It seems natural that Conan The Barbarian and Red Sonja would hang out a lot, but apparently it hasn’t happened for fifteen years. Now, Dark Horse and Dynamite are finally making it happen with Conan/Red Sonja, another crossover on the heels of Grendel/The Shadow. CBR reports that current hot writers Brian Wood and Gail Simone are collaborating on the project, and Simone’s recent revitalization of Sonja should make us stand up and take notice of this, just as it coincides with Wood finishing his run on Conan.
“Red Sonja has teamed up with Spider-Man more than she has with Conan for the past fifteen years,” Simone joked to CBR. “And Red Sonja and Conan, that’s just a magic recipe. They are the two greatest barbarian warrior characters ever created. They need to co-exist somehow.”
“We both agreed right away that we want the story to matter, to count,” she added. “This doesn’t happen on Bizarro Earth or in the Negative Zone. This is the same Sonja I am writing for Dynamite, and the same Conan Brian is writing for Dark Horse. So, this Sonja is a bit bawdier, a bit drunker, a bit younger and a lot more hot-blooded. She has more of a contrast between her and Conan. And this story will be in continuity for both characters, so you can expect there to be consequences.”
“This run on Conan I’m doing now is pretty specific,” Wood noted. “It’s set at a young point in Conan’s life and is all about this love story, this intense relationship he had with the pirate queen Belit. The tone and vibe that fits that story doesn’t necessary fit elsewhere in Conan’s life, so for this crossover I’m doing things a little different. Readers will be able to get a look at how I’d write an older, more experienced Conan, much more of a battlefield veteran. It’s a lot of fun!”
