Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Sergio Cariello " Red Sonja "

Fellow Kubert school alumnist and respected pro in the biz Serge renders Red Sonja here with excellent skill. While his line quality resembles that of his mentor Joe Kubert his own definate style stands out. His figure work is his own.



The posture his figures take on is not like Kuberts. The line of action comes from right out of the center of the page almost 3 dimensionally. Here Sonja stalks some hapless bad guys just before she lowers her skilled blade upon them. I have seen hundreds of Sonja drawings and paintings and judge them all based on originality and this one here....one of the best I've ever seen. I'm liking it ...liking it a lot!

The Shadow of the Vulture

"It was Red Sonya who had come to his aid, and her onslaught was no less terrible than that of a she-panther. Her strokes followed each other too quickly for the eye to follow; her blade was a blur of white fire, and men went down like ripe grain before the reaper."

If you have not read The Shadow of the Vulture by Robert E. Howard you should give it a try. It is available on Project Gutenberg Australia's site here. This is the story that brought Red Sonja to the world as Sonya of Rogantino. Rather than a fantasy setting, this takes place during the seige of Vienna by the Turks (1529). Despite the realistic setting, Sonya is very much the Sonja we know. I did two reviews, a while back, at Adventures in Nerdliness (part 1, part 2).

"And with a scornful flirt of her wide coattails, she swaggered off down the battlements, giving back promptly and profanely the rude sallies of the soldiers. Gottfried scowled after her, and a Lanzknecht slapped him jovially on the shoulder. 'Eh, she's a devil, that one! She drinks the strongest head under the table and outswears a Spaniard. She's no man's light o' love. Cut—slash—death to you, dog-soul! There's her way.'"

Monday, September 27, 2010

Gen Con 2010 Cosplay

A Red Sonja from the most recent Gen Con.


No sword, but they may not have allowed that in the hall.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Hero Worship: Red Sonja


Virtually every American child grows up reading comic books. Some never outgrow it. Even Hollywood is deeply into comic heroes. So it shouldn't surprise us to find some extremely good illustrators behind our popular art. Here are some of our top illustrators and artists celebrating that statuesque female she devil, Red Sonja.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Red Sonja by Antony Ward

As a follow-up to yesterday's post on Dominic Marco's Red Sonja, here is a 3D rendered version by Antony Ward.


Here is what Antony Ward has said about this version of Dominic Marco's art.
"For a change I decided to work to an existing concept, so I chose one by artist Dominic Marco which was not only cool, but also matched my own style."
Very cool indeed.

You can find the link to this here.  Antony Ward's website is here.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Red Sonja by Dominic Marco

Dominic Marco is an artist whom I have had some familiarity with.  Here is his contribution to Red Sonja fans.


You can find this and other really cool works on his Deviant Art page.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Post #100!

So, we are at post #100! Thanks to all the contributors and readers. Remember, if you'd like to contribute to the blog, let me know and I will send you an invite. All you need do is register with Blogger.

To commemorate Post #100, we thought it would be good to get some favorite memories of the She-Devil, so here they are:

Mike DeStasio: Red Sonja: Queen of the Frozen Wastes

This series was probably my favorite out of all the Dynamite comics runs they've done so far....Sonja was down and out and in chains and she still came through conquering all..Only this time her adversary was not a MAN but a woman who was QUEEN to a host of subhuman neanderthal like ape dudes....They debased her and chained her and fed her to monsters that she KILLED and when all was said and done..she was given an offer should could not refuse and spat in the Bitch ape queens face!!!!

Yet she triumphed and lived to see another day. This series is my Red Sonja moment.





Darius Whiteplume: Red Sonja #5, Red Sonja #12

Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword #5 has always been one of my two my favorite covers. It has everything Red Sonja always was to me. It is a Frank Thorne cover. Sonja is in peril, but defiant. It has a cheesecake element to it. It is probably my favorite piece of work by Thorne.


My other favorite was Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword #12 by Frank Brunner. Again, it is full of energy, but with a more mystical feel than the Thorne cover above. It is less cheesecake. Sonja is lean and deadly looking. Her face in red, filling the sky, hints that the coming foes are only aware of her, and her rage. Yet the face on the figure is more serene, leading you to think that the rage drives her, but being kept in check is what makes her so very dangerous. This is where we can match Sonja to Conan. Conan uses his rage to shield him from pain, and to swing his sword with greater strength. Sonja is not necessarily as invulnerable as Conan, but the Cimmerian has never bested her. Her control what makes her as deadly.


From Reader Stephane Sabourin:

I'm from France and a regular reader of your great blog!
Fond of the read-headed She-Devil for years,I'm also an amateur illustrator(strongly inspired by her).and made this parody of Sonja's youth (along with a famous Cimmerian and his Shemite mate!!^^) [Facebook Link]

#99 Cosplay

#98 - Red by Devon Massey

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Things are getting confusing...

I looked at the posts today, and we have either lost some, or I miscounted. Anyway, we want to get post #100 scheduled, so if you want to add a favorite thing about the Flame-Hair, send it my way. I plan to post whatever I have as post #100 this Friday.