Red Sonja #7
Red Sonja #7 ('Throne of Blood!') represents the mid-run climax of Frank Thorne's defining tenure on Marvel's first solo Red Sonja series — the creative run that solidified Sonja as a viable headliner in her own right rather than a Conan supporting player. As the seventh issue of a fifteen-issue solo run that grew directly out of reader demand during the Marvel Feature tryout series, it stands as evidence that a sword-and-sorcery title centered on a female protagonist could sustain month-over-month readership in the Bronze Age direct market. The issue also introduces two new Hyborian-Age characters — the ally Suumaro and the antagonist Oryx of Skranos — expanding the cast that would carry Sonja's adventures through the rest of the Thomas-Noto era and into the longer 'Red Lace' story arc that followed.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The 1977 Red Sonja solo series was a direct commercial outgrowth of the seven-issue Marvel Feature (Vol. 2) run, which had run from 1975–1976 and proved that Sonja could anchor her own book. Issue #7 was plotted and scripted by Roy Thomas and Clara Noto, with Frank Thorne providing full art and cover duties — the same creative partnership that had been in place since the series' launch. Thorne handled pencils, inks, and coloring throughout his run on the title (issues #1–11), an unusually self-contained artistic approach that gave the book a visual coherence rarely seen in Marvel's assembly-line production model of the era. Archie Goodwin served as editor-in-chief over the Marvel line at this period.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Story title: 'Throne of Blood!' — written by Roy Thomas and Clara Noto, with art and cover by Frank Thorne; release date October 11, 1977; cover date January 1978.
- First appearances: Suumaro (supporting character) and Oryx of Skranos (antagonist) both debut in this issue, per the Marvel Database.
- Also features the first appearance of Dom, a mammoth companion, cataloged as a distinct character in Marvel's Earth-616 continuity.
- Frank Thorne served as penciler, inker, and colorist — handling the entire visual production of the issue himself, as he did throughout his run on issues #1–11 of the series.
- The series itself (Red Sonja Vol. 1) ran for fifteen issues from 1977 to 1979, with Thomas and Clara Noto as the principal writing team for most of its run.
- The broader solo series grew out of the Marvel Feature (Vol. 2) tryout, which ran seven issues (1975–1976) before giving way to Sonja's self-titled book in 1977.
- 'Throne of Blood!' was later collected in Dynamite Entertainment's 'The Adventures of Red Sonja, Volume 2' trade paperback (reprinting Red Sonja #1–7), and subsequently in the 2024 Adventures of Red Sonja Omnibus.
- A UK edition of this issue was published simultaneously, identical in content to the US edition but carrying a 12p cover price.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Red Sonja #4 (1981), Conan le Barbare #12 (1982), Pocketserien #19 (1999), The Adventures of Red Sonja Trade Paperback #2 (2007), Frank Thorne's Red Sonja Art Edition #3 (2015), Les aventures originales de Red Sonja #2 (2021), Red Sonja, l'intégrale Frank Thorne #2 (2023), The Adventures of Red Sonja Omnibus #[nn] (2023), Conan #29
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