Marvel Feature presents Red Sonja No. 3: Museum Object and Cultural History
Marvel Feature presents Red Sonja No. 3: date made: 1976. maker: Marvel Comics. Object Name: comic book.
The object in the museum catalogue
Marvel Feature was created by Marvel Comics as an opportunity to test the popularity of new characters. The second volume of the title, running for seven issues between 1975-1976, featured the female warrior, Red Sonja, a character introduced within the publisher's popular fantasy series featuring author Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian. The fiery haired heroine was a success with readers, leading to the introduction of a self-titled comic in 1977.
Red Sonja, Marvel's "she-devil with a sword" was loosely inspired by "Red Sonya of Rogatino," a character introduced by Howard in his story The Shadow of the Vulture. Unlike Howard's creation, Marvel's Sonja resides in the same "sword and sorcery" milieu as Conan, living as a mercenary and adventurer. Over the years, the female sword-master has been the subject of numerous interpretations, including a 1985 film starring Bridgette Nielson.
Materials, dates and provenance
- date made: 1976
- maker: Marvel Comics
- Object Name: comic book
- Physical Description: paper (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 6 3/4 in x 10 1/4 in; x 17.145 cm x 26.035 cm
- place made: United States: New York, New York City
- Subject: Comics
- Subject: Fantasy
- ID Number: 2013.3039.278
- nonaccession number: 2013.3039
- catalog number: 2013.3039.278
- Credit Line: Gift of George R. Zug
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.
Sources
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