Random Happenstance

Check out the link, since you may recognize the cover to today's book, from a Marvel house ad. But how is the issue? From 1985, Red Sonja #11, "Buried Alive!" Script and plot by Louise Simonson, plot and pencils by Mary Wilshire, inks by Vince Colletta.

Sonja spends most of this issue buried in an avalanche, unfortunately: it's up to her young companion Kynon to get help, which does involve fighting off a harpy. Most of the rest of the issue is given over to the evil sorceress Vassilisa Iceheart, who actually thinks she has Sonja's heart: previously, her "cavalok" Yuri had supposedly killed her, but he had instead captured Kynon's mother Bran, and had her chained up in the forest and gave the sorceress a deer's heart instead. I feel like I've heard that somewhere before...The handsome Yuri also charms the serving wench Llrissa into bringing Bran food: Llrissa doesn't believe Bran's story, but does suspect Yuri isn't sincere in his desire for her, especially since he's keeping a pretty redhead in a metal bikini chained up in a cave. Llrissa tries to convince Vassilisa that Yuri had made advances on her; which Vassilisa just sees as Llrissa being uppity, and opts to have her thrown into the pit of lost souls. Panicking, Llrissa gets real snitchy, tattling of Yuri's redhead captive, whom Vassilisa assumes is Sonja. That doesn't save Llrissa from the pit, though.

Before being rescued, Sonja has a vision, of the goddess that gave her power after she had been assaulted, many years ago: she was special, so act like it. Or, the vision could be Sonja's dead sorcerer friend Achmal, trying to motivate her to survive. Not unlike Moon Knight and Khonshu, Sonja's relationship with her goddess has been open to interpretation. Sonja's quest would run two more issues, but she would appear in Marvel's assorted Conan titles for years to come: it's still super-weird to me that Dynamite has her now.