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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 1, 2015 9:43:26 GMT -5
Not the anachronism is might first appear. Ways of creating crystallized sugar were discovered on the Indian subcontinent by the time of the Imperial Guptas in the 5th century AD. Certainly within the general time frame of technologies that seem to exist within the Hyborian Age. Well put, and Europe apparently first heard of cane sugar syrup when the soldiers of Alexander reported that Indians could make honey without bees (a story I always thought was cute as can be). What surprised me here is that the use of crystalline sugar would be widespread enough in the Hyborian Age that it would seem as commonplace as it is today. While I don't doubt the technology existed (it's not that hard to extract syrup from sugar cane!) the use of sugar seems to occur a few thousand years too early. Other anachronisms that appear in the Conan stories include the stirrup and the use of iron and steel, written language, galleons, glass mirrors and more... which is all right, if one supposes that the period following that age undreamed of caused many things to be lost and forgotten!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 1, 2015 13:46:10 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #71, December 1981
Cover by Joe Chiodo; a rather generic one. These would become the norm more than the exception in the coming years. Nice atmospheric piece, but I wonder if it screams "BUY ME!" to the prospective reader. The frontispiece is by Carl Potts, whom I know more as writer and as an editor; I recall that he drew some nice-looking series too, though (Shadowmasters?) Table of contents:Lurker in the labyrinth, a Conan adventure Cimmerian and the conjuress, a one-page image Movie preview: the boy Conan, more about the Conan motion picture Conan on the move, three pin-ups by different artists
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 1, 2015 13:49:26 GMT -5
The lurker in the labyrinthScript by Michael Fleisher Art by John Buscema and Ernie Chan Now we're talking! The lurker in the labyrinth is a solid Conan adventure with very nice art. One of the good Fleisher era stories. The art by Buscema and Chan is right up there with their best collaborations, and if you like the combination of the two men's art you'll be amply satisfied. John's layouts provide the energy, the fluid movements, the Michelangelesque anatomy we've come to expect of him, and Ernie's inking brings in the grit and the mood typical of his work. What's more, for some reason, the art in this issue has more detailed backgrounds than usual; castles have just that many more corridors, taverns have that many more customers, monsters have that many more pustules. Ernie uses washes on top of his line work, and the result works really well in a black and white mag. The script includes some slapstick humour (apparently unavoidable in the early 80s SSoC) but it doesn't distract from the plot, which is serious and suitably complex without feeling forced. There is one plot point which keeps this from being among the best SSoC stories, but it doesn't drag the tale down too much. Conan is working as a mercenary for the Corinthian city of Ezar Bar Q'um (no, Fleisher can't seem to resist t'hose a'post'rophies... sort of like Chris Claremont during the same period). Marvel writers decided that Corinthia was a confederacy of loosely-allied states, making the creation of as many small kingdoms as required by new stories possible. (Howard himself stated in his letter to Miller that there were several small kingdoms between Zamora and Corinthia; they're just not shown on his rough map). The city of Ezar Bar Q'um is in a constant state of war with its neighbour, named Khumar Rhun. The king of Ezar Bar Q'Um just died poisoned and many think that Razak, king of Khumar Rhun, commissioned the deed. The dead king leaves his city in the hands of his young son and heir, prince Nyad, the lad's elder sister, princess Alissa, and their councillor, decidedly shady-looking Carnek. Before prince Nyad has the chance to be crowned, he is abducted from his chambers by masked men. Learning of the kidnapping, the commander of Ezar Bar Q'Um's army proposes that the city send its best mercenary, Conan of Cimmeria, after the abducted prince. Princess Alissa and councillor Carnek agree, but first Conan has to be fetched; he is in a local tavern, enjoying drinking, wenching and brawling. Look at this nice page, really emphasizing the strength of Buscema and Chan as a team. In the second image, the drunken Derlok looks appropriately tipsy (his tankard is emptying on the floor) while the girl clearly shies away while trying to avoid giving offence. In the bottom picture, you can almost feel Conan's punch! Great job. Conan leads a group of men in the hills, looking for prince Nyad, when a band of bandits assault them. The mercenaries win the day when Conan grabs the enemy leader and forces him to surrender. Noticing that the man is wearing an amulet he has seen countless times on the neck of prince Nyad, he accuses the bandit of being his kidnapper. The bandit does not deny it; he and his rogues were hired by a masked individual to abduct and murder the prince. However, seeing an opportunity for more profit, they kept the lad alive and ransomed him to Razak, king of Kumar Rhun, instead of disposing of him as instructed. Conan comes up with a plan to get into Kumar Rhun and attempt a rescue. Razak is busy building a great labyrinth in his city, a project for which many slaves are required. Conan and his men will pass as slaves brought into Kumar Rhun by the bandit chief, and improvise from there. This clichéd plan, quite unexpectedly for us readers, doesn't work at all! The mercenaries are captured as soon as a guard realizes that their fetters are loose. (Now that's a guard who deserves his pay!) Meanwhile, we learn that prince Nyad is indeed a prisoner in Razak's palace. He's well-treated and even has a serving girl to see to his needs, the young and lovely Leah, with whom he promptly falls in love. Conan is led to king Razak, who might be an enemy of Ezar Bar Q'um and a ruthless fellow but seems to be a level-headed guy. Rather than execute the mercenaries, he'd rather hire them away from their current employer. Conan makes a rude reply to the offer and upon hearing that he really doesn't have much of a choice, attacks the king. Razak's guards clobber the Cimmerian, and the irate king condemns him to join the slaves building the labyrinth. Razak then send an envoy to Ezar Bar Q'um, demanding a ransom for prince Nyad. That's when we learn that the old king's murder and prince Nyad's kidnapping were both arranged by the latter's sister Alissa and by councillor Carnek. Razak's envoy is slain. The envoy's head will next be sent to Razak, a damning insult if there ever was one. We return to Conan on the building site of the labyrinth. After helping a weakening slave, he is struck by a surveillant; in response, he kills the man with a heavy stone. The Cimmerian is severely beaten for his troubles and put to work on mixing mortar, since his wounds prevent him from heavy work for a while. A bit later, the slaves witness the arrival of some caged animal hidden by a heavy canvas tarpaulin. Knowing what kings usually hide in the centre of a labyrinth, the Cimmerian has a bad feeling about this. That night, a dwarf shows up in the slaves' quarters; he is part of a troop that performs for Razak, a troop that he routinely insults and humiliates. The newcomer offers to free Conan if he will take him and his colleagues with him. Conan agrees and the dwarf leads him and his men through the palace's corridors, killing guards along the way. The Cimmerian sends his mercenaries away while he goes with the dwarf to recover prince Nyad, who insists on taking Leah with them. As the quartet takes many stairs to get to a corridor leading below the city's wall, Conan grows suspicious and insists that their guide take the lead, much to the latter's dismay. And no wonder: he's been leading the escapees into the labyrinth, where the mysterious beast attacks them! It is some horrible multi-tentacled monster that first eats the dwarf, then Leah, and almost kills Nyad before Conan kills it with an axe. This is where I have a problem with some plot-mandated nonsense: we learn that the escape was engineered by king Razak himself, who wanted Conan to be killed by the monster for showing his kingly self disrespect, and wanted Nyad to be slain because of the murder of his envoy and the lack of a forthcoming ransom. Doesn't that sound ridiculously complicated? I mean, if he wanted Conan killed, all Razak had to do was send in a dozen guards down to his cell while he was chained; if he wanted Nyad dead, all he had to do was poison his food. Why go through this complicated plan involving the loss of several loyal guardsmen? Doctor Evil would approve, but he'd be in the minority. Having slain the monster, Conan next provides an escape route by dislodging a heavy stone from the labyrinth wall's masonry; back in his mortar mixing days, he made sure to do a very poor job of it to weaken the structure. As Nyad wants to stay put and cry over his lost love, Conan punches him out and carries him on his shoulder; as it turns out, the prince then provides an impromptu shield against a lance thrown by a guard. Oops. (The prince is only wounded but honestly... look at that lance... it looks as if it's severed the lad's spine and certainly gone halfway through his chest)! Conan takes the wounded prince to an old crone versed in the healing arts. A while later he shows up in Ezra Bar Q'um with the apparently dead Nyad; he accuses Alissa and Carnek of having done all they could to ensure the fatal outcome. Since these accusations can't be proven, Carnek and Alissa can't resist gloating and explain how they wanted to make sure Alissa, the elder child, would inherit the crown, but when Alissa tries to have Conan arrested for sedition the still-living prince Nyad gets up and has the traitors arrested. Conan leaves to party with his dancing girl, and young Nyad is left to sigh over the memory of his lost love. Notes: - Isn't it weird how Nyad's bandages are over his clothes? Shouldn't they be placed over his wound? - Hard to say how old Conan is at this time, since he's had several mercenary periods in his life. Considering how bravely he reacts to the monster, I'd say this is not a young Conan; he reacts to it the way he did to Thog in The slithering shadow. So he'd be around 35.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 1, 2015 13:52:49 GMT -5
Conan and the conjuress
A one page pin-up done by Rudi Franke, a high school teacher who had an important influence on cover artist Joe Chiodo's development . It's part Barry Smith and part art deco.
The boyhood of Conan
More low-resolution photos from the feature film, focusing on Kid Conan.
Conan on the move
Three pages by different artists. Mike Nasser shows Conan killing a monster, Bill Sienkiewicz and Brent Anderson show Conan just having killed something or someone, and Gil Kane has Conan striking a pose very similar to that from the cover to Conan annual #6.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 2, 2015 11:46:43 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #72, January 1982 Cover by Joe Jusko. It looks a little generic (and come to think of it, last issue's cover sported a similar scene) but it actually shows something that happens in the comic. However, a better choice for the cover would have been a spectacular and unending train wreck! This issue is one of the most laughed at, the most cringe-inducing, the most "WTF just happened?" in the title's 275-issue run. Fans have been poking fun at it for decades. It's the Plan 9 from Outer Space of the Hyborian Age. It's not quite the worst SSoC issue ever, because it has at least the grace of not taking itself seriously... but boy, is it bad. Table of contents: The Colossus of Shem, a Conan adventure the memory of which never fails to induce a chuckle Preview: the Conan movie, more promo stills from the first Conan film Conan X3, three pin-ups by different artists
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 2, 2015 11:50:24 GMT -5
The colossus of ShemScript by Bruce Jones Art by John Buscema and Ernie Chan Let's get the art of the way first, because it's quite all right; not as nice as that from the previous issue, perhaps, but good nonetheless. It's the script that's the star of the issue. A script that would be in good company with that of the Wild wild west movie. Not that the setting up isn't engaging: some ominous menace threatens the land of Shem on the edge of the desert, and until the ultimate revelation the mystery is interesting. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The tale begins one night, as a farming family in western Turan is sitting at the dinner table. The farmer goes out to see what's frightening the cattle so much, and he suddenly hears a loud thunder-like noise. "Sweet Mitra", exclaims the farmer, using the name of an inappropriate god as is standard in Jones' stories. "I-It cannot be!" says he as he, his cattle and his entire farm are crushed by some enormous thing. The last we see of the hapless farmer is his flattened corpse at the edge of a crater-like depression. A hundred miles to the east, Conan of Cimmeria buys a horse. I like this jaunty dialogue. Conan travels west, and quickly notices that something is wrong: the land is parched, no river flows any more, the crops are all dead and desiccated, farms are abandoned. Something has happened to the country's water. Entering a town, he is attacked by a thirsty mob who mean to drink his horse's blood! As Conan beats them up, they grab his water bags and make off with them, letting the Cimmerian escape on horseback. Says Conan, in his rough and uncouth barbaric soliloquy, "Adieu, fair Carcaina, may you find a way to nourish your starving children". (What can I say? It's not because one is born a barbarian that one can't learn to express oneself elegantly). Hours later, Conan comes upon the destroyed farm from the story's beginning. There he rescues the farmer's daughter, trapped beneath the remains of her house. Since there is no water to give to the girl, Conan digs the bottom of a dry pool where he finds a hibernating snapping turtle. The reptile apparently contains more blood than an orange does juice, for both barbarian and farmer's daughter can drink their fill. (A turtle! This is a thematic premonition!!!) Conan asks if the girl has parents to care for her, and she replies that she buried them six days ago, after the thunder beast destroyed their crops and their house. Wait, what? That happened six days ago and she buried her parents? How come Conan had to dig her out of the remains of the house, then? She further explains that the thunder beast is gigantic enough to blot out the stars and that in its wake not a blade of grass grows. Then she invokes Mitra again because if Hyborian Age mythology must be misused, at least let's be consistent about it. The girl is named Larna, and for lack of a better option she will travel with the Cimmerian for a while. We cut to an idyllic scene in some beautiful city park, where young adults frolic and play with a ball. The ball goes over a wall, "the great wall", that people are forbidden to climb... for on the other side waits the sand creature, as the ancients warned. The youths can even hear the bellow of the beast through the stone; it must be hungry today. One woman, Sarla, is however curious and would love to take a peak over the wall some day. Larna and Conan are still travelling through the dry countryside, and find a set of gigantic footprints. The thunder beast must be huge indeed if it is the one who left these!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 2, 2015 11:52:18 GMT -5
A commotion in the distance catches their eye, and the two witness the attack of a column of refugees by some brigands. Conan scatters the attackers, and we can't resist some facile humour. Aaargh! I can just imagine this kind of humour applied to, say, Star Wars: Larna is left with the refugees, who are people from her province. Conan continues tracking the thunder beast, because... because nothing, really. Back to the beautiful city glimpsed earlier (the name of which is Founton): we learn that these people worship a tortoise god named Vekechai and that it's a really, really bad idea to try to go over the great wall. Thanks to the use of a thought bubble (only Jones uses thought bubbles in Conan stories), we learn that Sarla doesn't have much faith in Vekechai and that she suspects the old ones are hiding something from the people. After mass, she inspects the big statue of the god and discovers a secret door on its side. Entering it, she is quickly caught by the priests who condemn her to be thrown over the wall! As the girl is about to be thrown to the desert beast supposed to wait across the wall, her young friend Dhan decides to sacrifice himself for her. He climbs the wall and in front of the crowd throws himself outside the wall. He lands in a sandstorm. Wandering around, he finally bumps into Conan, who previously had to kill his thirsty horse. They spend the night in a deserted farmhouse, and the next day join another column of refugees heading for a certain city of great repute that's supposed to be found nearby. (Dhan is quite surprised to learn there are people outside Founton, and when the column reaches its destination the lad states that it is not his home town). The city turns out to be in a great state of disrepair. Furthermore, it is peopled by evil people and an army of goblin-like monstrosities, led by some kind of hooded sorcerer. The newcomers are captured and jailed. During the night, someone gets into the cell where Conan and Dhan are chained: it is Gina, the farmer's daughter! She's been captured weeks ago and is now a servant in this evil place. Gina? Wasn't her name Larna? Well, yeah, but who cares?
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 2, 2015 11:55:07 GMT -5
The escape is thwarted when the sorcerer shows up, but a sword point to the throat convinces him to dismiss his goblin army in a puff of smoke. The sorcerer then tells his tale. He and his brother come from beyond the western sea (From the American continent, then, which Conan will explore some day). They landed in "Hybornia" near Khemi. Wait a second! What the hell is Hybornia? Do you mean Hyboria? Hyboria isn't a place; "hyborian" is the adjective pertaining to the Hyborians, a fictional northern people who founded Nemedia, Aquilonia, Hyperborea, Koth, Corinthia, Argos, Brythunia and Ophir. They take their name from a legendary chied named Hybori, not from a place called Hyboria. (And that's something the recent Conan movie got wrong, too). The brothers made their way east of Stygia, and there founded "...the most glorious city Hybornia had ever seen..." (Hybornia again! AAARGH!!!) Naturally, there was a good brother and an evil brother. Guess which one is which in this image depicting the end of their brotherly relation. The evil brother took sole control of the city, which he turned into a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Then one day his exiled brother came back, all Moses-like, and tried to bring his people back on the path of virtue by worshipping his new god, Vekechai the great tortoise. A few followed him, but the rest threw stones at him and the Vekechai cultists went away. That very evening, something massive wreaked havoc in the city, toppling numerous buildings and leaving a path of death and destruction in its wake. His story told, the sorcerer claims to hear the thunder beast returning and he dies of fright. Conan and Dhan resume their hunt for the beast, and later encounter Sarla lying in the desert. The courageous girl leapt the great wall, hoping to find her friend, and ended up in the desert. Then the thunder beast subrepticiously shows up! (Sneaky, sneaky giant tortoise!) You know what that makes me think of? The suddenness of Sir Launcelot's attack. Conan leads it on a merry chase and tricks it into falling down a cliff. As the beast falls, we cut to the city of Founton, where gravity seems to go nuts and buildings collapse. Still curious, Conan decides to inspect the innards of the dead tortoise (WHY WOULD HE DO THAT???) He discovers that its gullet is made of metal, walks over pipes, and after a while comes upon a stone wall. He's found the city of Founton, which was all this time inside a giant tortoise-shaped robot! A dying old man, the good brother we met earlier, explains that the great tortoise was built to stop his evil brother, not to hurt anyone else; it was meant to roam the desert in peace, far away from inhabited lands. That it wandered in Shem must mean the gyroscope was damaged. As Conan wonders what in Crom's name a gyroscope can be, he discovers the great machines that powered the chelonian robot, and reasons that it is this tortoise that drained the countryside dry to provide for its steam-powered engine. Conan finally leads the citizens of Founton outside, where they witness their first summer rainstorm. Notes: - AAAAAAARGH!!! - AAAAAAARGH AGAIN!!! - The tortoise is as big as Madison Square garden, but it could hardly contain an entire city... especially not a city large enough for the people who live in it never to notice that they're inside an enclosed space! - How can Fouton desiccate the entire country like that? I mean, not a river is left, not a drop in the aquifers to refill the wells, nothing! While the modern U.S. Eastern seaboard, with its tens of millions of thirsty people and all its agriculture and its water-consuming industries never managed to run out of the precious element. - The tortoise must have a very even gait for the citizens never to get seasick. - How can the thunder beast creep up on Conan, Dhan and Sarla like that without them noticing??? - How the hell do you build a monster like that in only twenty years with only a handful of unskilled followers and without a heavy industry? And without anyone noticing? - That drought-inducing robot has been going around in the deep desert for decades and nobody ever noticed it? Really? - When Dhan went over the wall, why did he end up in the desert instead of in the midst of all the pipes and machinery that surround Founton? It took Conan a while to go from the robot's mouth to the city. - If we really want to place this tale in continuity, Conan is about 22.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 2, 2015 11:59:39 GMT -5
Preview: Conan the motion pictureby Roger Stern More photos from or associated with the first Conan feature film. We get a few pictures of Sandahl Bergman as Valeria, even if in the movie they never mention her name. Not once. (You'll have to wait either for the credits or for the sequel to learn her name). Conan X3Pictures of Conan drawn by Greg LaRoque (really amateurish, here), Pablo Marcos (equal to himself) and Ernie Chan (an entirely forgettable piece). Phew. This is one issue worth having, even if it's only to see how bad SSoC could be in the 80s. But in a way, it's not as awful as some others will be; it's very much in the "so bad it's good. tradition.
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Post by paulie on Mar 2, 2015 12:36:36 GMT -5
The escape is thwarted when the sorcerer shows up, but a sword point to the throat convinces him to dismiss his goblin army in a puff of smoke. The sorcerer then tells his tale. He and his brother come from beyond the western sea (From the American continent, then, which Conan will explore some day). They landed in "Hybornia" near Khemi. Wait a second! What the hell is Hybornia? Do you mean Hyboria? Hyboria isn't a place; "hyborian" is the adjective pertaining to the Hyborians, a fictional northern people who founded Nemedia, Aquilonia, Hyperborea, Koth, Corinthia, Argos, Brythunia and Ophir. They take their name from a legendary chied named Hybori, not from a place called Hyboria. (And that's something the recent Conan movie got wrong, too). The brothers made their way east of Stygia, and there founded "...the most glorious city Hybornia had ever seen..." (Hybornia again! AAARGH!!!) Naturally, there was a good brother and an evil brother. Guess which one is which in this image depicting the end of their brotherly relation. The evil brother took sole control of the city, which he turned into a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Then one day his exiled brother came back, all Moses-like, and tried to bring his people back on the path of virtue by worshipping his new god, Vekechai the great tortoise. A few followed him, but the rest threw stones at him and the Vekechai cultists went away. That very evening, something massive wreaked havoc in the city, toppling numerous buildings and leaving a path of death and destruction in its wake. His story told, the sorcerer claims to hear the thunder beast returning and he dies of fright. Conan and Dhan resume their hunt for the beast, and later encounter Sarla lying in the desert. The courageous girl leapt the great wall, hoping to find her friend, and ended up in the desert. Then the thunder beast subrepticiously shows up! (Sneaky, sneaky giant tortoise!) Conan leads it on a merry chase and tricks it into falling down a cliff. As the beast falls, we cut to the city of Founton, where gravity seems to go nuts and buildings collapse. Still curious, Conan decides to inspect the innards of the dead tortoise (WHY WOULD HE DO THAT???) He discovers that its gullet is made of metal, walks over pipes, and after a while comes upon a stone wall. He's found the city of Founton, which was all this time inside a giant tortoise-shaped robot! A dying old man, the good brother we met earlier, explains that the great tortoise was built to stop his evil brother, not to hurt anyone else; it was meant to roam the desert in peace, far away from inhabited lands. That it wandered in Shem must mean the gyroscope was damaged. As Conan wonders what in Crom's name a gyroscope can be, he discovers the great machines that powered the chelonian robot, and reasons that it is this tortoise that drained the countryside dry to provide for its steam-powered engine. Conan finally leads the citizens of Founton outside, where they witness their first summer rainstorm. Notes: - AAAAAAARGH!!! - AAAAAAARGH AGAIN!!! - The tortoise is as big as Madison Square garden, but it could hardly contain an entire city... especially not a city large enough for the people who live in it never to notice that they're inside an enclosed space! - How can Fouton desiccate the entire country like that? I mean, not a river is left, not a drop in the aquifers to refill the wells, nothing! While the modern U.S. Eastern seaboard, with its tens of millions of thirsty people and all its agriculture and its water-consuming industries never managed to run out of the precious element. - The tortoise must have a very even gait for the citizens never to get seasick. - How can the thunder beast creep up on Conan, Dhan and Sarla like that without them noticing??? - How the hell do you build a monster like that in only twenty years with only a handful of unskilled followers and without a heavy industry? And without anyone noticing? - That drought-inducing robot has been going around in the deep desert for decades and nobody ever noticed it? Really? Yeah... Here we go, right? Don't worry... 1986 and Don Kraar and Gary Kwapisz is only... ummm... 5 years away. The only thing I've learned reading along is that Michael Fleisher's stories were a little better. Fleisher's place names however... Ugh.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 2, 2015 13:40:15 GMT -5
Yeah... Here we go, right? Don't worry... 1986 and Don Kraar and Gary Kwapisz is only... ummm... 5 years away. The only thing I've learned reading along is that Michael Fleisher's stories were a little better. Fleisher's place names however... Ugh. Those were painful years, weren't they? When I think of the upcoming turkeys I want to go away and hide. The brotherhood of the Falcon, the other-dimensional King Konar of Aquiloria, Valeria as a sex-starved hussy... augh. I can't wait for Kraar and for the eventual return of Thomas.
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Post by foxley on Mar 2, 2015 15:40:05 GMT -5
Obviously the giant robot turtle was built using TARDIS technology and is bigger on the inside than the outside!
Where's my No-Prize?
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Post by jbruel0 on Mar 3, 2015 7:38:23 GMT -5
I guess this turtle has eaten too many pizzas....
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Post by berkley on Mar 3, 2015 10:39:42 GMT -5
SSoC #71 might be worthwhile for me to get - the art looks good and the story doesn't sound too bad. But #72 won't make the cut. One Pablo Marcos page isn't enough!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 3, 2015 10:56:21 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #73, February 1982 Cover by Joe Chiodo. Conan vs a big snake! That's a classic! Table of contents: The changeling quest, a Conan adventure Island of pirate's doom, a tale of Valeria of the Red Brotherhood The frontispiece is by Pablo Marcos, who was kept busy by this mag in the early 80s! The letters page shows that editor Louise Jones had a healthy interest in interacting with the readers, but whoever writes the replies to the LoCs doesn't demonstrate any particular knowledge of Howard's work. Roy Thomas had spoiled us.
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