Marvel Preview #19: Kull The Destroyer

Summer 1979 - Kull the Conqueror was one of those characters that really deserved to be a bigger comics star than he was.

Between his b/w magazine, his color comic, and his appearances in other mags like this, King Kull racked up an impressive roster of writers and artists who toiled on his stories, and while the comparisons to a certain Cimmerian are inevitable, I found them distinct enough that you could enjoy both and not feel like you were getting warmed-over Conan, or Conan with a different name, or whatever.

The cover, like many a Marvel mag, is by Bob Larkin, and while Kull and Thulsa Doom look cool, I will admit the bikini-clad damsel looks less than terrified.

After an inside-cover by Ernie Chan, the Kull story is "Riders Beyond the Sunrise" by Roy Thomas(adapted from a Robert E. Howard story, 'natch), Sal Buscema, and Tony DeZuniga. It's basically a Kull origin story, where we get to see Kull fight a bunch of bad guys, rescue a toothsome wench, and fight the nasty, evil Thulsa Doom to the death!

Next is a text feature, "Tiger of Atlantis", by Jim Neal, detailing Kull's history as told through Marvel's comics.

Following that is a real treat, an eight-page pin-up section called Kull II, featuring art by John and Marie Severin!:

The first five are by John alone, and then the last three are penciled by Marie and inked by John. All of them are cool:

Ending the book is a Solomon Kane tale, "The Footfalls Within", by Don Glut, Will Meugniot, and Steve Gan, featuring Kane liberating a small village from being turned into slaves by a villainous group of pirates. Featuring honest-to-gosh nudity, though it is from "native" tribal women, so I guess it falls under that National Geographic rule of not being "real" nudity.

A solid package all the way around. Any book with two Severins is worth whatever the cover price.

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.

Kull and the Barbarians #2 - Marvel

Our little girl Johnny is still feeling under the weather, so my Halloween plans have been shelved, unfortunately. So as long as I'm home looking after her, I thought I'd go a-postin'.

I purchased this a few days ago and just had the chance to read it. Up until recently, I didn't even know Marvel ever did a Kull b/w magazine. I guess since Savage Sword of Conan was, for a while, Marvel's most profitable publication (according to a CBA interview with Roy Thomas, who oughta know), it made sense to do more magazines based on the Robert Howard characters Marvel had licensed.

Kull, as a character, was always a little indistinct compared to the straight-ahead Conan, but I don't think that would have mattered if they had done more issues like this. For only a measly buck, 70s comic fans could have gotten this issue, with work by Bernie Wrightson, Gil Kane, Alan Weiss, Neal Adams, and Howard Chaykin! A more fantastically talented artistic line-up would be hard to find.

After the really nice cover (Marvel mag cover artists tended to overdue the heavy blacks, so it was nice to see a brightly colored one like this), it opens with a frontspiece of Solomon Kane by Wrightson, then the lead Kull story, "The Teeth of the Dragon", by Gerry Conway and someone named Jess Jodloman. I've never heard of Mr.(?) Jodloman before, but his work here is nice and highly detailed, reminiscient of Alfred Alcala, and perfect for this format.

Next up is a Solomon Kane story by Roy Thomas, with pencils by Alan Weiss and inks (!) by Neal Adams. Some of the times I've seen Adams ink someone, he's tended to dominate the pencils, but here he pulls back and let's Weiss's extremely expressive faces and body language to shine through. Following that is a one page feature on someone named Dawn Griel, who attended comic cons of the time dressed as Red Sonja--*rrowwrr!*

Speaking of, next is a Red Sonja story by Thomas and Howard Chaykin. Seeing how popular Sonja was, seemingly second only to Conan, it's a wonder why this magazine wasn't named after her rather than Kull. Next is another installment in Gil Kane's text/comic series Blackmark. It all wraps up with a fun, two-page spread ad for all of Marvel's other b/w magazines, like Planet of the Apes, Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu, Dracula Lives!, Conan, and Monsters of the Movies. Even Marvel could make ads look like content.

All in all, a fantastic magazine, I can't believe these issues aren't more valuable, considering what you get for your money. The next issue, #3, was sadly the final one. I guess Kull and the Barbarians was a big flop, sales-wise. It certainly wasn't quality-wise.