Cannot wait to listen!

Hmm. Has anyone else had this issue? RR's mic level is a little higher than mine throughout both episodes, but it shouldn't be drastic. I did have some issues uploading this episode, so I'm wondering if the file might have gotten messed up, though I listened to this episode earlier and I wasn't noticing this issue. 

Having said that, I am planning to adjust the guest mic volume going forward, I think there's a small tweak in the program I use that will help equalize things. So hopefully this won't happen again, as shaxper's volume was also a little higher than mine as well in his episodes. 

Nice work again! Heard it this morning and throroughly enjoyed every minute.

Glad you like it! I'm in the process of scheduling the next conversations, but there will definitely be some superhero stuff coming up in the next few episodes. 

Finally had time to listen today!



6:07 Any retcon compared to Highlander 2 is a terrifying concept. Interesting point how uncommon retcons were back then.

7:20 I like Ben's point about trying to give Sonja her dignity back.

8:36 They retcon the retcon? Can we retcon that?

9:41 Yes. Roy Thomas and continuity are synonymous. Amazing he performed a retcon at all.

11:45 Interesting idea about Marvel getting more prudish. Do you attribute this more to Shooter, to Reagan Conservatism, or to something else?

14:05 How rare to have a female love interest implied to be older than the male protagonist

17:30 I want a ringtone of Ben yelling "surprise!"

18:35 How would they expect readers NOT to notice the reversal on the whole oath business? Was volume 2 targeted to fans who had never read Red Sonja before

19:15 I know I read a different justification for why Marada ended up not being a Red Sonja story, but all I think I remember was that Thomas or Shooter didn't approve of some aspect of Claremont's treatment being associated with the character. Maybe the re-emphasis on the rape?

27:03 Seems like everyone who loves Louise Simonson always has a "but...". I love Louise Simonson, but...

31:05 The chess defeat is a fascinating idea, as well as great fan-service to the nerds reading this.

35:00 I'm unclear on the licensing issue. While Red Sonja is loosely based on a Howard character, isn't she actually unique to the Marvel Universe? Why did Marvel require a license to continue publishing her?

37:48 What I DON'T want as a ringtone: Scott shouting "The Horror! The Horror!"

42:55 Interesting point. Silver/Bronze Marvel so rarely considers the consequences of showing their characters in the distant future. Red Sonja suffers from the same problem Sgt. Fury's Howling Commandos do when we see them in The Korean War. They are locked into remaining status quo. Of course, with Sonja, there's a possible gender issue as well (unless you chalk it up to choice).

45:15 With all this resetting, was there an editor on the book??

44:55 Without a successful movie nor a successful solo title, Sonja's greatest value to Marvel was as a Conan supporting character. Scott's argument makes sense to me.

47:38 That's a brilliant idea! I really wish Thomas had mapped Sonja's life the way Sprague Camp did for Conan. I suppose the difference is that Thomas wanted to leave other writers some room, not presuming to be on Howard and Sprague Camp's level.


Felt like this episode ended pretty unexpectedly. When you get really into a podcast, it's hard to just get tossed out of the conversation like that. Otherwise, this two parter was definitely the best episode yet (and not just cuz I wasn't in it). Your perspectives were both incredibly informed and fascinating.

It's not really clear...how is that for an answer?  

It's possible, but not clear that Marvel could have gotten a copyright on Red Sonja as an original creation as opposed to being a derivative work of Red Sonya, which would not be subject to an independent copyright.  However...they might not have...and it would have almost certainly have precipitated legal action between Marvel and the Howard Estate.  Since Conan was one of Marvel's best-selling books at the time Sonja was created there was little financial incentive for Marvel to piss off the Howard Estate and potentially lose the rights to the whole kit & kaboodle when the contract expired over what was not a clear case of owning a secondary character.  

By the way, derivative work, within the copyright realm means something that is based on or derived from existing works.  The best example would be a translation or a movie based on a play or novel.  A derivative work has to include portions of the previous work   So Claw or Kothar would not be derivative works, for copyright purposes, because they aren't actually derived from Conan as Sonja was derived from Sonya. 

It's already caused confusion.  There was a lawsuit between Paradox and Dynamite over Red Sonja.  One of the issues is that it's very possible that Shadow of the Vulture is public domain as it doesn't appear that the copyright was renewed.  A lot of Howard's other works are public domain in the U.S. as well because of that same renewal issue, including, probably, the Conan stories in the form they appeared in Weird Tales.  However the re-worked tales (de Camp & Carter) would be copyrighted...probably forever because I don't believe anything will ever again be allowed to enter the public domain.  

The lawsuit was ultimately settled allowing Red Sonja to remain in the Hyborian Age which belongs to Paradox.