A Red Sonja Cover Gallery LXXXVII:
Overlooked Marvel Issues

This is the eighty-seventh installment in our Red Sonja themed cover galleries, continuing from the first gallery. Below, we present ten selected covers created by various artists from issues published by Marvel, for which no cover has yet appeared in the previous galleries on this site.

1

  • title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (1977)
  • publisher: Marvel
  • cover artist: Frank Thorne
  • writers: Roy Thomas and Clara Noto
  • artist: Frank Thorne
  • issue: #11 of 15
  • release date: September, 1978
  • cover: A cover
  • episode: "Red Lace (part 2): Sightless in a Strange Land!"
  • commentary: By the time, we have reached the eighty-seventh gallery in this series, it's fairly clear that the major themes of Red Sonja covers have been addressed. Still there are notable omissions. On this page, we present ten covers from the Marvel-era of Red Sonja, spanning the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's, which have not yet been featured.

2

  • title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (1977)
  • publisher: Marvel
  • cover artist: Frank Brunner
  • writers: Roy Thomas & Clara Noto
  • artist: John Buscema
  • issue: #12 of 15
  • release date: November, 1978
  • cover: A cover
  • episode: "Ashes and Amblems"
  • commentary: Somehow, we have not yet included all three covers drawn by Frank Brunner for Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (1977). We remedy the omission and show all three of them here.

3

  • title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (1977)
  • publisher: Marvel
  • cover artist: Frank Brunner
  • writers: Roy Thomas & Clara Noto
  • artist: John Buscema
  • issue: #13 of 15
  • release date: January, 1979
  • cover: A cover
  • episode: "Swords Against Skranos!"
  • commentary: We have featured various covers by Frank Brunner in other galleries with themes including
    • Dragons: #1
    • 2005: #4
    • 2007: #10
    • Overlooked Marvel Issues: #2, #3 & #4
    • Red Sonja (2005): #5

4

  • title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (1977)
  • publisher: Marvel
  • cover artist: Frank Brunner
  • writers: Roy Thomas & Clara Noto
  • artist: Sal Buscema
  • issue: #14 of 15
  • release date: March, 1979
  • cover: A cover
  • episode: "An Evening on the Border"
  • commentary: Welcome, Swordwoman--to the River of the Dead!

5

  • title: Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword (1983)
  • publisher: Marvel
  • cover artist: Mary Wilshire
  • writers: Louise Simonson
  • artists: Mary Wilshire & Art Nichols
  • issue: #09 of 13
  • release date: May, 1985
  • cover: A cover
  • episode: "The Queen of Hearts!"
  • commentary: In covers by Mary Wilshire, Red Sonja is the hero who comes to the rescue of men, women and children alike.

6

  • title: Red Sonja (1985)
  • publisher: Marvel
  • cover artist: Mary Wilshire
  • writers: Mary Wilshire & Louise Simonson
  • artists: Mary Wilshire & Vince Colletta
  • issue: #2 of 2
  • release date: December, 1985
  • episode: Adaptation of the 1985 Film "Red Sonja"
  • cover: A cover
  • commentary: In this second and final issue of the adaptation of the film "Red Sonja", Mary Wilshire captures the battle between the heroine and the primary villain in the heart of her castle where she attempts to unleash her domination and destruction across the world.

7

  • title: Conan the Barbarian (1970)
  • publisher: Marvel
  • cover artist: Gil Kane
  • writer: Roy Thomas
  • artist: John Buscema
  • issue: #43 of 275
  • release date: October, 1974
  • episode: "Tower of Blood"
  • commentary: The last four covers in this gallery are taken from Conan the Barbarian (1970). Here, we observe that Red Sonja did not always get to play the role of hero when paired with Conan. Instead she took the place of feminine characters in other Conan stories. For example, in this cover, she is unconscious while Conan must protect her from an evil beast.

    We have featured covers by Gil Kane in galleries with themes including
    • Undead: #2
    • Overlooked Marvel Issues: #7

8

  • title: Conan the Barbarian (1970)
  • publisher: Marvel
  • cover artist: Whilce Portacio
  • writer: Roy Thomas
  • artist: Gary Hartle
  • issue: #243 of 275
  • release date: April, 1991
  • episode: "The Sorcerer and the She-Devil" Part 3
  • commentary: In this cover, Red Sonja has been ensorcelled by a wizard, while only Conan is able to see him for the malevolent fiend what he actually is.

9

  • title: Conan the Barbarian (1970)
  • publisher: Marvel
  • cover artist: Steve Lightle
  • writer: Roy Thomas
  • artist: Gary Hartle
  • issue: #245 of 275
  • release date: June, 1991
  • episode: "Empire of the Undead"
  • commentary: Here again Red Sonja is relegated to the role of damsel in distress.

10

  • title: Conan the Barbarian (1970)
  • publisher: Marvel
  • cover artist: Arthur Adams
  • writer: Roy Thomas
  • artist: Mike Docherty
  • issue: #249 of 275
  • release date: October, 1991
  • episode: "Red Wind"
  • commentary: In this cover, Red Sonja resumes her fighting form, though she and Zula are assigned bit parts in the background of the cover.

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