Red Sophia

Red Sophia is a sword-wielding warrior woman and parody figure in Dave Sim's Cerebus universe, spoofing Red Sonja. Brash and self-assured, she wields a broadsword despite questionable combat skill, and her interactions with Cerebus lean heavily on comedic tension.

Few characters in independent comics carry quite the swagger of Red Sophia, who burst onto the scene in 1981's Swords of Cerebus #3 — a Bronze Age creation of the legendary Dave Sim and a fixture of Aardvark-Vanaheim's groundbreaking self-publishing empire. She's carved out her place across the sprawling, decades-long Cerebus universe, sharing pages with the aardvark himself alongside memorable figures like Elrod, The Cockroach, and Artemis Strong. Her appearances stretch across an extraordinary four-decade span — from the Bronze Age through to 2024 — a testament to the enduring, idiosyncratic world Sim built. For anyone diving into the rich, singular history of creator-owned comics, Red Sophia is exactly the kind of character who reminds you why that world is worth exploring.