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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 3, 2015 11:12:54 GMT -5
The changeling questScript by Michael Fleisher Art by John Buscema Yes, you read that right: Big John provides both pencils and inks for this story! It's admittedly not his most exciting book ever since it's a bit on the sketchy side, but it's always a joy to see complete artwork by the man. We open as Conan's ship is attacked and sunk by overwhelming Zingaran forces off the coast of Shem. This fits with events he relates to Valeria in Red Nails: Since we know that Conan went from some unnamed Barachan ship to the Zingaran Wastrel in the opening scene of The Pool of the Black One (SSoC#22-23), we could suppose that the ship seen here is the Wastrel. The crew is described as being composed of Barachans, but while it consisted of Zingarans in SSoC #40-43, it's not impossible for the Cimmerian to have eventually replenished it with Barachans (as I personally believed he would have done at the end of the above-mentioned story, pastiches by de Camp and Carter notwithstanding). On the other hand, at the end of REH original version of The Black Stranger, Conan returns to the pirate life as captain of a Barachan ship, the Red Hand. That means Conan had the captaincy of at least two ships, the Wastrel and the Red hand, at two separate moments in his life. One was sunk by Zingarans, and the other lost on a reef, as alluded to in The Black Stranger: We must also add the Hawk, a Barachan ship on which Conan was second mate until he gained its captaincy in SSoC #45, but we saw that ship sunk in SSoC #190. The Red Hand would then be the ship Conan tells Valeria about in Red Nails, the one sunk by Zingaran vessels, and the one we see in this comic. That, however, disagrees with Marvel continuity, since the comic-book version of The Black Stranger(SSoC #47-48) does not have Conan return to a life of piracy, but rather sends him usurping the crown of Aquilonia. This discrepancy must therefore be brushed under the carpet; comic-book continuity fans are free to assume that Conan may have had several ships while a Barachan corsair, and that one of them sinks in this issue. (Always continuity-conscious, Roy Thomas would later turn reveal that Conan had also served as second mate on Strombanni's Red Hand before becoming its captain a few years later (see SSoC #196). But let's go back to our tale. Conan manages to swim ashore to Stygia, where a stolen canoe allows him to paddle up the Styx. A brief interlude at the court of Kordava shows us the current Zingaran king, intent on getting rid of the menace posed by the Barachan corsairs; he really wants that infamous pirate, Conan of Cimmeria, caught aud executed. This king, who remains unnamed in this issue, is neither king Phehemenes we met in SSoC#61 nor king Ferdrugo we met in SSoC#48 (both of which would anyway have seen Conan in a much more positive light). This is a little problematic as far as continuity goes, because Ferdrugo really should be king of Zingara at this point... Indeed, in SSoC#47-48, the Zingaran nobleman Valenso tells of how he once betrayed the Stygian wizard Thoth-Amon to king Ferdrugo, an event that predates this issue. Our present unnamed Zingaran king is therefore interfering with the space-time continuum, because his reign happens at the same time as Ferdrugo's!!! Unaware of the hostility of which he's the target, our canoeing Cimmerian must face a hippo and a crocodile, losing his light craft in the process. He has to continue his journey on foot. We cut to a rich mansion in which a man is kneeling next to the body of what seems to be his twin. Brigands burst through the main door, intent on stealing all they can from the house. Much to my chagrin, they indulge in inappropriate Hyborian age sounding banter (something that occurs with an alarming frequency in this mag). They swear by Ishtar and Bel, which is odd for Stygians (which we learn that they are) and mention an Aesir chief's death barge. How the heck would Stygian low-lifes know about the Aesir and their funeral customs? I mean, even to the Aquilonians who live almost next door to them, the Aesir and Vanir are almost mythical, as Prospero mentioned in The phoenix on the sword. I'm bitchin' a lot, ain't I? Let's just go back to the story. The thieves rip a certain necklace from the resident's neck and set fire to the place. Conan arrives in time to get the man out of the blaze, and agrees to help him hunt down the thieves for a fee. It seems it is imperative that the necklace be recovered. The man's name, by the way is Warz Bel Doqh. I guess I should be grateful there isn't an apostrophe anywhere in there. Warz apparently scares horses, so his mount must have its eyes hidden by a scarf before it allows itself to be mounted. A Zingaran armed patrol, quite illegally acting in Stygia, crosses the path of the thieves and informs them that they are hunting a certain criminal named Conan. They protest that they'd never associate with a citizen of such ill-repute. Conan and Warz reach a village and get a bite in a local inn, attracting the eye of Purani, a lady trading her charms and not one above stealing pouches of coins if the opportunity presents itself. As Purani fails to steal Conan's money, the Zingaran patrol walks in and recognizes the Cimmerian -and they swear by Astoreth and Ishtar in the process. ***SIGH...*** Now was the time to have someone swear by Mitra! Astoreth and Ishtar are goddesses from Shem and parts east, not from Zingara!!!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 3, 2015 11:18:42 GMT -5
The Cimmerian scatters the Zingarans and escapes with Purani on his shoulder, Warz in tow. Continuing to track the band of thieves, they later find the corpses of three of them: one half of the group betrayed the other, stabbing them in their sleep. Meanwhile, the king of Zingara receives news that his elite guardsmen have tailed the Cimmerian across Stygia and press on into the Kushite marshlands. I swear, these guys must have satellite phones or something. The thieves are trying to cross said marshes. One of them dies in quicksand while a second barely escapes piranhas, showing that Michael Fleisher hadn't yet seen Disney's Tarzan (and no wonder since it hadn't been filmed at the time), otherwise he'd have known that there are no piranhas in Africa. Anyway, the thief's immediately thereafter captured by wild men. And likely eaten. Hot on the trail of the dwindling band of thieves, our trio faces several problems: Warz seems ever more tired since they left his home, and Purani is fed up with this pursuit. She decides to leave, but is immediately attacked by a giant snake and screams for help. "Holy mother of Mitra! In the name of Mitra, Conan! S-Save me!" SET! SET! Stygians worship SET, for crying out loud!!! Not Mitra!!! It's the Zingarans who should have sworn by Mitra! Later that night, the group is attacked by ghouls; man-like figures with sharp fangs and talons. Conan bashes more than a few skulls, but it takes the appearance of the barely-moving Warz Bel Doqh to send them flying away in terror. The next day, the trio is attacked by cannibals; our heroes can only escape by jumping off a cliff into a river. By then, Conan has to carry the severely weakened Warz on his shoulder. Still, they do make progress: they find the footprints of the last thief, leading to a cavern extending behind a waterfall. Inside, they come upon the man's corpse, wrapped in silk; a giant spider haunts this place! The Cimmerian kills it, but then a final threat arises: Warz has recovered his necklace from the thief's cadaver, and with it not only his strength but also an ominous countenance! Warz explains that he is an alien criminal from another planet, banished to our Earth. The necklace he was so adamant on recovering is the thing that allows him to steal the shape of humans, and to live off their energy for about two weeks. (I like that panel. It's my favorite from this issue). Warz then zaps Conan with the trinket and assumes his form as the Cimmerian collapses, all but the last of his energy drained away. The fake Conan walks out of the cavern, and right into the hands of the Zingaran patrol! The soldiers decapitate him, causing the real Conan to recover his strength. He and Purani wait a while, and then get out of the cave, naughty things on their mind. Notes - If we assume Conan is a Barachan pirate and not a Zingaran buccaneer, he'd be about 35 during this story. - The thing with the Zingaran king would have been avoided had the mag's editor simply kept a list of who was king of what at this and that moment. A list it took me less than a weekend to draft.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 3, 2015 11:24:21 GMT -5
Island of pirate's doomScript by Roy Thomas Art by John Buscema and Danny Bulanadi Adapted from a story by Robert E. Howard I'm not too keen on this tale. It's a standalone pirate story by Howard, but since it featured a lady pirate Roy decided to adapt it as a Valeria story. It works up to a point but the girl here is far less self-confident and resourceful as the Valeria we came to know in Red Nails. It would be presented in several instalments pretty much cut at random, just to provide filler material for a few issues to come. Perhaps I'd have liked it better had it been shown in one go or in two chapters; as it is, I recall I was a bit confused when I first read it. So... we have an Argossean named Metallus writing his memoirs. He was once stranded on a desert island, and we follow his tale. Barely surviving on his lonely island for many months, young Metallus witnesses the arrival of a pirate ship. One of them, looking like a foppishly-clad youth from afar (it's actually Valeria) slashes a burly one-eyed pirate and runs away in the jungle. Metallus and the "youth" meet a bit later and get acquainted. Valeria explains she struck Gowar, captain of the pirate ship, because he had set his mind on raping her. The two companions face an attack by a few pirates then retire to a secret cave hidden behind a waterfall (another one? That's two in one issue!) where they discuss the appropriateness of a pirate's life for a woman. Metallus is all law and order while Valeria is all "Yo-ho-ho, a pirate's life for me". Valeria also reveals that on this island, somewhere, is hidden the famous treasure of Mogar... rare jewels left by some forgotten older race. To be continued! Note: Valeria is wearing the same clothes as she was in Red Nails, adapted in Savage Tales 2-3. That's pretty much her classic "Valeria costume". Whether the story happens before or after Red Nails will be discussed in a later instalment.
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Post by Rob Allen on Mar 3, 2015 15:32:22 GMT -5
Black lotus and yellow deathScript by Roy Thomas Art by John Buscema and Ricardo Villamonte Concluding the adaptation of the novella Conan and the sorcerer, by Andrew J. Offutt See my post in the Books thread today for interesting news about Andrew J. Offutt.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,701
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Post by shaxper on Mar 3, 2015 17:42:03 GMT -5
(I like that panel. It's my favorite from this issue). That is seriously gorgeous.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 4, 2015 10:54:44 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #74, March 1982 Cover by Joe Jusko, with a nice contrast between hot and cold colours. That's a cover that attracts the eye! Minor criticism: Conan's sword seems to be very short, and the arrows seem to disintegrate when they pierce his shield. (I mean, at least three of them should have made it into Conan's arm, and the right-most one should extend in front of his fist). Frontispiece by Joe Chiodo. Table of contents:Lady of the silver snows, featuring Conan The Black Stone, a Lovecraftian horror story Conan in Zamora, more about the movie Island of pirates' doom, part II, starring Valeria.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 4, 2015 11:04:36 GMT -5
Lady of the silver snowsScript by Chris Claremont Art by Val Mayerik Beware what you wish for... You might well get it.Back in the early 80s, there is no doubt that my favourite comic-book writer was Chris Claremont. I pretty much lived for the next issue of the Uncanny X-Men, which was still in its glory days. And so when Roy Thomas left Conan, after seeing many writers provide less than ideal scripts for SSoC, I dared hope that Chris would perhaps come to write an issue or two... something that finally came to pass with this one. Aaaaaand... it's essentially what you'd expect. Succinctly put, it's an assemblage of Chris Claremontisms in Hyborian Age trappings. The art by Val Mayerik is spectacular, even if I'm usually not a huge fan of his; this issue is worth hunting down just for its visual appeal. Now what do I mean by "an assemblage of Chris Claremontisms"? Actually, it's not as negative a comment as I make it sound. It's just that Chris likes to revisit certain themes, and eventually when you read a lot of his stuff they become redundant; like the echo of a story you've heard before. To concoct a typical CC plot, you should use the following ingredients: - A noble hero whom circumstances have turned into a dangerous individual, but one who's prone to thoughtful introspection. - A strong female character who's strong and sexy and strong and passionate and strong and vulnerable and strong. Also, strong. - A villain who wants to abuse and exploit the female character, using the expression "she is mine, body and soul!" at least once. - When it comes to props, use only the good stuff. Coffee is always the best ever brewed, a painting on a wall is always exquisite, a cook is always superb, etc. - A doomed love affair. - A noble sacrifice that will be sanctified (or reversed, if we're lucky) by the power of love. - Some form of humiliating treatment of female characters, which they survive thanks to their strength of will. Basically, here, we have a northern goddess as Phoenix, Conan as a mix of Cyclops and Wolverine, and Thoth-Amon as Sebastian Shaw. Plus thought balloons. And naturally, exclamations like "Bright Lady, silver goddess... help me!" I don't know who that Bright Lady is, but she seems to be invoked in a lot of Chris's stories. As I said, oft-revisited themes. But enough with the nitpicking. Let's get on with the story. Conan has been trapping for two whole seasons when he reaches an isolated and fortified inn somewhere in the snowy north. (It's called "the inn of the Bright Lady". ). The Cimmerian shows that he can pay for his lodgings by offhandedly exhibiting his furs which, according to the sentry on duty, are "prime furs... some of the best I've seen!" Yes, of course. Conan is the best at what he does. It's not enough to say that Conan has been trapping, no; his furs must be among the finest ever seen! And someone observes later that "he's been trapping in the highlands all autumn and judging by that pack, he's done supremely well for himself". I can't help compare this scene with that from CtB#10, where Conan also wants to gain access to a city by showing off his furs, leaving the guards there thoroughly unimpressed. A one-handed bearded guy at the inn has apparently been expecting Conan, and he magically summons an image of the Cimmerian. "A rough and violent man, a true product of our age... but without the taint of evil... he'll do". A-ha! Ominous foreboding! Conan has dinner, and reminisces about an incident from his youth in Cimmeria. He and his friend Shard had been hunting a boar, and when the animal turned on them Shard froze in terror. Conan killed the beast with a knife, but the humiliated Shard struck him from behind with a rock, knocking him out, and went away to sell his services as a mercenary to the Aquilonians at Venarium. (How the hell could Conan know that, since he was out cold and says he never saw Shard again, I have no idea). Meal done, the thought-balloon-using Cimmerian kicks open the door to his room, sword drawn, because he heard a rustling inside. False alarm, it's a girl named Jarissa, sent by the innkeeper to entertain him (those furs were really high quality). During the night, Conan awakes as the one-handed fellow enters his room and whispers that he wants a word. He is named Kendrick, and in his own land he was a prince and a warrior. Now unable to fight as he used to, he wants to hire Conan to escort an important personage back to those who love her. Conan agrees to take the job for a king's ransom, and then must swear by the Cimmerian oath of blood and fire, "that most sacred and most binding pledge". It involves giving one's word while cutting oneself, and apparently triggers lightning and thunder. Ooooh, brother. Talk about overdoing it. Conan's opinion on contracts in The God in the Bowl (written by Robert E. Howard himself) was, and I quote, "I'm no dog. I keep my word".
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 4, 2015 11:05:07 GMT -5
Conan meets the lady he is to escort, one Astriel, who talks like this: "You did your best. No one, mortal of immortal, could ask for, or be given, more". Conan and Astriel start on their journey, which I understand must take them north (Astriel mentions "our polar realm"). However, a caption states that the day dawns clear... but the horses' shadows extend to the right... meaning they're rather traveling south. Anyway. Poor Kendrick stays behind, for no reason we're privy to, even though it's clear that he and Astriel care for each other. Astriel explains that she's from from an old race with few members left, and that she was abducted and held against her will by sorcerers who wanted to gain her powers. She'd rather die than be taken again. Back at the inn, Kendrick has been caught by villains who are on the trail of Astriel. And who is it who would lead them but Shard, Conan's treacherous childhood friend? What a coincidence! (He must be very evil; he wears a mustache). Kendrick is slain without revealing Astriel's whereabouts, which forces a wizard who accompanies Shard to torture the girl Jarissa. Naturally, since this is a Claremont story, Jarissa turns out to be a noble soul. She thinks "I may be a courtesan, Conan, and not ashamed to admit it. To some... To Lord Kendrick... that made me less than human. But you trusted me with your secret. I'll not repay that trust... no matter what the cost". Her bravery leads to a gruesome death. Secret? What secret? Jarissa and Conan slept together before the Cimmerian was hired. Besides, even if he felt like having a chat with her on the next day, all he could have said is "we're going north", which isn't much of an information. Astriel feels Kendrick's and Jarissa's deaths and she wakes up screaming, with electricity buzzing all around her. Conan realizes that she's no ordinary woman but he nevertheless tries to comfort her, going so far as to kiss her. Astriel returns the kiss but is however reticent: "To yield to our desire now would destroy us both". But Conan insists, waxing eloquent on the subject of love! "Love? Yes... By Mitra this is love! Why deny it, Astriel, when that selfsame emotion is as strongly returned? Your hunter will seek us to the north. If we ride west, they'll never find us. We could be happy..." Boy, that escalated quickly. Astriel rebuffs the Cimmerian's romantic opening, and the two resume their journey. She explains that outside of her realm she is as mortal as anybody else and cannot use her magic top defend them. Time passes, and the travellers' horses are suddenly incinerated by a demon (off-page) while Conan and Astriel were some distance away and discussing. Who then appears as a disembodied image but Thoth-Amon himself? A Thoth-Amon who explains that he just now spared Conan's life because he has a special fate in store for him. "Once again... once too often...you seek to thwart my dark, dread designs. This time, you will fail! The woman is mine, body and soul, now and forever! And as for you, Cimmerian, make your peace with your dunghill god, Crom, for I shall soon deliver what's left of you into his hands." Oh, from Crom's sake. That doesn't feel forced in the least, does it? It's as if Chris wanted to show Thoth-Amon (the Hyborian Age Dr. Doom) to give the story more weight, but didn't want to actually do anything with him for fear of interfering with a continuity he was not familiar with. Well, that's certainly a laudable sentiment, but even that prudence isn't enough because there is no particular hostility between Thoth-Amon and Conan before the latter turns 60 or so! Yes, Thoth was a major threat on a few occasions during Conan's life, but just in a peripheral way; for a good long while Thoth didn't even know Conan existed. Remember, in The Phoenix on the sword (Conan annual #2), the individual Thoth sent a demon to kill was Ascalante, not Conan. He didn't give a fig about the Cimmerian, one way or the other. What's more, Conan and Thoth had not even crossed paths at this point in the Cimmerian's life (his early 20s, according to an editorial blurb). Conan saw an image of Thoth's face at the bottom of an urn in CtB#7 (an adaptation of the God in the Bowl), but that's it. They would almost meet a few years later, when Conan was 26, as Bêlit and her first mate went to Stygia to try and free the pirate queen's father from Ctesphon III's dungeons; but even then, the Cimmerian and Thoth-Amon missed each other by a few minutes, and anyway had different agendas that didn't clash in the least. They would only meet face to face when Conan was 35, in SSoC #191. The hostility show by the Stygian here is simply inappropriate.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 4, 2015 11:05:47 GMT -5
Aaaanyway. The disembodied head vanishes and Astriel explains that it is Thoth-Amon who abducted her. He tried to break her spirit to get her secrets (MANDATORY SCENE OF BONDAGE HERE, WITH HAIR FALLING IN A WEIRD WAY TO HIDE BREASTS AND WITH RANDOM RAGS HIDING PRIVATE PARTS). Astriel only managed to escape Thoth-Amon due to the help of Kendrick. The man used to be her mortal lover, whom she ensorcelled so he'd retain his youth if he stayed in her realm. Riding to Stygia to rescue his love, Kendrick had condemned himself to death. (Hey, we don't have one but TWO doomed love affairs in this story!) That makes Astriel something of a fickle lover, doesn't it? Her boyfriend sacrifices his immortality to travel south and rescue her, which he obviously did, and on the way back home she dumps him in a countryside tavern to face their enemies all on his own (and one-armed, too!) while she goes on with a handsome young guide she starts flirting with immediately. For shame. Meanwhile, Shard and his men catch up, and Conan receives an arrow in the thigh. That doesn't keep him from slaughtering many of Shard's men and running away with Astriel. (I'm personally incapacitated by a broken toe. I feel like such a wimp). With their pursuers still after then, Conan and Astriel next have to face a flying monster that ends up decapitated; but then, two wizards come into play as they catch Astriel with their telekinesis. Spread eagled in the open air, Astriel is stripped to her underwear ( why???) and is threatened by all sorts of unpleasant things until Conan stabs one of the wizards with a knife. His concentration broken, the other wizard lets Astriel fall to the ground, where she grabs a sword and runs the bad guy through. Astriel and an increasingly worse for wear Conan limp north once again, until Shard and his surviving men catch them. Conan kills Shard in single combat, but before the rest of the brigands can lay hands on Astriel strange witchfires erupt in the sky. All sorts of snow-white animal gods show up, welcoming Astriel. Realizing that she's back home, the lady transforms into her divine self (which is exactly the same as her mortal self, but with a kinky bikini). The brigands run away as Conan collapses. He wakes up in Astriel's ice castle, and Conan declines to become a goddess's consort ("I... we... might be happy for a time. But vast as your domain may be, I eventually would come to view it as a prison. I would die... or worse, stay, and our love would sour over my resentment.") Eh, fair enough. Astriel still manages to convince him to stay with her until the summer thaw. She sure got over Kendrick quickly. Notes: - This story is set in Conan's early twenties. - I liked the idea of another Cimmerian as an antagonist. We'd see a few more in future issues. - Continuity-wise, this story could pose a big problem: the Cimmerian has been trapping for half a year before it starts, and he is to spend winter and spring with Astriel at the end of it. That means almost an entire year must be set aside for this single adventure, a year during which he's not having all those other adventures that must fit somewhere in an extremely busy life! The devil's advocate in me insists on pointing out that this is not an impossibility, since the early twenties of Conan are rather ill-defined; the period separating The Tower of the elephant (CtB#4) and Queen of the Black Coast (CtB#57) covers six years, from when he was 17 to when he was 23. I guess one of these years might have been devoted to the events depicted here. It just doesn't seem very likely. - No error in geography or Hyborian Age religions. Claremont did his homework.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 4, 2015 11:06:54 GMT -5
The Black StoneScript by Roy Thomas Art by Gene Day Adapting the short story by Robert E. Howard As if Mayerik's nice art in the main feature wasn't enough, we now have this gorgeous story by Gene Day. The Black Stone is a very creepy story by Robert Howard, written in the vein of Lovecraft's fiction. Its prose version saw print in the November 1931 issue of Weird Tales. It introduces the mad poet Justin Geoffrey and Howard's answer to the Necronomicon: the book Unaussprechlichen Kulten by Friedrich von Junzt. The story is very spooky and is here given a very efficient adaptation. This is not the still untested Gene Day from a few issues ago; this is Gene Day at the top of his game, inking his own pencils to boot! The issue is worth having just for this. The Black Stone was the inspiration for an earlier CtB issue (#21, "the monster of the monolith") but is here represented in its original form. Lovely work, and a high point for SSoC.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 4, 2015 11:07:20 GMT -5
Conan the movie - Conan in Zamoraby Steven Grant More photos from the Conan movie. I disagree with a caption stating that it was "a masterpiece of creative imagination". (But then that's inviting James Earl Jones to tell me "I find your lack of faith disturbing", isn't it?) Island of pirates' doom, part twouncredited here, but it's a Roy Thomas -John Buscema-Danny Bulanadi adaptation of a Robert E. Howard tale. Apparently there were three pages to fill in this issue and neither pin-ups nor ads to be used, for we're given three more pages of the tale begun in the previous issue... but they're clearly not meant to be shown in this fashion. It's like showing pages 7 to 9 of any 22-pages comic; we start in an odd place and end in the middle of a scene without even a "to be continued" notice!!!
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Post by Rob Allen on Mar 4, 2015 12:38:46 GMT -5
Spectacularly good art in this issue. Mayerik's work here is miles ahead of his Thongor stories from ten years earlier. And that Gene Day page is incredible. I even like the look of the Buscema/Bulanadi fragment.
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Post by paulie on Mar 4, 2015 18:24:35 GMT -5
It is too bad the next time Mayerik drew an issue of SSOC it was inked by Colletta. Kirby fans might take me to task for this but I think that issue of SSOC is the best example of 'awful' Vince. There are entire pages that are not even inked.
#74 is a hole in my collection. I'll have to pick this one up.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 5, 2015 12:20:49 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #75, April 1982 A swashbuckling cover by Earl Norem! Arrrh, me hearties! This is a scene from the issue's sole story. The frontispiece by Carl Potts is interesting in that it resembles the Alex Toth illustrations from issue #64, and it shows a Bêlit in an outfit that differs from her standard Marvel comics costume. Table of contents: Temple of the twelve-eyed thing, the Conan adventure that introduces us (and him!) to Captain Bor'Aqh Sharaq, a villain who will be seen a couple more times in future issues. Conan by Chiodo: a single pin-up. I wonder why a pin-up, nice as it might be, warrants a place in the table of contents. It's not the first time it happens, though.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 5, 2015 12:24:21 GMT -5
Temple of the twelve-eyed thingStory by Michael Fleisher Art by Alfredo Alcala I am simply awed by Alfredo's use of the brush. His fine, fine linework never ceases to evoke that of masters like Gustave Doré and it gives whatever he touches a touch of class, transcending the cheap nature of newsprint comic-books. But love Alfredo's brushwork as I do, I am often less than enthused by his "charcoal" approach, which he seems to resort to when deadlines are tight. I also love his work as an inker much more than I like his pencils, and so as far as artwork goes this issue is a mixed bag; Alfredo handles all the art, and about halfway through the issue he switches from fine ink lines to the rougher charcoal look. Some panels are nevertheless spectacular, and the artist doesn't shy away from depicting difficult scenes: vast expanses of moving water, for example, are a bitch to draw but Alfredo gives us many pages of roaring waves and turbulent eddies. Nice cloudscapes, too, with the sun shining through; that's not an easy thing to draw in black and white. This story introduces captain Bor'Aqh Sharaq, a throroughly despicable villain that grew to be something of a fan favourite. First presented as a cruel, vicious and deadly man as obstinate as a mule and as relentless as a shark, Bor'Aqh Sharaq was so over the top that his creator quickly turned him into a walking running gag, someone so hateful that it was fun to make terrible things happen to him. The tale begins as Conan escapes the dreaded Torture rock, a Zingaran island prison that could have been the inspiration for the gaol in the opening scene of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead man's chest. The Zingarans, as is normal in a Fleisher story, all swear by Astoreth and Ishtar (although one thankfully manages to invoke Mitra). The Cimmerian is fished out of the water by the crew of the pirate Bor'Aqh Sharaq, to whom he explains that his own Barachan ship was attacked by a brace of Zingaran warships a fortnight ago, and sunk. Yes, the same thing happened in SSoC #73, but on that occasion Conan had swum ashore to Stygia; in this instance he was captured and brought to Torture rock. Apparently it's a bit risky to sail under captain Conan. (Captain Bor'Aqh Sharaq, with all his pieces).
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