A Red Sonja Cover Gallery XXXI:
Parrillo

This is the thirty-first 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 as envisioned by artist Lucio Parrillo.

1

  • title: Queen Sonja (2009)
  • publisher: Dynamite
  • cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
  • writer: Joshua Ortega
  • artist: Mel Rubi
  • issue: #02 of 35
  • release date: November, 2009
  • cover: A cover
  • commentary: Along with Mel Rubi, the Italian artist Lucio Parrillo is one of two artists responsible for creating the most covers to various Red Sonja comics. Unlike Rubi, who has also penciled Red Sonja interiors, Parrillo appears to have focused exclusively on covers. He has illustrated covers for numerous series beyond Red Sonja, including other Dynamite titles such as Pathfinder, Vampirella and Dejah Thoris.

    Other galleries of Red Sonja covers contain numerous contributions from the artist Lucio Parrillo, including

Given this plethora of examples, one may judge a gallery devoted entirely to Parrillo covers to be unnecessary. We make no defense of this choice. Rather, we allow the viewer to peruse this gallery and come to their own conclusion.

2

  • title: Queen Sonja (2009)
  • publisher: Dynamite
  • cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
  • writer: Luke Lieberman
  • artist: Milton Estevam
  • issue: #28 of 35
  • release date: April, 2012
  • cover: A cover
  • commentary: Parrillo created the A covers for the first eleven issues of Queen Sonja as well as the last fifteen issues from #21 to #35. He has a clear vision of Red Sonja and the same woman is presented in each cover. His paintings capture a combination of lethal ferocity and sensuality.

3

  • title: Red Sonja: Wrath of the Gods (2010)
  • publisher: Dynamite
  • cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
  • writers: Luke Lieberman & Ethan Ryker
  • artist: Walter Geovani
  • issue: #2 of 5
  • release date: March, 2010
  • cover: A cover
  • commentary: Parrillo's talents have been seen in various Red Sonja titles. He created the covers for all five issues of the 2010 Wrath of the Gods series. There are a few examples, including the one shown here, of Red Sonja underwater.

4

  • title: Red Sonja: Revenge of the Gods (2011)
  • publisher: Dynamite
  • cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
  • writer: Luke Lieberman
  • artist: Daniel Sampere
  • issue: #1 of 5
  • cover: A cover
  • release date: March, 2011
  • commentary: Parrillo also created the covers for all five issues of the 2011 Revenge of the Gods series. This cover to the first issue depicts an archetypal portrait of Red Sonja by Parrillo. A foe lies dying at her feet, while blood yet drips from her blades.

5

  • title: Red Sonja: Atlantis Rises (2012)
  • publisher: Dynamite
  • cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
  • writer: Luke Lieberman
  • artist: Max Dunbar
  • issue: #2 of 4
  • release date: September, 2012
  • cover: A cover
  • commentary: Parrillo also created the covers for all four issues of the 2012 Atlantis Rises series. Parrillo's depiction of Thulsa Doom is no less vibrant than that of Red Sonja.

6

  • title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (2005)
  • publisher: Dynamite
  • cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
  • writer: Brandon Jerwa
  • artist: Sergio Fernandez Davila
  • issue: #77 of 80
  • release date: June, 2013
  • cover: A cover
  • commentary: The definitive 80-issue Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword series by Dynamite has a curious ending. It appeared that the series had concluded at issue 75. However, it continued along a strange tangent in the 2012 Prophecy series. It then resumed for a final five issues in the main series. The only covers that Parrillo created the main series are the last five. An example to issue #77 is shown here. Parrillo sometimes altered (i.e. reduced) Red Sonja's armor in ways not observed in the narrative in order to present a more erotic version of Red Sonja.

7

  • title: Red Sonja: Vulture's Circle (2015)
  • publisher: Dynamite
  • cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
  • writers: Nancy A. Collins & Luke Lieberman
  • artist: Fritz Casas
  • issue: #5 of 5
  • release date: May, 2015
  • cover: C variant
  • commentary: In earlier years, Parillo contributed illustrations to several different Dungeons & Dragons books. His ability to portray monstrous creatures in addition to women warriors is on full display in this cover to the final issue of the 2025 Vulture's Circle series, for which he drew C variant covers for all five issues.

8

  • title: Red Sonja (2016)
  • publisher: Dynamite
  • cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
  • writer: Amy Chu
  • artist: Carlos E. Gomez
  • issue: #20 of 25
  • cover: NYCC 2018 retailer exclusive variant
  • release date: August, 2018
  • commentary: The only cover that Parrillo contributed to the 2016 Amy Chu interpretation of Red Sonja is this virgin retailer's exclusive to the 2018 New York Comic Con. Thematically this cover can be seen as one of a set of three exclusives, featuring Red Sonja in blue face paint. The other two covers include entry #10 below and entry #30 from the snow gallery.

9

  • title: Red Sonja: Birth of the She-Devil (2019)
  • publisher: Dynamite
  • cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
  • writer: Luke Lieberman
  • artist: Sergio Davila
  • issue: #1 of 4
  • cover: A cover
  • release date: June, 2019
  • commentary: Parrillo created the A covers for all four issues of the 2019 Birth of the She-Devil series. The cover to the first issue is shown here, while the cover to the third issue is shown in the decapitation gallery. Both covers reinforce the notion that the birth of Red Sonja came amidst violence and flames.

10

  • title: Red Sonja (2019)
  • publisher: Dynamite
  • cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
  • writer: Mark Russell
  • artist: Mirko Colak
  • issue: #1 of 28
  • release date: February, 2019
  • cover: Scott's Collectibles retailer exclusive variant
  • commentary: We close this gallery with another Parrillo virgin cover that was a retailer exclusive. Parrillo continues to provide Dynamite with covers that generate great fan interest. In 2020, his work is being featured in Dynamite's Red Sonja: Age of Chaos, Vampirella, Vengeance of Vampirella, Dejah Thoris and Sacred Six series.

continue to the second half of this gallery