Chrissie Zullo

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....

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

YOWZA!!

Drunk blogging.

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

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"

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!!!

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

SONJA - convention drawings.

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

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

The original:

Sonja is a Heartbreaker by *AmericanNinjaX on deviantART

The colored version:

ANX Red Sonya Colored by ~MachSabre on deviantART

- SERBIAN "RED SONJA" STRIP -

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

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

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

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

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

** 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

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

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/