As soon as Red Sonja was introduced into the Conan universe, it only seemed natural that they would hook up at some point. She even manipulated him by teasing this concept. However she also made a vow that she would never lay with a man unless he bests her in fair battle. So how is it possible that Conan could have slept with Red Sonja then?
Red Sonja’s origin and abilities come from her vow of swearing off men after being raped by a gang leader. An Angel offered her retribution with only this one caveat. The exception would be if she was beaten in a fair battle as previously stated.
So this is what is interesting: Conan and Red Sonja have fought before. It happens in Marvel Feature 7 from 1976. At first Sonja got the jump on Conan, but allows mercy for old times sake. But then Conan continues to fight and over-powers Sonja. Thus you could argue that Conan defeated her. After returning the favor and letting her live, she gets a second wind and they fight again.
Here is something else interesting though. Earlier in this issue she questions if the angelic figure from her past actually existed. A few issues before this one, Red Sonja reconsidered her vow. She said that perhaps it was a stupid decision, made by a stupid young girl. In this same issue she kisses a boy. Was this her reversing her stance?
Let’s not neglect the amazing artwork of Frank Thorne during this battle. If not mistaken I believe this was his last issue of Red Sonja that he created before he moved on to other work. He would script the story, do the pencil work and apply ink using a brush. Although not as detailed as say Mark Schultz, to do all of this so well and so quickly is undeniably impressive.
It’s not hard to find content on Red Sonja. A great place to start is TFAW. There is all kinds of stuff on this character. Toys, statues, shirts, posters, etc. It would be hard not to attribute Frank Thorne’s contribution to this booming franchise. Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts.