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Post by foxley on Nov 20, 2015 4:24:54 GMT -5
Grindberg certainly does one the best aping of Adams' style that I've seen, and McLeod's inking shows it to great effect.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 21, 2015 11:23:21 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #150, July 1988  The cover to the sesquicentennial issue of Savage Sword is by Michael Golden. It doesn’t say “special collector’s issue” or anything, but to me a Golden cover is always a treat. It’s cartoony, sure, and it has a few jokes that I find to be in dubious taste (the girl’s dagger is shaped like a dick poking between her ribs, the name of editor Larry Hama is written upside down on her belt and on the dagger’s scabbard, which I find more distracting than funny). But it’s still remarkably executed, and details like the awesome totem in the back, the realistic feel of the sword’s blade, the elaborate wristlets and Golden’s signature on the girl’s belt buckle are much to my taste. Table of contentsCall of the slain, wherein Conan faces an army of the dead Trial by fear, in which Kull the conqueror faces… a baby!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 21, 2015 11:30:15 GMT -5
SSoC #150 ------------- Call of the slainScript by Charles Dixon Art by Gary Kwapisz and Ernie Chan We are still in Kush, right after the events from last month’s issue. A new threat arises in the person of a wizard named Derketa, who can raise the dead and use them as a conquering army. “Derketa”, you may recall, is the name of a southern death goddess whom the shaman N’yaga passed as Bêlit’s mother when he brought her as a child to the Silver Isles; Derketa is the feminine version of the Shemitish god Derketo. Here the wizard uses the feminine form of the name, but nobody makes fun of a wizard who can raise the dead.  Conan and his comrades are still in Mguto’s village, where they are busy building a new boat to get back to the Hyborian lands in the north. While the Vanirman Graf and others are eager to go, it seems that Nboro, the once-silent gladiator, has elected to stay in Kush and make his home there.  Words of the walking army of the dead reaches the village, news that the shaman Mguto takes very seriously but that Conan has a hard time believing. (This is kind of surprising since the Cimmerian has seen his share of walking dead armies, and has even been part of one in SSoC #110). To counter an eventual attack by the zombie army, Mguto orders the village to be fortified. He also begins a certain ceremony, one that lasts several days, that is meant to resurrect the body of the local warrior god Arranto Koni who lies in one of the village’s huts.  Graf would much rather leave the village right away than face zombies, and when Conan seems to intent to stay and help defend Mguto’s people, Graf and the other northerners steal the new boat and row away on the nearby river, bound for the open ocean. This betrayal does nothing for Conan’s temper who swears and growls and bullies the locals into finishing the fortifications in record time.  Trouble quickly comes in the form of the returning ship… It has been intercepted by Derketa’s forces, and all of Conan’s erstwhile comrades are dead and now part of the zombie invasion force. The fortifications hold against the initial assaults, but it is clear that neither spear nor arrow can do much damage to the already dead invaders; all one can do is incapacitate the animated corpses by chopping them to little pieces. And what is worse is that every dead warrior in the village becomes one of the enemy.  The ceremony meant to resurrect Arranto Koni reaches its climax, which costs the life of the brave shaman Mguto. Has he been successful? The body of the warrior god does rise from his couch… but the aged and dessiccated body immediately falls down again.  The spirit of the warrior god is however not moving away; since its own body is useless, it possesses that of a nearly-overwhelmed Conan. Granted the strength of a minor god, the Cimmerian destroys each and every zombie threatening the village; Derketa escapes with a few of his undead followers.  This escape will be short-lived: having learned that pouring salt on a dead man awakens his memory, Conan tracks the shaman in the forest and pours some on a zombie. The man’s undead body then moves of its own accord and takes revenge on the shaman who turned him into a walking horror.  Notes: - About zombies being “awakened” with salt: next time, lead with that. - I feared Nboro had been slain in the fight, but apparently no; we see him ordering Conan’s body to be carried to a hut after the fighting ends. It’s too bad we don’t see his and Conan’s parting, because the two men had been comrades for several issues now. - Roy Thomas, in his chronology published in Conan’s saga, places this period earlier in Conan’s life, in between the Zuagir and second Kozak periods, when he was about 31 or 32. This makes more sense than when Conan is 39-ish, but requires us to ignore some issue-to-issue continuity in the Dixon stories. Next issue, mentioning that Conan just spent a year in the wilderness, complicates things further. So, when did these stories occur? Eh, they happened thousands of years ago, that’s when! |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 21, 2015 11:33:47 GMT -5
SSoC #150 ------------- Trial by fearScript by John Arcudi Art by Mark Pacella Arcudi takes the place of Charles Dixon as writer of the Kull feature and drops the storyline about the Serpent Men laying siege to the City of wonders. In this first part of a tale to be concluded next issue, we witness a wizard summoning what looks like a baby from some netherworld, swearing that he will see Kull dead and that he will make the City of wonders his. The baby is seen being brought to the royal palace by a servant girl; he was left before the palace gates. Kull, who has a generous heart, welcomes the child to the palace despite a councillor’s misgivings.  During that night, the baby turns into a hideous monster resembling the transformed Seth Brundle from the movie The fly. After killing several palace guards, the creature is faced by Kull who manages to chop off one of its arms. The monster flees, unaccustomed to pain, and turns back into a baby to hide its identity. The missing arm is however a dead giveaway and Kull finishes it.  Not a bad story, and the Pacella art is all right… but I find myself missing Dale Eaglesham's, and even if I didn’t much care for the return of the Serpent Men I would have liked that particular storyline concluded before moving on to other things. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 28, 2015 11:14:47 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #151, July 1988  Cover by Earl Norem, whose art we hadn’t seen since issue #113! Good 1950s action movie vibe, here. Table of contentsFury of the near-men, where we encounter not one but two species of humanoid creatures. A bond of blood, concluding the Kull story begun last issue.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 28, 2015 11:22:45 GMT -5
SSoC #151 ------------- Fury of the near-menScript by Charles Dixon Art by Gary Kwapisz and Ernie Chan We open with a view of the African veldt. Kwapisz is at his best when drawing the natural world, and Chan has this remarkable ability of using a multitude of brush lines to create beautiful textures. This sky could have been a blank space, here, but its rendering makes me stop and take notice. Lovely stuff.  Conan is in Darfar, a kingdom east of Kush and south of Stygia. We learn from a caption that the Cimmerian has spent almost a year in the wilderness, which poses so many continuity problems that I will simply skip the issue. One of the great aspects of Chuck Dixon’s stories is that he doesn’t like to repeat story elements; if he needs some conflict to start an issue, he’ll very often make it one we haven’t seen before. Here Conan comes across a pack of wild dogs which he doesn’t manage to escape; in the ensuing fight he loses his precious horse and his pack of food. Only his decidedly bad attitude convinces the canine hunters that he himself is better left alone than hunted down. Having lost not only his food but also his bow, Conan must try his hand at hunting antelopes with rocks (not successfully). Cursing his fortune, he then becomes aware of a caravan that crosses the Darfari plain. It is led by a sympathetic family, one that we'll get to know better than we would basic supporting characters. The Corinthian Daviar, his son Teb and his daughter Ellior are gathering wild animals for the circuses of Aquilonia and Nemedia, and several Darfari trackers accompany them and their chariots. Conan immediately has an opportunity to ingratiate himself to the Corinthians, as a huge sabre-toothed tiger erupts from the tall grasses; Ellior would have fallen prey to the beast had the Cimmerian not intervened.  As presentations are made, Conan is recognized as the famous gladiator-turned-general who made so much noise in Nemedia (illustrating the point I made previously about that storyline: how could have Conan risen so high in the Nemedian society without being later recognized when he became king of Aquilonia?)  Ellior reveals that she had a crush on Conan when she saw him fight in the Belverus arena; Conan clumsily (although with good intentions) disabuses the girl of her romantic dreams.  The caravan is later attacked by a band of what can only be referred to as ape-men. The attack coincides with a flash flood, and the Cimmerian is separated from his friends.  When the storm abates, Conan is found by another group of not-quite-human people: this second species appears to be half-feline. (Note that the cover showed all the beast-men as being closer to baboons than anything else). These cat-men make a lot of noise but appear harmless enough, for the most part: only their leader comes at Conan with a crude weapon. Conan has to fight him to the death, which lands him the job of king of the cat-people.  He takes to his responsibilities seriously and spends a few days training his cat-men in the fine art of warfare.  He then leads his followers on the track of the ape-men, hoping that his new friends might still be alive. On the way, the band encounters a series of crosses on which many of the Darfari trackers have been left to die. One of them manages to reveal that Ellior, at least, was still alive when last he saw her. Conan and his ape-men find the village of the ape-men, built on the lake found inside a shallow crater. Entering the place, the cat-men prove to be capable warriors after all. Conan discovers the chambers where the ape-men’s king resides: the obese creature has the heads of the hapless Daviar and Teb mounted next to his crude throne.  Furious, Conan slays the king and then searches for Ellior, as the village burns around him. The girl is suspended over a pool filled with crocodiles, and the Cimmerian saves her in the nick of time.  The cat-people retreat victorious as their enemies’ village burns down. Conan and Ellior take their leave, and the girl opines that the Cimmerian will not only be remembered as a great king, but probably as nothing less than a god.  A honourable man to the end, Conan then says that he will send the smitten girl north, brooking no debate. Notes: - The reference to Conan’s career as a Nemedian general places this story after the previous Dixon stories, which in the Marvel chronology would put it in the extremely busy 39th or 40th year of his life. - The ape-men might have skeletons so close to ours that we’d never have learned of their existence, but the cat-men are another thing… Such a beast simply could not exist. I am of the opinion that their people (and probably the ape-men, too) are not natural creatures but the result of some unmentioned sorcerous activity. This would agree with the fact that they were not seen before nor seen again, hinting at very low numbers. - The family dynamics between Daviar, Teb and Ellior is very believable and makes them very likeable; their tragedy hits us that much more. Good job, Mr. Dixon! - There are woolly mammoths in Darfar. That’s odd, considering it’s a tropical land. - The cat-men can’t swim, which is funny (cats and water…) - Conan does not only teach his cat-people to use weapons; he teaches them to hate and disrespect their enemies. This is an important part of teaching war, I suppose, and quite agrees with the barbaric aspect of the Cimmerian. - Conan refuses a cat-woman as consort. Maybe he has something against a whiskered lover. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 28, 2015 11:24:27 GMT -5
SSoC #151 ------------- A bond of bloodScript by John Arcudi Art by Mark Pacella Part two of the tale begun last month. The father of the demonic baby that Kull slew appears in our world, intent on taking revenge on the king. The wizard who summoned him believes he will be rewarded for his services, but quickly understands that he is nothing more than a servant (and a hard-pressed one, at that). Abused and desperate, the wizard tries to make amends and ask for Kull’s help against his demonic master. The king shows up at the wizard’s retreat, where the demon thinks the fight will be one-sided because no mortal flesh can hurt him. However, aware of that fact, Kull had the foresight of turning the demon baby’s skin into a cestus-like glove! Using that demon flesh, Kull beats up the father and throws him through a magical portal that leads to its world. The wizard is then sentenced for his shady acts that led to so much trouble: Kull throws him into through the portal as well!  |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 30, 2015 18:42:53 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #152, September 1988  Cover by Doug Beekman, and these Lovecraftian horrors are perfectly suited to this month’s main story! Conan’s right forearm looks a little long, but hey… that sky is beautiful. Table of contents: Valley beyond the stars, where Conan faces no less than Yog-Sothoth! Invictus, where Kull does not win a rugby championship but shows a few slavers what’s what.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 30, 2015 19:15:09 GMT -5
SSoC #152 ------------- Valley beyond the starsScript by Charles Dixon Art by Gary Kwapisz and Ernie Chan In this tale we encounter a creation from the imagination of Weird Tales writer and Robert E. Howard’s regular correspondent Howard Phillips Lovecraft: Yog-Sothoth, the lurker at the threshold. Its coming is heralded by several mystics all over the world, where its dreaded reality is known under different but similar names.  We follow such a mystic as he seeks the help of a boy named Hrotha, blind and mute, who has visions of other worlds and can communicate them to his twin sister, Hreet.  The hooded man would have Hrotha seek Yog Sothoth. The name sends the boy into convulsions. Hreet reveals that what the mystic seeks is to be found to the south, in a place called the fingers of Sedhoula, where the gateway to madness lies and where he will find the one who wishes to open it. She also says that the mystic must bring her and her brother with him. We readers know that the person who intends to dabble in these cosmic matters is the vain and young queen of Stygia, Sullimma, whose husband Yllareph is said to be invalid and plays no part in the tale. As is often the case, the queen means to open the gates of our world to an ancient evil god, hoping to be rewarded with more power and probably eternal life and such. What fools these mortals be!  Conan the Cimmerian, meanwhile, has had unpleasant dealings with Turanian merchants who tried to cheat at a game of dice. Having to make ends meet, he tries his hand at a bit of highway robbery. Spying a trio of travellers approaching, he is unpleasantly surprised by the appearance of competitors, local brigands who attack the trio first. As you’d expect, the three travellers are Hreet, Hrotha and their hooded companion; and when one of the bandits tries to rape the girl, Conan intervenes and slays all the miscreants. He would then rob the travellers himself, but the hooded mystic reveals his identity: it is Vitellus, the heroic priest of Mitra we met in SSoC #141, whom we last saw as he was collapsing a tunnel over his own head and that of a horde of demonic creatures.  Vitellus explains that he managed to swim under the rubble and is once again on the trail of some ancient evil. As before, he tries to get Conan to land a hand; this time, the lure is the gold than any decent worshipper tends to leave in any temple of any religion (even that of a primeval demon). The Cimmerian reluctantly agrees, and a little while later the quartet is joined by a group of Kordafan warriors sent by their shaman to stop “the ancient Sodatha”. The band eventually reaches the fingers of Sedhoula, a rocky valley with thin spires rising from it like the fingers of some strange hand.  There they are intercepted by Stygian soldiers, an encounter that quickly degenerates into violence. The fight turns to the worse for the Stygians, and Conan and his comrades disguise themselves using the dead soldiers’ gear. Meanwhile, queen Sullimma has reached the fingers of Sedhoula herself, where she and her hunchbacked assistant begin the ritual that will open the doors of our world to the god she calls Yog Sot ath. (While Vitellus called it Yog-Sothoth rearlier, it’s spelled with an “a” in many other places). This ritual begins with lighting a certain magical fire on top of one of the spires.  The access to the fingers is barred by fortifications that Conan tries to enter using guile. His impersonation of a Stygian doesn’t pass muster, and at a loss to find some explanation of who he and his comrades really are, he just kills the guards who block the way. Vitellus then instructs Conan to reach the magical fire that they can see from below. It must go out, but can only be extinguished with water from a spring that once soothed the thirst of Mitra’s prophet. Luckily Vitellus does have a pouch containing said water, and he sends Conan on his way while he and the twins go stop Sullimma herself. Each of the peaks is circled by spiral stairs that go all the way to the top. After climbing a certain distance, Conan finds that the spire’s summit extends into another universe! (Great work by Chan, here).  This new universe is inhabited by creatures that attack the Cimmerian and his Kordafan comrades; no sooner are they dispatched that Yog Sothath itself appears. DAMN! I love it when a creature is so huge that it stretches all the way over the horizon!!!  The many tendrils of the monster cause no end of trouble but Conan makes his way to the top, where he finds more of Sullimma’s acolytes. He slays them all but is caught by one of Yog Sothath’s tentacles! In a desperate move, he throws the water pouch at the magic fire over which the monster has him dangling, and everything explodes into darkness. At the same time, young Hrotha seems to find his voice as well as unexpected resources, and he fries Sullimma with a magical bolt of lightning!  Everything returns to normal and Conan awakes with his head in Hreet’s lap. Hrotha can now speak and see normally, at the cost of his otherworldy sight, but Vitellus opines that the magic sight was more of a curse than a gift anyway. The quartet leaves the scene, leaving the hunchbacked crone behind, her reason apparently fled. Notes: - The artwork was particularly good, I thought, even if the Kwapisz-Chan combo might by now be called a house style on this mag. - Chronology? Must we really talk about chronology? Vitellus returns, so this is set after his first appearance, which is set after Conan left Valeria on the coast of Vanaheim, which he did after they got together again (after their parting following Red Nails, since they were intimate by that time, and so not just after they met among the Braachan pirates), which happened after he scouted for a while on the Pictish border of Aquilonia. All of which is to say that he must be over 39 years old, which hardly seems possible. But hey, these are stories, aren’t they? - Yog-Sothoth should have the form of a mass of glowing spheres, not that of a many-tentacled thingie. But it sure was one groovy many-tentacled thingie. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 30, 2015 19:20:24 GMT -5
SSoC #152 ------------- Invictus!Story by John Arcudi Art by Dale Eaglesham Riding past a slave market in the City of Wonders, Kull is hailed by a man in chains whom he recognizes as his old comrade Bakas. Bakas is a big bear of a fellow, and a flashback tells us how he met a younger Kull when both were chained to the oars of a Lemurian galley. He taught the future king that while men could fetter his limbs, they could never enslave his mind; this philosophy made Bakas able to endure pretty much anything fate would throw at him. He acted as a big brother to the young Atlantean, whom he calls "little brother" to this day. During an attack by Commorian pirates (mislabelled as Co rmorians), Kull had managed to jump off the ship; Bakas, severely wounded by a cruel slave-master, had to remain behind. Now, years later, Kull has the chance to finally free his friend. The slave merchant is quite ready to offer Kull a good price but the king will have nothing of it, shouting that Bakas is no slave to be bought or sold! Councillor Tu tries to argue that slavery is part of Valusian law, but this just makes Kull angrier; called a barbarian himself, he finds nothing more barbaric than the idea of one man owning another. Tu nevertheless pays the merchant while Kull’s back is turned, probably despairing of ever understanding his liege!  Bakas will be a recurring character for a while. He’s lacking half a hand after the incident on the Lemurian ship. The matter of Kull and slavery came up in the third volume of the color comic Kull the conqueror, written by Alan Zelenetz. Kull had tried to have slavery outlawed in Valusia, only to face a strong opposition by the Valusian senate. (Gee… progressive ideas blocked by the House? Who would have thought?) Zelenetz’s Kull being more civilized than Howard’s, the king hadn’t gone all “BY THIS AXE I RULE” on them and the anti-slavery law had been struck down. It’s interesting to have Marvel’s version of Kull act like a philosopher king; it’s different from the rather uncouth and naive man from Howard’s short stories but it fits the contemplative mood established in The mirrors of Tuzun Thune. It also makes Kull far more than a mere Conan forerunner. |
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Post by senatortombstone on Nov 30, 2015 21:54:33 GMT -5
While Dixon may have ..... taken some liberties with the continuity, at least he told good stories.
RE: #151: I took issue with these weird beast creatures, as it was hard to maintain a suspension of disbelief that two separate species of humanoid-beast creatures could ever exist unbeknownst to the world at large. Your theory regarding their origin helps make sense of it. Still a good issue, though.
RE: #152: I loved this story. It had the feel of some sort of epic 80's fantasy flick designed to appeal to both children and adults. There is a certain chemistry of conflicted comradery between Conan and the Mitraic minion, Vitelus. At one point, Vitelus calls Conan a pig and Conan does not respond by splitting his skull. I was saddened to see that Vitelus made his exit from this series.
Other news: I just got my batch of Cyber Monday deals from Instocktrades.com. I ordered them on 11/25/2015 and they arrived today, despite the fact that they were sent via media mail. Why is this even remotely relevant? It was a pure Conan batch. SSoC volume #20, Chronicles of Conan #30, Chronicles of King Conan #11, and Darkhorse Conan #17, #18. As far as I know, this is the best site to order TPBs. They are usually 42% off the MSRP, free shipping over $50.00, and no sales tax for most U.S. residents.
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Post by berkley on Dec 1, 2015 2:40:33 GMT -5
The Kwapisz/Chan combination looks like it's working a little better to me in SSoC #152, unless I'm just getting more used to it with repeated exposure. Nice cover too, I might look for a back-issue of this one.
One trivial comment: the coin with Conan's head doesn't look anything like the kinds of portraits we usually see stamped on coins, ancient or modern, but just like a cruder version of the rendition we see in any given issue of SSoC.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 1, 2015 6:59:36 GMT -5
The Kwapisz/Chan combination looks like it's working a little better to me in SSoC #152, unless I'm just getting more used to it with repeated exposure. Nice cover too, I might look for a back-issue of this one. One trivial comment: the coin with Conan's head doesn't look anything like the kinds of portraits we usually see stamped on coins, ancient or modern, but just like a cruder version of the rendition we see in any given issue of SSoC. That's a very good point, and one that reminds us that not all comic-book artists do a lot of research for their work (either due to lack of interest or, as I suspect, simple lack of time when facing a straining deadline). When an ancient sword is found buried somewhere in a modern comic, for example, it is always shiny and as nice-looking as if it had just come out of the forge; actual ancient swords look like dry old turds. Chain mail armor never looked like a body glove made of silvery fish scales; it's more like a heavy sweater made of black macaroni. Vikings never wore helmets with wings or horns on them, and so on. Most of the time it makes little difference, since we all agree to suspend our disbelief for these highly loose interpretations of times past... but sometimes a discrepancy is so distracting that we are pulled out of the story so we can say "wait, this isn't right!". It's one of the things I loved so much about Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord's run on Conan: it looked real. The architecture and clothes looked vaguely Sumerian, the technology level fit a world thousands of years old, and overall the entire thing had an authenticity too often lacking in works of fantasy. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 10, 2015 17:42:48 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #153, Oct 1988  Cover by Earl Norem, featuring a scene from this issue's main story Table of contents
Blood on the sands, in which conscience trumps self-interest Phantasm, in which Red Sonja and Conan clash... in what I feel is a very disturbing tale.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 10, 2015 17:49:47 GMT -5
Blood on the sandsScript by Charles Dixon Art by Gary Kwapisz Story co-plotted by both gentlemen Conan is a bounty hunter somewhere in eastern Shem, where a certain king Ahtmet has problems with humble people turning rebels because of his exactions. The Cimmerian slays four famous rebels and brings their heads back to the town of Arat Phan (not the king's capital) for his payment. His job is looked at with revulsion by most people, but he seems to be in one of his nihilistic moods and doesn't mind. While in Arat Phan (which is beautifully drawn by Kwapisz), the Cimmerian witnesses the worst that civilization has to offer.  On a slave market, a young mother is stripped naked to be auctioned off right in front of her crying child. A band of armed slavers roam the streets at will, legally chaining anyone who does not have a legal status (which means that Conan's pretty ladyfriend of the moment is at risk). An old woman who couldn't move out of their way fast enough is brutalized by the slavers, which is the straw that breaks the camel's back.  Regretting his past affiliations, Conan leaves town and heads for the hills where he intends to help the rebels' cause.  They are naturally mistrustful and say that their slain brothers' souls demand justice, and the Cimmerian has to prove his worth in single combat against a huge hillman. He manages to win without killing his opponent, whose anger he understands. Next, Conan plans to reorganize the motley band of rebels into something more efficient and he plans the attack of the town of Arat Phan. King Ahtmet will always have the upper hand while he controls cities that can resupply his troops, and the plan is to conquer them one by one (including scattered military forts). But to do so, the rebels will need more men. Reinforcements will be obtained by convincing a few bands of Zuagirs to join in the attack. These are led by a vain and cowardly weasel named Khalli, whom Conan easily forces into an alliance.  The Cimmerian next enters the town by pretending he's bringing more rebel heads to the place's governor.  When these turn out to be actually pigs' heads, a fight breaks out and the governor ends up dead. Zuagirs and rebels attack and almost get trapped when the town gates beginn to close behind them, but the Cimmerian manages to get them open again (cursing the peasants for their lack of tactical insight).  Arat Phan is liberated (or sacked, or both) and when the Zuagirs make clear that they're much more satisfied of Conan's leadership that of Khalli's, the man leaves in a huff.  Khalli is unfortunately aware of the Cimmerian's plans for the near future, and he goes to betray him to king Ahtmet's forces. When the Cimmerian leads a column of rebels and Zuagirs to their next target, they are ambushed and slain to a man. Only Conan escapes, and he swears revenge on Khalli.  To be continued? You bet! The art in this issue is really very good. Kwapisz's anatomy still looks a bit odd in places, but the backgrounds are magnificent and the use of tones add a lot to the pages. Really nice stuff.  Notes: - Chronologically speaking, the pre-story blurb is no help at all; it states that Conan is in Turan while he's clearly in Shem, and there's no hint as to when the tale occurs. Since this is Conan's second meeting with the iron damsels and that Soraya is still sore at the Cimmerian, we could safely assume that "Blood on the sands" happens not too long after " Mud men of Keshan" from SSoC #111 That tale was supposed to be set a little while after Black Colossus (SSoC #2), when Conan is about 27. However, we know that the iron maidens will show up again in SSoC #179, which also co-stars Red Sonja and... Valeria. Now Valeria was a little kid when Conan was 27; we've seen her as a teenager during the Cimmerian's days as a Barachan pirate, when he is around 35 or 36. A few years later, a 38-ish Cimmerian would meet Valeria again (in Red nails, ST #2-3) and the two would become lovers. Charles Dixon reintroduced a decidedly more capricious Valeria in " Lair of the lizard" (SSopC #138) That story occurs as Conan works for the Aquilonians on the Pictish border. In Howard's prose stories, judging from the unfinished fragments of "Wolves beyond the border", this should happen when the man is in his early 30s; in Marvel comics (and in the classical Miller and Clark chronology), it happens in his late 30s, right before Conan becomes king. Beyond the Black river (SSoC #26-27) and The treasure of Tranicos (SSoC 47-48) are set in that period. We should really go right from the Pictish border days to the King of Aquilonia days, but Dixon inserted a few years' worth of adventuring between the two; sort of an interlude during the border days. All of this to means that the presence of a post- Red Nails Valeria in SSoC #179 with iron maidens who seem not to have changed one bit since issue #153 probably puts these two stories in a roughly similar time frame, give or take a few years; I would therefore place it either in that ill-defined extended period in between the start and the end of Conan's absence from the Pictish border, or slightly before that in Conan's mid-thirties or so.
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