Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword

Revisiting with STARFIRE!

2012-01-29T17:02:00.005Z

In the newest issue of Back issue magazine by Two Morrows ( Number 54 the one with the Bruce Timm BIG BARDA cover ) There is a way cool article on the creation of the character STARFIRE. The article has interview segments with Mike Vosburg and Dave Michelinie , Elliot S. Maggin , Steve Englehart and Tom Defalco ( A one time Big Wig at Marvel Comics ) It goes on to tell us the origins and ideas for the character in that she was created to be the direct answer to Marvel comics' RED SONJA...but the guys on this book just did not want to use the same premise but wanted to add a new flare and flavor. So they created a Burrough's type John Carter kind of world for STARFIRE to have her adventures in.

Starfire's name was originally supposed to be AKANDA but they went with a more commercial catchy name instead....The costume was also a product of Mike Vosburg's inspirations in European art and cartooning. Her outfit with the off the shoulder breast bearing cut out asymmetrical design and look of both Wally Wood's Power girl and Guido Crepax's Valentina. There were also designs and characters inspired by the likes of Moebius and Maroto as well as Paul Gillon and Victor De la Fuente and others in the European world of cartoonists. I'd like to share some of the cool commissions and sketches of Mike Vosburgs provided along with the article. I have always been a big fan of Back issue magazine and Roy Thomas and sincerely recommend you go on out and pick yourself up a copy of Back issue 54...not just for the cool STARFIRE article but there are also pieces on BIG BARDA , SHE HULK , VALKYRIE , MS. MARVEL and the PHEONIX! It's thier "Liberated Ladies" issue. Pick it up , read it LOVE IT! I guarantee you will.

p.s. folks....I'm going to take about a one month break from blogging but feel free to visit and comment...I'll be poking my nose in from time to time. PEACE OUT CUB SCOUTS!

Red Sonja statue from Bleeding Cool

2012-01-04T22:38:00.000Z

Thanks to Tim from I'd Rather Be Killing Monster for this.

A $189.99 8.5" Red Sonja statue.
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/01/04/thirteen-titles-from-dynamite-in-one-week-and-a-statue/

Open publication - Free publishing - More bleedingcool

Red Sonja collage....see if you can name all the artists?

2012-01-02T00:53:00.001Z

Seasons Greetings from Red Sonja!

2011-12-21T00:23:00.002Z

Here is a nifty little piece of art I found at comic art fans by Dean Juliette of Sonja...in a Santa hat! Enjoy and Happy New year!

Help a Brother Out!

2011-12-12T15:19:00.000Z

Hello all,

Got an email from a reader who is looking for an assist to aid with an art project. I have a feeling a lot of these might be Dynamite Entertainment characters, but could be wrong. The new Sonja is not as much in my wheelhouse. If you have any good links post in the comments, or you can email J or me.

Hey gang !

I 'm a french artist and I'm doing some Red Sonja sketch cards for Breygent . They have to be done for January in the beginning ...

Except for Sonja and Kula Gathe, it's impossible to find any reference on the net for the rest of the characters list Breygent send me and I'm not very familiar with Sonja universe ...

I just found your blog and I thought that you guys, as great fans of that cute warrior, could probably help me and maybe could send me some cool links or some cool references, if you know them, of these different characters from this list:

Osin
Summaro
Kalevel
Ozzyus
Zartur
Suvara
Melea
Scathatch
Celestial
Hunter
Talus
Graven Sul
Kain
Jubal

Help me Obi Wa... sorry! Guys! I already have some cool cards done, but I need diversity ... You're my only hope ...

Here's my DeviantArt gallery link, if you want to check my work
http://sobad-jee.deviantart.com/gallery/

Please , help me ...

Thanks
Best
J.

RED SONJA # 39 -

2011-12-09T22:10:00.004Z

" I'll save you Miss!!!" Ya know even if Sonja promised to share her booty with me I don't know if I'd risk my neck battling some giant snaggle toothed octopus. ( Could it be a Kraken ? )But I tell ya what....There is always something about a damsel in distress to get the ol' blood pumpin'! See here the Original art in black and white and finished product by Carlos Rafael for the cover of RED SONJA #39

The Official Handbook of the Conan Universe

2011-12-05T16:31:00.001Z

Back in 1985 Marvel published the Official Handbook of the Conan Universe.

Here is the page for Red Sonja, featuring the outfit that she was wearing at the time. Seems a bit odd though that they didn't use the chain-mail outfit that she was most well known for.

Click for larger.

Fiona Staples

2011-12-01T17:17:00.001Z

Some Red Sonja art by Fiona Staples.

RED SONJA CARTOON?

2011-11-17T02:43:00.005Z

Is anyone aware of this? There was either going to be a cartoon or the pitch is out there yet not picked up? Anyone got any news about it? Drop us a line. Character sheet by James Groman...1960?...check out his blog ( James Groman )

wtf....yeah right. ;) Whats with that big assed ass?...Nice line work though...

Happy Birthday Darwyn Cooke!

2011-11-16T13:48:00.001Z

Today is Darwyn Cooke's birthday. Here are some of his Red Sonjas to celebrate.

Tom Bancroft

2011-11-15T20:27:00.001Z

Pointed out to me at Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool. The art of Tom Bancroft.

Thanks Calvin!

Red Sonja / Witchblade Crossover

2011-11-12T04:40:00.001Z

Dynamite Entertainment (Press Release)

Join Dynamite Entertainment and Top Cow Productions as they bring two of comics most celebrated heroines together in one terrifying tale of loss and redemption with Witchblade/Red Sonja #1 coming to stores everywhere February 2012! Witchblade/Red Sonja is written by Doug Wagner and drawn by Cezar Razek, with covers by Alé Garza! In issue #1, Red Sonja, the She-Devil with a Sword, pursues a cannibalistic monstrosity into the heart of a dead, black mountain. Meanwhile, Sara Pezzini, modern day bearer of the Witchblade and NYPD Detective, investigates the ghastly death of a Catholic Priest.

"Let's get this out of the way right now, this is NOT your typical crossover," says writer Doug Wagner. "There's no time traveling, no merging of universes, no soul swapping, and no messages in a bottle. The first issue won't have the two heroes fighting against each other until they figure out who the real villain is. If that's what you're here for, you've come to the wrong place. WitchBlade/Red Sonja #1 is the beginning of a grisly trial for both characters. Red Sonja and Sara Pezzini are about to plummet into despair and hopelessness, both physically and emotionally. Their beliefs and courage will be tested, and it will take more than just either heroine brandishing their fabled weapons to overcome this threat. Humanity as they know it is at risk. And if one fails, they both fail."

"Doug and Dynamite have really gone to great lengths to create an exciting, unique cross-over event between two of the most recognizable female leads in comics," adds Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik. "It would have been easy to come up with some contrived way for these two heroines to meet, but Doug has crafted a story that remains true and taps into the rich mythos of both properties. I'm excited to read it!"

Red Sonja, the She-Devil with a Sword, has been an incredible success under the stewardship Dynamite Entertainment! Red Sonja is a fictional character, a high fantasy sword and sorcery heroine created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith, and loosely based on Red Sonya of Rogatino in Robert E. Howard's 1934 short story "The Shadow of the Vulture". She first appeared in the Marvel Comics book Conan the Barbarian #23 (February 1973). Red Sonja has become the archetypical example of the fantasy figure of a fierce and stunningly beautiful female barbarian who typically wears armor resembling a bikini or lingerie.

Witchblade is an American comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, from 1995 until present. The series was created by Top Cow founder Marc Silvestri, editor David Wohl, writer Brian Haberlin, and artist Michael Turner. The series follows New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini, who is the bearer of the Witchblade, a mysterious artifact that takes the form of a deadly and powerful gauntlet. The Witchblade has been worn my countless women over the ages, including historic figures such as Cleopatra and Joan of Arc. Sara must try to control the Witchblade and learn its secrets, even as she investigates the city's strangest, most supernatural crimes.

Doug Wagner is a writer based in Atlanta, Georgia, He got his start writing ULTRAFORCE for Malibu Comics and has worked for Image, DC/Wildstorm, Dark horse and 12 gauge comics.

Join the conversation on Twitter with #WitchbladeRedSonja

Originally seen at http://robojapan.blogspot.com/2011/11/witchblade-red-sonja-cross-over-coming.html and http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=35383

Sonja Cosplayer

2011-10-28T20:19:00.002Z

Unkonwn Red Sonja Cosplayer.

Wendy Pini - A real life She -devil...

2011-10-22T00:55:00.003Z

Wendy does it all. In the 1970's Wendy used to hit the cons dressed as Sonja. Wendy born in June around 50 years ago is stunning and sexy as well as DANE-GER-OUS with that sword in her hand. The creator of Elfquest a sword and sorcery series she produced with her husband ( A great series too ) She was a trailblazer as well. The Elfquest books were probably what we would consider the very first graphic novels. A trendsetter she was that Wendy Pini!

Another Red Sonja cosplayer ~ Best one yet!

2011-10-19T23:08:00.005Z

Ok...this chick is HOTTTTTT! Her abs her hips her beautiful face...Homina homina homina! This pic is of a girl at the NYC Comicon from this past weeked in the month of October. I scared up this here photo from a blog called " Big tit babes " it was in a section of super hero hotties from Comicon and of course I clicked on it to check'em out. I found...this Red Headed Hot Mama with a sword!
I do not know who the girl is...she's an anonymous hottie cosplayer.

The RED SONJA art of Michael Dooney

2011-09-30T13:51:00.003Z

David J. West fellow blogger and proprietor of his own very fine blog NEPHITE BLOOD SPARTAN HEART...found some really great RED SONJA art by a fella name Michael Dooney.

He was kind enough to share his find...here is the link for Mr. Dooney's blog MichaelDooney@blogspot check it out...awesome work Michael! Thanks for sharing David!

Danny Tran Red Sonja

2011-09-29T15:46:00.004Z

I don't know much about this artist at all. Not even a website, but I did find these pics today in two different searches (yahoo and ebay) so I suppose I should share them.

Danny Tran's Red Sonja.

More Bruce Timm

2011-09-28T07:01:00.000Z

Honestly I can't get enough of this guy's work. I love how he draws women and he manages to make Sonja still look soft and feminine, but also deadly.

Art Submission

2011-09-27T18:36:00.002Z

Hey everyone. I was just emailed this great piece of Sonja art from Stepharon [blog link]. Very cool style. Thanks for the submission! Click to enlarge.

Unknown Cosplayer

2011-09-26T11:00:00.000Z

An unknown cosplayer, courtesy of Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool.

Angelique Trouvere

2011-09-23T12:47:00.002Z

If you're interested, this week's Nerd Girl of Note at Adventures in Nerdliness is Red Sonja actress and cosplayer Angelique Trouvere. Not a huge article, as it is a tad hard to find info on her.

Carlos Valenzuela - ( Valzonline )

2011-09-20T16:43:00.003Z

Laurie B Red Sonja

2011-09-15T02:29:00.002Z

Found this at Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool. The art of Laurie B.

Her websites are here:

http://artoflaurieb.com/index.php
http://artoflaurieb.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=0

Larry Welz Red Sonja

2011-09-12T14:52:00.001Z

Comic artist Larry Welz is profiled today at Adventures in Nerdliness (link). Here is an image of his character Cherry as Red Sonja from his Tumblr (link).

Dave Hoover

2011-09-07T16:35:00.004Z

Dave Hoover has passed away. Condolences to his friends and family. Rest in peace Dave.

A name to the face....

2011-09-03T18:09:00.003Z

Her name is Brittany Love and she's a RED SONJA cosplayer on occasion she hits conventions as a very voluptuous and buxom SHE DEVIL with a sword! A word of advice...that's a real SWORD so don't try any grabassing or cheap feels...you'll lose your hand

Belle Chere - Queen of the frozen wastes

2011-08-26T14:13:00.002Z

NOW...that's how you wear a chain mail bikini! Thank you for my buddies over at CROM for sharing.

Gen Con Red Sonja

2011-08-08T22:09:00.000Z

Celebrating my return from Gen Con, here are some pics of Red Sonja cosplay from a few Gen Cons. I didn't take these.

Randy Green - Red Sonja

2011-08-07T17:05:00.002Z

I was sent a link by the author of the site. It's called sword girls http://swordgirls.tumblr.com/ I went there and was perusing the photo's and images of beautiful ladies with YEP! SWORDS! They are dressed appropriately in whatever garb needed for the shot at the time and yes...some of them are even NOT dressed at all. But the idea of a sword swinging maiden is appealing to all eh? Anyway...I found this pretty cool drawing by an artist named Randy Green on the site and just wanted to share. Enjoy.

Red Sonja by Tomás Morón (@TomasMoron)

2011-08-01T12:52:00.001Z

Hello all. I received some fanart from Tomás Morón. Very cool stuff. You can see more of his work at his blog.

Red Sonja Fan Art: Garrett Blair

2011-07-27T20:55:00.003Z

Garrett Blair's pin-up art has a je ne sais pas quoi of extremely captivating; one can say that all his drawings are of the same girl, with only eye and hair color variation, but that, by itself, it’s not a minus – that’s only proof that in comic books it’s the costumes that identify (and sometimes define) the character. And so Blair morphs her ideal girl into every comic book character that ever fired his (and our) imagination, presenting them to us through color, costume and attitude. By such criteria he, and his Savage Land series of drawings, are fan-favorites. By the same token, the image above, displaying our beloved Red Sonja in a contemporary coy pin-up pose is a fail, for it poses her out of character. It still has the same erotic allure of all his drawings, but the pose clearly demolishes the sense that it is Sonja we’re looking at, and not some unnamed sketch with hair colored red and a chain mail bikini from the mental prop department for fantasy/female warrior characterization.

Not so with this second drawing, of a Red Sonja in chains. Here we can feel that it aims to represent the Hirkanyan warrior: the expression on her face and the emerald fire in her eyes, screams loudly that she is not pleased by being bound. Her countenance is that of someone beaten but not defeated. It doesn’t spell fear… it’s more annoyance for the clearly erotic bondage – this is not a Sonja that has been captured by someone bent on killing her. Oh no. The way the rope goes around her breasts, pushing them together, accentuating her cleavage, is the work of a fine connoisseur of erotica. She’s not there to be tortured, but to be ogled. Laura Mulvey, eat your heart out!

This third image does not need a story. It is a picture of calm dominance. Sonja has lost her top, but she is not covering her breasts in fear, prudishness or in a defensive way. Her hands are merely serving as mediators. Her expression tells us that she could as easily stand in proud topless that it wouldn’t nick a inch her position of power. But she knows that her nudity holds us entranced… it holds a great sway over us. And so, she teases us. Men, hummf.

The two images above represent the battle damage that every Sonja fan dreams of, and that every feminist Sonja fan deplores. It represents the prurient side of comic book costuming, the essential unreality of the diegesis, the all-consuming male gaze that demands that Sonja’s chain mail be broken but that her skin should not be marred by the slightest scratch. And one would despair of trying to imagine the sword swipe that could so damage Sonja’s bikini bottom. They are clearly images of fantasy, a fan wet dream, a bit of over-eagerness, a piece of adolescent bad taste and a confirmation (note the blood on her blade) that whoever sees Sonja’s breasts, dies! What a way to go!

Fiona Staples

2011-07-26T19:46:00.000Z

Red Sonja by Fiona Staples

You can find more her art at http://fstaples.blogspot.com/

Ryan Sook

2011-07-23T08:05:00.000Z

A very cool Red Sonja sketch by Ryan Sook.

http://www.ryansook.com/redsonja08sk.html

The Red Sonja Chronological Retrospective 01: CONAN THE BARBARIAN #23 (Marvel, 1973)

2011-07-13T17:25:00.012Z

Contrary to common opinion, the Red Sonja we all know and love was not created by Conan scribe Robert E. Howard. She was born out of the imagination of writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor Smith in search of a strong female supporting character to enrich the Conan series of comic books being published by Marvel in the early seventies. In Thomas own words, he “had been casting about already for a female equivalent of Conan – not an absolute doppelganger, mind you, but a character similar in skills and attitudes in certain ways, yet with a somewhat different point of view” (from the introduction to The Ring of Ikribu, 1981). That’s when he stumbled upon an article by Allan Howard on Amra magazine dealing with the Crusader stories that Howard had published in several adventure pulp magazines of the 1930s. Among them, there was a reference to a short story published in The Magic Carpet Magazine of January 1934, entitled The Shadow of the Vulture. Although the leading character of that story, taking place at the time the Turkish siege of Vienna in 1529, was one German knight by the name of Gottfried von Kalmbach, the hard-drinking hero spent half the story being rescued by a Polish-Ukrainian red-headed girl , named Red Sonya of Rogatino. With his curiosity piqued by Allan Howard’s assertion that had Conan and Red Sonya met, “she might have been a bit too much for him”, Thomas proceeded to adapt REH’s short story into the Conan timeline: the siege of Vienna became the siege of Makkalet, the Turks became the Turanians, von Kalbach became Conan and Red Sonya became the she-devil with a sword from Hirkanya. And so it was that in page 15 of CONAN THE BARBARIAN #23, in February 1973, Red Sonja appeared for the first time.

As depicted by British artist Barry Windsor-Smith (for me, the best all-time Conan artist), Red Sonja is a fiery, lithe red-head, donning a long-sleeved mesh-shirt and wearing leather shorts that bare her thighs, adorned with daggers. It’s a Sonja very distant of the more rubenesque iconic warrior that fan-favorite (and my all-time favorite Sonja artist) Frank Thorne would popularize later on, but a close one to the Red Sonya described by Howard on the seminal short-story: “It was a woman, dressed as von Kalmbach had not seen even the dandies of France dressed. She was tall, splendidly shaped, but lithe. From under a steel cap escaped rebellious tresses that rippled red gold in the sun over her compact shoulders. High boots of Cordovan leather came to her mid-thighs, which were cased in baggy breeches. She wore a shirt of fine Turkish mesh-mail tucked into her breeches. Her supple waist was confined by a flowing sash of green silk, into which were thrust a brace of pistols and a dagger, and from which depended a long Hungarian saber. Over all was carelessly thrown a scarlet cloak.” Windsor-Smith adds some ear-rings for good measure.

When the story begins, Conan has been sent from Makkalet with a message to the king of Pah-Dishah begging for reinforcements to the besieged city. Once the message is delivered, Conan turns south, not wanting to return to Makkalet whose young queen had tried to kill him, back in CONAN THE BARBARIAN #21. However, hunted down by the sinister Mikhal Oglu, the titular Vulture, unleashed on him by the vengeful Prince Yezdigerd of Turan, whom Conan had disfigured, the Cimmerian is soon running back to Makkalet, driving his horse to death trying to escape the pursuing soldiers. He falls within sight of the city gates, only to be aided by the mercenary troops from Pah-Dishah, commanded by none-other than Red Sonja, that spew out of the besieged city. It is obvious from this first meeting of giants that Thomas wanted Sonja to create a durable impression. So, it is fitting that the first time Conan met the Hirkanyan warrior he should be prostrate on the ground, looking up Sonja’s leg, while the red-headed seems to barely acknowledge his presence there.

Sonja fights like a she-devil. In Howard’s words, “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. (…) Oaths flowed in a steady stream from Sonya's red lips and she laughed wildly as her saber sang home and blood spurted along the edge.” Following closely the original short-story, when Conan tries to thank her for her help, she rebuts him saying that she had only done what she was being handsomely paid to do. I trust some original readers must surely have started right then counting the pages until she would die a miserable death. But that was not to happen.

Sonja – Conan keeps repeating her name, “Son-ya”, both to familiarize the reader with the correct pronunciation, and to allow Thomas to distance her from her original namesake – is described (in another close echo of the original story) as “all-men’s delight – and no-man’s love”, although in this first story no mention is made of her vow, or of her back-ground.

Before the issue is over, Conan is ambushed by traitors within Makkalet and sequestered into an isolated outpost, there to wait for the arrival of The Vulture. There he is once more rescued by Sonja, who fights alongside him. That Sonja should have come to the rescue when she didn’t seem to care the least about Conan was a clever way to imply the sparkling of a first flame between the two characters. The ending is appropriately gruesome and memorable for such a story, and wisely, Thomas refrains from centering the denouement on Conan and Sonja, whom we see for the last time preparing to face their respective adversaries. Through this simple expedient, Thomas leaves an open ending as to the possible relation to be established between Conan and Sonja. Would she be just one more of the fleeting flames that so often filled the pages of Conan’s adventures? A first, tentative answer would come the following month in The Song of Red Sonja, on the pages of CONAN THE BARBARIAN #24. That will be our next stop.

Final Note: The Shadow of the Vulture, by Thomas and Windsor-Smith, should have been published in CONAN THE BARBARIAN #22 (January, 1973). However, some 13 pages of the story were lost in the mail, prompting Marvel to issue a reprint of Conan’s first story, from CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 (October, 1970) as a filler for that issue. As the mishap was near the deadline for publication, Marvel was not able to substitute the cover for issue 22, sporting the title “The Shadow of the Vulture”. That’s why issue 23’s cover announces “Swords in the Night” instead of the correct title for the story. So, for the sake of completism, here it is, the original cover for “The Shadow of the Vulture”:

RED SONJA: BLUE (Dynamite, 2011)

2011-07-10T17:26:00.011Z

At a certain moment during the always troubled run of Marvel’s RED SONJA, somewhere between the end of Vol.1 (1976-1979) and the rise of Vols.2 and 3 (1983-1986), the red-haired warrior lost the iconic metal bikini that Esteban Maroto made legendary and gained a (not totally ungainly) blue pelt leotard, only marginally less sexy and – if possible – even less protecting in combat situation (for those who care to subject comic-book fantasy women to that kind of reality-check). I can’t really say if it was a smart move or a popular one, but I do know that I hated it with all my heart – come on, Red’s not Red without the chain-mail bikini. And maybe it was coincidence, or maybe it’s just selective thinking, but I don’t believe that Tom DeFalco or Louise Simonson ever managed to deliver a really memorable story in that period; and certainly not one that could rival with such classic pulp yarns as “The Singing Tower” (RED SONJA #6), “Vengeance of the Golden Circle” (#8) or “Red Lace” (#10-11), just to mention some of my favorites.

Well, if in the early Eighties one could easily understand the prudish logic subjacent to such a drastic editorial wardrobe decision, what could justify so within the diegesis? I mean, did she got bored? Surely it was not because of the weather as in both “Red Lace” and “The Bear God Walks” (MARVEL FEATURE PRESENTS RED SONJA #5) we see Sonja fighting the wintry rains with her bikini on and the aid of a fur cape; and in “The Tomb of Three Dead Kings” (RED SONJA #15) the same ensemble keeps away the cold hard snows of a harsh Aquilonian winter.

Now, with the help of overrated best-selling author Peter V. Brett (The Demon Trilogy books), and eye-catching art by Walter Geovani, (also responsible for the mouth-watering sexy cover) the blue pelt leotard is brought back to Dynamite’s Red Sonja universe through the amusing one-shot appropriately titled BLUE. And finally we get to see a logic – and I dare say, defiant – rationale for such a garment. So, dear reader, if you don’t fear the SPOILERS AHEAD, read on.

From scene one, we’re made aware of the auto-referential elements of the story, which revolves around Red’s bikini armor, her vow, her sex-appeal, some deliciously twisted inversion of gender roles, and a curious comment on the reader’s own voyeurism. Indeed, there are several instances in which text and art threat to break the fourth wall and implicate the reader directly in Sonja’s predicament.

We start in media res, with a barefoot Sonja climbing the snow-covered phallic tower of an evil wizard. As she tells us, times are not good right now. “Not long ago I was the most feared general in the world. Now I’m ridding peasants of the local bogeyman for a handful of pennies and a warm place to winter”. Worse still, “(…) I can’t even afford to oil my chain mail. I’m starting to squeak”. We soon find out that Red Sonja has been hired by a tavern-keeper to save her son from the clutches of an evil wizard who is about to sacrifice him to the blue-pelted demon Bramothes in exchange for a few inches in height (yes, compensatory mechanisms of that kind are pretty much dominant in this comic book). The young lad is being offered as a tribute because he is a virgin, in a clear role-reversal for the sacrificial virgin maiden, made even more pertinent due to a later observation of the demon (“I can smell the innocence on him”, he states when the kid tries to deny his lack of sexual experience) about Sonja herself. Her presence denounced by the unexpected squeaking of her dagger being drawn, Sonja confronts and defeats the wizard, only to be grabbed by the demon Bramothes who tantalizingly hooks a sharp claw under Sonja’s chain mail bikini, right between her luscious breasts.

The obvious erotic connotations are made explicitly clear by the demon that drawls menacingly: “For all your bravado, there is a delicious scent of innocence about you. I will enjoy this feast!” Now, having previously referred to young Bregan’s virginity as “innocence”, the demon raises a pertinent question about Sonja’s own “virginity” – a matter also touched upon on this very interesting post by Gene Phillips and that I intend to address in a proper post further down the road.

And, in a moment to be forever inscribed in every Red Sonja fan’s wet dreams for years to come, the red-head lashes with her savage sword, wounding the demon on the neck, the sudden jerk of it’s talon breaking the chain mail bikini that rains around her in a twinkling shower of metal discs.

Then, in a gorgeous pin-up page (Geovani should be given the art job in every current Red Sonja title), Sonja turns to the demon, fierce eyes ablaze: “Enjoy the look, dog, they’re the last thing you’ll see”. But although she is diegeticaly addressing the demon, and the insert reaction shots show both the demon and Bregan fascinated by Sonja’s naked breasts, it’s the reader she is speaking and looking at, as if chiding is for our prurient fan-boy delight.

“Why don’t you save yourself the trouble and simply remove the rest of your armor?”, taunts the demon, clearly aroused, despite its wound. To what Sonja retorts, blue eyes as fierce as fiery diamonds, mischievous smile on her face, “Cur! You’ll cloth me from your pelt!” And it does, after Sonja beheads and skins it.

And thus begins the second act of the story; Sonja, now clothed in blue returns with Bregan to town where she expects to spend the winter, fed and housed by the boy’s mother, winning drinking contests and dancing on the tables afterwards. The second act is mainly concerned with the metal bikini and the rationale for it. First, en route to town, they are ambushed by a family of rag-tag robbers that do not believe that she is who she claims to be (“If you’re Red Sonja, then I’m Kulan Gath”, the robber patriarch chides. “Everyone knows she wears nothing but a touch of steel on her naughties!”). As I’ve written before, in comic-books what the characters wear is an important part of who they are. Their garish clothes are less subject to reality adjunctions than they are to its functions as identity markers (that’s why even in covert operations, Captain America wears his uniform underneath his disguise, even when entering a secret Hydra base – as in Captain America, Vol.5 #24).

And in Sonja’s case, the chain mail bikini, covering only her breasts and genitalia, obeys to a somewhat perverse logic, inasmuch as she is condemned, by her vow, to be forever challenged by men intent on bedding her. It seems strangely fit that she should dress so erotically. BLUE also addresses some practical aspects of the chain mail (besides the need for careful lubrication) closely connected to this: when she looks for an armorer to repair her bikini top, she finds herself at the bitter end of laughter and jokes:

And than, adding prurience to insult, the armorer observes, after evaluating the damage, “and we’l need to… ah… measure carefully”, prompting Sonja to mutter in an obvious fourth wall crumbler, “Everyone wants a look these days…”

But, although conscious of the prurient aspect of the chain mail bikini, the story also makes a point about women in primitive times (or in any time, really), for when she’s talking to the innkeeper, Bregan’s mother, about her chain mail, being asked why should she want to wear “that slip of cold steel in the middle of winter when you have warm fur. And does it not pinch?”, the fact that she’s wearing the fur, and not the bikini, doesn’t stop a patron from pinching her buttocks. Simply, men would behave as such independently of what she may wear.

So why wear it? BLUE’s answer to that (echoing what seems to be Dynamite’s standard stance on this issue – and Ishtar bless them for that) is voiced by Sonja herself: “It’s easier to run a man through when he’s watching your navel instead f your sword point, especially lovesick fools looking to test my vows”. It may not be very convincing – I do prefer to believe she wears the chain mail for less obvious and more subtle psychological reasons: a woman warrior who can not be sexually loved unless defeated in battle, should wear some outrageously sexy outfit as a compensatory (almost suicidal) mechanism to cope with the pressure – but it proves painfully accurate in the particular down-beat denouement of the current story: a cold, unflinching ,tying up of all the threads left hanging all through the build-up.

Walter Geovani’s inks really capture Red Sonja’s fierce beauty and earthy sexuality, and Ivan Nunes’s color palette ranges sensuously from healthy skin tones to cozy interior warmth. Brett’s scrip is funny and bravely attempts to justify Sonja’s clothing options, tacking forth some pro and con arguments, and wisely choosing the pro. Crom bless him. All in all a very rewarding read, addressing several pertinent points of Red Sonja’s mythology.

Brandon Peterson

2011-07-09T07:48:00.001Z

Red Sonja (and some dude named Conan) but Brandon Peterson.

http://www.brandonpeterson.com/blog/index.php

Stephane Roux

2011-07-08T21:17:00.000Z

Another great bit of art from Stephane Roux.

Queen Sonja #2

2011-07-07T15:34:00.000Z

Monster Island News has some sneak peeks at the new Queen Sonja TPB #2.
http://robojapan.blogspot.com/2011/07/queen-sonja-volume-2-red-queen-tpb.html

It looks pretty cool.
Here is the info:

SKU: C1606902156
Rating: Teen +
Cover: Lucio Parillo
Writer: Arvid Nelson
Penciller/Inker: Jackson Herbert
Genre: FANTASY, SWORD AND SORCERY
Publication Date: Advance solicit in June for July shipping
Format: softcover trade paperback
Page Count: 144+
Caution Code: C:0-1-2

The Savage Swords of Elephantmen, The DragonKing's Daughter

2011-07-06T23:25:00.002Z

So I was perusing the new comics on the rack today and saw a cover that featured characters very familiar to us all. Except...it wasn't a Sonja title. It was an issue of Elephantmen (#32) - with the caption The Savage Swords of Elephantmen, The DragonKing's Daughter

Curious. Very curious.

So I picked it up, Elephantmen not being one of my regular titles, and flipped through it. Sure enough, Elephantmen had done a Red Sonja tribute issue (the Sonja character is named "Vanya" in the story).

I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, so I'm not entirely sure what it's all about. It looks like it might be a hallucination/dream sequence for one of the regular Elephantmen characters. I'll have to read it later and blather on about it in the comments.

Dan Panosian

2011-07-06T12:08:00.000Z

A wonderful cover from Dan Panosian.

Red Sonja: Adam Hughes

2011-06-29T17:04:00.000Z

Some more Adam Hughes art today.

Enjoy!

Conan and Red Sonja by Mike Hayes

2011-06-22T20:26:00.002Z

In the immortal words of Keanu Reeves..." Whoah."

Jim Silke - Beautiful Red Sonja painting.

2011-06-12T19:47:00.003Z

This image is from Jim Silkes art book " Jim Silkes Jungle Girls " I'll be getting me a copy.

The Art of Dave Hoover

2011-06-03T21:33:00.003Z

More artists here for you on this first Friday of June.
This time Dave Hoover, http://tarzman.deviantart.com/

FRANK CHO - reinterpretation by Harry Roland.

2011-05-29T18:02:00.004Z

I found this painting on the web. A talented artist named Harry Roland painted the Famous cover of Dynamite comic's RED SONJA queen of the frozen wastes number 1. With actual paint and brushes and talent this guy recaptured the CHO look and feel in one deftly done and superb painting. One good thing about blogging and sufing the web is there is no shortage of great material from which to choose.

Russel Platt (some NSFW)

2011-05-24T23:57:00.000Z

Discovered the art of Russel Platt. Here are some of his renditions of Red Sonja.

You can find his work here, http://www.russellplatt-art.com/ and here, http://rplatt.deviantart.com

Conny Valentina

2011-05-20T16:29:00.003Z

I fell down a rabbit hole while looking for something and ended up at a web site with artwork done by an Australian artist, Conny Valentina.

She does sculpture, too.

Conny's Red Sonja is much more feminine than a lot of artists', but still looks like she could tear you a new one. Very nice.

Victor Santos

2011-05-13T18:13:00.000Z

Not that familiar with Victor Santos, but I like his style.

This last one is my favorite.

He has a blog over at http://victorsantoscomics.blogspot.com/

Speaking of Adam Hughes...

2011-05-10T21:48:00.003Z

I tooked this from his Facebook photo album...SWEEET!

FCBD Red Sonja by Chrissie Zulo

2011-05-09T12:34:00.000Z

Another great Chrissie Zulo piece, this time for Free Comic Book Day.

See here Deviant Art page here, http://my.deviantart.com/messages/#/d3fncmv

Happy Birthday Adam Hughes

2011-05-05T16:00:00.000Z

Today is Adam Hughes birthday and to my (albeit quick) look in the archives I didn't see much of his work here. In any case he does a fantastic Red Sonja.

Happy Birthday Adam!

Black and white and red

2011-05-03T22:55:00.009Z

The genius of Estaban Maroto
Cuddie Torian

Darwyn Cooke

Richard Atkins

Richard Mckelvey

I had a thought come to mind as I was browsing the web for some cool new pics of Sonja. I kept seeing these clever little works of art with RED washes for Sonja's hair and thought to myself..." Hey lets find a few more and post them on RSSDWAS!"

A lot of time has passed since anybody added a new post here at SONJA...maybe because we're busy people leading our busy lives. I know I've been busy. I don't really have much time just a couple of hours after work before my wife comes home and then it's quality time until it's time for bed before we have to get up and go to work and start another busy tedious day. I get home a few hours before she does as her office allows her some over time and she of course takes advantage while it is there. My job however does not offer me OT but I have the advantage of being a receiving clerk so I have a PC at work and while I'm on lunch I browse the web and find neat little pics for my blogging. I even prepped this here text at work and sent it to m'self then did the old copy and paste. I do hope you like my selections. I think the contrast is brilliant and beautiful.

Chrissie Zullo

2011-04-12T14:54:00.000Z

I have recently been turned on to Chrissie Zullo thanks to the wonderful "DC Women Kicking Ass" site.

So a quick trip over to her Deviant Art page, and I find this fantastic looking Red Sonja pic.

http://chrissie-zullo.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d3aon7p

I like that is a sexy Sonja without all the cheesecake elements.

Head on over to her gallery and see more great art like this one!

Sonja and Conan sittin' in a tree....

2011-04-09T22:36:00.003Z

According to TWO sources...this drawing is by Ed Benes....thanks folks. I love her hips in this picture.

YOWZA!!

Drunk blogging.

2011-03-20T03:24:00.004Z

This pair of beauties is by popular professional and well known artist Geoff Isherwood...

And he...knows his way around some chain mail bikini's.

This one is by a very talented artist by the name of Emma Alvarez.

This is by..Mark Winters and I can't read this one...but he makes sonja have some nice boobies with a bit

of a nip slip.

I have had 3 beers and 4 glasses of scotch....so I'm a bit f'd up in the all together department..lol

So...I decided it was time to post a new SONJA post being that she's been neglected. Hope you like my choices as I took about 4 minutes to google search for some new RED SONJA images to post. The moon is really fucking full out there right now and I gotta occupy my brain somehow and I figure this'd be the best way to spend up some nervous energies.

The Art of Fiona Staples

2011-03-11T00:04:00.003Z

I came across this piece in my regularly scheduled google searches for cool art to post here on RSSDWAS and I found FIONA...she is a professional cartoonist with quite an impressive resume.

I'm digging the way SONJA is wearing ol' Bumbles hide here in this ..TRIUMPHANT portrait of the RED HEAD OF VENGEANCE!!!

"RED SONJA art"

2011-02-24T21:53:00.004Z

One great thing about the internet is the availability of great reference material for just about anything. BUT....there is never...NEVER a shortage of RED SONJA art!

The top piece is by ERNIE CHAN....everyone knows him right? You'd better. The second piece is a guy name Enrick....not too familiar with him...but he's great. Annnd then we have Mr. Bair. Another dude everyone should be familiar with. Hope you like 'em. Because that is what we do here....SHARE!!!

Even yet more BRUCE TIMM!!!

2011-02-18T01:24:00.002Z

This guy makes it look so easy...I can't stand it! I could absolutely just plotz!!!

SONJA - convention drawings.

2011-02-12T16:03:00.003Z

Ernie Chan ~ Sergio Cariello ~

Mike Hoffman ~

Dave Simons ~

Here at RSSDWAS we like to browse the web and find material appropriate for our little BLOG. Once in a while I see things that catch my eye or spark some kind of idea in my twisted little brain.

DYNAMITE comics put out an issue of RED SONJA with a blank cover and copies of it were used by dozens and dozens of collectors to go out and get drawings on the covers themselves...some of these turned out really well. They shared their art with us on the site Comicartfans.com and I found them and I'd like to share with you good people RED SONJA fans...Here your gonna see art by Ernie Chan , Sergio Cariello , Mike Hoffman and Dave Simons.

Dave was a great artist a master in fact and he produced many comic books and he even did several issues of CONAN under the MARVEL umbrella years ago. Sad to say the Dave passed away. But his work lives on in the pages of the great comic books he produced. I hope you enjoy this little gallery.

Red Sonja Heartbreaker: Deviant Art

2011-02-11T22:17:00.000Z

A couple of Deviant Art pieces that caught my eye today.

The original:

Sonja is a Heartbreaker by *AmericanNinjaX on deviant ART

The colored version:

ANX Red Sonya Colored by ~MachSabre on deviant ART

- SERBIAN "RED SONJA" STRIP -

2011-02-04T14:41:00.003Z

I borrowed this piece from our friends over at CROM the Ultimate CONAN fan blog. The strip came to them through a devoted follower of CROM named MAREK. I wanted to share with everyone because ...I think the strip is cute. That's it... :) Thanks Cromsblood , Thanks Reis and thank you Marek.

btw...you can see the strip in it's original language over at CROM just below the translated version - another thanks to CROMSBLOOD at CROM.

Red Sonja: Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition

2011-01-24T02:04:00.000Z

Was re-reading my Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition book here and thought I should give Sonja a try.
I put her at PL 9, which is about where she would be for the Warriors and Warlocks book for M&M 2nd Ed. Plus it puts on par with Tarot Witch of the Black Rose. The two certainly seem distantly related. Or maybe not so distantly really.

Red Sonja

Real name: Sonja
Gender: F
Age: mid-20s
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 140 lbs
Hair: Red
Eyes: Green

Power Level: 9

Abilities

STR: 5 (1)	AGL: 3	FGT: 14 (4)	AWE: 2
STA: 6 (1)	DEX: 5 (1)	INT: 2	PRE: 4

Dodge: 9
Parry: 9/14
Fortitude: 8
Toughness: 9
Will: 4

Armor (Chain mail)
Sword

Advantages
Accurate Attack, All out attack, Attractive 2, Close Attack, Diehard, Equipment (Sword and Armor), Extraordinary Effort, Fascinate (Intimidation), Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical +3 (Sword), Improved Defense +2, Languages (Hyrkanian), Precise Attack (all), Prone Fighting

Skills

Athletics +7, Close combat (sword) +19, Deception +4, Insight +3, Intimidation +10, Investigation +3, Perception +5, Persuasion +4, Stealth +7

Powers
Gift of the Red Goddess Scáthach
-Enhanced Ability: Dexterity 4
-Enhanced Ability: Strength 4
-Enhanced Ability: Stamina 5
-Enhanced Ability: Fighting 10
Cold Immunity 1

Complications
Compulsion: Must never lie with a man unless he has beaten her in single combat
Fame: Sonja is known throughout the land

Power Points
Abilities: 36 Powers: 47 Advantages: 28 Skills: 14 Defenses: 10 = 135 pp

Fairly pleased with this build. I am sure it is a matter of opinion where fighting skills vs her agility vs her strength lie, but this woks out well.

Cross-posted here: http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/01/red-sonja-mutants-and-masterminds-3rd.html

Sonja even looks hot as a zombie

2011-01-21T03:00:00.006Z

I'm probably the last guy on the short bus to discover the silliness that is Dead Sonja She-Zombie with a Sword, but I stumbled across this Sonja parody a couple of months ago on Wowio.com and have been meaning to mention it here, on the offchance that I'm not the only person who is unaware.

Here's a comment from one of the three artists involved (from way back in 2006 when the book came out):

Dead Sonja
I've been working on a comic for print lately, written by Rob Potchak Jr. and co-written by Keenspot's own Chris Crosby. It's a parody comic called Dead Sonja. It's gonna be published by Blatant Comics and it's a 48 page one-shot. The comic is drawn in three parts by three different artists, I'm the one responsible for the art for part 3. I'm close to finishing my part already, but I thought maybe I should start promoting the comic as well with a 2 page splash I just finished today. Check out October PREVIEWS, Diamond gave this comic a spotlight spot.

The art in the book is kind of uneven, as you might expect coming from three different artists, but has some really well-drawn panels and was available with three different covers (the regular cover, the Bloodbath cover, and the Dead Sexy cover).

This is one of my favorite panels from the book:

The story begins with a slightly skewed Sonja-origin story (quite a bit skewed from the origin of Sonja that we're all familiar with). The whole thing has sort of a Mad Magazine feel to it. The illustrations of the second part of the story are my favorite - they have a real Dave Cooper feel to them. There's even a Conan tie-in (Bonan the Carbarian) in this story. Sonja and Conan (Bonan) face off...sort of and do eventually fight it out. The art in the last section of the story isn't horrible, but it's my least favorite (the art belonging to the guy quoted above).

There are even brief Star Wars, Lord of the Rings (sort of), and Army of Darkness references in the book. It's a nerd-trifecta. Score!

You can still pick up a copy of this comic (the actual, physical copy) if you look hard enough. I haven't bothered to pick up an actual copy of the book yet, but I may put forth an effort at ComicCon this summer (if I remember). I've always got my eyes open for Sonja stuff at the con.

Dustin Nguyen

2011-01-14T19:08:00.000Z

Thanks to Land of Nod for this pic.

Red Sonja by Dustin Nguyen.
Semi-related he also did the famous "Red Carpet" picture featuring all the red-headed super heroes of DC And Marvel.
His site is here, http://duss005.com/

Rated R for RED SONJA

2011-01-05T21:58:00.004Z

Ya ' know it aint the first time and won't be the last.

I like to browse the RED SONJA gallery @ Comicart fans.com looking for cool drawings.

Many times I find Nip slips and wardrobe malfunction or even straight up full frontal topless shots.

No doubt about it people love the cheesecake factor. I remember a Facebook friend of mine ( an established comic professional ) saying he " Thinks it's creepy for someone to want to see a naked super hero. "....NOW...I do agree seeing gratuitous or sleazie renderings of Super folk engaging in sexual acts is a bit creepy.

But I think these particular drawings of BIG RED bursting at the seams are rather tasteful. Not sleazy at all. IMHO ....I am an artist myself. I was trained using life models. So seeing naked boobies does not excite me. I rather feel that a woman's body is a piece of art.

Gods finest work....yes he created the natural wonders of the world and that includes WOMEN.

So don't be put off by seeing RED in all her glory. Enjoy the beautiful artwork. It's not sleazy at all to like good artwork. It expands your horizons. :)

Red Sonja: Game Stats

2010-12-13T21:57:00.002Z

** Note: I cross-posted this to my own blog at The Other Side, which is more RPG related. **

I was thinking after yesterday's post on Red Sonja and what system to run her in. While certainly nearly any flavor of D&D would be fine, I also think there is another very good choice. Army of Darkness. The comics have a vibe about them that has always reminded me of the Evil Dead movies. Not so much the humor, but the darkness.

Red Sonja, the comic, is now published by Dynamite, which also gives us the Army of Darkness Comic and the Army of Darkness/Xena crossovers. Given I have down all of that for Army already, then it make even more sense.

Of course given the source material it also makes sense to stat Sonja up using OD&D. My favorite OD&D like product is Spellcraft and Swordplay by Jason Vey and using his Hyborian Age Supplement.

Red Sonja of Hyrkania (Army of Darkness)
Very Experienced Hero

Life Points 76
Drama Points 20

Attributes
Strength 6
Dexterity 5
Constitution 6
Intelligence 4
Perception 4
Willpower 5

Qualities
Promised One (Choosen of Scáthach)
Acute Senses Vision 1
Attractiveness +3
Hard to Kill 6
Fast Reaction Time
Natural Toughness (+4 to Armor)
Nerves of Steel
Resistance (cold) (she grew up on the Steppes)
Situational Awareness

Drawbacks
Adversary (lots)
Honorable (Minimal)
Humorless
Love, Tragic (various significant others and offspring)
Mental Problems (Mild Cruelty)

Skills
Acrobatics 7
Art 0
Crime 3
Doctor 2
Driving/Riding 4
Getting Medieval 9
Influence 2
Knowledge 4
Kung Fu 5
Languages 4 (varies on which comic)
Notice 5
Occultism 2
Science 0
Sports 1
Wild Card

Combat
Maneuver Bonus Base Damage Notes
Sword 14 35 Slash/stab
Punch 14 12 Bash
Dodge 14 Defense action
Parry 14 Defense action

Red Sonja of Hyrkania (Spellcraft & Swordplay)

Warrior (Fighting Woman): 8th Level
"Every great fantasy swordsman, from Robert E. Howard's barbarian hero to Tolkien's great returned King are warriors." - Spellcraft & Swordplay, p. 11

Strength: 18
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 17
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 11
Charisma: 18

Attacks: 7+5 (7 attacks per round, +5 to any one attack)
Hit Points: 56
Alignment: Neutral (Unaligned)
AC: 5
Sword: 1d6+3

According to Jason's rules the Hyrkanians are a horse culture. They also take a -2 to save vs any sort of mind-affecting magic, including illusions. (Save vs. Wisdom)

+2 to Con-based Saves

Red Sonja vs Red Sonja vs Red Sonya

The Red Sonja in the comics now is not the same as the Red Sonja of a few years ago. In the current comics the woman calling herself Red Sonja is actually the reincarnation of the first Red Sonja. The Wikipedia article gives a rough overview, but it also mentions another "Sonja". Red Sonya of Rogatino was not "the she devil with a sword" we all know and love, but rather a "gun-slinging warrior woman of Polish-Ukrainian origin" from the 16th Century.

What they had in common was coming from the same general area (Hyrkania/Ukraine), of course red hair and the temper to match.

Given the change in the comics one is tempted (and I often am) to say this is another reincarnation of the first Red Sonja (which of course is backwards since Sonya came before Sonja). Works for me.

Given that, who is to say when the next time Red Sonja is reincarnated, and what system.

Sonja by StephaneRoux

2010-12-13T01:45:00.000Z

This is one I found at Pixel Fantasies and then again on his Deviant Art Page.
I figure it must be telling me something to run into it twice.

J. Scott Campbell Sonja

2010-12-10T19:44:00.001Z

J. Scott Campbell has been mentioned in this blog before, and with good reason. He does a heck of a job on Sonja.

You can also visit his Deviant Art page here, http://j-scott-campbell.deviantart.com/

Cosplayer Wendy Potter.

2010-12-08T02:42:00.007Z

Here is a nice photo of Cosplayer Wendy Potter in her Sonja gear.

She sets a fine example of what a RED SONJA cosplayer should look like.

Lets take a look @ Arthur Adams !!!

2010-11-19T02:25:00.002Z

Arthur Adams became a fan favorite when he penciled the critically-acclaimed Longshot limited series, written by Ann Nocenti and published in 1985 by Marvel Comics. Adams' highly distinctive and detailed artwork gained him considerable popularity and he found it easy to find further work in the field. However, due to the labor-intensive nature of his detailed art (Adams has mentioned in interviews that, especially for cover art, he sometimes would take days to get a piece just right), Adams found it difficult to meet the short deadlines often found in the comics industry. This has led to him to pursue work for shorter projects such as miniseries, specials, and annuals rather than pursuing work for ongoing comic book series. Exceptions to this include a 1989 two-issue run on X-Factor, and a 1990 three-issue run on Fantastic Four. He also had a ten-issue run on Tom Strong's Terrific Tales (2002–2004), which being an anthology, required only eight pages from him for each issue.
Adams' distinctive style has often been named as a considerable influence among a newer generation of comic book artists, such as J. Scott Campbell.[1] His meticulous attention to detail and unique (for the time period) style made him a highly sought after artist. Adams was also one of the founders of the short-lived Legend imprint for Dark Horse Comics. Adams has worked on many notable series, including various X-Men titles, Fantastic Four, The Authority, Tom Strong, Gen¹³, as well as numerous annuals. He is also known for Art Adams' Creature Features, a collection of previously published stories that paid tribute to various B-movie monsters, published by Dark Horse Comics. Some of the stories had been originally published in black and white, but they were colored for the collection. Along with writer Steve Moore, Adams is the co-creator of Jonni Future, a character in Tom Strong's Terrific Tales.
Most of Adams' work has been on properties owned by others, but he is also the author of the creator-owned series Monkeyman and O'Brien, also published by Dark Horse.
Adams is also a highly-regarded cover artist, and he has provided cover images for issues of Superman, Batman, Justice League of America and Vampirella, among other titles. In addition to his work on comics themselves, he has also produced commercial art, such as numerous illustrations for trading cards, posters, shirts, and various other comics-related merchandise. Outside the field of comics, he has also provided illustrations for various magazines, movies, games, worked in toy design, and even a series of X-Men-themed Campbell Soup cans.
Adams illustrated the covers for Marvel's Incredible Hercules #113 - 115 (January - May 2008), as well for three of its collected editions. He drew half of Hulk #7 - 9, sharing art duties on those anthology issues with artist Frank Cho. Adams currently illustrates Ultimate X, a mini-series written by Jeph Loeb that premiered in February 2010.[2] In 2011 Wildcard Ink / Gumby Comics will be releasing Art Adams Eisner winning Gumby Summer Special and Winter Special after 24 years of not seeing print. ~ ( I got this write up from WIKI ) in the mix there is an early inked and less polished SONJA rendering but as you can judge for yourself...it's loaded with detail. Arthur has a work ethic and it shows.

I can't wait to see more from him...PERIOD! I believe it'll be worth the wait.

Red Sonja - Trailer

2010-10-29T00:44:00.000Z

Rose drops RED for CONAN - Latest Red Sonja film news.

2010-10-14T16:54:00.000Z

After a long delay in the production for "Red Sonja", Rose McGowan has apparently left the project. The news was confirmed by the actress herself as she replied a tweet from her fan who seemed disappointed after finding out her departure.

"It's fine. It was Conan or that," she wrote on Monday, April 5 after her devotee claimed it is unfair that McGowan who has been attached to the movie since 2008 has to be replaced by Megan Fox. Moreoever, the "Charmed" star's statement hints that she had to choose between "Red Sonja" and "Conan", but she somehow landed her option to the latter.

Sergio Cariello " Red Sonja "

2010-09-28T20:56:00.001Z

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

2010-09-28T13:09:00.003Z

"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.'"

Gen Con 2010 Cosplay

2010-09-27T20:18:00.000Z

A Red Sonja from the most recent Gen Con.

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

Hero Worship: Red Sonja

2010-09-26T03:48:00.001Z

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.

Red Sonja by Antony Ward

2010-09-25T16:01:00.001Z

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.

Red Sonja by Dominic Marco

2010-09-24T15:14:00.000Z

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.

Post #100!

2010-09-20T12:16:00.001Z

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

2010-09-20T12:13:00.000Z

#98 - Red by Devon Massey

2010-09-20T12:12:00.000Z

Things are getting confusing...

2010-09-15T14:49:00.003Z

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.

Some slight confusion on post #100.

2010-08-29T01:48:00.003Z

We are coming up on post #100 here at the She-Devil blog. Very close. There are three drafts, well there were four. One was mine, and I deleted it, so this is post #99, but only published post #96.

That in mind, there has been some interest in making #100 special, and I agree. Sherman suggested a post by all contributors. Here is my proposition.

Send me your favorite Red Sonja moment, story... anything you really like about the character. Readers, join in as well. Email me your bit, or if you are a contributor and include images, make a draft post and let me know. I'll combine them. If you are not a contributor, and would like to be one, let me know. The more the merrier!

RED SONJA (Richard Fleischer, 1985)

2010-08-19T15:03:00.007Z

Something went seriously wrong with Richard Fleischer’s 1985 RED SONJA. And if one’s to believe the weight of reviews that have accumulated in these last 25 years, almost everything went disastrously wrong. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger (who played Kalidor, with top billing) considers it the worst movie in his career, and in due honesty, even a detractor of the acting abilities of the current Governor of California would feel hard-pressed to point a worst one out. And still, why should it be so? How could they miss so blatantly the characteristics that made Roy Thomas’s she-devil with a sword such a cult phenomenon among comic book readers?

Fleischer helmed RED SONJA only one year after directing CONAN THE DESTROYER (1984), in and by itself a very satisfactory pulp yarn. Although it was not an equal to Millius’s vastly superior CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1981), it was a clever movie, exploring and expanding the Conan mythos, and clearly demonstrating Fleischer’s ability to work in the Sword & Sorcery genre. Moreover, in Olivia D’Abo’s princess and Grace Jone’s warrior, Fleischer had two opposite and strong female characters that justified some expectations as to his own Red Sonja. So, what went wrong?

Many blamed the casting of Brigitte Nielsen as the titular character. However, and despite her considerable acting limitations, she was not a bad choice to play the hyrkanian red-head. If fault is to be placed, it should be with the characterization. Even dropping the chain-mail bikini, Nielsen should have been alllowed to wear her hair in the style she had in COBRA (1986) and to keep the steely countenance of her Ludmilla character in ROCKY IV (1985). Besides what, the cuirasse she dons in RED SONJA isn’t in the least flattering to her ample physical charms, and one can only but think that it was the producers’ intention to de-emphasize her cleavage. The Red Sonja we see on-screen is a totally de-sexualized (or, more correctly, de-eroticized) character, and I believe that is the main trouble with the film.

CONAN THE DESTROYER was such an enjoyable movie because in it Fleischer didn’t have to worry with the (always problematic) origin story. Milius had done (brilliantly) away with it, and so the story could advance along a more leisurely and self-contained pace. Not so with RED SONJA. Burdened with the origin myth of the red-haired warrior – and such a problematic one, at that – the story on-screen had to go along with the studio’s felt need of closure. It is a common problem with origin stories in film that the main plot of the feature must deal with the problems of said origin and resolve them with a satisfactory sense of roundness. But how to do it when the origin story involves such an un-PC element as rape and you do not want to treat it as a rape-revenge flick since it is aimed at a PG-13 rating?

It’s the tough balancing act between the seriousness of Sonja’s predicament and the light tone one expects from a pulpy adventure for kids that dooms the film to an inglorious fate. But is it that not the same problem that limits a more adult-oriented scope in any mainstream comic book? Not that the origin story of Sonja in the comics is devoid of problematic issues. Consider this: raped as a teenager, and empowered by a goddess with fighting abilities and swordsmanship, and undefeatable for as long as she abstains from sex (unless she is beaten in a fair fight), Sonja is a walking add for further rapes. (In the movie, Kalidor tiptoes around this question by saying “So, the only man that can have you, is one who's trying to kill you. That's logic.”, but there’s no denying what that amounts to.) In the comic books, the origin story was only told in 1975 by Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin (“The Day of the Sword” in Kull and the Barbarians #3), when Sonja was already an established character (having appeared for the first time in “The Shadow of the Vulture” in Conan the Barbarian #23 in 1972), and even then she is deprived of her vengeance over her rapist.

By placing the origin story in the core of the plot, Sonja’s rape becomes not her background, but her defining trait. It is therefore imperative that she resolves this issue in order to carry on with her life. Sonja is a woman bent on revenge. When she accidentally discovers that it was Queen Gedren (a magnificent Sandahl Bergman), the sadist lesbian tyrant that ordered Sonja’s gang-rape, who’ve laid waste to the kingdom of Hablock, her face lightens up with a newfound-meaning for life. In “The Day of the Sword”, Sonja unwillingly saves the life of his rapist five years after the event. Insane from torture, her former assailant cannot recognize her and so her vengeance upon him is senseless. Sonja laughs. Because she has matured and she has overcome her plight – Sonja is already Red Sonja, she has a life-history of prevailing against unfavourable odds. Not so with Fleischer’s Sonja. The movie’s woman-warrior is an obsessed man-hating simpleton, whose “sexuality is displaced in exhausting bouts of swordplay”, as Nigel Floyd once accurately put it in the Monthly Film Bulletin.

Moreover, one can not but think that the filmmakers didn’t had much sympathy for the character, for they kept playing the movie against her as if anxious to pigeon-hole Sonja in a more acceptable feminine role. Sonja seeks revenge against Gedren, but since Gedren purports to destroy the whole world, her personal quest plays second fiddle to the main focus of the film. Feminist readings over the years have demonized the movie for its supposed treatment of homosexuality – not only is Gedren a lesbian, but it is because Sonja resists her advances that she orders the red-headed gang-raped by her troops (so that Sonja is effectively raped by a woman, not by men – who were only following orders). More subtle and perhaps perfidious, is the way the film keeps trying to fit Sonja in a world of domesticity defined by sex-roles. In at least two instances in the film Sonja must walk under huge phalluses (even if only implied): the entrance to the training ground where she learns how to fight with an incongruous and anachronistic Chinese master (Tad Horino) is located under the legs of a huge stone statue holding two clearly phallic swords, so that Sonja has to step (or ride) under its penis to enter or leave the precinct, as she does when Kalidor comes looking for her with news of her sister’s imminent dead. And her sister, who sets Sonja on her quest, is laying under the legs of a huge stone auroch, so that Sonja must crawl under its (inferred) penis to receive her mission in life. The message is clear: it is under the tutelage of the phallus that she is trained and that she gets her purpose (as it was under the phalluses that raped her that Red Sonja was born – significantly, Gedren is also seen holding a phallic symbol when she destroys the order of the priestesses and takes hold of the Talisman).

The phallus, however, is not only a symbol of power, but of fertility as well, and Sonja is made to play the role of mother to young Prince Tarn (Ernie Reyes, Jr.), on one occasion even suggesting to put him over one “knee and beat some manners into him”. That Red Sonja, Kalidor and Tarn are treated as a nuclear family is obvious from the scenes where Tarn imitates the fighting movements of both his surrogate parents. But even the mother role is awkward for Sonja, for when she tries to teach Tarn to use a sword, Fleischer chooses to make it look as if the warrior is teaching him how to masturbate, once more underscoring how unacceptable a woman-warrior is for maternity and how sexual Red Sonja’s role is, despite her manly look. And it’s no coincidence that she’s made to look the most sexy and sensual when lying down after the rape or when temporarily unconscious and semi-naked:

Brigitte Nielsen has a great physical presence on-screen, and carries well her fighting scenes. In another movie, with another script and a more mature bend, she would have made a great Sonja, capable of both fierceness and femininity, tough and sensual, intimidating and alluring. As it is, she’s lost in the quagmire of a would-be third Conan picture. Just a promise to be fulfilled, not much more than a operatic caricature of a great comic-book character and the illustration of the troubles of the comics medium: a world aimed at kids, populated by females aimed at grown men. Not a fair fight at all.

More glory ho...I mean glorious art found on Comicart fans...

2010-08-17T23:15:00.000Z

by artist Eric Basadula...freaky...but...Seewwwweeeeet!

Hope I am not being redundant...

2010-07-27T19:24:00.002Z

Saw this Bruce Timm piece at Bad Librarianship Now!

RED SONJA - "She'll cut you" - by Stephanie Buscema

2010-07-23T03:58:00.000Z

Borrowed from STEPHANIE BUSCEMA'S Blog - right here on Blogspot! DIG IT !

RED SONJA - VERY NICE!

2010-07-20T21:48:00.000Z

I've been visiting comic art fans a lot and picking out drawings of Sonja and so on for a few months now. I came across this one I would like to share with you...Don't know who the artist is but it's beautifully crafted. Looks to be colored with pastels...not an easy medium to work with. This artist kicked ass. Plus I love the Peter Griffin side boob shot and there is nothing I like more than some cheesie cake to brighten up my day.
The hair is masterfully done and I love the sillhouettes of the warriors in the background...just an outline and more pastels. Clever , beautiful...deadly.

Red Sonja by Andy Smith....

2010-07-20T21:39:00.000Z

Andy was one of my Kubert school alumns - he was not in my class but he went there when I did. I saw him everyday and I admired his work. I liked the way he inked back then. Very clean deft line delineation.

He's a pretty big name in comics these days. He's done RED SONJA / CLAW and currently you can see his work in the WWE comic books. He's an all around everyman artist who can do it all...draw,ink.letter,color,write..he's a real pro and I am proud to have studied art with him.

He has a few books out that he wrote...instructional how to...make comics and such.

He is also a radio personality in the Florida area. Recently because of his radio connections he filmed a tv pilot for a sitcom on a cable network...he played a director. Fitting. :)

As real as Red gets....

2010-07-04T16:17:00.001Z

Unless one were posting an actual photo of a woman dressed like this would be the only way for somebody to have a visual of what RED SONJA would look like in reality if she were walking right by you out in the real REAL world. Looking at this painting I notice the hard athletic ( BUT SEXY ) body and can feel the strength and power a woman like this would actually have. Trying to imagine who would best play the role of RED in a movie were it made 30 or so years ago. This particular painting I see a little Raquel Welch and a little Adrienne Barbeau. But even the vivacious Raquel and the voluptuous Adrienne never had physique's like this. But I am highly impressed by the photo realistic qualities of this artists skills. Not too realistic so as not to forget it's a painting.

Another Sonja , Manga style

2010-07-04T16:08:00.000Z

A couple of months ago I posted a sweet manga style Red Sonja that was just too cute not to admire and fall in love with....Recently I found this OTHER manga style Sonja drawing on Comicartfans and had to share.

The shape of the hips the big anime style eyes the curvilicious nature of the busom....yeah, I had to share.

Red Sonja in the 1980s

2010-06-29T11:26:00.002Z

I have always been torn where the 1980s version of Red Sonja is concerned. I am a big Frank Thorne fan, but my earliest experiences with Red Sonja are from Savage Sword of Conan, which (to the best of my knowledge) Thorne rarely worked on directly* My first real comic book experience with the character was through the mini-series She-Devil with a Sword: Red Sonja, which led to the regular comic book.

From a logical level, the new Red Sonja attire is certainly more adventure-worthy than the chain mail bikini. Also Sonja is more athletic looking than in Thorne's work. From a feminist perspective, Sonja is less of a sex-pot, but if I remember correctly, they play with a potential lesbian bent to her nature — this is not really a problem for me, save that Sonja accepts no man who cannot best her, not because she is not interested.

One of the best parts about the 1980s Sonja is having Christy Marx writing. Ms. Marx wrote for numerous cartoons and comics (including Sisterhood of Steel, Conan the Barbarian, and Elfquest). I first came accross Marx's work in the PC DOS game Conquest of Camelot, which had a lot of mythological depth and a good story. Marx was very talented and was key to reviving the character for me.

All that being said, I am going to jump off the fence. I like the 1980s Sonja. She is different than the 1970s version, and has complexities of her own. I remember there being some really awesome covers, one of my favorites was:

* The Wizard and Red Sonja Show was, I believe, originally published by Eros Comics, and reprinted in SSoC.

Cosplay @ CROM!

2010-06-29T11:23:00.001Z

Not sure if anyone has posted this already. Quite an impressive costume, imho.

CROM!: Red Sonja Cosplay at the San Diego Comic Con!

Just so we have things clear.

2010-06-24T16:34:00.002Z

I'd like to keep this blog as civil as possible. A comment on the previous post irked me, but I try not to feed the trolls, then I began thinking of how inappropriate the comment was. It may have been in jest, I don't know. The problem is, with text it is often difficult to discern meaning by anything but the words typed.

That being said, I don't want to see any more comments that can even be construed as abusive. This is a fan blog, run by fans. I, however, own it. I am going to keep things the way they are for now, but if I need to start moderating comments or limiting comments to followers I will not hesitate, and I can boot offenders.

Lets keep it clean, and keep it considerate. If you can't say something nice, then say it on 4chan. ;-)

The Many Faces of Sonja

2010-06-23T02:47:00.004Z

Red Sonja issue 50 has come and gone without a mention here, so I figured I might as well be the one to mention the Sonja-liciousness of Dynamite's landmark 50th issue. There were four covers for this issue, and I wanted them all. Unfortunately, I was only able to pick up the Joe Jusko and Joe Linsner covers (I had really hoped to get the Art Adams cover, too).

There were six stories in the thick issue (it was a lot like an issue of Dynamite's Savage Tales, except all the stories were Sonja-centeric). Three of the stories are brand new, one is really old (a Frank Thorne reprint) and two were from a previous Dynamite Sonja series.

The first story, The Cloud Tiger, was illustrated by Pablo Marcos (this wasn't the first time he's taken a stab at Sonja). Methinks Pablo needs to spend some time studying anatomy. Women's anatomy, specifically. To misquote Steven Tyler, "Lady looks like a dude." Thumbs down.

The second story, Here there Be Wolves, was illustrated by Joyce Chin, and Joyce took a much more classic approach to drawing Sonja. The horse, the flowing red hair - it all borrows heavily from Franke Thorne's Sonja (though she's a cup-size or two bigger). Thumbs up.

I was sure that the issue's third story, The Frost Giant's Curse, was going to be a rip-off of the Conan Frost Giant's Daughter story. Fortunately, other than the words "Frost Giant," there wasn't much retreaded material. The story was well-illustrated by Johnny Desjardins. Thumbs up.

This isn't the first time Dynamite has included an old Marvel Red Sonja story in one of their comics. It's fun to see how Sonja has evolved over the years (sorry, but I'll take most of the newer renditions of Sonja over Thorne's, any day). Still, the walk down memory lane deserves a thumbs up.

I had some serious Tolkien flashbacks when reading the fifth story, The Hands of Fate. Noah Salonga's ghost kings were right out of the Lord of the Rings (from the Paths of the Dead). And trolls. All we needed was some orcs and a couple of hobbits. Thumbs up.

The last story of the issue, Revenge is a Bitch, is short, but very well illustrated by Ron Adrian. Sonja is strong, fierce, and angry, but still unquestionably female (something other artists forget in their efforts to make Sonja the uber-butch warrior queen). Another thumbs up.

And if anyone cares, I also have a couple of thoughts on the third installments of Dynamite's Red Sonja Annual. Dan Brereton is da' man. And Adriano Batista ain't half bad, either.

RED SONJA - by Sanjulian

2010-06-21T20:53:00.000Z

I'd seen his work on various magazine covers throughout the 1970's I always loved his figure work and his backgrounds are as mysterious and cloudy just like Frank Frazetta's. But this RED SONJA has a very unique look and feel to it. I've never seen an original depiction that I liked very much. When I think of Red Sonja I'm thinking Frank Thorne , Buscema , Maroto. You know a particular LOOK. This is the first time I'm seeing this and I think it's classic and beautiful.

Sonja with a little less up top

2010-06-13T01:32:00.008Z

I was out wandering around the interwebs today, looking for information on a Richard Corben comic series that I had somehow missed last year when I stumbled across some Edgar Tadeo sketches of Sonja that I don't think I've seen here before.

I prefer the pencil work to the fully inked version, but here are the inked versions of the last two.

The web site that I found the first image on made this comment:

The She-Devil with a Sword never looked better than in this drawing by Ed Tadeo. I like the fact that in designing Sonja's figure, Ed opted to depict her as lean and muscular instead of preternaturally busty. Nice work.

As much as I love the gigantic breasticles, I have to agree...

The Queen's not quite dead yet...

2010-06-07T03:08:00.002Z

Queen Sonja #7 came out last week. And, as of this issue, no real attempt to explain how Sonja became queen has yet been made (that I've noticed, anyway). Or to explain exactly why she's fighting the Armies of Darkness.

Nevertheless, the cover by Lucio Parrillo was again amazing.

Another comic title that came out last week was Image comics's Dust Wars with an equally amazing cover by Paolo Parente (you should seek out any other comic he's worked on - he's amazing).

And that got me thinking...

What other artists would I like to see do a Sonja cover? I think Paolo would be right up at the top of my list.

A blast from the recent-past...

2010-05-22T16:40:00.004Z

Here are a few (just a paltry few of the very many) of Dynamite's Sonja covers that deserve a mention...

Red Sonja, She-devil with a sword issue 13 Joe Linsner cover:

Red Sonja, She-devil with a sword issue 30 Alex Ross cover:

Savage Tales issue 6 Art Suydam cover:

Savage Tales issue 7 Art Suydam cover:

Sonja looks an awful lot like Angelina Jolie in that last cover...

Why am I mentioning these covers now, when it has been so long since they were published? Well, I was up looking for other comics that I appear to have missed random issues from in the past few months and I came across these issues as I went through box after box of disordered comics.

Savage Tales was a cool book (Sonja, Hercules, Atlantis - all kinds of weirdness). I'm bummed that it died after only 10 issues.

yet another BEAUTIFUL JUSKO drawing

2010-05-17T00:17:00.000Z

I go crazy everytime Joe puts out another drawing..this image of the RED TRESSED warrior woman is over the top...he should paint this one. I can't see enough of his stuff I could look at Joe's stuff all day...on his wesite on his Facebook...I never get tired. Never. Whatcha think fokes?