Set Description:
I'm so into redheaded swordswomen, that I married one. A natural extension of my Conan & Gor loving childhood reading. There's just something wonderful not only about these short RS runs by Marvel, but also about the revival by Dynamite starting in 2005. I'm not much of a 9.8 kind of guy, so I'll never be competitive in this set - but I am a completionist, and I love writing about cover art. Additionally, 25+ years of stage combat, jousting, & teaching swordsmanship for stage left me with some strong opinions on how you stand, how you wear armor, and how you hold your damn sword. So, hold on to your sword, keep your shield up, and let's cut to the bone.
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| The gallery tab shows only items with images. Click the thumbnails to enlarge. |
| Slot: |
Red Sonja 1 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 1 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2073819002
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Owner Comments
What the absolute hell is going on in this cover image?!? Seriously. Did someone say - hey Frank, do you think you can show everything that Sonja is going to fight over the first 5 issues on the cover of issue #1 and include a throwback to Conan #1? We've got a severed dragon-snake thing, a death-icorn, some weird looking goblin, a dead spider, a wizard Harry (Thulsa Doom, I hope), is the yellow supposed to look like flames? with green smoke? I am entirely unsure. I'm really bothered by the dragon-snake's tongue too; like it should be hanging limp if the creature is severed in two. And my brain just can't process the idea of the danger-unicorn of death. I don't know what it is or why it is. I feel a little like Drax "Why is danger-unicorn?"
Sonja - so...yeah, Frank buddy - I appreciate you have hopes and dreams here, but those breasts are going to murder her - shrink them a little bit. Funny thing - having taught female swordswingers, THEY GET IN THE WAY, and they throw you off balance. So...I'm actually ok with how she's holding the sword - the grip itself is correct, maybe a little too tight - you're not strangling it. I hate that her elbow is locked though, there should be a little bend in it, even with her sword fully raised. And that dagger on her hip. It's so tiny - far too small - like silly small, I'm not sure her hand would even fit in the grip.
And finally - a word balloon. Yeah, I loathe them - they're so dumb most of the time. But - for this issue, I'm going to give a pass; why? Because it is an exact throwback to the cover of Conan #1, where he has the same line. Frank's no BWS, but the word balloon is a nice touch.
I think really - really, really - the only thing this cover has going for it, is the use of color. Even with all the weird elements trying to be tied together in a single cover image, the color - the flesh & the sweep of magnificent red hair, against the black & blue background really makes Sonja jump off the cover.
Overall - is it good? No. But it isn't terrible either. Would it have separated me from my hard earned 30 cents? Well, I was 12, so with that rack front and center - yeah probably. 12 year old boys are kinda single-minded.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 2 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 2 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
3724317005
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Owner Comments
"The Demon in the Maze!" Okay - before I get into a long dissertation on the cover itself, can we have a discussion about the absolute most moronic word bubbles? Right? Over my dead body? That's the point. "Kill her" means you'll be dead. Okay maybe, just maybe, someone knew about this moronitude and clipped it for the Thor/Stormbringer scene - but I doubt it, and I don't see this being played for laughs. Editors - can't live with them, can't eat them for dinner.
I gotta say, the demon is pretty neat looking. Except the weird word blurb on his ass. But green and bulgy, and kinda gross - big tail, massive hands - and you know what they say about a demon with big hands, right? Anyway, Frank's done a sweet job of making this mostly faceless creature look like a threat. In the background, outside of the maze that has walls so short I could climb out of it and I'm short & fat, we've got ourselves a bad guy in rather classic Persian clothing - he looks like an evil sorcerer, if a fat one, and he's got himself another demon monster on his right and a griffon maybe on his left. So perhaps I was a little hasty on my chances of climbing out. Probably bite my hand off when I tried. I have to admit, I'm just not sold on the whip. Just like it's one thing too much. But it is well rendered. Colors are strong, and there is a lot of pattern built in to the wall of the maze, the sorcerer's garb, and the floor of the maze (are those eyeballs? - freaky weird) - and that feels right. Very in the style and flavor of the realm.
Now, Sonja. Seriously? What the hell are you supposed to be doing in that pose? Your knees should be bent deeper, lowering your center and your arms are flailing about stupidly - you're gonna die, ok? The light on the sword shows it to be twisted to the rear in her grip - it's all wrong, and she's got a weak-ass grip on the sword. Plus she's wearing that dumb-ass curved knife that is smaller than her hand again. Frank - you're better than this. It is nice to see Sonja in her shoulder armor. It's more noticeable later in the Loprestri covers for Dynamite, but you can see it here too.
Overall - I'm going to have to say the cover is more win than not. Although it has it's issues. Ha! Issues on an issue. I'd have to say it's pretty likely that this cover would separate me from my hard earned thirty cents.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 3 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 3 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1301667004
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Owner Comments
"Web of the Spider Queen!" Sure - Conan gets a Spider God (issue 13), but Sonja only gets a Spider-Queen/sorceress/shapeshifter. I don't know who decided that this cover needed word balloons, but they deserve to be drawn & quartered. Remove them, look just at the magnificent image of the sorceress shifting into a giant spider and tell me you can't figure out the story antagonist from just the image. Someone really undermined Frank on this one - the art was just about perfect all by itself. I am really enamored of how the sorceress is shifting - merging - blending into the giant spider. That part of the image might be absolutely perfect. And the spider itself is fricken' awesome - totally not a real spider, but totally Conanesque; garish colors, huge fangs, gleaming eyes - oh yeah. Also - big fan, of the way a couple of the legs wrap around Sonja, creating a sense of circular flow to the cover - those legs wrap down and right, then the eye follows the line of the merging sorceress up, follows the swoople from the sword to the left, and then comes down the fringed edge of the curtain.
As for Sonja herself? Well, she is holding the sword in a weird overlapping grip that you would only see from a beginner; her left hand should be below the right had on the sword hilt for power & control. It isn't quite enough to really annoy me - but it is wrong for an experienced swordswoman.
Overall - I just hate word balloons, and unlike issue 1 these don't get a pass - but I think if they were deleted, this would be an awesome cover. Since I am stuck with the words of dumbness - I'm going to say this is ok. Probably it would still come off the spinner rack and into my personal collection based on the cover.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 4 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 4 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0321312013
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Owner Comments
"The Lurkers in the Lake!" Specifically the normal looking guy staring at her a$$. Right. So we've got some Sleestak looking dudes - that makes sense. And they are pretty good looking in green against the bright yellow background. They look like they could have come from a lake anyway. Plus one of them has a sword and another has a double-headed axe with a spiked ball on top, which might be the dumbest fantasy weapon I have ever seen in my life. But just some Creature from the Black Lagoon looking bad guys wasn't enough, oh no. (sad Sleestak sounds). We also need a bat & a snake. Plus, the one creature front & center needs to have a skirt on to hide his tail? It's so incongruous I thought it was the headdress on a wizard from the rear - and it's dumb. And we still have the dude looking up Sonja's bikini - I guess he's supposed to be on her side maybe? I don't know.
Then we have Sonja herself. OK - so she's got her sword back like she's about to take a huge swing - except her grip is inverted, so either her hand is drawn upside down or she's in the most moronic position ever with her primary hand. She's got reach on these attackers if she holds her sword properly, instead she's holding it like she's defending with it and attacking with her dagger. Dumb. And not only does Sonja have her dagger in her hand - she's also got it on her thigh, in the scabbard. Now, her stance - it is a little bit aggressive, a little long in the forward step - unless she's really taking the big swing that her hand is upside-down for. You know, if her hand was right, I'd really love her pose. Instead it is horrible.
Last - but certainly not least - can someone tell me what the hell is happening in the background with the blue & black area? What is that supposed to be? I cannot for the life of me figure it out.
Overall - yeah, I'd probably have spent 30 cents on this from the spinner rack - but only because I was 12.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 5 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 5 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0987149005
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Owner Comments
"The Dragon in the Pit!" You know - no word balloons should be a win. And a Frank Thorne signature for my collection is 100% a win. But this cover. Wow. There's some stuff going on here. So...yeah, we have a dragon. A two-headed dragon, breathing a little bit of fire and evidently under the control of the wizard in the background, who also has a bodyguard. The wizard, not the dragon. I think; I mean, I could be mistaken. But that's not enough - two heads & fire-breathing isn't enough - the dragon also has some hentai level tongue action going on (side note - is this more or less hentai than Pat Broderick's cover for Marvel Red Sonja Vol 3 #5?). The cover is just a bit like your little brother's Dungeons and Dragons campaign. You know exactly what I mean - more is better. For atmosphere, lets add a couple of completely clean human skulls, and have them on the edge of a drop-off, as if nobody would ever knock them off the edge. It's just so much stuff. Still better than the cover to issue 1. The floor in the background has a nice pattern to it - very cool, very in the feel of Sonja.
As for Sonja - I can't even figure out what position she's supposed to be in. She's horribly off balance to the rear with her knee locked like that, and she's got her sword & elbows so far back she definitely going over backwards - right of the edge. Fortunately she's got a nice sticky tongue holding her up - until she severs it anyway.
As a treat, I've also included an image from my raw collection of Dynamite Entertainment's Red Sonja Vol 1 #2 - which is an Art Adams homage cover of this Frank Thorne masterpiece, and while I'm not sold on the changes in the 2-headed beast from having snake like heads to having tyrannosaur heads, it is a very impressive homage. Somehow Adams has managed to make Sonja's attributes even bigger. I've written about this elsewhere - under the Conan the Barbarian covers by Adams, but you can see here how much rounder and softer Sonja's face has become compared to those early 90s Conan covers. I do think that not having the tongue wrapped around Sonja makes for a less engaging image. But - artistic choice there. I'm sure many buyers prefer an unobstructed view of Sonja's midsection.
Overall - I'm sure I would have bought this off the spinner rack - but, it isn't great. Oh, and the stupidly tiny thigh dagger is back.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 6 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 6 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1301783012
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Owner Comments
"The Siren of the Singing Tower!" - or - as I like to call it "Fairies bad, not good" - and if you know where that quote is from you're officially old, but cool. So, the yellow stands out. It kind of screams at you, huh? I think that's intentional - the screaming; of course the yellow is. Frank did a nice job of making the fairy hideous, while still being 'fairily pretty'. Not super easy I would think. But yeah, kind of a cool cover here. The word balloons not too intrusive, although the "First Lady of Fantasy" blurb is really annoyingly visible against the black. I am having trouble trying to figure out the scale of everything - I think the big fairy is human sized and the little fairies are like - bird size (no, not like emus - like robins) - but there isn't really any scale in the image for me to confirm that. It's just a feeling. The images are weirdly interlocked too - in a way that makes it look like Sonja's free hand is holding on to the big fairy's arm. Then the pattern behind Sonja looks sort of like a hive - but round. It's all very confusing, yet it does manage to convey what the story inside is about: drugs. Okay, probably not. It's the attack of the Queen Bee - not the DC one.
Now Sonja - hey look, I think Frank got her breast reduction surgery - thanks Frank, they look a little less in the damn way now. So, she's holding her sword all wrong for the direction of her just completed swing, based on the swoople of the sword - she would have made a really weak swing with the false edge like that. Yeah, the finish to an upswing looks awkward if you show it right - but much less so than that dumb attack.
Overall - the cover has no flow, and no setting, and Sonja's positioning and swing are terribly awkward. I'm going to have to say that this cover fails to separate me from my hard earned 35 cents.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 7 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 7 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
3700412024
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Owner Comments
"The Blade and the Behemoths!" Elephants?!? Elephants! I frigging love elephants. Like, Sam Gamgee level love elephants. What amazingly cool animals. But enough of my fascination - let's check out Sonja's cover this month. Well yeah, Destination F*cked. No really, there's a lot you can do with a sword (and more you can do with a halberd - swords really aren't that effective against a bunch of stuff), but fighting an elephant isn't one of those things. And fighting seven (I think) elephants with archers on top of them, while wearing next to nothing? Yeah - that's not going to work out so good for Sonja. Looking at Sonja herself, she knows she's up a creek - look at her backpedal, weapons up trying to defend, and real fear on her face. But, we know she survives, right? there's an issue next month. I think one of the things that really tells here is the ground and her body are both canted backwards at different angles, I feel the unbalance of being overwhelmed and backpedaling. I think Frank did a really good job capturing that with the cover image. Plus elephants everywhere. If you've never been close to a group of them, it's hard to imagine what it's like, but it is very overwhelming, the sense of smallness. And several elephants is far different from one elephant at the zoo. Draftsmanship is solid and I like the bright yellow background and black cloud too.
Overall - yeah, absolutely - I'm buying this issue off the spinner rack for 35 cents based on the cover art.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 8 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 8 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
3724317006
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Owner Comments
"The Serpent is a Sorceress!" Here's the thing with Frank Thorne Red Sonja covers - the focus is always on Sonja, where it belongs. But the rest of the image is often filled with pattern (I mean look at the pattern on those scales!) or little background dudes. This image is full of both. The patterning on the serpent is awesome, and the details of all the sorceress' minions watching the fight really pull the image together. The tension is strong, the serpent means business, the forked tongue and dripping saliva (or is that venom?) make for a credible bad guy even in one third profile. The focus is, of course, on Sonja. Depicted with large areas of flesh color and that huge swath of red hair, she's set aside from the rest of the image by color focus. The orange belly of the circling serpent provides flow to the composition and brings the eye of the viewer back to Sonja's face.
Sonja - well, her knees are bent deep, and her sword is back for a mighty two-handed blow - and I believe her intent there. I'd like to see her with a two-handed grip and the point of the sword at the serpent's mouth instead, but this works visually, and provides for a dynamic pose that isn't stupid for her to be in.
Overall - yeah, totally blowing my 35 cents to take this home off the spinner rack. This cover is a winner.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 9 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 9 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
3724317007
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Owner Comments
"Chariot of the Fire Stallions!" I'm not quite sure what that title is supposed to do? I'm I excited? fearful? I don't get it. Now the eight-armed beastie Sonja's tangling with? Yeah, he's freaky and a little intimidating. Although I might like him more if he had more than a single kris knife as a weapon - you know, maybe a couple of swords and an axe? I don't get the little tiny tongue hanging out either. It's not intimidating. It's actually kinda dumb looking. Honestly, this whole cover kind of feels like it was mailed in by ol Frankie boy. Lost interest? Didn't care for the art direction? In a damn hurry? I don't know, but it certainly isn't his best work. I might like it a little more if the stallions were better defined, but sometimes you just got to work with what you got.
As for Sonja - she's destination fckd. If the chariot is moving at all, she should just fall out, her position is untenable, she's half kneeling, but not sitting, on a single leg while blocking and with nothing under her off-side foot. It's just dumb. Just take the fall you earned.
Overall - I really can't say. The cover is pretty horrible from an adult standpoint, but I would have been almost 13 when this hit the spinner rack and Sonja does look pretty tasty. I'm going to have to give this a strong maybe for cheesecake factor only.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 10 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 10 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1497236023
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Owner Comments
"Angels from Hell!" I guess hell-angels aren't all that talky, since we don't have any word balloons. YAY! I already love this cover due to it being clean, and uncluttered. No extra words, no cluttered images - everything we need to know is right there in the image; Sonja is going to have to fight things that fly even though she can't fly herself. And she's outnumbered. Frank does a nice job - the purple sky with orange near where the horizon would be (based on the building spires) lets us know dusk has arrived, plus that we are airborne. In a total Sonja/Conan moment, she's going to stab the flyer and glide his corpse to the ground. You know - this cover is so good in its simplicity, there isn't that much to write about it. Coloring is great and makes Sonja visually jump off the page. I do have to admit that the monster carrying Sonja looks more like he's carrying his newlywed wife over the threshold than hauling her off to be a sacrifice - I can almost hear him "Quit squirming sweetie, you're going to make me drop you before I reach the bedroom"
Somewhere along the line, Sonja has ditched the silly curved dagger that Frank usually draws on her thigh for a larger, straight dagger with a round pommel. And she's going to go all stabby with it. I'm not exactly sure what she's doing with her left arm, other than keeping it out of the way (hey at least its not around his neck, right?) - but that right arm - that baby is all about the stab.
Overall - it's one of Frank's better covers in the run; and yeah, I totally would have blown 35 cents on this.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 11 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 11 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
3724317008
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Owner Comments
No title blurb. That's unusual. Instead we get a lot of words. I don't know where you are Suumaro because I'm blind - pay no attention to the fact that I'm straddling your prone body. Like - let's discuss the absolute zero percent chance of Sonja getting in that position in comparison to the big Suu, and not being aware of where his prone ass body is lying. Derp derp derp.
The bikini sorceress chick in the background is mostly forgettable, but - the monkey dudes with weapons, yeah, they look like badasses. Not that I'd be too concerned if I was Sonja, I can't imagine that they are all that quiet with their weapons and ooks. Plus they probably smell worse than the big Suu. She shoulda aughta be able to handle this even blind. Not that I'd be telegraphing at the top of my lungs to the bad guys that I was blind or anything.
On the other hand, if Sonja doesn't get her center of balance down and her shoulders centered over her hips it isn't going to matter what she does - she'll be knocked over by a stiff breeze. And what's with the position of her sword & axe? Like, I've been photographed in some pretty silly positions in mid fight, but I can't say I was ever in this position. Plus the axe is heavy and shorter in reach than her sword, it should be in her primary hand.
Overall - I just can't say I'd buy this or I wouldn't. Between the cheesecake factor and the monkey dudes? Maybe. Maybe. It's really hard to say.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 12 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 12 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1461660027
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Owner Comments
Yeah - I got two copies of this one, I'm a sucker for a good signature from a cover artist, and Frank Brunner has one of the prettiest signatures in the business. And just like that - we changed Frank's in midstream, nobody thought we'd notice, but we did. Yep. Actually, the two of them have very different styles, so it isn't like they tried to slip that by unnoticed. One of the easiest things to key off on is Sonja's hair. Thorne always showed it as a single, huge area of red, and Brunner makes it smaller and provides details. Both are cool - I just like Brunner's better. Let's take a look at this cover, shall we? Kind of a two part deal here. Or the sky is a giant Sonja. I'm going with option 1. Focusing on the main image, damn she looks good. I particularly like that she's lit from the right - with the beautiful golden glow up her back - very dimensional. The dead barbarian looks good - well drafted. Sonja has more details, plus she's picked up a sword with a bit of a hand guard on it - definitely a one-handed weapon, but I like it. Probably faster and more in tune with her fighting style. I gotta say, I love the use of color and I can see where the sky might have been blue or purple in an original draft, before Sonja's face replaced the sky - making for a very powerful cover image. As for the sky of Sonja - it's totally gripping, like it grabs the eye and keeps it engaged. It's probably the direct eye contact. Like, there's no hiding from her if she's looking for you. It totally would have engaged me from the spinner rack.
Talking about Sonja herself - she's leaning just a little bit far forward, but she may have just killed the dude on the ground and her breasts seem to have shrunk to a more manageable size, so with her knees bent and her hips back, she's probably pretty well in balance. I have to say again - I really like the detail in all the weapons, hers as well as the dead guy's axe & shield - they've just got a nice texture to them.
Overall - totally a winner. 100% would have purchased this off the rack for my "still 35 cents"
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 13 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 13 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
3747132023
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Owner Comments
"Swords Against Skranos!" First off, can we just all agree that Skranos is cooler sounding than Thanos? Because it is. Big issue 13 - and a huge step down for Brunner. Last issue's cover is notably good, and this one is pretty terrible. Which is sad, because I dig Brunner's work and I adore elephants, which - by association - includes some love for mammoths and mastodons. But Sonja's proportions are all wonky, her head looks completely detached from her body, her arms foreshortened terribly, and with her right leg forward and her scale mail crotch flap hanging flat she's cramming scale edges place you never want armor scales crammed. Just trust me on that one. All of that really is a bummer, because the composition is solid, and the mammoth & dudes in the foreground have awesome details which should make this a solid cover.
Normally, this is where I would discuss RS's use of weapons, footing, balance, and fighting position - but she's so bad in this cover art, I don't know exactly where to begin.
Overall - I don't know that a young me would have been as uncomfortable with how Sonja is portrayed on this cover to not purchase it, but I also hadn't developed my elephant fetish yet, so probably, I guess. Probably this cover convinces me to part with my hard earned 35 cents in exchange for this beast from the spinner rack.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 14 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 14 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1173308008
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Owner Comments
"River of the Dead!" You know - I really don't think this cover needed a word balloon. And the dead shouldn't talk in complete sentences anyway, but at least they tied the word balloon to the title of the story. It's still dumb though. Well, we're just a couple issues in to Frank Brunner's covers and you sure can tell the difference: look at that fully executed background, super-cool columns, the highly detailed boat and horned skull masthead - even the flames from the torch are better executed. Even though we no the boat isn't moving that fast (poled boats just don't hustle), there's a huge sense of movement due to the entire image being canted, and the smoke trailing away from the torch. Color focuses our eye on Sonja - and really the only thing that distracts from that is the terrible white of the word balloon. I bet, based on what I can see of the water, that the image was outstanding before the words & the bar code. I don't usually complain about the bar code - it was just a way of life for so long, but this time its really intrusive with the cool factor of the cover art. I'm fascinated by how well the composition flows given that the image is really just a big X - it must be the curve of the bow & the curved roof of the cavern, between the columns, but there is a real sense of flow. I guess that's why Brunner is an excellent artist, and I am just a guy who does some paintings occasionally.
Looking at Sonja herself - her sword arm seems small and frail - now, I'm not a fan of huge, bulky fighters (more on that in my Conan 1-24 set), but it seems undermuscled for a swordswinging bada$$ like Sonja - particularly if she isn't going to use a sword like she has on the cover of issue 12.
Overall - hell yeah I'm buying this issue off the spinner rack - it nicely bridges the gap between Sword & Sorcery and Horror, and I like both.
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| Slot: |
Red Sonja 15 |
| Item: |
Red Sonja 15 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2109714007
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Owner Comments
"Tomb of Three Dead Kings!" Final issue of Volume 1, and for some reason with a Cockrum cover. Actually a kind of bad cover too. I have no idea what the alien-headed dude is supposed to be, but he's no Kulan-Gath that's for certain. Actually, he looks far too inane to be a Sonja style sorcerer at all. And then we have vampires. Oohh. Um no. Their faces and expressions are so wooden they look like the CGI from the Justice League movie. I'm not afraid. Or impressed. Or really interested. Somehow - Red Sonja, badass of Hyboria - is standing on a single tip-toe while moving backward, and is supposed to be frightened of these wooden morons? Pft. Just a big old badness sundae with a cherry on top.
Overall - muddy, cluttered, and uninteresting in the extreme. No, I can see why this is the last issue and likely didn't sell many units, I wouldn't spend my hard earned 40 cents on it based on this cover.
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