Red Sonja #1: The Ring of Ikribu (1981) by David C. Smith & Richard L. Tierney
Red Sonja began life as a comic book, the creation of writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith in 1973 for Marvel’s popular Conan series. She was partially based on a character created by Conan author Robert E. Howard, Red Sonya of Rogatino . However, it was the Marvel Comics version that captured the imagination of young boys in the 70s with her voluptuous curves wrapped in a chain mail bikini, her sword fighting skills, and her take-no-prisoners kick-ass attitude. She finally made the leap to novels in 1981 through the combined efforts of established fantasy authors David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney. The first book in a 6-book series, The Ring of Ikribu , even had its prologue written by Roy Thomas, giving it his personal blessing as a proper extension of his character. What follows is a reasonably straightforward sword and sorcery adventure tale with the twist that its sword-wiel...