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6 entries this month
Atali00:29 Apr 28 2023
Times Read: 127
Atali is the beautiful and otherworldly daughter of Ymir, the Frost Giant, and the sister of the frost giants (or ice giants). She will often appear to dying warriors on the battlefields of Nordheim. With her unearthly beauty, she will lure them away to chase her across the frozen wastelands until they are slain beneath the axes of the frost giants.
Description
Atali is described as being beautiful as a frozen flame of Hell. She has pale skin like ivory, and her slender body is as perfect as the dream of a god. Her only garment is a light veil of gossamer that does nothing to conceal her features. She has bright reddish-blonde hair that shines in the sun like elfin gold, blending the traits of her Æsir and Vanir heritage. She has eyes of shifting colors and dancing lights. Her voice is more musical than a silver-stringed harp and edged with cruelty, while her laughter is sweeter than the rippling of silver fountains and poisonous with mockery. Atali seems to dance lightly across the snow rather than run, her naked feet barely leaving an imprint.
Albiona00:23 Apr 28 2023
Times Read: 131
Countess Albiona, whose golden hair falls in lustrous ripples about her bare white shoulders, is fiercely loyal to Aquilonia's rightful ruler, King Conan, even in the face of a sudden death. Still being so young and vigorous, she angrily refused to become the evil exiled Aquilonian prince, Valerius' unwillingly mistress when that villainous scoundrel had wrongfully usurped Conan's throne after Conan's supposed death.
For this resistance, she was imprisoned in Tarantia and sentenced to death, but Conan rescued her just before her execution and delivered her safely to Poitain.
Zenobia16:21 Apr 23 2023
Times Read: 141
Zenobia was a woman who aided Conan's escape in The Hour of the Dragon and is Conan's queen in The Return of Conan (Conan the Avenger).
Biography
Previous to the events of The Hour of the Dragon, Zenobia was a concubine of the Nemedian king, though she swore he had never touched her. When Conan made a state visit to the kingdom of Nemedia at the head of his knights, she immediately fell in love with the Cimmerian, wishing to be with him. Years later, when she discovered Conan had been imprisoned by Xaltotun and Tarascus, she offered her help and aided in his escape. For this, Conan married her, made her queen of Aquilonia and had a son with her (Conan II). A Khitan sorcerer later kidnapped her, forcing Conan to undertake a long journey to rescue her. After doing so, the two returned to Aquilonia and resumed their rule of the kingdom.
Physical Appearance
She is described in The Hour of the Dragon as "lithe" and "beautiful." She has long, luxurious black hair, dark eyes and a notably pale skin tone. Her eyes are particularly stunning. In the novel, she wore only jeweled breast plates and a "wisp of silk twisted about her loins".
Traits and skills
Along with attributes proper for a concubine like dancing and court etiquette, Zenobia shows a knowledge of weaponry and battle situations superior to what could have been expected from her type, with Conan noticing she knew how to choose a knife for fighting- also of horses (and men). She also seems to have a considerable skill with the bow and the arrow, being capable to score a kill on a would-be assassin of Conan in one of his adventures.
"He inspected the weapon the girl had given him, and smiled grimly. Whatever else she might be, she was proven by that dagger to be a person of practical intelligence. It was no slender stiletto, selected because of a jeweled hilt or gold guard, fitted only for dainty murder in milady's boudoir; it was a forthright poniard, a warrior's weapon, broad-bladed, fifteen inches in length, tapering to a diamond-sharp point." -- "The Hour of the Dragon"
Belit02:14 Apr 23 2023
Times Read: 160
Bêlit was born in the Hyborian nation of Shem and was the daughter of a Shemite trader. Little is known of her early life, but before she reached adulthood, Bêlit and her brother Jehanan were abducted by Stygian slavers. She later escaped and learned the arts of sailing and swordsmanship. By the time Bêlit was a young woman she was a skilled sailor and fierce warrior, and she became the commander of a pirate ship known as the Tigress, manned by black corsairs. Her crew was intensely loyal to her and regarded her with awe. With the Tigress, Bêlit and her corsairs attacked and plundered many ships and villages from lands as far south as Kush (Hyborean South Africa) to as far north as Zingara (Hyborean Spain). Bêlit grew so feared and respected that she became known as the "Queen of the Black Coast."
Creation
Bêlit was originally created in 1934 by fantasy author Robert E. Howard. She made her first appearance in the anthology magazine Weird Tales as the titular character of the novelette Queen of the Black Coast. Bêlit made her first unofficial comic book appearance in 1952 in Mexico, starring in her own series called Reina de la Costa Negra (Spanish for Queen of the Black Coast), written by Loa and Víctor Rodríguez and drawn by Salvador Lavalle. In 1974, Bêlit made her first official American comic book appearance in Marvel's Giant-Size Conan #1, written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Gil Kane.
Novelization
Bêlit was described by Howard as a wildly fierce yet strikingly attractive femme fatale:
She turned toward Conan, her bosom heaving, her eyes flashing. Fierce fingers of wonder caught at his heart. She was slender, yet formed like a goddess: at once lithe and voluptuous. Her only garment was a broad silken girdle. Her white ivory limbs and the ivory globes of her breasts drove a beat of fierce passion through the Cimmerian's pulse, even in the panting fury of battle. Her rich black hair, black as a Stygian night, fell in rippling burnished clusters down her supple back. Her dark eyes burned on the Cimmerian. (excerpt from "Queen of the Black Coast")
Other characters called Bêlit a "she-devil of the sea," making her the first of Howard's heroines to earn the "she-devil" nickname (though another Howard-inspired heroine, Red Sonja, would earn that nickname in comics). Howard's Bêlit had jet-black hair and dark eyes, yet her skin was ivory-white despite her exposure to the tropical sun. She wore only a red silk girdle, sandals, and jewelry. Due to her Shemite heritage, Bêlit had an intense fondness for material wealth; avarice was her greatest character flaw and this eventually proved to be her undoing.
Mexican Comics
Bêlit's earliest known comic book appearance was in a Mexican comic book series first published in 1952. Though unlicensed, the stories were loosely based on the adventures of Howard's most popular character, Conan. But the publishers regarded Bêlit as the more interesting character, so she became the main protagonist of the series and it was titled "The Queen of the Black Coast" after her. Conan himself was relegated to sidekick status and was blond and Viking-like instead of dark. There were other notable differences between the Mexican Bêlit and Howard's original: Her ship was called the Venganza ("Vengeance") instead of the Tigress, and it was manned by Vikings rather than black corsairs. Because the Mexican Bêlit was the star of the series, she survived the deadly encounter with the winged monster that killed her in Howard's story arc. When publication of the title finally ended in the early 1960's, her character was still alive and well.
The Mexican Bêlit wore an animal pelt skirt, a Spanish Conquistador-like helmet, and round metal breastplates very similar to those later worn by Marvel's Valkyrie. In early issues the breastplates were the only clothing she wore above the waist, giving her a metal bikini top. Later she usually wore a chain mail shirt along with the breastplates. Though generally depicted as a strong warrior woman, Bêlit was often shown in peril or in bondage on the covers, as was typical of pulp comic covers of the 50's and 60's.
Marvel
In the 1970's, Bêlit appeared as a major supporting character in Marvel's ongoing Conan the Barbarian title. For her Marvel comic book appearance, Bêlit was given a costume that was essentially a female version of what Marvel's Conan wore: A fur loincloth, along with a matching fur sling-bikini top. Rather than ivory-white skin, she had tan skin to better reflect her seafaring lifestyle. Marvel expanded upon Howard's original Queen of the Black Coast story in the series, culminating in her tragic death in Conan the Barbarian #100 in 1979. It is the picture at the top of page.
Dark Horse
More recently, Dark Horse acquired the rights to Conan and published their own ongoing Conan title, with Bêlit appearing in their retelling of the Queen of the Black Coast story arc. Dark Horse's Bêlit went back to having ivory-white skin as originally described by Howard, though her costume varied: She was shown wearing skimpy metal bikini tops very similar to Red Sonja's, along with silk girdles (purple rather than red), and a brown cloak, tunic, and pants for colder climates. Her depiction by Dark Horse was more frightening and feral than was depicted by Marvel.
Romance with Conan
During her exploits, Bêlit eventually encountered the legendary adventurer Conan the Cimmerian. There was mutual respect and attraction between the two fierce warriors, and soon they fell in love. In her passion, Bêlit vowed that she would one day save Conan's life and even death would not deter her from that vow. Together they continued pirating and adventuring until Bêlit was tragically slain by a demonic winged monster. Afterward, Bêlit briefly came back from the dead to aid Conan against the same demon that had killed her. Her supernatural intervention allowed Conan to avenge Bêlit by destroying the creature, and also fulfilled Bêlit's vow to one day save Conan's life.
Valeria01:43 Apr 23 2023
Times Read: 168
Valeria is a pirate and adventuress (a member of The Red Brotherhood of pirates) in the fictional universe of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian stories. She appears in Robert E. Howard's Conan novella "Red Nails", serialized in Weird Tales 28 1-3 (July, August/September & October 1936). This was the last Conan story written by Howard, and published posthumously. The name was also used for Conan's love interest in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian.
Description
Robert E. Howard described Valeria in "Red Nails" as follows:
She was tall, full-bosomed, and large-limbed, with compact shoulders. Her whole figure reflected an unusual strength, without detracting from the femininity of her appearance. She was all woman, in spite of her bearing and her garments. The latter were incongruous, in view of her present environs. Instead of a skirt she wore short, wide-legged silk breeches, which ceased a hand's breadth short of her knees, and were upheld by a wide silken sash worn as a girdle. Flaring-topped boots of soft leather came almost to her knees, and a low-necked, wide-collared, wide-sleeved silk shirt completed her costume. On one shapely hip she wore a straight double-edged sword, and on the other a long dirk. Her unruly golden hair, cut square at her shoulders, was confined by a band of crimson satin.
She is also described as a superior swordswoman. Valeria is faster and more agile than Conan.
Reception
The character is a powerful, active figure, but is also sometimes rendered helpless for the titillation of the reader. As Winter Elliott writes, Valeria "represents a mediation between the possibilities of female agency and her own gendered identity. As Conan points out, Valeria can't escape the simple fact of her femininity. As such, her identity is structured by her society. Like Conan, Valeria's pursuit of freedom against her society's wishes marginalizes her, making her other, but it also forces Howard to go to extravagant lengths to substantiate her femininity, which he does by including not one, but two female bondage scenes. If she can be subjected to such sexual humiliation, Howard implies, she must be female... What happens to Valeria is more about the needs of the reading/viewing audience than her own action or inaction. Valeria in those sexually debased moments isn't a character in and of herself, but rather a narrative tool designed to provoke a response from the readers."
Valeria had a major role in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian, where she was played by Sandahl Bergman, although the character portrayed in the film differed from Howard's character, having a romantic relationship with Conan and borrowing characteristics from Bêlit, another character by Howard. Valeria is killed during the course of the film, but assists Conan in spirit form.
Valeria appeared as an ally of the player in the 2008 MMO Age of Conan and began to rule Tortage after the fall of the tyrant Strom.
Red Sonja21:59 Apr 19 2023
Times Read: 181
Red Sonja is a fictional sword and sorcery comic-book superheroine created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino.
Marvel Comics published stories featuring Red Sonja until 1986, and returned to the character for a one-shot story in 1995. In 2005, Dynamite Entertainment began publishing stories of the heroine, during which the original Sonja was killed and replaced by a "reincarnation". The series was rebooted by writer Gail Simone in 2013, telling an altered version of Red Sonja's early life story via flashbacks. Subsequent writers of Red Sonja have included Amy Chu, Mark Russell, Luke Lieberman, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner, among others.
Red Sonja has appeared in numerous titles, both as a solo protagonist and together with Conan, as well as in crossovers with characters from Marvel Comics and Dynamite Comics. A total of six Red Sonja novels were published from 1981 to 1983 all written by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney and, in 1985, a feature film starring Brigitte Nielsen in the title role, Red Sonja, was released.
Sonja's signature clothing is her bikini armor, consisting typically of scale mail. In 2011, Red Sonja was ranked 1st in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
History
Marvel Comics (1973–1995)
Red Sonja was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially based on Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino, a female swashbuckler from his 1934 short story "The Shadow of the Vulture".
Red Sonja debuted in Marvel's Conan the Barbarian #23 (1973). Thomas created a new origin story and transposed the timeline from the 16th century of Howard's original Red Sonya to the Hyborian Age, another Howard creation, in order to have the comic-book Red Sonja interact with Conan the Barbarian. In 1975, Marvel Comics published the first issue of Red Sonja after the character headlined Marvel Feature for seven issues that same year. Red Sonja's origin story was told in the story "The Day of the Sword", in Kull and the Barbarians #3 (1975), written by Roy Thomas and Doug Moench and illustrated by Howard Chaykin. The same story was later redrawn by Dick Giordano and Terry Austin in The Savage Sword of Conan #78 (July 1982).
In this version, Red Sonja lives with her family in a humble house in the Western Hyrkanian steppes. When she is 21, a group of mercenaries kills her family and burns down their house. Sonja attempts to defend herself, but cannot lift her brother's sword. She is raped by the leader of the group. Answering her cry for revenge, the red goddess Scáthach appears to her and gives her incredible fighting skills, on the condition that she never lie with a man unless he defeats her in fair combat.
Marvel's last published story featuring Red Sonja was the one-shot issue Red Sonja: Scavenger Hunt #1 (December 1995), written by Glenn Herdling and illustrated by Ken Lashley.
Dynamite Comics (2005–present)
In 2005 Dynamite Comics began publishing Red Sonja. The first series, which ran for 80 issues, continued the Marvel Comics' continuity of the character, picking up from where Marvel left off with the character in 1986. Dynamite's first series depicts the original Sonja's death in issue #34. A new character of the same name, described as a reincarnation, takes her place from issue #35 onward. A soft reboot begins in issue #50 using the same continuity as Marvel Comics.
At the 2013 Emerald City Comic Con, Dynamite Entertainment, which began publishing Red Sonja comics in 2005, announced that Gail Simone would be writing a new ongoing Red Sonja series with art from Walter Geovani. Simone noted in interviews that her version was slightly "rebooted", showing the character's beginnings. Issue #1 of Simone's run was released in July 2013 to positive reviews. The series lasted 18 issues. After Simone's run, Dynamite launched a new Red Sonja series in January 2016. The book featured Marguerite Bennett as writer, and a redesign of the main character by artist Nicola Scott. That series lasted six issues.
In 2017, a new Red Sonja comic series debuted by Amy Chu with art by Carlos Gomez. The series ran for 25 issues, ending in 2019.
In November 2019, a new series by writer Mark Russell and art by Mirko Colak debuted to positive critical reception, leading into a spinoff series called Killing Red Sonja. Russell left the series after issue 24 and was replaced with writer Luke Lieberman, with art by Drew Moss. The series ran 28 issues.
In mid-2021, Dynamite released the anthology Red Sonja: Black, White, Red. Each issue presents stories by different teams of artists and writers, including Kurt Busiek, Benjamin Dewey, Amanda Deibert, Cat Staggs, Mark Russell, and Bob Q. Also announced was a crossover with Project superpower. A sequel to it will be released in November 2022 called Vampirella VS Red Sonja.
In February 2021, Dynamite released a series titled Sonjaversal depicting Red Sonja meeting various different versions of herself across the multiverse. That same month, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti co-wrote the series Invincible Red Sonja with artist Moritat.
In June 2021, the character appeared in Die!namite and Die!namite Lives. That same month, Dynamite Entertainment announced that a new series written by Mirka Andolfo and drawn by Giuseppe Cafaro would debut in September 2021. The first issue sold out its initial run of 32,000 copies, prompting a second printing.
In December 2021, it was announced that Red Sonja would appear in the sequel to Die!namite and Die!namite Lives called Die!namite Never Dies.
Hell Sonja, a spinoff from Sonjaversal, was released in January 2022. That same month, the Immortal Red Sonja series by writer Dan Abnett and artist Alessandro Miracolo was announced for April, which would depict Sonja in King Arthur's Camelot. In February 2022, Dynamite announced that it would debut Red Sitha in May, set ten years after Andolfo's storyline, following Red Sonja's adopted daughter, Sitha.
In March 2022, Dynamite announced another spinoff titled from Sonjaversal, Samurai Sonja, written by Jordan Clark with art by Pasquale Qualano. May 2022 a one-shot fairy tale reimagining Red Sonja as Jack from Jack and the giant beanstalk would be released in August 2022
In July 2022, it was reported that Dynamite would debut its new Red Sonja flagship title, Unbreakable Red Sonja, in time for the character's 50th anniversary in 2023.In September 2022, Dynamite announced the crossover series Hell Sonja/Red Sonja.
In April 2023, Red Sonja, LLC announced that a new original Red Sonja novel written by Gail Simone would be published by Orbit Publishing in mid-2024.
In April 2023, Dynamite announced that it would debut an ongoing Red Sonja series by writer Torunn Grønbekk and artist Walter Geovani that July, in celebration of the character's 50th anniversary.
Bikini armor
Most artists depict Red Sonja wearing a very brief "chainmail bikini" costume of scale armor, usually with boots and gauntlets. As originally drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith for "The Shadow of the Vulture" and "The Song of Red Sonja" in Conan the Barbarian issues 23 and 24 (1972), she wore a long-sleeved mail shirt and short pants of red silk.
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 while Thomas was editing the magazine Savage Sword of Conan. The illustration featured a redesigned silver "metal bikini", which resembled fantasy costumes that other Maroto heroines sported in the 1970s. This illustration was printed for the first time in Jim Steranko's magazine Comixscene #5 in black and white. It was reprinted in Savage Sword of Conan #1, then in Marvel Treasury Edition #15 in color, and later restored and colored by José Villarrubia as an alternative cover for the Dynamite Entertainment edition of Red Sonja #2. Maroto drew her in this costume for a double page spread illustration in Savage Tales #3 and then for her first solo adventure in Savage Sword of Conan #1. John Buscema drew her in this costume in the same magazine and in issues 43, 44, and 48 of Conan the Barbarian (1974). Dick Giordano portrayed Sonja in the bikini for the first issue of Marvel Feature vol. 2 (Nov. 1975) before Frank Thorne took over from issue #2 (Jan. 1976).
Bisexuality
In 2016, author Gail Simone indicated that Sonja was bisexual during her run. In 2020, the series Red Sonja: The Price of Blood by writer Luke Lieberman and artist Walter Geovani corroborated this, depicting Sonja as having slept with a woman.
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