Red Sonja

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.

Appearances

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

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• 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:

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• "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).
• "Kull and the Barbarians" (Marvel Comics) (1975).
• Issue 2, "She-devil with a Sword," Roy Thomas (w), Howard Chaykin (a).
• Issue 3, "The Day of the Sword," Roy Thomas/Doug Moench (w), Howard Chaykin (a).

She has appeared a "guest" alongside Conan the Barbarian in the series:

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• Conan the Barbarian
• The Savage Sword of Conan
• Conan the King

And with Spider-Man in "Marvel Team-Up" # 79 and Wolverine in "What if?" Vol. 2, #16. In the former the spirit of Sonja possesses the body of Mary Jane Watson to face her old enemy Kulan Gath. In the later Sonja is defeated by Wolverine and becomes his mate. Sonja has been featured in several novels by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney:

Related Topics:
Spider-Man - Wolverine - Mary Jane Watson - Kulan Gath

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• #1 The Ring of Ikribu (Ace 1981) (Adapted to comics by Roy Thomas and Esteban Maroto in The Savage Sword of Conan issues 230-3)
• #2 Demon Night (Ace 1982)
• #3 When Hell Laughs (Ace 1982)
• #4 Endithor's Daughter (Ace 1982)
• #5 Against the Prince of Hell (Ace 1983)
• #6 Star of Doom (Ace 1983)

She was played by Brigitte Nielsen in the 1985 film Red Sonja, which also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Kalidor (a Conan clone). The film was directed by Richard Fleischer. It performed poorly at the box office.

Related Topics:
Brigitte Nielsen - Arnold Schwarzenegger - Richard Fleischer

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The character has been parodied in numerous forms including the furry comic book series, Red Shetland where the title character is a humanoid mare in the archetypical armor bikini.

Related Topics:
Furry - Red Shetland - Bikini

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