Savage Sword of Conan #212 - Marvel

Aug. 1993 - I think most (if not all) of the issues of Savage Sword of Conan in my collection are from the 70s and very early 80s, when Conan = Thomas and Buscema.

But I've always been interested in what the magazine was like in the 90s, after it had outlasted not only ever other Marvel b/w magazine, but pretty much the entire b/w comic magazine genre!

This issue, with Conan fighting some sort of evil Ganesh-type creature, looked interesting enough, so I picked it up. Unfortunately, the last half dozen issues of the title are extremely expensive, when you can find them--maybe by then the magazine wasn't carried by as many dealers, so copies of the final issues don't surface much.

This issue's cover is by Julie Bell, her first. Bell was a protege of Boris Vallejo, but managed to carve out a career all her own in the world of sci-fi and fantasy art. Bell's work never appealed to me all that much--there's a shiny plastic-ness to her figures that never did much for me. Nothing personal, I just always preferred the more down-and-dirty look of painters like Bob Larkin, Earl Norem, and Joe Jusko.

Anyway, this issue opens up with the story "To Live as Gods...To Die As Men" by Roy Thomas and Rafael Kayanan, with the splash page featuring Conan being about as manly as he ever was:

Even I'm impressed, and I'm a vegetarian.

Conan and Valeria are of course looking for treasure, and they find it, in the form of a bunch of glowing green gems, which they find in the skeleton of a giant serpent.

They grab some of the gems, and try to climb their way out of the cavern. On their way back up, they run into a fierce-looking guy, who demands they identify themselves.

Conan tries to show this guy--and the tribe he represents--that they are not enemies, and offers a gem to the tribe's chief as an offer of good will.

They pull Conan and Valeria up, but the chief demands to fight Conan (of course), and Valeria finally demands to know what's going on, since she doesn't speak the foreign tongue Conan and the tribal chief are speaking:

...gee, did Conan ask Valeria if that was ok?

Conan fights several members of the tribe, and defeats most of them. But just as the last of them is about to drive a spike in Conan's skull, Valeria steps in and threatens to drop the priceless gems into a pit, so none of them will possess them.

This works, and soon Conan and Valeria get to relax, and boy does Valeria know how to relax:

...if they had had this scene in Conan The Destroyer, it would've been a bigger hit.

Conan shows up to inform Valeria (after striking out with her!) that the tribe's witch doctor thinks they are all-powerful gods, due to a coincidence of their arrival and an earthquake:

...I love this runner of a joke, with Conan constantly referring to trying to get Valeria in the sack, but never quite succeeding. Gee, I guess I can relate to Conan!

The witch doctor tells Conan he will undergo four tests, tests that no one has yet to survive! Conan is confident, but is taking this seriously, unlike Valeria:

To be continued!

This issue has a second story, written again by Thomas but with art by Conan mainstay Ernie Chan:

Conan is captured by some roving armed soldiers, who bring him back to their giant wooden fortress. Conan is surprised to see that the kingdom is led by...a woman!

And not just any woman, a beautiful, feisty wench named Suva Marsa. Marsa explains to Conan that their kingdom is threatened by another kingdom that wants to conquer them. Luckily Conan offers his services, in more ways than one:

"...after our friendly bout, I'm surprised I ever woke up."? Ok, now I'm back to not relating to Conan at all.

Marsa shows that she is as brave as she is beautiful, and fights against the marauding hordes tooth and nail. Conan starts to feel slightly at home in this place.

Finally, the other kingdom makes its final push, sending thousands of armed troops to the gates of the fortress. Conan and Marsa fight, but Marsa is the victim of some well-shot arrows. Conan sees this, and:

That's a great, scary panel.

Conan goes into his own version of Berserker Rage, and starts hacking away with such ferocity even the other fighters stop and take notice. He barely pauses when the statue of their god, an elephant-headed, six-armed warrior (see cover) comes alive and attacks. No matter, Conan buries an axe in its skull.

Conan then looks for Marsa's body, but it is gone! He then is met by a ghostly figure, who tells Conan that she is the true god of these people, and she led Conan to this place, to help defeat the evil hordes.

Conan asks where Marsa has gone, and the spectral figure tells him she has taken Marsa with her to the beyond, for a life of eternal peace.

Conan is happy--if a little bewildered--to hear this, so he does what he knows best: head into town for wine, women, and song:

If that wasn't enough for one issue, we have a four-page pin-up section by Tom Grindberg, who delivers three nice Conan-in-action shots, plus this iconic one of Red Sonja:

The Tom Grindberg I'm familiar with had a style similar to his mentor, Neal Adams, but this stuff looks totally different from that. Nice stuff, in any case.

There's still more, as the issue wraps up with a four-page biography of Julie Bell, plus a two-page letter's page. Whew!

Not a bad issue at all, though I'm not sure Kayanan--a fine artist--was the best choice to illustrate such a quip-heavy Conan story. So much of it involves how Conan, Valeria, and the tribesmen communicate to one another, that maybe someone with better acuity at subtle facial expressions might have been a better choice.

But the second story is classic Conan, making for a very fine issue. Marvel was still capable of bringing their "A" game to the b/w magazine format, when they were inspired to.

Savage Sword of Conan #32 - Marvel

Aug. 1978 - Another fine Conan adventure, behind a cover by Val Mayerik!

Like I've said before, it actually does a bit of disservice to try and explain these Conan adventures, especially the ones by the team of Roy Thomas and John Buscema (the Scorsese/DeNiro of Conan comics). Sure, they're formulaic, but that's part of the fun.

So instead of a tedious breakdown of the plot, I present mostly without comment some of finest moments in this issue, courtesy "Big" John Buscema and Tony DeZuniga:

Discussion Question: Who is more blindly optimistic, the random swordsman who thinks he'll be the one to kill Conan, or your standard Joe Henchman who signs up with the Joker thinking the Clown Prince of Crime won't kill him in a random act of pique?

Ok, anyway, back to Conan:

...every issue should end with Conan patting a girl on the behind. There, I said it.

Not only is this issue a classic of Conan-style debauchery, but it features this ad for the next issue:

Conan...drawn by Gene Colan?!? Off to eBay!

The Savage Sword of Conan #31 - Marvel

July 1978 - I saw this at the NY Con. For the $2.00 price tag, I simply could not turn down a Howard Chaykin Conan cover.

There's something so reassuring about Conan comics. Maybe if you read them month after month, it gets boring, but digging through these old issues like this, every so often, it almost a relief when you open the book and the story starts like this:

...you just know you're in for a good time, courtesy Roy Thomas and John Buscema.

After taking care of this guy (in just two panels), Conan shows up at the door of a friend, who is told by Conan that he (Conan) got into an argument with the local king, refusing to do the king's bidding.

The king wasn't too cool with being refused by a "low-born barbarian", and sent his men (of which our splash page guy was one) after him.

Then, a comely lass named Nanaia arrives, who tells Conan the king has put out a hit on Conan with Hakhamani the Informer, but to keep it a secret, since Conan has many admirers in this town, and it would cause a revolt.

Conan decides to head north, and take Nanaia with him, which will enrage the king even more! But since when has Conan worried about that?

Meanwhile, the king survives an assassination attempt, and is spooked when he sees his attempted assassin holding The Flame Knife, the mark of a mysterious cult called The Hidden Ones.

At this point, there's not a lot of point explaining more of the plot, because A)it would take forever (a lot happens in this issue!) and B)I don't want to ruin the issue for anyone who might go out and read it.

As solid as the issue is, there are a few surprised here and there. "Big" John Buscema's art being top-notch is no surprise, but in this issue he added a few more graphic/abstract touches, like these panels:

...I like the flat blacks of the running legs (reminds me a bit of Frank Miller's work from Dark Knight on), and the blankness of Conan's shoulder. Usually Buscema didn't go in for that kind of stuff, but I liked his attempts at it.

Another surprise the level of gore--most of the SSOC issues I've read have lots of violence, of course, but usually its drawn in a way that partly hides the contact of weapon to flesh, but not here:

There's lots of shots like that in this issue. Usually you only see monsters get it this explicitly.

There's also a dictionary of Conan terms, called "A Gazetteer of the Hyborian World of Conan" featuring some spot illustrations by Buscema and Marie Severin, and a surprising number of ads for adults only "art portfolios", one by Vaughn Bode, and one by Bruce Jones called Other Women, Other Worlds which seems to be all about lesbians. Face front, True Believer!

Savage Sword of Conan #12 - Marvel

June 1976 - First, I want to mention this fine issue of SSOC was sent to me by my pal and frequent donator of stuff Craig Wichman. Thanks Craig!

Before I get to the story--what an awesome cover! It's by Boris Vallejo, and it's got everything a good Conan story should have--creepy evil guy, Conan getting attacked, and a scantily-dressed babe with a rockin' Hyborian-age bod. Can't go wrong.

Anyway, the story is "The Haunters of Castle Crimson" by Roy Thomas, Big John Buscema, and Alfredo Alcala, "freely adapted from the story 'The Slave Princess' by Robert E. Howard."

Conan rides into the town of Kizil-Bezzin, where all hell is literally breaking loose. Apparently, the city relaxed its defenses after hearing that the nearby murderous hordes were mostly dead and/or defeated, which was a mistake. Now these same murderous hordes are raping and pillaging the town with wild abandon.

Conan watches one particularly soulless creep murder defenseless old man, and while he's marveling over his loot, Conan makes his displeasure be known:

(The very fun Chris's Invincible Super-Blog loves to run panels of people getting kicked in myriad ways, so I hereby dedicate this sequence to him)

Another raider shows up, threatening a slave girl named Zuleika, and of course Conan is all too ready to teach him a lesson, which he does in just a few panels. He then grabs the girl, climbs aboard his steed, and heads out of town.

He and Zuleika stop at a castle ruled by a friend of Conan's named Malthom. Conan tells Malthom that this slave girl is the spitting image of the Princess Corma, the missing bride of the wealthy Kehlru-Shan. Conan's plan is to visit Shan and try and pass Zuleika off as his bride, and collect a handsome reward. He asks Malthom to watch over Zuleika in the castle while he goes to see if he can broker a deal.

While Conan does this, and convinces Shan to come with him to get his bride, Zuleika and Malthom start to get a little...close.

Conan makes it back, and indeed Shan is fooled into thinking this is his bride. During the night, Malthom reveals he loves this simple slave girl, and attacks Conan to prevent the sale! Meanwhile, a mysterious hooded figure kidnaps the sleeping Zuleika. Crom, sometimes it's so much effort just to sell a damn slave girl!

Conan and Malthom learn of this, and put a pin in their fight long enough to team-up and rescue her. Conan follows a follower of Shan's named Mordek(who has Zuleika in his clutches) into a secret passageway in the castle, and discovers a room a disingenuous realtor might call "a finished basement":

Conan and this Mordek guy have it out, and when some of Mordek's blood drips onto the skeletons, they come alive! They crawl up, up. until they grab a hold of Conan's foe and even the Cimmerian is disgusted:

Oddly, the skeletons don't attack Conan, and simply walk past him, out of the antechamber. They do attack Shan's followers, who are the descendants and brothers of the men who slayed them. One of them grabs Shan and runs thim through. Hyborian payback's a bitch.

After the battle, the Princess Corma's father arrives, looking to collect his daughter. Oddly, though, the King, named Aballah Bin Khor, looks into her eyes and doesn't realize she is just a slave girl. Or is she...?

Zuleika informes her father that she truly loves Malthom, and wants to marry him. Bin Khor approves, and it ends with Conan determined to find a land where there's more adventure(i.e., babes, killing guys), since, as he tells Malthom, "I smell days of peace wafting over the horizon."

A completely enjoyable tale, as where most of these Thomas/Buscema Conan stories. There's a million twists and turns, swordplay, betrayals, and mood-drenched art. But there's even more in this issue!

Not only is there a text-piece called "Chivalry Is Alive and Well and Living in Berkeley Among Others", but there's a back-up feature, a serial called "The Hyborian Age", of which this is "Part 3: The Hyborian Kingdoms", more of a historical piece than a story, but what makes it so cool is that its drawn by none other than Walt Simonson!:

Would you cross this guy? I thought not.

An excellent issue, you can't beat Buscema on Conan in his prime(both of 'em) plus a Walt Simonson back-up. Mitra, 'tis a fine publication!

Savage Sword of Conan Ad - Marvel

The ad is like the Cimmerian himself--basic, and to the point.

Just buy the magazine, by Crom!

Savage Sword of Conan Ad - Marvel

I didn't, strangely enough, find this ad in a black and white magazine, but in a British digest-sized Marvel reprint magazine called Chiller Pocket Book.

Can't go wrong with a John Buscema Conan piece!

Savage Sword of Conan #53 - Marvel

An fairly unusual cover by Earl Norem--some wizard getting the drop on Conan, for once--leads off this issue of SSOC, featuring the story "The Sorcerer and the Soul" by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Rudy Nebres.

Set in Arenjun, the City of Thieves, it opens with Conan drinking, wenching, and fighting(of course), and he overhears talk of a valuable amulet called the Eye of Erlik. While attempting to steal it--all the while fighting other thieves who want it--he encounters the wizard Hisarr Zul.

Zul and Conan fight for a bit, which is always fun, since Conan doesn't like things he can't just slice up with his sword. Zul manages to trap Conan's soul in a magic mirror, which allows him to enlist Conan to do his bidding, by sending him to overtake the thief who has gotten ahold of the amulet! To be continued, by Crom!

There's a text section called "The Hyborian Reporter" all about a Halloween party thrown by Roy and Dannette Thomas, and featuring a pic of the Thomases dressed up as Conan(Roy doesn't quite pull this off, but who could?) and Red Sonja(works for me).

The other story is "Wings in the Night!" by Don Glut and David Wenzel, starring Solomon Kane. Adapted from the REH story, Kane finds himself in a village beset by cannibals---and if that wasn't enough, also a giant winged demon who swoops from the skies at night! Aaaahhh!

Both stories are fun and move a brisk clip. Buscema and Nebres make an ok pair--Buscema's forceful, strong work always shows through, and the facial expressions he puts on Conan are priceless.

Savage Sword of Conan #144 - Marvel

Crom! Another fun Conan cover by Joe Jusko full of comely wenches. (Actually, considering all the wenching Conan did in the comics, its a little surprising he didn't contract some horrid Hyborian-era version of Syphillis)

This issue's story is "The Waiting Doom" by Chuck Dixon, Hary Kwapisz, and Ernie Chan. It has a cool, well-paced three page opening as a couple of brigands try to get the drop on Conan(which of course goes off exactly according to plan). Its entirely silent, except for one well-placed "Crom!"

We then cut to an inn while a snowstorm rages outside. Some sleazy barbarians are attempting to have their with a waitress when a stranger arrives--Red Sonja!

She has been tracking one of them, who left Sonja holding the bag when he double-crossed her involving some war chief's children they were supposed to guard. Of course, these guys think they're going to teach Sonja a lesson, and of course its the She Devil with a Sword that dispenses the lesson, with the aid of Conan to steps in only to make sure its a fair fight.

Afterwards, Soja discovers Conan has been wounded, and helps him recuperate in some hot springs. Conan makes yet another futile move on Sonja, but nothin' doin', so he quickly moves onto Business. Conan has been given a medallion that will supposedly help him find a pricless statue for a mage who is offering "a sizable prize" for its capture. Sonja still wants to find the lost children, but since they're headed the same way they take off together.

Meanwhile, a group of trackers, including a steel-masked, totally silent behemoth, are also out there, searching for Conan(the first group having failed to do in the first few pages, remember?).

Conan and Sonja travel on, and are warned of a legend of the hills of a horrible creature that roams the area. Conan of course scoffs at this, but when they get to the mouth of the temple that supposedly houses the statue, they are accosted by a really gruesome two-headed, drooling, six-armed thing that artist Gary Kwapisz must have had a blast designing. It looks like something out of Re-Animator or John Carpenter's remake of The Thing. *shudder*

Conan and Sonja fight it long enough to hide inside a crevice, though not before Sonja lops off one of its hands. The creature is distracted when the trackers looking for Conan show up, and our heroes make their way into the temple.

Just as they're about to grab the statue, the trackers catch up to them, with the creature right behind. A melee ensues, and Sonja and Conan manage to pit the creature and the giant masked bad guy against each other, who fight each other even as they fall off a cliff into a pit of lava. Done and done!

Just then, one of the trackers makes off with the statue, leaving Conan's whole trip for nothing. The lead box he was given to put the statue in is now useless, so he causally tosses it into the lava. Sonja prepares to head off to look for the still-missing children, but Conan surprisingly offers to help her. "What prompts this generosity?" asks Sonja.

Conan, with an amazing grasp of irony, says "Our partings usually come when I am knocked on the head and you ride off with the loot from our adventure. Perhaps I hope that recent events bode a change in our friendship." A nice, mellow wrap-up...

That is, until we cut to a single page of the tracker who stole the magic statue. The statue has been slowly killing the man, and we're given the wonderfully descriptive "He's been bleeding from every pore for a day now." Ewwww!

The story ends with the theif falling over dead in the snow, the statue still nestled in his hand.

Like most of the Chuck Dixon Conan stories he did for SSOC, this is a lot of fun and moves at a great clip. Sure, the stories of Conan-has-to-find-some-treasure are a bit formulaic, but that's part of the fun, knowing what the basic set-up will probably be and seeing what new spin is put on it. Plus its got Red Sonja, always a bonus in my book.

This issue also features some nice Conan pin-ups by Armando Gil, Fraja Bator(?), and Tom Grindberg.

One last thing about the cover--the dancing girl originally was sans rear veil, but artist Joe Jusko was asked to add one; I guess it was just a little too saucy, even for Savage Sword of Conan.

How do I know this? Becuase Joe Jusko told me himself, in the super-cool interview he did with me for the blog which will run tomorrow. Be here, by Crom!

The Savage Sword of Conan #118 - Marvel

Since today's my birthday, I've been doing bday-themed posts on all my blogs(of I which have approximately fifty-seven of), so I thought I'd talk about the one other issue of SSOC that I bought on vacation with my family in the Poconos.

The small town not far from our cabin(the sprawling metropolis known as "Hawley") had a host of newsstands, gift shops, and tobacco shops, so I was exposed to a wider variety of comics than I was via my local 7-11s at home(Charlton Comics?), so I frequently would stray from my usual JLA/Brave and Bold/Batman buying habits and pick up something else.

This issue came out in August 1985, so I was fourteen by then. And while I had occasionally read more adult material than this, I generally didn't buy many comics with nubile bikini-clad wenches on the cover. Joe Jusko's exciting and sexy painting assured I would spend the necessary $1.50 to bring this home.

The story is "Valley of Howling Shadows" by Larry Yakata and Gary Kwapisz, and hits the ground running, with a pack of men chasing after Conan who has just stolen a golden chalice. He of course escapes by the skin of his teeth as the men plummet off a crumbling cliffside. That's our Conan!

Conan heads to the nearest village, and picks up a comely lass, but wakes up to find a second group of pursuers have found him. He gets the drop on most of them but the young girl proves she is good with a knife and helps the barbarian out of his jam. Conan and the girl(Shameel) ride off, all the while Conan has been having odd hallucinations.

One thing that is not a hallucination however is a nightmarish creature that has the body of a lion, wings, and the head of man that they encounter that warns them off from entering the valley. The gang of brigands Conan has "picked up" along the way are terrified, but Conan takes it all in stride. He's heard there's gold in thar hills, and no reject from a Ray Harryhausen film is gonna stop him! Of course, as they sleep, the brigands plot to kill Conan and take all the gold for themselves--good plan.

They make their way into the valley and discover a truly nightmarish scene--men being tortured, and women being, uh, taken advantage of by a horde of horrific demons. The big reveal happens over a two-page spread and I think its only because of Kwapisz's fairly clean art style that this got by in a Marvel comic. Sure, SSOC was always a little more adult, but what with the severed heads, poked-out eyeballs, and a naked woman being gang-attacked by horrible demons, this is image is way more out there than anything you'd image Marvel publishing. Still, it's laid out in such a way that a lot of the depravity pictured went right by me as a kid.

Just as Conan is trying to take all this in, a giant, ten-foot-high monster(as seen on the cover) attacks Shameel, and Conan attacks it, finally slicing open its belly(eww). The brigands discover jewels inside the creature, and they start to dig into its stomach searching for treasure!

They continue down the valley, and are warned by two faceless husks in cloaks, telling them to stay close to each other. Some of the brigands don't listen, and they abruptly vanish as they ride behind Conan and Shameel. When they enter an area shrouded in mist, we find two of the brigands' heads stuck on pikes.

They finally find the temple said to have the gold, and Conan finds some of his party have gotten there first and are picking the bones of the dead for the treasure. Conan wants no part of this and then he is attacked by someone named Gundar, is who Shameel's true love who she lost many years ago. She ditches Conan to be with him, and Conan decides this whole is wack so he drops all the treasure and heads out. Shameel decides to stay behind with Gundar, just as the temple collapses onto itself, trapping everyone inside. Serves 'em right, by Crom!

After a Conan pin-up there's a second story, "Alchemy" by Don Kraar and Tony Salmons, which is a great, terse tale of an alchemist thisclose to being able to create gold. The only problem is he double-crossed Conan to do it. A great little tale told with high style by Salmons.

All told, an excellent issue--both stories are fun and exciting, yet tonally and visually very different. I rarely--if ever--saw SSOC at home so I never got the chance really to keep up with it. Too bad, since this issue was certainly worth every penny!

Savage Sword of Conan #170 - Marvel

Considering that SSOC ran longer than every other Marvel mag combined, it shouldn't be so under-represented here. So I picked this one out of the box, not even remembering what the story was, I just loooove the cover, by Joe Jusko.

It's sexy, well designed, and funny as hell--if the title of the piece isn't "My Barbarian's Back(And You're Gonna Be In Trouble)", then by Crom it should be!

The story, by Chuck Dixon and Gary Kwapisz, is titled "Emerald Lust", which is not a porn film set in Ireland, but a Conan tale featuring Valeria and Red Sonja, with everyone's favorite barbarian caught in the middle!

After a sequence with a poor sod riding his boat, frozen to death, we find Conan with a beautiful lass who reveals, post-conquer, that she is the local Chieftan's daughter. Crom! Women...

Of course, a gang of the chief's subjects attempt to apprehend Conan for doing so, and no points for guessing it doesn't work. We then catch up with Valeria, who tells a tale of a beautiful emerald to a group of drunken barbarians. We the cut to Red Sonja, who has been hired by the aforementioned chieftan to hunt down "a big oafish Cimmerian with hair as black as his heart." Sonja starts to guess who this might be...

Conan, looking to board a ship, runs into Valeria and he vouches for her, but not before a kiss, a slap, and a threat to cut Conan a new mouth. Ah, romance! They leave in search of this emerald that is of unimaginable wealth, to a land of freezing water and glaciers.

It's here they run into another ship, with Sonja aboard, which has been chasing Conan. It's here that Valeria and Sonja get into a battle over Conan. Valeria thinks Sonja wants Conan as a mate, and she can't convince Valeria that it's just for a buck. Their battle involves swordfights, thrown punches, and spilling over the side of the ship into the frozen water. As this is happening, they discover the emerald is no more than a giant piece of ice, it's green color being from the seafoam around it. As Conan demonstrates, a chunk of this great emerald melts away in his hand...

Then one of the glaciers starts to collapse, sending giant shards of ice into the water and the ships, sending everyone scattering, some to their deaths. Conan, Sonja, and Valeria find themselves together on a small chunk, where they have to get along to survive. The women's resistance is worn down, and they're forced to both sleep aside Conan for warmth. Ah, this story could've gone so many ways from here...

Anyway, they wake up the next day looking to find land, and instead they run into giant, killer walrus-type monsters and killer sharks. Crom! All this because Conan put his sword in the wrong place!

They get caught in a blizzard, and that looks like that's gonna be it. Luckily, the blizzard passes, and they all wake up, Valeria and Sonja ready to kill each other all over again. All for a piece of ice...

A really fun tale, full of humor and great characterization and high adventure. Kwapsiz uses the black and white very well, and the story is a pleasure to look at, as are all the sexy women populating the tale...

There's also a King Kull portfolio, feauring various moments from KK's life, all by Steve Carr and Al Williamson. We get to see Kull take on a weird amphibian monster, a fiery-sword-wielding skeleton, a giant monster, and even behead a guy right in front of us! Good, bloody fun. There's also three additional Conan pin-ups, which are also bloody and barbaric.

From the great cover til the end, by Crom this is a really fun issue(sorry, once you start talking like Conan it's hard to stop)!

Savage Sword of Conan #23 - Marvel

After a brief hiatus we're back with one of my favorite issues, SSOC #23, guest-starring everybody's favorite she-devil with a sword, Red Sonja!

First off--the cover, by Earl Norem--it's just gorgeous. Well designed, nice colors, exciting as hell. How anyone seeing this on the stands could've not bought it is beyond me.

The main story "Torrent of Doom", by Roy Thomas, John Buscema (Conan artist #1, IMO), and Alfredo Alcala, is actually the second part of a two-part story. Normally I would've seeked out the first part before I read this, but this issue looked like so much fun I went ahead anyway (and I was right).

It picks up with Conan stumbling across a group of demon-like zombies dragging a bunch of unconcious buccaneers away, into a mysterious city (aren't they all?). Conan, accompanied by a lovely wench (of course), follows them into the city to see what the Crom is going on.

Conan runs afoul of these zombie guys, and starts hacking into them with his broad-sword--a dozen pages or so of Buscema-style mayhem! It looks bad for our cimmerian pal until the Buccaneers wake up, itching for revenge, and help Conan turn a few hundred zombies into a thousand little chunks of zombies. They of course escape back onto the buccaneer's ship, setting sail for more adventure!

Next is a historical text piece called "Stygia, Serpent of the South" written by Robert Yaple with spot illustrations by Rick Hoberg, tracking Conan's movements through the Hyborian Age. Third is a Kull story, "The Striking of the Gong" by Thomas, Rock Hoberg, and Bill Wray, where Kull gets transported to a weird, alternate dimension(!).

Wendy Pini is next up with an article on Red Sonja, and she also draws a really nice pin-up page of her. More provocative are photos of Wendy and other Sonja fan Linda Behrle dressed up as Sonja! I had always heard Wendy made for an amazingly striking real-life Sonja, and these photos bear that out, but this Linda Behrle was no slouch either:

...I cannot imagine an actual human being actually trying to put that outfit on--talk about chafing. Ouch!

Next is "Wizards of the Black Sun", a Red Sonja tale by Thomas (again!) and the always-awesome Frank Thorne. To me, there was simply no Sonja artist anywhere near Thorne--his look doesn't look like anyone else's, in terms of storytelling and sheer draftsmanship. Sonja takes on evil wizards, living skeletons--lots of good blood-letting fun.

Of course, now that we've reached the end of the issue, we see that Conan and Sonja don't, in fact, team up to fight some giant evil octopus thingy. Oh well, maybe next issue...

The Savage Sword of Conan #117 - Marvel

This is another one of those b&w magazines I discovered at a newsstand, and I felt was just a little too adult for parental approval; so of course I bought it immediately. Nudity, violence, what's not to love?

First off, look at that cover by Michael Golden--insane. Beautifully, wonderfully insane. Only Conan would even try to get a helmet like that on a horse.

After a letters page and an ad for the next issue that features Conan jamming this sword through a guy's chest and out his back (talk about hitting the ground running), the first story is "The Winds of Aka-Gaar" by Larry Yakata and Gary Kwapisz. I don't think I need to say much more about the story other than, at one point, Conan lops the head/heads off of a two-headed ape. Sort of. Plus it has some naked babes in it that cause a guy to die in quicksand. Oh, and a blinded Conan fights a giant crab. I guess there's a lot to say about this story. As the Irish say, good on ya, Mr. Yakata.

The other story, "The Opponents" by Don Kraar and Rod Whigham, is a short one where Conan gets in an arm-wrestling contest and still manages to kill a few guys during it.

I love Conan.