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A Red Sonja Gallery
Images of the “she-devil in a steel bikini”!

As originally drawn by Barry Smith, Red Sonja dressed relatively conservatively, in a mail shirt and red shorts (of cloth, maybe silk, or leather).

But Red Sonja is most often depicted wearing a very brief bikini-like costume of chainmail (although this is usually fashioned from overlapping disks rather than interlaced rings!).

This look is usually credited to Frank Thorne, but was actually created by Esteban Maroto in an uncommissioned illustration that he submitted to Roy Thomas. (Recolored by José Villarrubia, Maroto’s original illustration was used a limited-edition cover of Dynamite Entertainment’s Red Sonja #2, left.)

Maroto and John Buscema drew Sonja in this costume in Savage Sword of Conan #1 – and Boris Vallejo for the cover (left); Buscema again in in issues 43, 44 and 48 of Conan the Barbarian (1974); and Dick Giordano in the first issue of Marvel Feature (1975) before Thorne took over from issue 2 (1976)

For some reason the “steel bikini” proved popular…

Note how closely many the artists follow Maroto’s conception, not just the “steel bikini” itself, but also the details such as the espaliers, gloves and boots.