The Dynamite San Diego Comic-Con announcements keep on coming. Following on the immense success of the newly launched Red Sonja ongoing series by Gail Simone, is launching Legends of Red Sonja, a prestige miniseries, an extravaganza celebrating the iconic fantasy heroine’s long and storied career.  Legends of Red Sonja is a collaborative effort uniting Simone with a star-studded and prestigious creative team including Marjorie M. Liu, Mercedes Lackey, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Rhianna Pratchett, Leah Moore, Tamora Pierce, Blair Butler, Nancy Collins, Meljean Brook, Nicola Scott, Devin Grayson, and more to be announced.  Frank Thorne, one of the key artists responsible for defining the character’s distinct look, will be among the artists to contribute cover artwork, as will Jay Anacleto.

The idea spun out of this week’s Red Sonja relaunch. For that series, the covers were provided by the industry’s top female talent. This is the next logical step, having an all-star all female writing team as well.

The structure of the Legends of Red Sonja prestige series will be, in Simone’s words:

…a braided story, with individual, unique stories written by titans of comics, prose, and the gaming world.  These are all powerful voices whose work I adore.  Dynamite asked me to make a list of the women I’d love to see included, and again, I was astounded at the eager responses!  We have giants of the fantasy and horror prose world; Tamora Pierce, Nancy Collins, Mercedes Lackey, and Meljean Brook. We have some of the hottest comics talents; Marjorie M. Liu, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Leah Moore, Devin Grayson and (in her first published story as a writer) Nicola Scott.  And we have brilliant writers from games and television; Rhianna Pratchett and Blair Butler.  Getting to hand-pick this crew of fierce women was an absolute joy, and the fun of it is, we’re all fans of Red Sonja, and of each other.  Throwing ideas back and forth and shaping the stories has been some of the most fun I’ve ever had in comics.  I can’t wait for people to read these takes on Red Sonja…some are funny, some are scary, some are very different versions of Sonja than we are familiar with!

Many of Gail Simone’s hand-picked contributors have shared their excitement about the project:

Rhianna Pratchett:

I treasured my Red Sonja poster when I was kid.  So to get the opportunity to write a story for the character, and to do it in the company of such extraordinary, talented women, is a dream come true.  My younger self is definitely high-fiving my older self.

Leah Moore:

It’s not everyday that Gail Simone asks me to write Red Sonja.  To be honest, I’m glad, because when it happened, I had to be peeled off the ceiling.  Writing Red Sonja has been a personal ambition of mine for a long time.  She is about the most fun a writer can have.  She’s a loner, a grouch, a badass, and is apparently impervious to cold.  I am almost too excited about this project to actually write the thing, which is counter-productive, really.

Tamora Pierce:

This is the coolest project ever: new stories crafted by some of the best writers and artists out there, about a woman warrior created by one of my literary idols, Robert E. Howard, spearheaded by my comics goddess, Gail Simone.  I’m honored to be a part of this, and can’t wait to see the whole thing.  It will be a ground-breaking, multilayered view of a character who has been brawling through comics for decades!

Blair Butler:

I’m honored and exceedingly intimidated to be included in this group of talented creators.  Gail Simone is amazing — and her take on Red Sonja is something I’ve been looking forward to since it was announced way back at Emerald City Comic-Con.  So when she asked me to contribute, I agreed immediately, even though I’m totally nervous about it.

Nancy Collins:

I am thrilled to have been chosen by Gail Simone to participate in Legends of Red Sonja.  I remember how excited I was when I plucked Conan the Barbarian #23 off the spinner rack as a kid, all those years ago, and finally saw a female hero capable of dishing it out with the best of them.  I am honored to have been given this chance to add to Red Sonja’s mythos.

Meljean Brook:

I’m absolutely thrilled to be writing a story for the she-devil, Red Sonja.  I first encountered Red Sonja in the movie with Nielsen and Schwarzenegger when I was about eight years old — and I know that movie isn’t without its problems, but it’s almost impossible to describe how incredible it was to watch a film in which the heroine was just as strong and as tough as the muscle-bound hero.  I loved that she was arrogant, skilled, and never wimped out or waited for rescue, and I immediately went out in search of similar stories about her.  Red Sonja was a revelation to eight-year-old me, and I can trace many of the heroines I write today back to those roots.