Quote Originally Posted by positronic View Post
They should just get rid of the metal bikini if they want to treat Red Sonja seriously, as opposed to sexploitatively. It's pretty laughably unrealistic (something like the outfit from Red Sonja Unchained would be much more practical, if no more protection in battle). The metal spangles would not only cause her to freeze her cupcakes off on cold nights (or heat up during the day in the hot sun), but due to the fact that it barely covers her, it offers nothing in the way of armor. From a publishing standpoint, it's good for fanboy leering, but not much else. Not that Sonja's unique in that respect when it comes to female comic book characters.
I can live with or without the metal bikini. It doesn't make sense practically, but it is sort of her signature look. The original Red Sonja look that Barry Windsor-Smith drew for her was pretty cool, and she did sport that in Dynamite's RED SONJA monthly for quite a while there when the book began visiting her earlier days.

I love the somewhat-thin, in-story justification for the metal bikini though. It "distracts" her male opponents and gives her an advantage. Now THAT'S classic comic book logic!