We were too young to see "Conan the Barbarian" in theatres when it was released in 1982, but rented it when it came out on VHS, and saw "Conan the Destroyer" in theatres, so naturally we were pretty excited to hear about "Red Sonja".
My first exposure to the Hyborian Age of Robert E. Howard was through the Bantam paperbacks, starting with "Conan the Swordsman" (1981). My brother and I soon began collecting the Marvel comic adaptions, as well.
Red Sonja herself is actually based on a different (and more compelling) heroine created by Robert E. Howard, but was adapted by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith into the version notorious for her chain-mail bikini.
I remember that my brother and I accompanied our father to the family restaurant one Saturday afternoon, before walking over to the Westwood Theatre to see the film. We had such high hopes, which were very quickly dashed.
For starters, Brigitte Nielson was terrible (the actress who played Red Sonja's sister would have made a better Red Sonja). Secondly, Arnie wasn't Conan, and finally, the beautiful Sandahl Bergman was cast as the evil queen!
Years later, I was surprised to learn that the fabulous and talented Wendy Pini, co-creator of Elfquest, got her very first opportunity to script a comic book after portraying Red Sonja at comic conventions.
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