Did she need a tragic backstory? That'll probably be different from the backstory anyone else uses?

I mentioned this title in passing a couple months back when we discussing the end of Conan's latest stint at Marvel--best pick up that most recent Savage Avengers for that, it's a good capper but not quite as good as Gerry Duggan's goodbye just a couple months earlier--but she's ahead of Conan in that she's already got a new book! From 2020, Age of Conan: Valeria #5, "Heart of Vengeance" Written by Meredith Finch, art by Aneke.

It's the end of Valeria's quest for vengeance, against the murderer of her brother Cassian, as the young swordswoman confronts his mentor, aged knight Antonius. (Not that aged, he looks younger than I do! I feel like the knight from Last Crusade...) Antonius and nobleman Blasius had told conflicting stories of Cassian, leaving her ready to murder an old family friend, but she can't do it in cold blood. Still, while Antonius might have lied to her, there might've been a reason...

Aside from maybe her parents getting killed by pirates, I'm not sure how much backstory Valeria had: she had been part of the pirate group the Red Brotherhood, but while Conan meets her in a jungle in "Red Nails", I'm used to her showing up on the decks of ships in Savage Sword of Conan stories, like my favorite of hers, "Emerald Lust." It's probably the movie version most recall? But, giving her a bit of tragic backstory not only isn't really needed, it's less fun than that, since it can't be used again: while she's in a new series at Ablaze with Belit, they won't be able to reference any Marvel continuity. (There are 8 covers for 4 issues of the series at that link, and at least three are homages I recognize!) Still, maybe I'd have appreciated this more not coming in at the end; and it has been collected, which is more than Valeria had gotten in the past. 

Although...Belit and Red Sonja both had tragic backstories already? I would've maybe leaned the other way with it; as that would be something to contrast and create conflict with them, although they rarely met. And I think Valeria was often portrayed as a bit greedier, a bit shiftier, and a bit crazier than she is at the end of this one. She also seemed to know she was dead hot, and how to use that to her advantage with the grabby-handed slackjaws of the Hyborian age...(I always type 'Hyperborean,' that's not R.E. Howard's; I don't know where that is!)