Red Sonja v2 #1-2, Marvel Super-Special #9/2, Savage Sword of Conan #225/2

[Somebody]

MARVEL SUPER-SPECIAL #9/2
"Day of the Red Judgment"
Writing: Christy Marx w/Roy Thomas, Art: Howard Chaykin

Characters:
Red Sonja
Zora
Tamil (chieftain)
Chorli
Red Goddess

[Note: I doubt it makes a difference, but just for clarity I read the Conan Saga #91 reprint for this, not the original]

Synopsis:
Sonja is drawn back to Hyrkania, to her parents' farm, and retraces her journey from there. Heading into a cave system, she comes across a tribe of "brozen-gold" warriors (The Favored) who all have red hair like hers and call her "the pale destroyer". She's captured.

A woman, Zora, comes to her cell with bread, wine and stories of a red goddess who gave them strength and set them at war with the cannibalistic drommach, along with a prophecy of a pale-skinned warrior from within who would lead them to mutual annihilation. She thinks Sonja was a child who was cast out of the tribe as a baby for the drommach to eat in fear of the prophecy. (Sonja calls her mad)

Later, she's taken to a giant idol of the Red Goddess - who she recognises as the goddess who touched her in her origin story. They're about to kill Sonja when Zora intervenes to free her, but as the battle's about to begin in earnest, there's a drommach attack. The Favoured run out to fight them, Sonja yells angrily at the statue, and doesn't like the reply she apparently gets back the the goddess set her up to watch her family die and then get raped to set her up for this moment, and smashes the giant idol into a wall - which breaks to reveal a black, drommach'd version of the same statue. This makes Sonja even less happy.

Still, she joins the battle on the basis that there's no other way out, and she and an injured Zora are the only survivors. Getting to her horse, she heads off, taking Zora with her.
________

RED SONJA v2 #1
"The Blood That Binds!"
by Christy Marx w/Roy Thomas

Characters:
Red Sonja
Zora
Mad-Eyes [horse]
Blackrat
Lord Daquius
Valeria/Merina II
Kirkos/Brandus

Synopsis:
Some time later, Sonja (who's changed out of her chainmail bikini into a leather one piece that gives *some* coverage) rides along with Zora dragged on a stretcher behind her, until the agoraphobic Zora, her wounds "mostly healed" can't take staring at the sky any longer. After an interlude in a city where they change horses (Zora turning out to be a savant at riding somehow), they reach the port city of Khorusun, while Zora's still insisting that Sonja is the cast-out child, who she's now identifying as her younger sister.

Sonja finds Blackrat, "an old drinking-comrade", slumped in an alley, and gets a tip on a guard job on a ship called the Summer Star from him. They find the man in question, a diplomat called Lord Daquius, who takes them on to guard him and his young daughter Merina. After Zora has too much overnight fun for Sonja's liking, leading to a hangover (and a hair-raising incident) for her, they reach the ship in time, although Sonja's seasick for the first day.

The next day, Sonja & Zora spar until pirates attack. The pirates seem to be winning, until their leader Kirkos locks eyes with Daquius (to their mutual shock) and instantly sounds a full retreat to almost everyone's confusion.

The next day, a storm hits the ship, and the captain refuses to weigh anchor at the "ill-omened" island that's the only possible harbour. OMG, will they make it?!
________________

RED SONJA v2 #2
"The Sea That Steals!"
by Christy Marx w/Roy Thomas

Characters:
Red Sonja
Zora
Lord Daquius
Valeria/Merina II
King Yildiz
Kirkos/Brandus
Red Goddess

Synopsis:
Yes. Yes, they make it. The ship needs repairs, however, so when they reach Turan, Daquius' party leave the ship to travel overland to the capital, Aghrapur, rather than wait.

Meanwhile, Kirkos has told his crew it was a trap. He's also insisting on heading to Aghrapur alone, even though he's a wanted man. When he gets there, he's promptly spotted, dogpiled and handed over for the reward.

Back with Sonja, Daquius wants her and Zora to stay on as bodyguards for a while longer since he doesn't feel safe on the road, or in Turan. He also asks her to carry a wrapped-up jasper statue that he was asked to give to King Yildiz of Turan, which makes him feel uneasy.

"Not many days later", nearing Aghrapur, Daquius & Sonja head to the royal court, while Zora hangs back with Merina, giving her archery lessons in the process.

Not only is Daquius' news not particularly well recieved, but the figurine is taken as a grave insult - although what shocks Sonja more is that it's a male version of a certain goddess. It's quickly rewrapped and Sonja is sent out with it.

After they leave, they happen across Kirkos being whipped along the street, in preparation for hanging the next day. In their quarters (which Zora & Merina have reached), Daquius confesses that Kirkos is his brother, a nobleman driven into exile after being "falsely accused of treason", who he wanted to help but hasn't seen since. Sonja advises him to go get an alibi while she rescues Kirkos. Zora's left behind with Merina again, and told not to touch the idol.

While Sonja's off on a rescue attempt, Zora's mostly the idol, but had second thoughts about actually taking the cloth off. Merina shows her anyway, and sight of it makes Zora faint. Badly timed, since a group of kidnappers show up at that moment, and by the time Zora comes to, they're gone with Merina and the idol. She gives chase, but blunders into a pit trap almost as soon as she catches up with them.

Meanwhile, Kirkos knocks Sonja out, not knowing why she freed him, but takes her as a hostage. When he meets the kidnappers, who turn out to be some of his crew, he thinks better of making a hostage of a hired hand and chucks her in the pit with Zora. He also wants rid of the idol the second he sees it, so down the pit it goes too.

The noise of the idol's thump brings Sonja round, and she finds Zora catatonic and nightmarish visions triggered by the idol, who claims Sonja destroyed his feminine half, so he must take vengeance.

Meanwhile, Kirkos discovers his niece, who's happy to see "Uncle Brandus", and he isn't happy about how she's been treated, demanding she's returned to her father. When he discovers Sonja & Zora were with her, he orders them to be fetched from the pit to take her back.

Down the pit, Sonja smashes the idol, which apparently destroys the god, but the dying god starts a fire. Fortunately, Kirkos drops a rope down at that moment for them, apologetic about his "brother's household" being treated so. Zora's still deeply unhappy about everything, but soldiers looking for the escapee and the woman who freed him come along, and they all flee together to Kirkos' ship, which does to sea.

And is followed by a Turanian ship, headed by Lord Daquius looking for his daugher. He's quickly placated when he arrives, but the Turanian captain isn't impressed by his parley and stabs him dead. A few seconds later, he himself falls dead, shot by Merina from the crow's nest. The seven-year old and the bow she took from a fallen fighter turn the tide, and the Turianians retreat. As a still-shellshocked Zora looks out, she spots a last shot aiming for Sonja and takes the fatal crossbow bolt for her, her corpse falling overboard. Sonja immediately kills the guy with a thrown sword, but the damage is done.

When all's done, and Daquius' body ready for sea burial, Sonja just wants to be dropped off at the first road west; and Merina decides she wants to stay with her uncle. As he renamed himself when he became an outlaw, he renames her too... as Valeria.

(A closing panel tells us that Valeria will grow up into Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, a REH character who fights alongside Conan as an adult)

___________

SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #225/2
"Valeria of the Red Brotherhood"
written by Roy & Dann Thomas, art by Esteban Maroto

Characters:
Valeria/Merina II
Unnamed ship's hand

In flashbacks:
Merina I
Valeria/Merina II
Lord Daquius
Red Sonja
Zora


Synopsis:
In Kordavia, capital of Zingarai, a young near-naked woman climbs up an anchor rope onto a ship. Sneaking into the cargo hold, she finds an ornate chest and clambers back out... before chucking it in the bay.

Catching her in the act of dumping it, the sailor on guard finds it odd, and wants to hear her story before deciding whether to raise the alarm.

She explains that her mother, who she was named Merina after, died in childbirth, but her father loved her in spite of that. When she was seven, she got involved in the Red Sonja story above, and ended up with her uncle on a pirate ship, renamed Valeria.

For "the next year or two", she watched their raids from hiding, but was determined to take part. Reluctantly, Kirkos taught her how to use a sword on the basis that she'd find someone else to teach her, but eventually decided to send her back to Aquilonia, to her maternal uncle Clesus, along with a chunk of treaure to sweeten the deal.

While she hated her life, wishing she was back at sea, but with girl-sailors forbidden, her uncle proceeded to move to Kordava and spend her gold on an ill-fated shipping venture. When that sunk at pirates' hands, he proceeded to sell her hand in marriage to the richest man in the country in return for a casket of jewels due to arrive by sea.

Running away the night before, she spots the ship and is already considering the heist, when her uncle catches her up. He begins to beat her...until he claims her father got what he deserved, when she grabs his knife and stabs him in the leg, causing him to bang his head and get knocked out.

While she couldn't bring herself kill him, she stripped off the now-rags of her wedding dress and dived into the bay. Which is where we came in.

Having heard her story, the sailor points out that the rich man would probably take her anyway - the jewels were spent from his POV - and her uncle might go through with it just to be rid of her at this point. She realises he's right, and asks for his help to join the crew. He splutters that, although they need a cabin boy, the captain would never allow a female on board. In response, she hacks her hair off and says she'll sail as a man. While he doubts that she'll get away with it "with that shape" (but tells her he's gay when she thinks he's "getting ideas"), he says his dad tried to prevent him from going to sea, and he promised himself he'd help someone else to set sail as he did, he just didn't expect it to be a girl. He gives her some clothes, which turn out to be baggy enough to conceal her "shape", and she just tells him to call her "Val" as a male name.

An epilogue tells us that the vessel will ultimately be sunk by pirates, leading to Valeria's first encounter with Conan and her later life as the pirate Valeria of the Red Brotherhood (shown over a montage of scenes from Red Nails).

Going back to the flashbacks, they interweave with RS2 as follows:

RS2 1 (14:1)
SAVSCO 225/2 (5:3-5:4)-FB *on ship, after Sonja has recovered from seasickness, before pirate attack
RS2 1 (14:2-17)
SAVSCO 225/2 (5:5)-FB *middle of extended fight scene, simplest place to put it
RS2 1 (18-19)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:1)-FB *similar pose to (19:6), but he has his hand in the air in RS2 1, but is holding a rope in the SAVSCO 225/2 panel, so this must be during the retreat
RS2 1 (20-22)
RS2 2 (1-5)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:2)-FB *Zora continues teaching Merina archery
RS2 2 (6:1-8:2)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:3)-FB
RS2 2 (8:3-12:5)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:4)-FB *Just after telling her to be quiet, the leader clasps his hand over Merina's mouth
RS2 2 (12:6-18:5)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:5)-FB *Kirkos draws his sword, to make his threat clearer
RS2 2 (18:6-21)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:7)-FB *After Daquius calms down. Note that (6:6) is just an establishing shot of the ships
RS2 2 (22:1-22:4)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:1)-FB *Sword is further through, more blood
RS2 2 (22:5-22:6)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:2-7:3)-FB *Merina kills her father's killer immediately
RS2 2 (22:7-22:9)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:4)-FB *Merina notching another arrow
RS2 2 (23:1-24:2)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:5)-FB *Zora falling, but not fallen overboard
RS2 2 (24:3-24:6)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:6-7:7)-FB *Assassin fallen back more
RS2 2 (24:7-24:9)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:8-7:9)-FB
RS2 2 (25)

[Somebody]

And chronologies:

RED SONJA
[...]
[COB 115]
M/SSPEC 9/2
RS2 1 (1:1-14:1)
SAVSCO 225/2 (5:3-5:4)-FB
RS2 1 (14:2-17)
SAVSCO 225/2 (5:5)-FB
RS2 1 (18-22)
RS2 2 (1-8:2)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:3)-FB
RS2 2 (8:3-21)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:7)-FB
RS2 2 (22:1-24:2)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:5)-FB
RS2 2 (24:3-24:6)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:6-7:7)-FB
RS2 2 (24:7-24:9)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:8-7:9)-FB
RS2 2 (25)
[RS3 2]
[...]

VALERIA OF THE RED BROTHERHOOD/MERINA II
SAVSCO 225/2 (5:1-5:2)-FB
RS2 1 (1:1-14:1)
SAVSCO 225/2 (5:3-5:4)-FB
RS2 1 (14:2-22)
RS2 2 (1-5)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:2)-FB
RS2 2 (6:1-12:5)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:4)-FB
RS2 2 (12:6-18:5)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:5)-FB
RS2 2 (18:6-22:6)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:2-7:3)-FB
RS2 2 (22:7-22:9)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:4)-FB
RS2 2 (23:1-24:9)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:8-7:9)-FB
RS2 2 (25)
SAVSCO 225/2 (8-13)-FB
SAVSCO 225/2
[SAVSCO 196]
[...]

ZORA
M/SSPEC 9/2
RS2 1 (1:1-14:1)
SAVSCO 225/2 (5:3-5:4)-FB
RS2 1 (14:2-17)
SAVSCO 225/2 (5:5)-FB
RS2 1 (18-22)
RS2 2 (1-5)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:2)-FB
RS2 2 (6:1-21)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:7)-FB
RS2 2 (22:1-24:2)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:5)-FB
RS2 2 (24:3-25)

KIRKOS/BRANDUS
RS2 1
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:1)-FB
RS2 2 (1-8:2)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:3)-FB
RS2 2 (8:3-18:5)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:5)-FB
RS2 2 (18:6-21)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:7)-FB
RS2 2 (22:1-24:9)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:8-7:9)-FB
RS2 2 (25)
SAVSCO 225/2 (8-13)-FB

DAQUIUS, LORD
RS2 1 (1:1-14:1)
SAVSCO 225/2 (5:3-5:4)-FB
RS2 1 (14:2-22)
RS2 2 (1-8:2)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:3)-FB
RS2 2 (8:3-21)
SAVSCO 225/2 (6:7)-FB
RS2 2 (22:1-22:4)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:1)-FB
RS2 2 (24:3-24:9)
SAVSCO 225/2 (7:8-7:9)-FB

RED GODDESS
[...]
M/SSPEC 9/2
RS2 2

TAMIL
M/SSPEC 9/2

CHORLI
M/SSPEC 9/2

MAD-EYES [HORSE]
RS2 1

BLACKRAT
RS2 1

YILDIZ, KING
RS2 2

MERINA I
SAVSCO 225/2-FB

CLESUS
SAVSCO 225/2-FB

DOM DELARIS
SAVSCO 225/2-FB

[Col_Fury]

I wonder if the Blackrat seen in RS2 1 is supposed to be the Blackrat seen in COB 6? Probably not, but I'll pull them both out to check, anyway.

Thanks, Somebody!

[wolframbane]

Fun Fact: Fenris and Black Rat were parodies of Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, two sword-and-sorcery heroes on the world of Newhon appearing in stories written by American author Fritz Leiber.

[Col_Fury]

Parodies or homages?

Also, the Blackrat seen in RS2 1 is some old dude with a white beard. The Blackrat seen in COB 6 is a young fella with a black mustache. Probably not the same guy. Besides, the COB 6 one dies in COB 6 (but then, apparently so did Fafnir, but he references that in his next appearance).