The First Family: A Fresh Start ④

If you haven't heard already, the Fantastic Four are making their return. The First Family of Marvel will be making their comeback in August under the team of Dan Slott and Sara Pichelli. So what does this mean for Marvel and for Marvel fans? To me, it means that we are going to see Marvel shift back into stories and characters that we all know and love. With the "Fresh Start" relaunch, we are going to be seeing alot of number ones and returns of old favorites. Tony Stark taking back his mantle as Iron Man, Wolverine making his triumphant comeback and Thor reclaiming his hammer. It feels like Marvel is going back to where it needs to be. They can keep the new characters that they introduced that were a hit with fans in the past few years like Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Ms.Marvel, and so on, but they can go back to their roots and really get back the audience they lost along the way. It is great to see the return of all these characters and especially the Fantastic Four. It's great to have the family back together again!

     

Making Archie Cool Again!

Archie Comics. With characters that are apart of pop culture, the company has been around for 79 years and will celebrate its 80th year milestone next year. But only a few years ago, Archie Comics saw a disconnect with newer readers and the new generation. Archie and his friends have always been seemly stuck in the past. The past of malt shops and hot rods. And Archie Comics was really starting to feel that. When the 2010s rolled around, we were in a new age of technology and trends, while Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica were all stuck in the past. It was time for a change. In July 2015, Archie relaunched after new CEO Jon Goldwater was already in his 5th year as CEO and was already making pretty new and radical changes, like introducing fan favorite character Kevin Keller, the first gay character in Archie Comics and launching two successful horror titles in Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures with Sabrina, which soon would lead to the Archie Horror line. 

This relaunch was a success as the new Archie book won IGN's "Best New Comic Series of 2015" award and came in at #7 for comic book sales for the month of July. We can't talk about bringing Archie to a current day audience without mentioning the TV show Riverdale. The show is huge, already in its second season and with a legion of fans (like yours truly). The show has taken the Riverdale gang and put a whole new spin on them and people can't get enough. 

I highly recommend it. The classic Archie is still being printed by Archie Comics, so if you are looking for a nostalgic ride down memory lane, pick one up, but if you want to go to The Town With Pep in the modern day you can do that to. How awesome is that! 

Red Sonja:Warrior Woman ⚔

Since today is International Women's Day, I thought I'd talk about one of the most bad ass women in comic books. RED SONJA!
Red Sonja was based on Red Sonya of Rogatino, a character from Robert E. Howard's short story "The Shadow of the Vulture" (The Magic Carpet, January 1934). Red Sonya was a sword-and-pistol-wielding supporting character of the late Renaissance. Red Sonja debuted in Marvel's Conan the Barbarian #23 (cover-dated Feb. 1973). Roy Thomas created a new origin story and transposed the timeline from the 16th century of Howard's original Red Sonya, to the Hyborian Age, another Howard creation, in order to have the comic-book Red Sonja interact with Conan the Barbarian. Thomas also used, to a certain degree, elements of Howard's character Dark Agnes de Chastillon.

The thing that sets Red Sonja apart from all her contemporaries is her look. The bright fiery red hair and, of course, her iconic metal chain bikini. In her first two appearances in Conan the Barbarian, issues 23 and 24 (1973), she is dressed a little more conservatively, in a long-sleeved mail shirt and short pants of red silk, a style that did not last long. Spanish artist Esteban Maroto submitted an uncommissioned illustration to Roy Thomas when he was editing the magazine Savage Sword of Conan where he redesigned the character and for the first time showed her wearing what would become her famous costume, the silver "metal bikini", which resembled other fantasy costumes that other Maroto heroines sported in the 1970s.  The illustration was printed for the first time in Jim Steranko's magazine Comixscene #5 in black and white. It was reprinted in Savage Sword of Conan #1, and in Marvel Treasury Edition #15 colored but poorly reproduced, and finally restored and colored by José Villarrubia as an alternative cover for the Dynamite Entertainment edition of Red Sonja #2. Maroto drew her in this costume for a double page spread illustration in Savage Tales #3 and then for her first solo adventure in Savage Sword of Conan #1, and John Buscema drew her in this costume in the same magazine. 

Buscema drew her again in this costume in issues 43, 44 and 48 of Conan the Barbarian (1974) and Dick Giordano drew her in the armor in the first issue of Marvel Feature Vol.2 (1975) before Frank Thorne took over at issue 2 (1976). The "bikini" proved popular with fans becoming well known through the paintings of Boris Vallejo and others, and would become Sonja's signature look.


Some classify Red Sonja as a nothing more than a sex object in comics, something for fans to ogle at and drool over. But Red Sonja is more than that, she is a strong, fierce warrior who can hold her own and doesn't need help from no one. She is a tough warrior while also being a bombshell. She can kick your ass while also looking good. Red Sonja shows that women aren't helpless damsels but they can be the ones out saving the day and making the world better. Red Sonja emphasizes what it means to be a heroine in comic books.