as told by roy thomas in the introduction of "red sonja adventures" volume 1 (dynamite entertainment) spanish artist esteban maroto submitted an uncommissioned illustration to him when he was editing the magazine "savage sword of conan" where he redesigned the character and for the first time showed her wearing what would become her famous costume, the silver "metal bikini", which resembled other fantasy costumes that other maroto heroines sported in the 1970s. this illustration had been printed for the first time in jim steranko's magazine "comixscene" #5 in black and white. it was reprinted in "savage sword of conan" #1, and in "marvel treasury edition" #15 colored but poorly reproduced, and finally restored and colored by josé villarrubia as an alternative cover for the dynamite entertainment edition of "red sonja" #2. maroto drew her in this costume for a double page spread illustration in "savage tales" #3 and then for her first solo adventure in "savage sword of conan" #1, and john buscema drew her in this costume in the same magazine. buscema drew her again in this costume in issues 43, 44 and 48 of "conan the barbarian" (1974) and dick giordano in the first issue of "marvel feature" (1975) before frank thorne took over from issue 2 (1976). the "bikini" proved popular, becoming well known through the paintings of boris vallejo and others.