Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 31, 2016 11:28:35 GMT -5
Savage sword #167, December 1989
Cover by Earl Norem. The bear looks a bit like the mutant monster in the movie The Prophecy; that’s because its head has been badly burned (see the story inside). Note the weapon of the Aztec/Inca guy on the lower right corner; it is not seen inside but is entirely suitable.
Only one story again this month.
Spirit of the beast
Script by Gerry Conway
Art by Mike Docherty and Ernie Chan
Part two of the Hyborian Odyssey, in which we find King Conan still trying to make his way back to Aquilonia. After last month’s adventure in South or Central America, we now find him somewhere on North America’s west coast. As would be expected, the mystical aspects of this story will be influenced by Native American spirituality.
We open with the mythological tale of a bear hounded by hunters and their dog; they chased the beast east, west, south and north until it escaped into the sky, where the chase still goes on to this day. The characters end up forming the big dipper constellation (which is called Ursa major, or “great bear”). This tale doesn’t have much to do with the rest of the story, but it sets the appropriate tone.
After leaving the land of Kuzko, Conan, Gobo and their three native companions have made their way north on a raft following the Pacific coast of America. How far they made iot is hard to determine: captions mention a journey of “two weeks” and “thousands of miles” since they left Kuzko, figures that are impossible to reconcile. They appear to be somewhere north of California if we judge from the vegetation.
Conan and his crew are attacked by hidden archers as they get water from the mainland, and the strategy reminds the Cimmerian of the Picts he faced earlier in his life. One of the Incas is killed and another is wounded. A caption tells us of “… the moans of wounded man (…) muttered in a tongue as alien to the Cimmerian as his own is to the nobles of the Aquilonian court he rules”. This welcome remark regarding foreign languages would make a lot of sense, except that Conan had no difficulty speaking said “alien tongue” last issue, nor will he have any difficulty speaking the language of the natives we encounter this month.
The attackers remain hidden in the forest that extends all the way to the shoreline, but before Conan and company can make it back to their raft a murder of crows carrying torches set it aflame! Hurrying back aboard, the king chops down the burning mainmast, saving most of the craft, but the mast is lost and in need of replacement. Until repairs can be effected, the journey must stop on this unknown shore.
The very next night, the becalmed raft is attacked by raiders who take the crew captive. They look like they might have walked out of a Rawhide Kid comic, with buckskin pants and feathers in their hair.
Conan wakes up to the sound of drums: the Braves who captured him are in the middle of some ceremony, dancing around a fire, led by a shaman wearing a bear mask. Observing the people around him, the fettered Cimmerian sees that an old man who appears to be the chief doesn’t look pleased with the proceedings; he guesses that he and the bear-masked wizard don’t get along.
That is confirmed when the two men exchange strong words (which we can understand, earlier caption notwithstanding). The wizard, a relative newcomer to the tribe, insists that the Earth god Kutas requires the sacrifice of strength and beauty to put an end to a crop failure. The chief doesn’t like this new idea, as his tribe has always been peaceful before the shaman’s arrival, but he cannot deny the man’s power over animals, proof of his connection to the gods. The sacrifice will therefore proceed: strength will be provided by the big new prisoner, beauty by a lovely female one captured earlier.
Conan and the girl are led to the cave of a great bear that the shaman calls forth, and we understand that the beast and the man share a supernatural bond.
The bear is gigantic, and reeks of rotten meat and decay.
As everybody flinches at the sight of the monster, King Conan sees his chance and gets rid of the men watching him! One gets a headbutt to the nose, another a kick to the groin! Conan then tackles the guard standing next to the female prisoner, and both he and she fall into the bear’s cave, right next to the slobbering beast. The two run past the creature’s claws, and after Conan uses a torch to burn the bonds tying his hands he and the girl run deeper into the cave, bear hot in pursuit.
The plantigrade’s greed proves his undoing as Conan gives it a faceful of fire, and the animal’s fur proves to be quite flammable. Smouldering and definitely angry, the monster continues the chase, but Conan and the girl find a narrow escape route to the outside.
Conan learns that the girl is Ninka, daughter of Mulawi, chieftain of the Shuta tribe. Her people and that of her captors, the Malagu tribe, used to be good neighbours until a poor harvest brought hunger to the Malagu. Unfortunately, before the Shuta could send food to their friends, a man wearing a bear mask walked out of the east; he was Anpakh, who would take the place of the recently deceased shaman of the Malagu and take them down a warlike path. The Shuta bringing relief to the Malagu were slain, and only Ninka was kept as a prisoner to be sacrificed later.
Anpakh seems to be able to communicate with animals, and it is a little unfortunate that no connection is made with the cult of Jebbal Sag, introduced in the story Beyond the Black River (adapted in SSoC 26-27); the children of Jebbal Sag spoke a language common to beasts and men.
Ninka brings Conan to her people, where he is received as a honoured guest and gets a taste of tobacco (in which I suspect there might be something a little stronger).
The pipe brings him visions (nice page design, here).
Conan meets that most sympathetic of American mythological figures, Coyote, who tells him about the animal spirits that we all harbour within us. Coyote tells Conan that Anpakh’s power comes from his knowing his own totem, the bear, and that the Cimmerian must do the same if he is to triumph over the shaman. Conan quickly comes to realize that his own animal spirit is (naturally) Amra, the lion.
After waking up (next to a naked Ninka, with whom his relation remains platonic), Conan shows the peaceful Shuta how to wage guerilla warfare and how to stage an attack on the Malagu village.
Under the tutelage of the greatest warrior of the Hyborian age, the Shuta beat the Malagu, and Conan’s surviving friends (including the grouchy Gobo) are found alive in the enemy village.
Anpakh will not take defeat lying down, of course, and his bear brother erupts from the brush to take on the Shuta invaders. The creature’s head is severely singed, and we see that it's also the case for Anpakh himself: what the bear endures is shared by his spirit brother, and vice-versa. Conan faces the monster, surrounded by the shape of his leonine alter ego; but an axe blow right through the skull fails to kill the bear. As long as Anpakh lives, the beast cannot die! It is Ninka who saves the day by stabbing the shaman, allowing both man and beast to perish together.
The Malagu chief vies for a renewed peace between the two tribes (and why not? He’s just been defeated!) and it looks like the bad days are over.
Conan gets a new mast for his raft and takes his leave, heading north.
Notes:
- An okay tale of “Conan among the Indians”. I liked the fierce but kind nature of Ninka.
- Conan's faithfulness to his wife might be old -fashioned, but I prefer it to the way he cheated on her in King Conan #8 and the way he gave her the cold shoulder in Alan Selenetz's Conan the king, being clearly tempted to jump the fence and run off with Ayelet or an aging Red Sonja. It might be less "interesting" as far as the plot goes, but I find it more noble.
Cover by Earl Norem. The bear looks a bit like the mutant monster in the movie The Prophecy; that’s because its head has been badly burned (see the story inside). Note the weapon of the Aztec/Inca guy on the lower right corner; it is not seen inside but is entirely suitable.
Only one story again this month.
Spirit of the beast
Script by Gerry Conway
Art by Mike Docherty and Ernie Chan
Part two of the Hyborian Odyssey, in which we find King Conan still trying to make his way back to Aquilonia. After last month’s adventure in South or Central America, we now find him somewhere on North America’s west coast. As would be expected, the mystical aspects of this story will be influenced by Native American spirituality.
We open with the mythological tale of a bear hounded by hunters and their dog; they chased the beast east, west, south and north until it escaped into the sky, where the chase still goes on to this day. The characters end up forming the big dipper constellation (which is called Ursa major, or “great bear”). This tale doesn’t have much to do with the rest of the story, but it sets the appropriate tone.
After leaving the land of Kuzko, Conan, Gobo and their three native companions have made their way north on a raft following the Pacific coast of America. How far they made iot is hard to determine: captions mention a journey of “two weeks” and “thousands of miles” since they left Kuzko, figures that are impossible to reconcile. They appear to be somewhere north of California if we judge from the vegetation.
Conan and his crew are attacked by hidden archers as they get water from the mainland, and the strategy reminds the Cimmerian of the Picts he faced earlier in his life. One of the Incas is killed and another is wounded. A caption tells us of “… the moans of wounded man (…) muttered in a tongue as alien to the Cimmerian as his own is to the nobles of the Aquilonian court he rules”. This welcome remark regarding foreign languages would make a lot of sense, except that Conan had no difficulty speaking said “alien tongue” last issue, nor will he have any difficulty speaking the language of the natives we encounter this month.
The attackers remain hidden in the forest that extends all the way to the shoreline, but before Conan and company can make it back to their raft a murder of crows carrying torches set it aflame! Hurrying back aboard, the king chops down the burning mainmast, saving most of the craft, but the mast is lost and in need of replacement. Until repairs can be effected, the journey must stop on this unknown shore.
The very next night, the becalmed raft is attacked by raiders who take the crew captive. They look like they might have walked out of a Rawhide Kid comic, with buckskin pants and feathers in their hair.
Conan wakes up to the sound of drums: the Braves who captured him are in the middle of some ceremony, dancing around a fire, led by a shaman wearing a bear mask. Observing the people around him, the fettered Cimmerian sees that an old man who appears to be the chief doesn’t look pleased with the proceedings; he guesses that he and the bear-masked wizard don’t get along.
That is confirmed when the two men exchange strong words (which we can understand, earlier caption notwithstanding). The wizard, a relative newcomer to the tribe, insists that the Earth god Kutas requires the sacrifice of strength and beauty to put an end to a crop failure. The chief doesn’t like this new idea, as his tribe has always been peaceful before the shaman’s arrival, but he cannot deny the man’s power over animals, proof of his connection to the gods. The sacrifice will therefore proceed: strength will be provided by the big new prisoner, beauty by a lovely female one captured earlier.
Conan and the girl are led to the cave of a great bear that the shaman calls forth, and we understand that the beast and the man share a supernatural bond.
The bear is gigantic, and reeks of rotten meat and decay.
As everybody flinches at the sight of the monster, King Conan sees his chance and gets rid of the men watching him! One gets a headbutt to the nose, another a kick to the groin! Conan then tackles the guard standing next to the female prisoner, and both he and she fall into the bear’s cave, right next to the slobbering beast. The two run past the creature’s claws, and after Conan uses a torch to burn the bonds tying his hands he and the girl run deeper into the cave, bear hot in pursuit.
The plantigrade’s greed proves his undoing as Conan gives it a faceful of fire, and the animal’s fur proves to be quite flammable. Smouldering and definitely angry, the monster continues the chase, but Conan and the girl find a narrow escape route to the outside.
Conan learns that the girl is Ninka, daughter of Mulawi, chieftain of the Shuta tribe. Her people and that of her captors, the Malagu tribe, used to be good neighbours until a poor harvest brought hunger to the Malagu. Unfortunately, before the Shuta could send food to their friends, a man wearing a bear mask walked out of the east; he was Anpakh, who would take the place of the recently deceased shaman of the Malagu and take them down a warlike path. The Shuta bringing relief to the Malagu were slain, and only Ninka was kept as a prisoner to be sacrificed later.
Anpakh seems to be able to communicate with animals, and it is a little unfortunate that no connection is made with the cult of Jebbal Sag, introduced in the story Beyond the Black River (adapted in SSoC 26-27); the children of Jebbal Sag spoke a language common to beasts and men.
Ninka brings Conan to her people, where he is received as a honoured guest and gets a taste of tobacco (in which I suspect there might be something a little stronger).
The pipe brings him visions (nice page design, here).
Conan meets that most sympathetic of American mythological figures, Coyote, who tells him about the animal spirits that we all harbour within us. Coyote tells Conan that Anpakh’s power comes from his knowing his own totem, the bear, and that the Cimmerian must do the same if he is to triumph over the shaman. Conan quickly comes to realize that his own animal spirit is (naturally) Amra, the lion.
After waking up (next to a naked Ninka, with whom his relation remains platonic), Conan shows the peaceful Shuta how to wage guerilla warfare and how to stage an attack on the Malagu village.
Under the tutelage of the greatest warrior of the Hyborian age, the Shuta beat the Malagu, and Conan’s surviving friends (including the grouchy Gobo) are found alive in the enemy village.
Anpakh will not take defeat lying down, of course, and his bear brother erupts from the brush to take on the Shuta invaders. The creature’s head is severely singed, and we see that it's also the case for Anpakh himself: what the bear endures is shared by his spirit brother, and vice-versa. Conan faces the monster, surrounded by the shape of his leonine alter ego; but an axe blow right through the skull fails to kill the bear. As long as Anpakh lives, the beast cannot die! It is Ninka who saves the day by stabbing the shaman, allowing both man and beast to perish together.
The Malagu chief vies for a renewed peace between the two tribes (and why not? He’s just been defeated!) and it looks like the bad days are over.
Conan gets a new mast for his raft and takes his leave, heading north.
Notes:
- An okay tale of “Conan among the Indians”. I liked the fierce but kind nature of Ninka.
- Conan's faithfulness to his wife might be old -fashioned, but I prefer it to the way he cheated on her in King Conan #8 and the way he gave her the cold shoulder in Alan Selenetz's Conan the king, being clearly tempted to jump the fence and run off with Ayelet or an aging Red Sonja. It might be less "interesting" as far as the plot goes, but I find it more noble.
