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Ghita of Alizarr #2
Ghita Two: The Thousand Wizards of Urd
Thorne began his comics career in 1948, penciling romance comics for Standard Comics. After graduation, he drew the Perry Mason newspaper strip for King Features, which was followed by more comic book work for Dell. He turned out a multitude of stories for Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, The Green Hornet, and many more.
Originally drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith for Conan the Barbarian, Sonja was transposed from a minor Robert E. Howard 16th-century gunslinger character ("Red Sonya") to a mainstay of the sword and sorcery Conan canon by Roy Thomas. Having featured in half-a-dozen issues of Conan the Barbarian (with art by Smith and John Buscema), Sonja graduated to a starring role in other comics, and it was then that Thorne took over from Dick Giordano in drawing her for Marvel Feature (Jan. 1976), continuing through most of her 1977-79 solo series, where he established her characteristic image as a ferocious and beautiful female barbarian wearing a chainmail bikini, which later became a popular fantasy literature archetype.
He "left Sonja" in 1978 to create his own woman warrior, Ghita of Alizarr,[citation needed] and has subsequently created a number of erotic fantasy comics and characters, alongside other works. His most notable works include being the creator/artist/writer of "Moonshine McJugs" for Playboy magazine, as well as Ghita of Alizarr for Fantagraphics Books, "Lann" for Heavy Metal magazine, Ribit for Comico, The Iron Devil and Devil's Angel for Eros Comix, and Danger Rangerette for National Lampoon and High Times.
Originally drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith for Conan the Barbarian, Sonja was transposed from a minor Robert E. Howard 16th-century gunslinger character ("Red Sonya") to a mainstay of the sword and sorcery Conan canon by Roy Thomas. Having featured in half-a-dozen issues of Conan the Barbarian (with art by Smith and John Buscema), Sonja graduated to a starring role in other comics, and it was then that Thorne took over from Dick Giordano in drawing her for Marvel Feature (Jan. 1976), continuing through most of her 1977-79 solo series, where he established her characteristic image as a ferocious and beautiful female barbarian wearing a chainmail bikini, which later became a popular fantasy literature archetype.
He "left Sonja" in 1978 to create his own woman warrior, Ghita of Alizarr,[citation needed] and has subsequently created a number of erotic fantasy comics and characters, alongside other works. His most notable works include being the creator/artist/writer of "Moonshine McJugs" for Playboy magazine, as well as Ghita of Alizarr for Fantagraphics Books, "Lann" for Heavy Metal magazine, Ribit for Comico, The Iron Devil and Devil's Angel for Eros Comix, and Danger Rangerette for National Lampoon and High Times.
- GenresFantasy
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
18 people want to read
About the author
Frank Thorne
134 books7 followersFrank Thorne was an American comic book artist-writer, best known for his fantasy-erotic works.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 24, 2022
Narrative:
He must have written this in prose form then split the epic-style story into three graphic novels all paneled out sequentially because this reads as such and follows a dense quest rather than a scene->to->scene format. I didn't explain that correctly but you probably know what I mean. It's much better plotted than most graphic novels and is true to what I term "erotica"*. Versus "porn", that is!
What separates Ghita from the standard chain-mail adventuress is her physio-emotional sexual duality. A legendary male warrior has become an inseparable part of her being which adds dimension to her actions "in the sack" but much more so when she's attacked. Her sword is her cock and she thrusts it with a savage masculinity that adds a credibility to the fighting ability she possesses despite the lack of requisite anatomical strength.
Art:
His work is that of a veteran professional painter working at a much larger size that reproduced on page. He's by no means one of the best but I respect the command of grace of his stroke!
*"Erotica" is writing that has incidental sex- thus functioning the same were the sex implied or described strictly with plot-necessities instead of presented in detail.
"Porn" is fully detailed sex scenes that are only bound together to unite them as one story which couldn't function without the front and/or back-section action:
|()()|
8===D->
\(.)(.)/
|[{'}]|
|[{.}]|
/(')(')\
I WELCOME COMMENTS so we can flesh a definition that describes it best!
He must have written this in prose form then split the epic-style story into three graphic novels all paneled out sequentially because this reads as such and follows a dense quest rather than a scene->to->scene format. I didn't explain that correctly but you probably know what I mean. It's much better plotted than most graphic novels and is true to what I term "erotica"*. Versus "porn", that is!
What separates Ghita from the standard chain-mail adventuress is her physio-emotional sexual duality. A legendary male warrior has become an inseparable part of her being which adds dimension to her actions "in the sack" but much more so when she's attacked. Her sword is her cock and she thrusts it with a savage masculinity that adds a credibility to the fighting ability she possesses despite the lack of requisite anatomical strength.
Art:
His work is that of a veteran professional painter working at a much larger size that reproduced on page. He's by no means one of the best but I respect the command of grace of his stroke!
*"Erotica" is writing that has incidental sex- thus functioning the same were the sex implied or described strictly with plot-necessities instead of presented in detail.
"Porn" is fully detailed sex scenes that are only bound together to unite them as one story which couldn't function without the front and/or back-section action:
|()()|
8===D->
\(.)(.)/
|[{'}]|
|[{.}]|
/(')(')\
I WELCOME COMMENTS so we can flesh a definition that describes it best!
February 24, 2013
yeah, yeah, yeah... bring on the "you're a dirty old man" remarks.
The fact remains that these two volumes collecting most, but not all, of Frank Thorne's stories of Ghita are actually pretty nice.
Cover:
Sure, it's basically an X_Rated verson of the Red Sonja comics. But seeing as Thorne had also given us some pretty nice Red Sonja, I guess we owe him thanks for giving the fan-boys this more grown-up, and let's face it, realistic, version of what a sword and sorcery epic ought to be.
As I mentioned before, this does collect most of the Ghitta material, but I do remember a couple of story lines from the originals that weren't in these. Makes me wonder why they were left out... were they maybe a little bit TOO contreversial?
Still, the teenager in me is grateful to have these as they do tend to stir, heh, up a few memories.
The fact remains that these two volumes collecting most, but not all, of Frank Thorne's stories of Ghita are actually pretty nice.
Cover:
Sure, it's basically an X_Rated verson of the Red Sonja comics. But seeing as Thorne had also given us some pretty nice Red Sonja, I guess we owe him thanks for giving the fan-boys this more grown-up, and let's face it, realistic, version of what a sword and sorcery epic ought to be.
As I mentioned before, this does collect most of the Ghitta material, but I do remember a couple of story lines from the originals that weren't in these. Makes me wonder why they were left out... were they maybe a little bit TOO contreversial?
Still, the teenager in me is grateful to have these as they do tend to stir, heh, up a few memories.
August 8, 2008
An amazing graphic novel depicting the adventures of Ghita of Alizarr, a buxom bawdy warrior with a sword that serves as her phallus. The dialogue is on the spot and the black and white illustrations are remarkable. What Russ Meyer would've been like if he ever made fantasy movies. Frank Thorne (creator and illustrator of the Red Sonja comic book, of which Ghita is an unabashed ripoff) should be a more well-known figure than he is, and although this and his other Ghita book are out of print, I suggest anyone into more Rabelaisian sword and sorcery to check him out.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews