The Poison Pie Publishing House

Women of Conan (2011-2024)
by Staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House

The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House continue their art project in which they render scenes from various books in shrinky dink form. One member of the staff is a lifelong fan of works from the popular science fiction and fantasy genres. He has suggested a direction for a set of shrinky dink mobiles that pay homage to four masters of the forms.

On this page, we present a mobile of four female characters from the Hyborian Age created by R.E. Howard. These characters all interacted with Howard's most famous protagonist, Conan the Barbarian, to one extent or another. Red Sonja, Bêlit, Valeria & Zenobia are probably the most well-known of Conan's companions.

The four images included here are based on covers from various comic book series.

character: Red Sonja
cover artist: Lucio Parrillo
title: Queen Sonja (2009)
issue: #25 of 25
cover: A cover
publisher: Dynamite
publication date: November, 2011
original appearance: The Shadow of the Vulture (The Magic Carpet Magazine, January, 1934)
note: Red Sonja never crossed paths with Conan in Howard's original story, which was not even set in Conan's Hyborian Age. However, in Marvel's comics, published in the 1970's, she became a periodically recurring comrade-at-arms and at times rival of Conan.

character: Bêlit
cover artist: Dan Panosian
title: Conan the Barbarian (2023)
issue: #6 of an on-going series
cover: C variant
publisher: Titan
publication date: January, 2024
original appearance: Queen of the Black Coast (Weird Tales, May, 1934)
note: Bêlit was captain of the Tigress, a pirate ship, which captured a vessel upon which Conan sailed. He became her mate and pledged himself to her, remaining faithful until her death. Although Conan was fond of "drinking and wenching", Bêlit was Conan's first, true love.

character: Valeria
cover artist: Julius Ohta
title: Bêlit & Valeria: Swords vs Sorcery (2022)
issue: #4 of 5
cover: B variant
publisher: Ablaze
publication date: August, 2022
original appearance: Red Nails (Weird Tales, serialized from July to October, 1936)
note: In Howard's work, Valeria was a comrade-in-arms by circumstance rather than choice. The character named Valeria in the first Conan film (Conan the Barbarian, 1982) resembles the character in Red Nails only by name. The movie version bears an amalgamation of traits from Conan's heroines.

character: Zenobia
cover artist: Leirix Li
title: The Cimmerian: Hour of the Dragon (2022)
issue: #1 of 4
cover: C variant
publisher: Ablaze
publication date: March, 2022
original appearance: The Hour of the Dragon (Weird Tales, serialized from December, 1935 through April, 1936)
note: In time, Conan siezed the throne of Aquilonia. His reign was not without trials, including the tale told in the The Hour of the Dragon where he ended up in the dungeon of King Tarascus in Nemedia. Zenobia, an over-looked member of King Tarascus's seraglio, freed Conan. Once he had reclaimed his throne, he chose Zenobia as his queen. She became the mother of his son and heir.