Kull and the Barbarians #3 - Marvel

This is was one of the first magazines I profiled after starting this blog, and it was one of the ones that reminded me how much great material was out there in these b/w magazines--everyone remembers the giants of the format, like Creepy and Savage Sword of Conan; but there was a lot of great stuff in these other mags, too!

The cover is by Michael Whelan, and the sexy Red Sonja(redundant) frontspiece is by Howard Chaykin. Kull is of course the star of the opening tale, "The Omen in the Skull" by Doug Moench and Vincenet Alcazar.

Kull and his friend Ridondo are sailing their way to Kull's homeland of Atlantis, when a mysterious message--in a foreign language--burns itself onto his sword! He consults an old witch who tells him it concerns Atlantis and its eventual king--could that be someone named Kull? In his pursuit for answers he takes on the evil Thulsa Doom and other menaces, and it ends with Kull finding a giant city where, just ten years ago, there was nothing! To be continued!

Next is a text piece about Solomon Kane by Fred Blosser, and then its Red Sonja in "The Day of the Sword" by Roy Thomas, Moench, and Howard Chaykin, in what is essentially The Secret Origin of Red Sonja. A brutal, gripping story, we see the tale of murder, rape, and eventual rebirth that led to Sonja's quest for vengeance. An excellent story, and Chaykin's art is just great, but, boy, tough going there during some parts!

Last is Solomon Kane in "Into the Silent City" by Thomas, Alan Weiss, and Pablo Marcos. Kane tries to help a small village fend off an attack by hordes of zombies, the only way he knows how--by brute force. The concluding chapter of "The Hills of the Dead", a Robert E. Howard story.

All three stories are full of bloody, violent fun, dark humor, and superb art. It's a damn shame Kull and the Barbarians(which also could've been called The Conan Family, I guess) didn't last longer than this issue, since from the two of the three issues I've read, the material was top-notch. One of Marvel's best, if very short-lived, magazines.