This is the sixteenth installment in our Red Sonja themed cover galleries, continuing from the first gallery. Below, we present ten selected covers from various comic books, which feature Red Sonja and various mythological beasts.

• title: Red Sonja: Monster Isle (2006)
• publisher: Dynamite
• cover artist: Cliff Chiang
• writer: Roy Thomas
• artist: Pablo Marcos
• issue: one-shot
• release date: October, 2006
• cover: B variant
• commentary: The various writers of the Red Sonja comics have seen fit to test Red Sonja's mettle against mythological foes. In some cases, the cover artists exercise their own creativity and imagine Red Sonja facing beasts who do not appear within the covers of the book. In this gallery, examples of both are given. For the Monster Isle one-shot, there were two covers featuring Red Sonja battling the minotaur. We chose the one by Cliff Chiang. In Greek mythology, the minotaur rampaged across the island of Crete. King Minos had the labyrinth fashioned by Daedalus to house the minotaur then kept it appeased by offering a tribute of seven youths and seven maidens every nine years.
  
  We have featured covers from Red Sonja: Monster Isle in galleries with themes including
  • Mythological Beasts: #1
  • Marcos: #4

• title: Red Sonja: Blue (2011)
• publisher: Dynamite
• cover artist: Mel Rubi
• writer: Peter Brett
• artist: Walter Geovani
• issue: one-shot
• release date: June, 2011
• cover: A cover
• commentary: The unicorn is a recurring symbol of goodness and purity in myth. This cover by Mel Rubi is an homage to Frank Thorne's cover to the first issue of Marvel's Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword, published in January, 1977. To our knowledge, this cover and its subsequent versions are the only Red Sonja covers that include a unicorn. She was not a maiden who sought refuge from life's troubles in the solitude of forest glades.
  
  We have featured covers from Red Sonja: Blue in galleries with themes including
  • Mythological Beasts: #2
  • Geovani: #6

• title: Red Sonja (2019)
• publisher: Dynamite
• cover artist: Roberto Castro
• writer: Mark Russell
• artist: Mirko Colak
• issue: #09 of ongoing series
• release date: October, 2019
• cover: K, 1:10 retailer incentive
• commentary: Trolls have long been a fixture in myths and folklore. They are said to be hardy, adapting to various environments, swamps or rocky wastelands. Trolls dislike fire and often take up positions along wilderness roads (or even beneath bridges) where they ambush travelers to sate their bestial appetites. In this cover by Roberto Castro, Red Sonja flourishes the blades with which she has just an instant prior dispatched a troll.

• title: Red Sonja (2019)
• publisher: Dynamite
• cover artist: Bob Q.
• writer: Mark Russell
• artist: Mirko Colak
• issue: #01 of ongoing series
• release date: February, 2019
• cover: F, 1:10 retailer incentive
• commentary: Mermaids appear in the stories of sailors who have spent months at sea aboard sailing vessels. Their keen eyes detect in the endless expanse of blue any flicker of movement that may reveal quarry or threat. In this cover by Bob Q to the first issue of the Mark Russell interpretation of Red Sonja, Red Sonja is carried into the depths in the grasp of a school of mermaids.

• title: Red Sonja (2019)
• publisher: Dynamite
• cover artist: Roberto Castro
• writer: Mark Russell
• artist: Mirko Colak
• issue: #13 of ongoing series
• release date: February, 2020
• cover: K, 1:7 retailer incentive
• commentary: In another cover by Roberto Castro to the Mark Russell adaptation of Red Sonja, our heroine simultaneously assaults three cyclopes. In Greek mythology there were three original cyclopes, Arges (bright), Steropes (lightning), and Brontes (thunder) who were the sons of Uranus (the sky) and Gaea (the earth).

• title: Queen Sonja (2009)
• publisher: Dynamite
• cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
• writer: Luke Lieberman
• artist: Milton Estevam
• issue: #30 of 35
• release date: July, 2012
• cover: A cover
• commentary: In Greek mythology, Poseidon released a sea monster, Cetus, later called the kraken, to punish Queen Cassiopeia, who boasted that she and her daughter Andromeda were more beautiful than goddesses. The 1981 film, Clash of the Titans retells the story of Perseus slaying the kraken and rescuing Andromeda. In this cover by Lucio Parrillo, Red Sonja has dived underwater to confront a beast for which the name kraken also readily applies. In issue 78 to the 80-issue series of Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword, Parrillo had another cover, with Red Sonja engaged in combat with a kraken-like monster. We chose this one because of the clearly aquatic nature of the beast.

• title: Giant-Size Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (2007)
• publisher: Dynamite
• cover artist: Edgar Salazar
• writers: Christos Gage, Frank Thorne, Peter B. Gillis, Roy Thomas & Clara Noto
• artists: Adriano Batista, Frank Thorne & Steve Carr
• issue: #2 of 2
• release date: October, 2008
• cover: A cover
• commentary: There are numerous covers with Red Sonja batting giants of one sort or another. We chose this compilation issue in part because of the word "giant" in the title. Also, Edgar Salazar captures a certain nonchalance on Sonja's part, as is the slaying of gargantuan foes was a common pastime.

• title: Red Sonja (2016)
• publisher: Dynamite
• cover artist: Craig Cermak
• writer: Amy Chu
• artist: Carlos Gomez
• issue: #09 of 25
• release date: September, 2017
• cover: retailer exclusive: Groupees
• commentary: We included a second entry for giants due to the abundance of covers with this particular mythological creature. In this retailer exclusive cover by Craig Cermak, Red Sonja scales the giant as if he were a hillock to better position herself for the killing blow.
  
  We have featured covers by Craig Cermak in galleries with various themes, including
  • Mythological Beasts: #8
  • Alternative Visions: #13
  • 2016 & 2017: #14
  • Unplaced Issues: #13, #34 & #35

• title: Red Sonja (2013)
• publisher: Dynamite
• cover artist: Stephanie Buscema
• writer: Gail Simone
• artist: Walter Geovani
• issue: #04 of 18
• cover: E variant
• release date: October, 2013
• commentary: There are also several Red Sonja issues with an artist's vision of Medusa on the cover. In mythology, the three Gorgon sisters, Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale, were children of ancient ocean gods, Phorcys and his sister Ceto. Perseus is said to have slain her via decapitation then used her head to defeat the kraken. The gaze of Medusa had the power to turn mortals to stone. Thus, in this cover by Stephanie Buscema, Red Sonja averts her eyes as she defends herself from the monstrous foe.

• title: Red Sonja (2019)
• publisher: Dynamite
• cover artist: Bob Q.
• writer: Mark Russell
• artist: Mirko Colak
• issue: #03 of ongoing series
• release date: April, 2019
• cover: F, 1:10 retailer incentive
• commentary: In this cover by Bob Q, Medusa is bestowed with the colossal stature of a giant. In comparison, Red Sonja is reduced to the size of a diminutive doll. However, this doll still wields a sword and is possessed of a unmatched ferocity.