What makes the best comic book covers? It is a great topic for debate. For us, as individuals, there is no wrong answer, of course; it is purely subjective. But, with a little thought it’s possible to explain what it is about a particular image that grabs you. The best images are the ones that make you stop and check out something you weren’t previously planning to purchase – and in some cases, you even end up picking up a title you’ve never even heard of before.

It’s true: You can’t help but admit that Dave Sim is a creative genius. Using his decades-long opus Cerebus – named after the strip’s lead character for whom was unintentionally a misspelling of Cerberus, the mythic hell-hound – he parodied everything in comics and under the sun. One such parody was the story of Red Sonja – who Sim referred to in his comic as Red Sophia.

You see, in her Marvel Comics titles, Robert E. Howard’s femme fatale, Red Sonja, would not fall in love with a man unless he bested her in conflict. And Sim’s Red Sophia shared that same philosophy – but unlike Sonja, she was defeated by a barbarian aardvark. And the warrior woman fell in love with Cerebus just like that – whether he liked it or not.

Apparently, there were others after Sophia’s heart, as you will discover by this issue’s telling cover. As a bonus, this must-have story also features a pin-up by the late, great artist Marshall Rogers, Cerebus the Aardvark #10 from Aardvark-Vanaheim is one comic to fall for – and laugh along with!

–Scott Braden