Red Sonja should be with chainmail bikini

[Comic2read]

Dynamite Entertaintment's Red Sonja should be the buxom chainmail bikini Red Sonja.
That's the only Sonja I want to read.

Alex Ross and Adam Hughes sound like great covers. When will preview art be posted?

[Comic2read]

From the Frank Cho board:

: Has anyone seen the art? Hope its the chainmail bikini Red
: Sonja.
: Frank Cho's Marvel contract prohibits him from doing a
: Red Sonja cover?

No. Marvel is pretty good about letting do covers for other companies (as long as it's no DC Comics and doesn't screw up my Marvel deadlines.)

It's just that no one asked me to do the Red Sonja cover.

Frank Cho
LIBERTY MEADOWS

Comic2read says: ASK FRANK CHO!

[terryallenuk]

Dynamite Entertaintment's Red Sonja should be the buxom chainmail bikini Red Sonja.
That's the only Sonja I want to read.

Alex Ross and Adam Hughes sound like great covers. When will preview art be posted?

Newsarama has a thread plus art over at http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24479

Terry

The Robert E Howard Comics Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheREHcomicsgroup/

[jasonrobertyates]

I posted the press release and pics on my board at:
iNdyHero.com (http://jry.proboards34.com/index.cgi?board=comicbookchat&action=display&num=1104766566)

This looks like they spent some time on this. I am very much looking forward to it. I was glad to see the use of the chainmale bikini :p . I was surprised to. I thought Marvel had the exclusive.

[terryallenuk]

I posted the press release and pics on my board at:
iNdyHero.com (http://jry.proboards34.com/index.cgi?board=comicbookchat&action=display&num=1104766566)

This looks like they spent some time on this. I am very much looking forward to it. I was glad to see the use of the chainmale bikini :p . I was surprised to. I thought Marvel had the exclusive.


No all rights for the character are held by Red Sonja Corp.

Terry

The Robert E Howard Comics Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheREHcomicsgroup/

[jasonrobertyates]

Oh. I am not to familiar with the prose version of Sonja. Just the comics and that horrible movie. Thanks for the info. :)

[terryallenuk]

The original SonYa appeared in the Howard story The Shadow of the Vulture which was a 16th century story set in Vienna .

There were 6 novels done of the Red SonJa comics version , now out of print but you can get second hand fairly easy .

Details at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/3473/sonja.html

Terry

The Robert E Howard Comics Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheREHcomicsgroup/

[Kane]

Dynamite Entertaintment's Red Sonja should be the buxom chainmail bikini Red Sonja.
That's the only Sonja I want to read. I hate that my first post to these boards has to a disagreement. :(
However, I simply cannot see the character going through her entire life just wearing that. The current Conan comic has finally done away with the image of the "fur diaper" that Marvel forced apon us and I feel that it is time for Red Sonja to get a "realistic" treatment.
Any quick google search will show that there are enough combinations of ancient clothes and armor to allow a sense of reality and show off Sonja's form.
Another aspect I feel could use some updating is style of fighting. While most of the weapons of Howard's Hyborian Age were the heavy sword and axe, I belive that Sonja should use a lighter weapon. Something along the lines of either rapier, or light saber. These would allow the artists to show a more deliberate style that focuses on her making single strikes against the weak spots of an opponets armor. Instead of a lot of slashing, she thrusts through gaps in the joints, aims for the eye, and spears the underside of the throat. All the while dodging away from her enemies attacks.

Just my opinion. :)

[hamsterdance]

I agree with Kane. I know this is a fantasy world but I'd like to see at least some acknowlegement to real-world fighting conditions. There's no way anyone - man or woman - would go around getting into sword fights with skimpy clothes. All it takes is one mis-step, one arrow by a hidden sniper in the back, etc and their mercenary career (which is how I see Red Sonja) is over.

[jasonrobertyates]

I agree also with Kane. But I can't find myself disliking the chain mail bikini :D . In the long run for the sake of longevity. Realism and strong writing will keep this title afflot. ;)

[Comic2read]

I so disagree on giving Red Sonja different boring cotumes. It's an iconic character that is it's look. Marvel changed Sonja's costumes to a blue dress. Who remembers that today? The chainmail is immortal.

(I have no objection to showing different sword fighting styles.)

[LisaVTomecek]

I have to agree with Kane here, and I'll also add this much:

As a female who routinely wears chain mail (a hauberk, mind you, and not a string bikini), the notion of wearing mail underthings strikes me as extremely uncomfortable. Even when wearing the usual armor, one must take care not to get the links caught in one's hair (head, arm, or otherwise), as the results of doing otherwise are not nice.

Moreover, a world without central heating can get pretty chilly--especially in a place like Hyrkania, which I imagine has all the geographic niceties of, say, greater Uzbekistan. Continental steppes are known for being harsh places to live; I suggest a quick Weather Channel Online check of the conditions in Mongolia if you want some more perspective. I for one wouldn't be traipsing about in metal underpants where the temperatures can run well below zero (Fahrenheit) during the day.

Lighter weapons do sound feasible, especially when one considers that most females are, indeed, lighter and more agile than their male counterparts. Even in a world of primarily heavy weapons a good smith would know how to make lighter arms upon request, and a warrior as skilled as Sonja would know to play to her strengths.

Of course, the artists and writers will have the final say in this, and we may well end up with the chain swimsuit--but if Dynamite's folks are looking over this board to see what we think, I hope they'll consider everyone's thoughts.

-LVT-

[terryallenuk]

According to one of the interviews that's been done the creators wanted to change her attire but the Licensor , Red Sonja Corporation presumbly , wanted the chain mail . I guess it's become Sonja's look .

Terry

[LisaVTomecek]

According to one of the interviews that's been done the creators wanted to change her attire but the Licensor, Red Sonja Corporation presumbly, wanted the chain mail. I guess it's become Sonja's look.

Alas, you're probably right, Terry. Ah well, I'm sure we'll all of use survive the chain mail, right (especially you boys)? :D

I hope this book gets as much good press and as many rave reviews as DH's Conan.

-LVT-

[Kane]

According to one of the interviews that's been done the creators wanted to change her attire but the Licensor , Red Sonja Corporation presumbly , wanted the chain mail . I guess it's become Sonja's look .

TerryWell, I can hope that the new comic is popular enough that as they progress there will be a chance to get a more realistic look to the character.

[Kane]

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I'd like to see Sonja use a style of fighting more in keeping with spped and grace. I finally found a quote from a Conan story that helps to show what I was trying to get at.

"Valeria fought beside him, her lips smiling and her eyes blazing. She was stronger than the average man, and far quicker and more ferocious. Her sword was like a living thing in her hand. Where Conan beat down opposition by the sheer weight and power of his blows, breaking spears, splitting skulls and cleaving bosoms to the breastbone, Valeria brought into action a finesse of swordplay that dazzled and bewildered her antagonist before it slew them. Again and again a warrior, heaving high his heavy blade, found her point in his jugular before he could strike. Conan, towering above the field, strode through the welter smiting left and right, but Valeria moved like an illusive phantom, constantly shifting, and thrusting and slashing as she shifted. Swords missed her again and again as the wielders flailed the empty air and died with her point in their hearts or throats, and her mocking laughter in their ears."

REH, Red Nails

[Olde Sonja Fan]

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I'd like to see Sonja use a style of fighting more in keeping with spped and grace. I finally found a quote from a Conan story that helps to show what I was trying to get at.

"Valeria fought beside him, her lips smiling and her eyes blazing. She was stronger than the average man, and far quicker and more ferocious. Her sword was like a living thing in her hand. Where Conan beat down opposition by the sheer weight and power of his blows, breaking spears, splitting skulls and cleaving bosoms to the breastbone, Valeria brought into action a finesse of swordplay that dazzled and bewildered her antagonist before it slew them. Again and again a warrior, heaving high his heavy blade, found her point in his jugular before he could strike. Conan, towering above the field, strode through the welter smiting left and right, but Valeria moved like an illusive phantom, constantly shifting, and thrusting and slashing as she shifted. Swords missed her again and again as the wielders flailed the empty air and died with her point in their hearts or throats, and her mocking laughter in their ears."

REH, Red Nails

Precicely! Red is a woman, not a tank like Conan, so to have her fight in the same way is to have her matching her weakness to an opponant's strength. Her strength is being quick, agile, and deadly, as in the text above. In a Sonja story I read recently she found herself in a long fight with a man, and nearly lost it because she was getting tired, while he was just pounding away. She won in the end, but it was a near thing because she fell into the trap of trading blows rather than being nimble. Hopefully story writers will be keeping this in mind as the 2 series continue.

By the way, while the bikini may be iconic, there should be more variety in her attire. Red is smart enough to vary her armor according to season and locale. A bikini clad Red in the far north in winter is a sure recepe for a Sonjacicle, hardly a proper state for staying alive, let alone fighting. A handy compromise between cute and practical is her 'legionaire' outfit, currently seen in the Ikribu reprints, and which was her standard outfit in the later SSOC tales.

[estee]

I've been a opponent of the chain mail bikini, as it looks ridiculous. Much like the under-roos the actors wore in "300".

But if having Sonja wearing it prompts people to buy the book, then so be it.

I did like the scene in the latest issue of Queen Sonja, when the bad guy snapped the link that held her bra together and which burdened Sonja with sudden sense of modesty that nearly got her killed.

Now if she wore proper armour plate that would never have happened. :D

[BigRedFan]

The original SonYa appeared in the Howard story The Shadow of the Vulture which was a 16th century story set in Vienna .

There were 6 novels done of the Red SonJa comics version , now out of print but you can get second hand fairly easy .

Details at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/3473/sonja.html

Terry

The Robert E Howard Comics Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheREHcomicsgroup/

Yep I have all the Red Sonja novels. I remember getting them in the 80's when I was in the military and thought they were fun reads. Still have them!

[Olde Sonja Fan]

Another happy camper that just bagged the set of 6, on eBay. For a decent price, too. Would you believe there are sellers out there wanting $85 and up for the full set?

I fully agree with estee, by the way. Even a hardened leather breastplate would have been better. Better to go with what actually works in the real world, rather than from the imagination of one artist. Now, if only the artists would get the stances right...