|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 2, 2014 15:28:46 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #8, Oct 1975 issueA Frank Brunner cover! What a great ways to get things in motion! Brunner didn't do much Conan, but what he did was always significant. His adaptation of "The scarlet citadel" in issue 30 is a thing of beauty.  This issue is a grab bag kind of thing, containing several pieces that were either probably or definitely, meant as fill-in material. It doesn't hurt the quality of the final product, as you'll see. This issue's contents: The forever phial, a Conan story The elder gods, a scholarly article The death-song of Conan the Cimmerian, an illustrated poem Sorcerer's summit, a non-Conan tale set in the Hyborian age The rise of the Hyborians, continuing the graphic adaptation of the history of Conan's world Corsairs against Stygia, continuing the adaptation of "Conan the conqueror / The hour of the dragon" begun in Giant-size Conan and lots of cool house ads! The forever phialscript by Roy Thomas Art by Tim Conrad  Conrad's style used to be heavily influenced by that of Barry Smith, and it shows here. I ain't complainin', though! Nice stuff! (Conrad's inks over Smith's pencils for the upcoming "worms of the Earth" adaptation is one of my favorite combinations ever). This particular tale is a short one. A young Conan is used by a tired and immortal sorceror to put an end to his days, demonstrating that in the end one can get tired of anything. Like a Hyborian Prospero, he burns his books (including the works of Skelos, of Vathelos the blind, and even of Kathulos, who used to work for King Kull) and sets elemental creatures against the Cimmerian, goading the young man into a murderous frenzy. The plan works, as is demonstrated by Savage sword's one and only color panel.  Notes: - The chronological setting of this story was a bit ambiguous for a while. Conan is dressed as he was in the early issues of CtB, but without his horned helmet. That would set it after CtB #6, which is where the chronology published in Marvel Super Special #9 puts it. Here, however, the introductory blurb mentions Conan joining the Zuagirs, which is clearly just a leftover from the previous issues. To complicate matters, though, the table of contents places this story in southern Brythunia! What would Conan do in southern Brythunia if he was in Zamora just a few days prior? I guess he gets around. - There is a hunchbacked dawrf in the story. An ancestor to Conrad's Toadswart d'Amplestone? - Conan handles his bow in a left-handed fashion. Either he's ambidextrous or, as any Conan fan knows, he hasn't had much experience with the bow up to that time.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 2, 2014 15:30:20 GMT -5
The elder godsby Robert Yaple Part III of the essay on different Hyborian age cults. Here we cover Set, the snake god who is either the supreme god of the Stygians (and of the defunct Acheronians) or the arch-demon of the Hyborians. Beyond any theological question, it would make sense that the Hyborians would see their enemy's god as a demon; Acheron might have been an ancient Hyborian kingdom itself, it was clearly the enemy of the later Hyborian peoples. The same thing happened with historical gods like Baal, Dagon or Lucifer, who are seen as demons in the Judaeo-Christian iconography but who were of a more benign nature to their worshippers. The article further explores the several gods of Shem, like Pteor and Hanuman, and the Vendhyan god Asura. Robert Howard showed a lot of sense by pointing out how the apparently humane Asuran cult was seen by the Aquilonian (all good Mitraites) as a degenerate cult of cannibalism and human sacrifice. The other guy's god is always a bad one. A few house ads inviting us to purchase Annuals follows. In the days before internet or comic-book catalogs, these things were precious! How I dreamed looking at these small black and white covers! Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, Savage Tales, Monster of the movies (with Mr. Spock on the cover!), Vampire TRales, Masters of Terror, something called Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu, and even Savage sword itself! The SSoC annual (the only one there would be) was almost a reprint-only book. It contains "Beware the wrath of Anu", from CtB #10 (with gray washes replacing color); "The forbidden swamp" from Monsters on the prowl #16 and "The death-dance of Thulsa Doom" from Kull the conqueror #3, a Kull storyline introducing his arch-enemy; and "Web of the spider-god", from CtB #13. The cover by Enrique Badia Romero and the Barry Smith frontispiece (misattributed to P. Craig Russell) are nice. Death song of Conan the CimmerianA poem by Lin Carter adapted by Roy Thomas, illustrated by Filipino artist Jess Jodloman. This poem has all the enthusiasm typical of Carter's work, but modern reader would probably still consider it fanfic. It does evoke REH's own poetry, with words like "skull", "king", "death" and "night" making the obligatory appearances and being anything but subdued. I like the treatment, which is essentially what Conan could decide to say to Death as it comes to him; I just found it unlikely in the extreme that the Cimmerian, as we know him, would bother to create poetry for the occasion. The poem is illustrated by several scenes from Conan's comic-book career, something I liked a lot. We see old faces like the death-faced woman from Wan-Tengri, Burgun, Jenna, Laza-Lanti, Fafnir, Red Sonja… neat stuff. 
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 2, 2014 15:31:48 GMT -5
Sorcerer's summitStory and art by Bruce Jones. Aaaah, Bruce Jones, Bruce Jones, Bruce Jones. The guy who draws beautifully, a little like Jeffrey Jones, whose sense of humour makes almost everything he writes enjoyable, whose Pacific Comics work was so cool, and who is one of the worst Conan writers I ever read. What can I say? Bruce's approach to Conan, when he took over CtB and wrote several SSoC issues, was full of what I hate in a Conan comic: inappropriate fantasy tropes used nilly-willy, disregard for the coherence of Hyborian sociology, geography and history, and no connection to REH's work. Those were the hallmark of the '80s Conan. Luckily, here, Conan is nowhere in sight! We are treated to a fun story starring a new character, a likeable and horny rogue, who tries to win the favor of a pretty girl by helping her get rid of a wizard. It's an efficient comedy, and the art is lovely. 
The hyborian age, chapter 2Script by Roy Thomas, adapted from the essay by REH Art by Walt Simonson  The Great Cataclysm has caused Atlantis and the Pictish Island to sink, and deeply modified the Thurian continent. The continental Atlantean kingdom has survived, and the survivors from Atlantis (the island) find refuge there, but they come to blows with their age-old enemies, the Picts, who as allies of Valusia had a large presence on the continent. Their wars will lead to the destruction of both their cultures; Atlanteans will revert to a pre-cultural state of barbarism, barely ape-men who grunt and don't use fire or tools anymore. Picts will become the savages they'd remain for thousands of years. Meanwhile, in the east, the Lemurian islands have also sunk. The survivors reached the continent, where they were enslaved by the non-Thurian civilization that dwelt there. The far south (what we'd know as Africa) has escaped the cataclysm, and its pre-human civilization has survived. L. Sprague de Camp would interpret that as a survival of the Serpent Men, although Howard was very vague by what he meant with "pre-human". In the southeast, a non-Thurian people, the Zhemri, still endures. In the north, we know that there is a race of snow-apes that was chased beyond the arctic circle by a band of human savages who then settled in the north. A second cataclysm (or lesser strength) then causes the formation of the sea of Vilayet, which in modern days we know as the much smaller Caspian sea. The golden age of the Thurian era is definitely a thing of the past. Centuries later, the Lemurian slaves in the east rebel, and bring down their master's society. The survivors of the latter move south and west, and overthrow the pre-humans they encounter (the serpent men, again?) to found the kingdom of Stygia. Remnants of the locals seem to have survived and even been worshipped by the newcomers. In the north, our barbarians develop into the Hyborians. They will eventually drift southward, ushering in an era of wandering and conquest. There is so much story in these six pages that I can hardly believe it!!!
Corsairs against StygiaScript by Roy Thomas, from the REH story "The hour of the dragon" Art by Gil Kane and Young Montano The hour of the dragon, aka Conan the conqueror, is the only Conan novel written by Robert E. Howard. Its adaptation was begun in the color comic Giant-size Conan, where it was the lead feature for issues 1-4 (issue 5 was a reprint of CtB 14-15). Gil Kane had been the artist for issues 1-4 too. The novel's adaptation would conclude in SSoC #10, with art by John Buscema (who did a good job, but I'd have loved to see Kane finish the story). Dark Horse is currently readapting that story. Conan, king of Aquilonia, has been toppled from his throne by a conspiracy involving the kingdom of Nemedia and an age-old wizard from Acheron, who just might be vulnerable to the power of a certain magical jewel that was used to bring him back to life, the heart of Ahriman. Conan is on the trail of this jewel, which has been stolen and is currently being carried to Stygia. Attempting to secure passage to the southern kingdom, the Cimmerian was assaulted and sold as a galley slave. Here we see how he doesn't stay a captive for long. Many of the galley's rowers are men he knew when he led the Black Corsairs with Bêlit, and he leads a revolt against the galley's owner. The ship then sails all the way to Stygia.  This is really a transitory chapter, but it still reads well. Tip of the hat to Roy Thomas (AGAIN!) : when writing about Conan and Bêlit in CtB, he made sure we'd see the corsairs featured in Hour of the dragon leave Bêlit's ship, the Tigress, many issues before the rest of the crew would meet its doom in CtB #100. Since Hour of the dragon mentions that as leaders of the corsairs Conan once set flame to the black walls of Khemi, Roy also wrote that in in the regular CtB mag. Let's compare that to the current "adaptation" of Queen of the Black Coast published by Dark Horse… or no, let's not.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 5, 2014 7:35:54 GMT -5
I most heartily agree with benday-dot regarding the romantic nature of Robert E. Howard and that (or lack thereof) of Conan himself. Conan is a pragmatist, and even if Howard defended himself from being a romantic and insisted, in his letters, that he wrote only as a means to make money in as unpleasant a way as possible, I think his writing put the lie to his own impression. Conan can therefore benefit from a little grit in his graphic intepretation. My own absolute favorite Conan artist is Barry Smith, but that may be a case of Lorenz imprinting. (Still, I'd argue strongly that nobody can render the mystery and grandeur of past civilizations as well as Smith; his Conan work was full of vitality and strength, but also of magic and wonder. Someone who stops at the elegance of his art misses a large part of it). The gritty aspect, I think, is why I loved the single Jorge Zaffino Conan issue, Savage sword # 162, so much. The same applies to the great inking work of Ricardo Villagran over Mike Docherty's pencils during the last days of CtB. John Buscema had the same quality of earthiness when he inked his own work. That being said, none of these fine artists could equal (or even come near, in fact) the sense of wonder that Smith put into his work. (Cary Nord is to be commended for his own vision, though, especially since he managed to bring so much originality to the character and his world despite many decades' worth of competition). It's my turn to utter blasphemous things: I am not a huge fan of Frazetta's Conan. Yes, I see how his vision defined how we view the character, and pretty much everyone's version is a riff on Frazetta's own (if only by reaction). But I am much more in awe of his painting technique and of the sheer power of his scenery than I am by his conception of the Hyborian age, which I feel is a pretty generic one. Smith contributed much more in terms of world building, in my opinion. Frazetta as a penciller would of course have done stellar work, but I suspect he'd have produced something that would have been close to Buscema's approach.  |
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 5, 2014 7:37:31 GMT -5
As far as I'm concerned, b-d, you win the internet for the day!  In defense of Frank Frazetta, since I may have sounded a bit harsh on him: he did deplore the muscle-bound characters that became so dominant in his imitators' work. Frank drew strong men, but not bodybuilders; in a Comics Journal interview he even called bodybuilders idiots. He much preferred the lean look of a working lumberjack or carpenter to the barrel-chests and bowling ball biceps that are so common now in fantasy art. In full agreement with that opinion, I personally deplore that people like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Momoa or whatshisname Müller were selected to play Conan on screen on the basis of their physique. An actor for such a role should be selected on the basis of thespian ability, charisma, versatility, and only after a suitable person was chosen should they train and grow bigger. I thought that someone like Ray Stevenson, in the TV series Rome, was closer to the real Conan than either of these actors. |
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 5, 2014 7:39:13 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #9, dec 1975 issue
Boris Vallejo painted most of the covers for the first dozen issues of SSoC, and looking at this one I regret that he didn't do more over the years! The Frazetta influence is clear, and it's a pretty powerful image. Unfortunately, as explained in the letters page, this cover was meant for the story "the abode of the damned", announced in a previous issue, but which would be postponed until issue #11! Several problems led to this issue, like #8, to feature several pieces meant for other places. But honestly, you'd never know it reading it. The stories are good… and there's something uncommon: the stars of this book are, in hindsight and in my humble opinions, the pin-ups and house ads! That doesn't mean the tales are below average; just that the stand-alone art was darn good. Contents: The curse of the cat goddess and When a tiger returns to Atlantis, tales of Conan and Kull, respectively. Things from beyond, another instalment in the essay on Hyborian age gods begun several issues ago. A portfolio by Steve Fabian. A beautiful map of Conan's world by Tim Conrad. The miscast barbarian: a short review of a new biography of R.E. Howard by L. Sprague de Camp. --------------------------------------- The curse of the cat goddessScript by Roy Thomas Art by Pablo Marcos This short story brings to a close the career of Conan as leader of the desert-dwelling raiders known as the Zuagirs, which he joined in the tale A witch shall be born, adapted in issue #5. Conan was also chief of the Zuagirs in the recent issues 6 and 7. This is only a 15-pager, but a lot happens in it. As Conan returns from Akbitana (after the events of issue #7), he finds that his Zuagirs are in the process of plundering a religious caravan. Probably influenced by our modern sensibilities, Conan is upset; apparently, he had told his men that religious caravans were off-limits. Anyway, after slapping Fazal, the man who had organized the attack, Conan finds a small idol that one of the holy men had been trying to hide in the sand: a Bastet-like figurine, which he first decides to throw away and then decides to keep. As Fazal grumbles and plans to take revenge, Conan falls under the spell of the idol and drives his men in increasingly daring and costly attacks. Eventually, he is set upon during his sleep by Fazal and his men, and is deposed as chief of the Zuagirs. Fazal steals the idol (which Conan always kept with him), and immediately decides to cement his influence by leading the band against a city, planning to kill Conan upon his return. A bound Cimmerian understands how the idol had placed him under a self-destructive spell, and sees how the same thing now happens to Fazal. The attack is a disaster, and as his men die Fazal decides to return to camp and kill his erstwhile chief, so that the day isn't a complete loss. Conan manages to freee himself and kill his opponent. The regained idol then attempts to retake control of him, but he throws it i the sands. Conan rides off as the reign of terror of the Zuagirs come to an end. I'm not a big fan of Pablo Marcos as penciller…(I prefer him as an inker) but I can appreciate his art in small doses. (It's the contorted bodies that annoy me, mostly). Here he does a pretty good job.  Notes: - This is only the first story in which the Zuagirs meet their end. Other writers, apparently not aware of this one, will present it again and again in later years. - Conan is 30-31 during his time as a Zuagir. - Conan's attitude regarding the religious caravan here illustrates the difficulty of making him a comic-book character. Although Conan is brave, strong and a generally fair individual, he is also a thief, a reaver, a pirate and on occasion a murderer. From time to time, certain conceits have to be used to de-emphasized the unsavoury nature of most of his activities.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 5, 2014 7:41:37 GMT -5
Demi-gods and demonspart 4 of the gods of the Hyborian age, an essay by Robert L. Yaple. This chapters starts with the "things from outside" met in the Conan stories: all the Lovecraftian entities like Thog and Thaug (who are, with good reason, hypothesized to belong to the same species); Kosatral Khel, Ollam-Onga and the like. We also talk of Jhil, a god that is still revered by the Picts and by the Ghanatas (a world away, in Africa), Jhebbal Sag, whose worship goes back to when men and animals spoke the same language; Gullah, the gorilla god of the Picts; the spider-god of Zamora, and (at last) a sympathetic figure: Bel, god of thieves and patron god of the city of Shumir in Shem. This essay, I must say it again, should have been required reading for all new Conan writers! Apart from getting the names right, this kind of study allows us to deduce certain things from the peoples of the Hyborian age. To wit: enamoured of the Irish culture, Howard gave the Cimmerians (who, in his tales, are prototypical Celts instead of an Anatolian people) more gods than any other of his invented tribes: Crom, Mannana, Lir, Badb, they all bespeak of a rich Cimmerian folklore. And this in turn suggests that these grim people must have enjoyed tales and stories (if not actual songs). One can then imagine how Cimmerians, without being the party animals that the Aesir and Vanir are supposed to be, must have at least swapped many stories around campfires, telling us of some form of social life. The hyborian age: a map by Tim Conrad. Conrad was the frontispiece artist for this issue (an image reprinted in color in Marvel Treasury edition # 23); his work is featured again here, with the most complete map of the Hyborian Age world seen to date. Maps up to this point had been adaptations from the rough sketch used by Howard himself, showing Europe, northern Africa and the western part of Asia; here the map is extended further east and shows Iranistan and Vendhya. It looks beautiful.  Now as a fan of maps, as a map fanatic, as someone who has a very hard time reading any story without being able to refer to a map, I love this kind of resource. However, I am very wary of maps that are produced "just because" and that rely on a fan's imagination instead of on the original material. That is why as far as maps go, I prefer things like Trent Thompson's map: instead of fancifully expanding Howard's map, he places it over a map of the real world. Since Conan's world is set in our recent past and not another world, it is parcimonious to assume that the coastlines would look pretty much like today's unless Howard specified cases where that wasn't so. On top of that, most fan-generated maps are usually far too small; there is little or no elbow room to send characters in undiscovered places. The Thurian Age map used in Marvel comics is guilty of that. When a tiger returns to AtlantisScript by Doug Moench Art by Sonny Trinidad This is the longest story in this issue. It probably would have been the main story of Kull and the barbarians #4, had that issue ver seen print; in any case, it is set immediately after K&tB #3. After Kull the conqueror (retitled "Kull the destroyer") #11, the main character has been dethroned and has to flee the power of Thulsa Doom, who has usurped the crown of Valusia. His path leads him to Atlantis, and several prophecies and omens have shown him that eventually an Atlantean army would invade the Thurian mainland; Kull fancies himself the leader of that future invading army. Much to his surprise, however, he finds that the barbaric Atlantis he knew had changed during the ten years he was away: a civilized city now raises its towers on the island! Kull tries to understand how such a change can have occured in so little time, as well as how his childhood friend Om-ra can now be king of Atlantis; the answers will not be forthcoming for a while. I am sure that Moench had at least a fairly good idea of what had happened and of how the prophecies he had penned would turn out to be realized (probably with some surprising twist, no doubt)! The invading Atlantean army, at least, agreed with Howard's essay "The Hyborian Age". Unfortunately, when this story would be continued in the un-cancelled Kull the destroyer, Moench would quickly be replaced by Don Glut whose storyline seemed to veer away from Moench's (as, say, Don Kraar's story on Conan the king would differ from Alan Zelenetz's). This tale, in and of itself, is pretty satisfying; equal part of action and plot continuation, with foreboding aplenty and leaving us wanting to learn more.  A Steve Fabian portfolio Nice art by an artist whose style breaks with the Frazetta-Smith-Buscema aesthetics, evoking the older style seen in pulp magazines. Quite welcome here, and a not-safe for work depiction of Bêlit had teenage me quite enthused!  An extra plate by Fabian would be used for an article later in this issue. The conjurer from Cross PlainsA review by Fred Blosser illustrated by Steve Fabian and Roy G. Krenkel! (I told you that the pin-ups were neat in this issue!)  What is reviewed is the booklet The miscast barbarian, by L. Sprague de Camp. The thing about de Camp and Howard's biographies is that the man cannot, unfortunately, be considered a neutral scholar. I do not insist that a Howard biographer be a fan; however, de Camp clearly tried to "steal" the literary heritage of Howard by making the Conan character a brand, something that could be controlled and separated from its creator's legacy to be better exploited. I do not agree with some overly sensitive critics that de Camp's slight alterations of Howard's stories "eviscerated" or "emasculated" them. Nor do I agree that his Conanization of non-Conan stories produced unreadable garbage. Still I find it very offensive that a writer unrelated to Howard, a writer who had never even known him, took it upon himself to change even one comma of Howard's original prose, saying things like "it needed some tweaking". What the hell? What gives him the right to mess with someone else's work? Talk about disrespect! De Camp tried to gain control of the Conan character, which I suppose (all moral issues set aside) is commercially understandable. But because of the profit motive, it made sense to depict Howard in as bad a light as possible; and so, any criticism of Howard's character in a de Camp-penned biography can be seen as an attempt to besmirch him and belittle his importance. Not saying that any criticism falls in this category, but the doubt is there. ("Emotional immaturity"? What the hell?) As far as Howard biographies go, the first thing we should refer to should be "One who walked alone", by Novalyne Price Ellis. She, at least, had first-hand knowledge of Howard.Amateur psychoanalytic analyses done by people who never knew Howard should be left to those who enioy that kind of thing, and I suspect they are not numerous.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 5, 2014 14:28:31 GMT -5
The next issue blurb has a unique image: Conan drawn by John Byrne. Byrne was a fan of the character in his youth, but I recall his saying in an interview " back when I was a fan", suggesting that didn't last. Anyway, I don't think John ever drew Conan again in SSoC or CtB.  |
|
|
|
Post by Ozymandias on May 5, 2014 15:09:50 GMT -5
I don't think John ever drew Conan again in SSoC or CtB. Maybe not Conan, but there's a Red Sonja pin-up in SSoC #15. |
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 5, 2014 15:15:12 GMT -5
I don't think John ever drew Conan again in SSoC or CtB. Maybe not Conan, but there's a Red Sonja pin-up in SSoC #15. Quite so, plus an entire issue of Marvel team-Up with Big Red (#79). Apparently John preferred her to the Cimmerian! (And what's not to like?) |
|
|
|
Post by Ozymandias on May 5, 2014 15:26:06 GMT -5
Maybe not Conan, but there's a Red Sonja pin-up in SSoC #15. Quite so, plus an entire issue of Marvel team-Up with Big Red (#79). Apparently John preferred her to the Cimmerian! (And what's not to like?) Absolutely, it looked at lot like Thorne's version of the character. Best MTU issue ever, and among my top 100 Spider-Man comics of all time. Had MJ looked like that, I wouldn't mourn Gwen nearly as much.  |
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 7, 2014 12:36:31 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #10, Feb 1976 issueDamn! I read and re-read that issue so many times since the early 80s that the cover came off when I was scanning a few images! The cover (unrelated to the comic's contents) is powerful, and has been reused many times; I recall seeing it in a very bad French book dealing with the sexuality of comic-book characters in the early 80s. Powerful, yes, but also deeply mired in all the excesses of the genre: over-muscled hero, submissive and almost naked girl (in the snow, no less!): it's like a Simpsons' Comic-Book Guy's wet dream come true. Can't blame artist Boris, though: he's playing with the genre's themes. But I can imagine the raised eyebrow of many a newsstand owner when kids bought this issue in 1976!  We can see Boris' sketch for the painting above the table of contents. I always enjoy seeing the line art of good painters.  After issues 8 and 9's multi-story format, here we have one long story, concluding the adaptation of the only Conan novel written by his creator. There is also an essay on the literary origin of the tale, and a review of some graphic interpretations of Conan as king. Conan the conquerorScript by Roy Thomas Art by John Buscema and Tony Dezuniga The novel " the hour of the dragon" (also published as " Conan the conqueror" is, as stated above, the only Conan novel written by Robert E. Howard. The project was born when a British publisher showed interest in such a book; when the deal failed to materialize, Howard submitted the story to Weird Tales, where it was serialized from December 1935 to April 1936. The Marvel adaptation of the story began in Giant-sized Conan #1-4 and continued in SSoC #8, with all chapters drawn by Gil Kane. It's a pity Kane could not finish it; although Buscema does a good job here, his style is naturally very different from Kane's. Ah, the things that might have been in comic-books of yore… In this final part of the tale, deposed King Conan has reached the country of Stygia (the equivalent of Egypt, roughly speaking) where the magical jewel called the Heart of Ahriman has been brought. As you'll recall, Conan had earlier learned that this jewel might be the only thing that could oppose the might of the undead Acheronian wizard Xaltotun, who had helped topple Conan from Aquilonia's throne. Conan's quest leads him deep into a temple of Set where he will meet a vampire princess condemned to dwell in darkness. Managing to escape her, he then comes upon the priests of Set who have secured the jewel; they mean to use it to oppose the might of Thoth-Amon of the ring. (It's nice to know that old Thoth, after the events of " The phoenix on the sword" (adapted in Conan Annual #2), has regained his status among Stygia's sorcerers!) But the Stygians' plans are thwarted by the arrival of another group of wizards who also want the jewel: a band of Khitans in the service of Valerius, who took Conan's place on the throne. All these wizards start fighting with magical staffs and lethal hand contacts, until only one is left alive; that one, Conan kills himself. Escaping with the jewel, Conan rejoins the ship he had comandeered in SSoC#8, and with his Black Corsairs to help him he sails back north to the Hyborian lands. We then go back to the conspirators, who start to realize that by reawakening Xaltotun they may have overplayed their hand. The ancient wizard intends to perform a great magical ceremony that will re-create the lost empire of Acheron, essentially turning time back upon itself. One of the conspirators, the lesser wizard Orastes, is killed by Xaltotun when he reveals this worrying state of affairs to his co-conspirators. Xaltotun then warns the remaining villains that Conan still lives, and that he has managed to raise a new army composed of Pointainians (Aquilonians from the southernmost province, until recently independent, and fiercely loyal to the Cimmerian) and other citizens who were maltreated and abused due to Valerius' new tyrannical rule. Xaltotun proposes to use magic to provoke rainstorms that will cause certain rivers to flood and keep Conan's forces from moving. However, a while later he realizes that his mighty magic failed. (We know that it is because Conan's forces now have the Heart of Ahriman at their disposal, a fact Xaltotun is unaware of). At the same time, a bedraggled individual offers to lead the conspirators' troops to ambush Conan's army; he knows of a certain mountain pass that would allow Valerius' soldiers to take Conan by surprise. The conspirators jump on the occasion (after the usual threats of "if you betray us we'll kill you and blahblahblah") and follow the man in a hilly and foggy country with a large army at their back; but then the fog lifts, and they find themselves in a narrow canyon. The "traitor" reveals himself to be one of many broken Aquilonians who saw their houses taken, their families murdered and their lives shattered by Valerius and his cohorts; these desperate men managed to band together and lead their hated foe to this spot, where they can exact their revenge. Valerius stabs the man, who dies happy as he sees his comrades send several thousand tons of boulders down the canyon walls, crushing the usurper and his troops. Meanwhile, Conan marches to engage the Nemedian army (who, as we know, have been occupying the land to buttress the reign of Valerius). At the same time, Xaltotun prepares to cast the spell that will recreate Acheron. In the novel, Xaltotun is faced by Hadrathus, priest of Asura, alone; here, Roy decided to add Conan to the scene for dramatic purposes. So the king and Hadrathus interrupt the sacrifice of a young Aquilonian girl in time, reveal that they have the Heart of Ahriman which makes them impervious to the Acheronian's magic, and kill the dastardly scoundrel. Conan then rushes to his troops, and at their head crushes the Nemedian host! Next defeating the Nemedian king in single combat, the Cimmerian puts an end to the war. After establishing the terms of the Nemedian surrender, Conan is asked what he will demand as ransom for the Nemedian king: he replies that the harem girl who helped him escape his enemies's dungeon, Zenobia, shall be the reward, and that he wil make her queen of Aquilonia!  That's a very uplifting ending for such a dramatic and gore-filled tale. (I shudder to think of the death count, which rivals that of a Shakespeare play or an episode of Game of thrones). Not only has Conan triumphed, but he's now ready to finally get married. I'd love Hollywood to make a Conan movie based on this story, instead of trying (twice, now) to start a "franchise" by giving us a crappy "origin" story. In this novel, Conan is already a king but his past life frequently impacts the plot; his days as a Black Corsair, his days as a mercenary, his days as a far-traveled wanderer. It gives him a lot of depth, and the romantic interest (for once) can have a happy ending. Yes, the main plot was the basis for the dreadful Kull movie from the 90s, but it was so diluted as to be barely recognizable. Notes: - Conan is about 45 during these events, although they must have occurred over many months. - The hour of the dragon refers to the dragon on the Nemedian banner, not to an actual mythical beast. - This was the second time Conan had lost his throne; his lack on an heir made his position more vulnerable. Marrying Zenobia might help with that. This was the final word of Robert E. Howard on Conan; from a letter to P. S. Miller ( dated March 10, 1936) to we know that Conan would wage many wars and eventually explore the western ocean (discovering America!), but his marriage per se and all the stuff about his children (Conn, Taurus and Radegund) are pastiche material. Two direct sequels to this story would be published later on: in Conan the barbarian annual #4, Conan brings the Nemedian king Tarascus back to that country's capital to claim his bride; there he faces treachery (again!) but manages to bring Zenobia back with him and proposing to her. In Conan the barbarian annual #5 Conan gets married twice: first to an evil changeling having adopted the form of Zenobia and then, after the creature has been dispatched, to the lady herself. Going on with this issue… A house ad interrupts two chapters and its art deserves mention. It's not signed, and I can't quite positvely indentify it; it looks like Frank Brunner's art, but I'm not 100% sure. Opinions?  Note: it was identified as Pat Broderick by berk, benday-dot and Cherokee Jack. Apart from the Conan stories, we have two other features in this issue: Conan the cannibal, by Fred Blosser, an essay on how Howard cannibalized previous Conan stories to buiold the novel. I think Blosser makes a good point about the similarities between The Scarlet Citadel and The Hour of the Dragon, but I think the common theme of the resurrected wizard (seen both here and in Black Colossus) is just a case of fantasy stories often relying on such plot devices. (Kinda like hard-drinking private eyes). The other feature is a series of images depicting Conan the king in other publications that Marvel comics: we have the Vincent Napoli B&W interpretation and the Margaret Brundage cover from Weird Tales; a British hardcover featuring a decidedly unbarbaric Conan (he looks like a tame Tony Curtis!) and two Japanese book covers.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on May 7, 2014 12:38:23 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #11, Apr 1976 issueThe original cover to this issue having been used for issue #9, we now have a new (unrelated) cover by artist Ken Barr.  A lovely sketch of the original cover, however, is seen on the frontispiece!  As with issue #10, we have one big story and a few text pieces in this magazine (which I recall is one of our regulars' favourite issues). The abode of the damed, a Conan story El Borak the barbarian, telling of Howard's Lawrence of Arabia-like hero The scribes of Hyboria, an article on Howard fanzines Conan and the tower of vinyl, an article on a LP featuring Conan. The abode of the damnedScript by Roy Thomas Art by John Buscema and Young Montano Adapted from the El Borak story "The country of the knife", by Robert E. Howard. This is an excellent example of the conanization of a REH tale done right. It is full of action, exoticism, intrigue, with a supernatural element added to make it S&S rather than straight adventure. Conan, of course, assumes the role of modern adventurer Francis Xavier Gordon, known as El Borak. The art looks very good; Montano did not do much inking over Buscema's pencils over the years, and that's a pity: he brings a lushness to it that is different from Alcala's, but equally appealing. The darks and half tones give the art plenty of depth.  The plot hangs around a city, the abode of the damned, which is the stronghold of a criminal gang (the Black Tigers), a local power in the southeastern desert (close to Afghulistan, one would imagine). As in any good intrigue-laden story, many agendas intersect here. We have Melani of the many men (great name for a pulp character!), a reformed courtesan who has saved enough money to open her own establishment, but who is ready to drop it all to avenge her brother, killed by the leader of the Black Tigers. We have this leader, Abdel Khafir, who is actually Nikolav Yvonn, an agent of the crown of Turan. We have Bellisar Khan, who is tempted to replace the city's amir. We have Conan, who after the scattering of his Zuagirs (in issue #9) now attempts to make a living by playing king maker; and finally, we have three weird bald men who, it would seem, are space aliens come to recover or destroy a certain dangerous jewel found in the treasure vaults of the city. There are abductions, there is fighting, there are plots and counter-plots, and there's even a nuclear explosion at the end! Great stuff! Notes: - Conan is roughly 31, perhaps 32. - Turan is substituted for Turkey, which is quite appropriate. - The mix of fantasy and SF is very well-handled here, and evokes creatures like Yag-Kosha who came from another planet. El Borak and the barbariansarticle by Fred Blosser One of the great things about the El Borak books published in the 70s was the art by MiKe Kaluta.  'nuff said! The scribes of HyboriaArticle by Fred Blosser and Roy Thomas A review of several fanzines devoted to REH and his work, with cool images by Steve Fabian, John Severin, Roy Krenkel and Frank Cirocco. Conan and the tower of vinylA review by Ed Summer, who would later write the script for John Millius' Conan the barbarian movie. (How much of Summer's script remained in the final version I do not know). The LP described here features a reading of "The tower of the elephant" and of "the frost giant's daughter". It also has a Tim Conrad cover, and I deeply regret not purchasing this in the 70s when I saw it advertised in the Moondance Productions catalog.  There would be other Conan records: L. Sprague de Camp narrated one, and Power Records produced a book-and-45 rpm record combo of Conan with Buscema and Neal Adams art; that story was included in a later LP that added three other tales.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 7, 2014 12:41:18 GMT -5
The cover for #10 is used for the cover of the first Dark Horse collection, which I bought just because of the cover.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 7, 2014 13:59:29 GMT -5
They need to come out with a book collecting all the covers.
|
|
