Movies - Red Sonja

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Red Sonja, "warrior woman out of majestic Hyrkania," is a fantasy sword and sorcery heroine created by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith and first appearing in Conan the Barbarian
#23 (Marvel Comics). She was loosely based on the character Red Sonya of Rogatino in Robert E. Howard's short story "The Shadow of the Vulture" (The Magic Carpet Magazine, January 1934), which was rewritten as a Conan story for the Marvel comic.

The She-Devil with a Sword has become the archetypical example of the fantasy figure of a fierce and stunningly beautiful female barbarian who typically wears sexy, but impractically skimpy armor.

Origin

The origin of Red Sonja, "The Day of the Sword", first appeared in Kull and the Barbarians issue 3 by Roy Thomas, Doug Moench and Howard Chaykin, and was later redrawn by Dick Giordano and Terry Austin for The Savage Sword of Conan, issue 78.

Red Sonja lived with her family in a humble home in the Western Hyrkanian steppes. When she had just turned 17 years old, a group of cruel mercenaries killed her father Ivor, her mother and two younger brothers and burned their house and all their possessions. She survived but was raped by the leader of the group. Answering her cry for revenge, the red goddess Scathach appeared to her, and instilled in her incredible skill in the handling of swords and other weapons on the condition that she would never lay with a man unless he defeated her in fair combat.

Howard vs. Marvel

Thomas's "Sonja" is very different from Howard's original "Sonya". Besides tweaking the spelling of her name, Thomas transformed her from a fictional historical character into a heroine of Conan's Hyborian Age, and replaced Sonya's guns (and sword) with (only) a sword.

Most artists depict Red Sonja wearing a very brief bikini-like costume of scale mail. As originally drawn by Barry Smith for "The Shadow of the Vulture" and "The Song of Red Sonja" in Conan the Barbarian
issues 23 and 24 (1973), she did not have as full a figure and dressed a little more conservatively, in a chainmail long-sleeved shirt and red cloth (maybe leather) shorts.

As told by Roy Thomas in the introduction of Red Sonja Adventures Volume 1 (Dynamite Entertainment) Spanish artist Esteban Maroto submitted an uncommissioned illustration to him when he was editing the magazine Savage Sword of Conan where he redesigned the character and for the first time showed her wearing what would become her famous costume, the silver “metal bikini”, which resembled other fantasy costumes that other Maroto heroines sported in the 1970’s. This illustration was printed for the first time in black and white in Savage Sword of Conan #1, was later reprinted in Marvel Treasury Edition #15 colored but poorly reproduced, and finally restored and colored by José Villarrubia as an alternate cover for the Dynamite Entertainment edition of Red Sonja #2. Maroto drew her in this costume for her first solo adventure in Savage Sword of Conan #1, and John Buscema drew her in this costume in the same magazine. Buscema drew her again in this costume in issues 43, 44 and 48 of Conan the Barbarian
(1974) and Dick Giordano in the first issue of Marvel Feature (1975) before Frank Thorne took over from issue 2 (1976). The "bikini" proved popular, becoming well known through the paintings of Boris Vallejo and others.

Comics

These are the comic books that have featured Red Sonja as a main character:

Marvel Feature 1-7 (Marvel Comics) (November, 1975 - November, 1976).
Red Sonja (1st series) 1-15 (Marvel Comics) (1977-1979).
Red Sonja (2nd series) 1-2 (Marvel Comics) (1983).
Red Sonja (3rd series) 1-13 (Marvel Comics) (1983-1986).
Red Sonja The Movie 1-2 (Marvel Comics) (1985).
Red Sonja: Scavenger Hunt (Marvel Comics) (1995).
Red Sonja in 3-D (Blackthorne) (1998).
Red Sonja. A Death in Scarlet (Cross Plains) (1999).
Red Sonja (New series) 0-present (Dynamite Entertainment) (2005).

In addition she has been featured in solo stories in the following publications:

"Conan the Barbarian
", (Marvel Comics) (1974).

# Issue 48, "Episode!," Roy Thomas (w), John Buscema (p), Dick Giordano (i).

"The Savage Sword of Conan", (Marvel Comics) (1974-1995).

# Issue 1, "Red Sonja," Roy Thomas (w), Esteban Maroto (p), Ernie Chan/Neal Adams (i). # Issue 23, "Wizards of the Black Sun," Roy Thomas/Clair Noto (w), Frank Thorne (a). # Issue 45, "Master of Shadows," Christie Marx (w), John Buscema (p), Tony DeZuñiga (i). # Issue 78, "The Day of the Sword," Roy Thomas/Doug Moench (w), Dick Giordano/Terry Austin (a). # Issue 157, "Infant Terrible," Bruce Jones (w/a). # Issue 169, "The Endless Stair," Peter B. Gillis (w), Steven Carr (p), Armando Gil (i). # Issue 171, "The Waif and the Warrior," Jim Valentino (w), Steven Carr (p), Josef Rubinstein (i). # Issue 187, "Red Sonja Queels the Song of the Siren," Marie Javins/Steve Buccellato (w), Alfredo Alcala (a). # Issue 192, "On the Road of Kings," Roy Thomas/Dann Thomas (w), Tony DeZuñiga (a). # Issue 194, "The Road to Zamboula," Roy Thomas (w), Tony DeZuñiga (a). # Issue 195, "Swordless in Zamboula," Roy Thomas (w), Tony DeZuñiga (a). # Issues 207-10, "The Road to Zanadu," Roy Thomas/Dann Thomas (w), Del Barras /Reggie Jones/ Kirk Etienne (a). # Issue 229- "A Lady for the Burning," Roy Thomas (w), Howard Simpson (p), Rober Quijano (i). # Issue 230-3, "The Ring of Ikribu," 1/4 Roy Thomas (w), Esteban Maroto (a).

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Movies - Red Sonja

Origin

Howard vs. Marvel

Comics

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