the understanding of mortal man (at least 'til someone who's acquainted with the facts tells us).
The corner box of Marvel Feature #1 has a different version of Red Sonja from all the other covers shown - perhaps that original pose was considered a bit naughty and suggestive?
I remember reading Red Sonja's origin in Marvel UK's Savage Sword monthly so I assume the origin story first appeared in Marvel Feature #1?
As I've mentioned previously, the only issue of Red Sonja that I ever owned was #14 and I couldn't remember who the artist was but I felt certain it wasn't Frank Thorne - now I know it was Sal Buscema so thanks for that info, Kid!
I suspect it's just down to the fact that a front-on view of any character looks better, CJ. Anyway, in an outfit like that, just about any pic of Sonja could be described as 'naughty and suggestive'. Not sure whether MF #1 contains her origin or not, as it hasn't arrived yet. The one in the post is the actual comic I've bought though, as I used the seller's photo (tidied it up a bit to my preferred standard).
Great post Kid,very enjoyable.On the subject of comics you did not have in the 1970's but now do(and feel as if they were part of your past)I feel the same but in a slightly different way.All through the decade Marvel did not import certain issues for a variety of reasons.For example Ironman #67,68,70(No idea why)Captain America #172-175,Thor #222-225,FF #144-148 and many more.These issues I did not own at the time but eventually I completed my collection and enjoyed them immensely.But,looking back I realise that all my childhood memories involve the issues before and after the non-distributed issued.The shops I bought them in,who was with me,the weather etc.So I love all the comics but those issues e.g. Avengers #121-152 Are fantastic but the real friends from my childhood are the issues before and after!Hope this makes sense and thanks again for constantly jogging my memories.Brilliant mate.
What you say makes perfect sense, Triple F. However, I think, in my case, it's more like I feel a part of my past I wasn't part of, as opposed to feeling that comics I didn't have back then (but do now) were part of my past - if that makes any sense? There are a few exceptions to that, such as The Super-Heroes Annual 1984, which I didn't have at the time, but acquired years later. Somehow, I can actually envision that book in the room of the house I lived in at the time, even though I didn't know of its existence back then. The mind is a funny thing, eh?
You have to post the Frank Thorne and Wendy Pini Red Sonja conventions shows.
Wendy was awesome and was one of the first cosplayers. Not only did she look like Sonja she was a babe. It's all on youtube.
I'll take a wee look and maybe link to it, PS. There might be a photo of her in one of my F.O.O.M. posts, I'll have to check. I think the mag did print a photo of her though.
CJ, Marvel Feature #1 (which arrived yesterday) contained a new Sonja tale called 'The Temple Of Abomination!', plus a coloured reprint of the Sonja story first published in the US Savage Sword Of Conan #1. It's simply titled 'Red Sonja' with no sub-title. Some of the panels on some of the pages have been 're-jigged' to make them longer (wider gutters and margins), as the b&w mag has different dimensions not quite compatible with the colour comics.
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