A Red Sonja Cover Gallery




A Red Sonja Cover Gallery XXVIII: Seduction



	This is the twenty-eighth installment in our Red Sonja themed cover galleries, continuing from the first gallery. Below, we present twenty selected covers from various comic books, featuring Red Sonja and the unlikely theme of seduction.



	1 title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (2005) publisher: Dynamite cover artist: Carlos Rafael writer: Brian Reed artist: Walter Geovani issue: #37 of 80 release date: September, 2008 cover: C variant commentary: There is little romance in the story of Red Sonja. As a young woman, her family was slain by raiders. She was ravished and left for dead. In the aftermath of that experience, she was approached by a divinity, Scáthach, who granted her extraordinary strength, endurance and agility in exchange for a vow that Sonja would never sleep with another man unless he first defeated her in combat. Sonja's adult life was therefore governed by this vow of chastity. Nevertheless, various artists have chosen to portray Red Sonja not only as a sex symbol but as a woman who uses her sexual desirability to her advantage.



	2 title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (2005) publisher: Dynamite cover artist: Marc Wolfe writer: Eric Trautman artist: Walter Geovani issue: #52 of 80 release date: October, 2010 cover: B variant commentary: In the Red Sonja comics, there are numerous times when Red Sonja is questioned regarding her choice of scanty armor. If she replies at all, the suggestion is that her armor may prove a distraction to her largely male foes, thus providing her a strategic advantage in combat. There is also the notion that men who would be drawn to confront her because of her appearance are men guided by coarse desires, as were those who slew her family, and therefore are worthy of destruction. From this perspective, her alluring armor is simply a means to prompt men to self-identify in this regard.



	3 title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (2005) publisher: Dynamite cover artist: Wagner Reis writer: Eric Trautman artist: Walter Geovani issue: #64 of 80 release date: February, 2012 cover: B variant commentary: Despite Red Sonja's chastity, or perhaps exactly because of it, artists are tempted to draw Red Sonja in provocative poses. In this cover by Wagner Reis, Red Sonja struts as if on a catwalk at a fashion show. We have featured covers by Wagner Reis in galleries with various themes, including Seduction: #3 Open: #4 2011 & 2012: #15 & #16



	4 title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (2005) publisher: Dynamite cover artist: Walter Geovani writer: Eric Trautman artist: Walter Geovani issue: #65 of 80 release date: April, 2012 cover: A cover commentary: There are no instances in the Red Sonja story of her explicitly using her sexuality to seduce an enemy in order to murder him. She had no need to resort to subterfuge because her skill in arms was superior to any man she met (save perhaps Conan). While it is true that she killed the King of Pah-Dishah in his bed, after he deceived her and imprisoned her in his harem, this tactic was not one she adopted by choice. Therefore, this inviting cover by Walter Geovani is without precedent in the Red Sonja narrative.



	5 title: Savage Tales (2007) publisher: Dynamite cover artist: Arthur Suydam writers: Ron Marz, Leah Moore, John Reppion, Luke Lieberman, Michael Avon Oeming & Mike Raict artists: Adriano Batista, Pablo Marcos, Stjepan Sejic, Kevin Sharpe & Pere Perez issue: #01 of 10 release date: April, 2007 cover: A cover commentary: Covers that depict Red Sonja engaging in uncharacteristic acts and poses of willful temptation nevertheless continue to proliferate. One supposes that their origin, aside from a purely commercial interest in creating compelling covers, is due to the motivation in the artists themselves, who harbor the same sentiments for Red Sonja to share a more feminine side, as have many of her hapless foes. The matching Vampirella and Dejah Thoris covers were published fifteen years later for Savage Tales (2022) one-shot and Savage Tales Winter Special (2022) respectively.



	6 title: Queen Sonja (2009) publisher: Dynamite cover artist: Carlos Rafael writer: Luke Lieberman artist: Mel Rubi issue: #14 of 35 release date: February, 2011 cover: B variant commentary: There is a temptation, given the obvious contradiction between the chaste story of Red Sonja and the wanton depictions in this gallery featuring covers with the theme of "Seduction", to perceive them in a comical light. In many cases, this element of humor is unintended or at least not obviously so, although the element of humor becomes a clear tool of the artists in the covers presented at the end of this gallery.



	7 title: Queen Sonja (2009) publisher: Dynamite cover artist: Lucio Parrillo writer: Luke Lieberman artist: Fritz Casas issue: #22 of 35 release date: October, 2011 cover: A cover commentary: The vast majority of Lucio Parrillo's covers feature Red Sonja foremost as a warrior. Although this cover to Queen Sonja #22 is an example of one in which she has adopted a more leisurely pose. In several covers, a sword is posed nearby, serving the role of a symbolic phallus for the celibate Red Sonja!



	8 title: Queen Sonja (2009) publisher: Dynamite cover artist: Adriano Batista writer: Luke Lieberman artist: Fritz Casas issue: #23 of 35 release date: November, 2011 cover: B variant commentary: The portrait of Red Sonja reclining on bear skin rug harkens to old tropes of pin-up girls.



	9 title: Spider-man & Red Sonja (2007) publisher: Marvel & Dynamite cover artist: Michael Turner writer: Michael Avon Oeming artist: Mel Rubi issue: #5 of 5 cover: A cover release date: February, 2008 commentary: Even Spider-man is not immune to the charms of Red Sonja.



	10 title: Legends of Red Sonja (2013) publisher: Dynamite cover artist: Jay Anacleto writers: Gail Simone, Mercedes Lackey & Marjorie M. Liu artists: Jack Jadson, Nei Ruffino & Phil Noto issue: #2 of 5 release date: December, 2013 cover: A cover commentary: In the covers to all five issues of Legends of Red Sonja, Jay Anacleto captures the appeal of Red Sonja in varying states of action. In ones like this, which feature a static pose, her role as eye-candy is accentuated.



	continue to the second half of this gallery