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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 11, 2016 18:27:09 GMT -5
SSoC #179 ------------- When Conan and the Hyrkanian she-devil are presented with the important bill for all that they consumed, they realize that Valeria has double-crossed them. Conan settles the account by accepting to take part in the inn's ongoing wrestling contest (which he easily wins), and next he promises the Nain that he will recover the idol for them. Under the cover of night, Valeria is speeding away downriver when her new parthers-in-crime decide to have their way with her. Needless to say, they quickly end up as fish food. Alone on the boat, however, Valeria can't navigate properly and gets caught in rapids; she loses control of the rudder and the skiff beaches itself. Leaving the idol behind (as it weighs several hundred pounds), Valeria makes her way to a village where as luck would have it she encounters the Iron Damsels, that all-female team of mercenaries we have met several times in the past. The Damsels are currently unemployed, having been left high and dry by their previous employer, a Vanir leader who hired them to steal the family keep from his brother's grasp before realizing that said brother has apparently spent all of the family's gold. When they see Valeria show up the Iron Damsels start mocking her as a nearly-drowned water rat, before her (invented) tale of woe wins their sympathy. Valeria pretends to be hunted by a lecherous hound of a Cimmerian who wants to steal her virginity. When the Damsels hear that the ruffian's name is Conan, they decide to take Valeria's side -especially as Soraya, the Damsels' leader, is still sore at the Cimmerian's perceived infidelity toward her. Conan and Sonja, pursuing the faithless Valeria downriver, find the abandoned boat with the statue in it. There they reflect for a while on the nature of their relation, opining that they would be a great match were it not for Sonja's vow of never taking a lover who hasn't first defeated her in battle. They also seem to agree that it would be wrong to steal the idol from the Nain, to whom it represents far more than mere wealth but rather the survival of their people. The Iron damsels and Valeria interrupt the scene, and in the midst of much shouting and traded barbs, Valeria's lies are exposed. (Her improvised explanation that the idol is her dowry is hilarious!) Just then the meeting is interrupted by the arrival of the pursuing Vanirmen, the ones who had earlier been chasing the Nain. In the resulting melee, Conan and the women make common cause against the newcomers. Fighting all the way, the Cimmerian and Sonja end up on the boat with the idol, as the current becomes more and more powerful. A bit downriver, there is a great wooden bridge crossing the tumultuous stream; busy fighting their opponents, our heroes can't keep their craft from crashing into one of the bridge's pillars, causing the whole thing to collapse! That's a very spectacular scene, with Kwapisz firing on all cylinders! The boat manages to stay afloat, and one of the Vanir foes ends up with a knife at Sonja's throat, demanding that both the she-devil with a sword and Conan abandon ship. That suddenly starts sounding like a very good idea as the boat nears Hammergodt falls, a mighty cataract that roars its ship-crushing power to the sky! Sonja and Conan jump right before they hit the falls, managing to swim ashore in the rapids; the boat falls down. All our protagonists finally meet near the falls, wet, cold and miserable, and bemoaning the loss of the idol. But then we learn that Conan, too, had meant to steal the idol all along, not caring one whit for the Nain who can well make a new idol out of mud for all he cares! Valeria would like to claw his eyes out, as would Soraya, and only Sonja (disappointed in the Cimmerian’s venal attitude) reflects that Conan is a rogue and is acting according to his nature. All depart, except the Cimmerian who, with a knowing smile, makes his way to the bottom of the falls, where he finds the remains of the boat... with the idol in it! The story concludes with another beautiful landscape by Kwapisz. Notes : - This is the only time Sonja, Valeria and the Iron Damsels will find themselves in the same adventure : a real red-letter day for fans of sword-wielding female characters! - The Vanir mention gods like Woden (Odin) and Hammergodt (whom we understand must be Thor). - Set in the “Chuck Dixon Conan universe”, this story can't really be reconciled with the standard Marvel continuity. Doesn't matter. It was fun! - The Vanir are said to have been both friends and foes to Conan. I like this attitude better than the downright outright hatred of all things Vanir that he manifested in his youth (most notably in CtB #17). I guess he grew a little wiser as he got older.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 11, 2016 18:27:50 GMT -5
SSoC #179 ------------- What dwells belowScript by Eric Fein Art by Ernie Chan I don't think I ever read a story by this writer before. It really reads like an early work. Conan is in a tavern in a town near the "Khitain" border, where he went to rest from his life of wandering. Does it make sense for a European to rest from a life of wandering by traveling to China? I'll let the reader decide. Anyway, none of the characters look even remotely Khitan. As Conan is enjoying his drink, a rude and loud fellow starts acting like a complete jackass, disrespecting a girl in the process. Conan intervenes, perhaps because nobody likes a bully, and trounces the fellow. This seems to be bad news to the villagers because the lout was supposed to undertake a mission in the morrow : travel to the castle of an evil man, there to steal back the daughter of the town's lord, a girl who was abducted to be traded for half the village’s treasure. Taking the place of the man he put out of commission in exchange for the promise of a pouch of gold, Conan travels to the bad guy’s castle. There he finds the evil-faced fellow (he has the face of Swamp Thing) about to feed the girl to a monster he keeps at the bottom of a pit. The hapless child is dangling from a chain just above the reach of the creature. The wizard loudly proclaims that as soon as he gets the ransom, he will let her fall anyway! Such a bad man, although one prone to useful explanatory speeches. Conan jumps in, skewers several of the villain’s’ attendants, and in the confusion ends up dangling on the chain along with the girl. The evil man, for his part, falls into the monster’s maw and is chewed away. Conan lets go of the chain, going for the sword that fell down as well. With his weapon in hand he kills the creature in a single blow, even if it is apparently half the size of King Kong. Conan brings the girl back to her dad, who pays up the promised sum. The man is even ready to pay more, out of gratitude, and to have Conan feted by all the villagers; but the Cimmerian, for Crom knows what reason, decides that he's been paid enough and goes on his merry way. (Conan refusing money? Oy). That's it. No twist ending, no lesson to be learned; Conan sees monster, Conan kills monster. Why would the villain decide he’ll kill his hostage even if he’s paid? Wouldn’t that lead her father to seek bloody revenge? Why dangle her from a chain instead of just keeping her in a cell? No idea. “bad guys are capricious” seems to be the explanation.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 15, 2016 17:39:23 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #180, December 1990 Cover by Ovi No frontispiece art in this issue (the page is now taken by the table of contents) but the inside back cover has a striking piece by Dan Adkins. Table of contentsThe tomb of lost visions, a tale of a very young Conan Several full-page images by Ernie Chan I remember buying this issue in a used bookstore, hidden among piles and piles of worthless material. At the time I had given up on the Conan comics, because I didn't care for the way continuity was simply set aside in it and how editorial clearly saw nothing wrong with not knowing a thing about Robert Howard work (or even about what their own magazine had published in the past). However, even to my then-jaundiced eye, this issue was pretty good!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 15, 2016 17:41:05 GMT -5
SSoC #180 ------------- The tomb of lost visionsScript by Gerry Conway Art by Mike Docherty, Alfredo Alcala and several other uncredited inkers, among whom I'm sure I recognize Ricardo Villagran. Gerry Conway, a friend of Roy Thomas, is prone to drop bits of continuity in his Conan stories. This happens a few times in this issue, which brought solace to the continuity-deprived reader I was back then. Conan is a very young man here, at a time between CtB#3 and #4. Leaving Cimmeria for Aesgaard, the lad had served as a mercenary with the Aesir for a while against the Vanir in the west, the in the east against the Hyperboreans. Captured by the latter and later escaping south, he had crossed Brythunia and reached Zamora, a non-Hyborian country. There he would for a time lead the life of a thief. In this issue, he's reached Zamora but hasn't yet begun his thieving career and serves as a guard for prefect Antagonides in the city of Ramaraj. (Conan seems to be fluent in the Zamoran language, despite his recent arrival; that was also the case when he met North American natives in an earlier Conway story). I like the way Conway writes Conan as an inexperienced, naive, brash and yet bold youngster; he makes mistakes, he hasn't learned patience yet; in a word... he's young. Not having been around for long hasn't kept the wide shouldered youth from already cultivating an affair with the prefect's favourite mistress, the lovely Syreena, who seems genuinely smitten with her young new lover. After a nightly encounter with Syreena in the prefect's gardens, Conan is intrigued by the meeting the cuckolded administrator has with by three Khaurani travellers. An encounter so late at night surely means they have something important to discuss, which might mean there's an opportunity for profit for the Cimmerian. Climbing the tower at the top of which the meeting is held, he misses most of the exchange but learns that the trio of visitors has left a casket full of jewels in the prefect's care, and that this valuable item is to be deposited in the chambers "below the dungeon". (We readers were privy to the actual encounter. The three Khauranis want to strike a deal with the prefect. They will provide him the means of toppling Zamora's king, Tiridates, if the prefect then allows them to recover the bones of an important prophet of their religion, bones that are hidden in the capital. To seal their alliance, they are willing to trust him with a casket containing magical objects (we do not know what) that a spell makes us see as gems. They and the prefect are to meet a few days hence in the mountains, where they will give him what he needs). Conan returns to the gardens and the sleeping Syreena, but both lovers are then caught by the overbearing Sgt. Romatha, a bully who also has an eye on the lady. He sends Conan back to the barracks, promising to concoct an appropriate disciplinary measure for him come morning. The next day Romatha leads the guards to the city's plaza where he decides that Conan will man a smithy's bellows all day, under a burning sun, and all night as well for the forge to be ready the following morning. All without water, naturally. Conan refrains from making a scene, remembering that payday is coming and that he has to stick around at least long enough to get a chance to steal the casket of jewels. Demonstrating rare stamina, he pumps air all day over the coals of the forge, eliciting a good natured barb from the smith who says Conan makes him look like a slacker. When the night comes, as his fellow guards are taking it easier, the Cimmerian keeps working like a madman... at one point, he even grabs a hammer and starts forging something on the anvil! (Remember, Conan's father is a smith; the lad knows how to handle the tools of the trade). The next morning, Romatha expects to find the young recruit humiliated and exhausted, but instead finds that Conan is as defiant as ever. Lightly throwing a new sword at his superior, Conan explains "I didn't want the coals to go to waste so I made you this, sergent Romatha! It has a nice heft to it!" The sword is a huge thing, and even if the Cimmerian managed to throw it one handed, Romatha is unable to keep it from heavily falling to the ground. The lad is probably proud of his cocky attitude, but Romatha turns the tables on him come payday : Conan's salary is declared forfeit and pocketed by the sergent. Disconsolate, the broke young Cimmerian accompanies his colleagues to a tavern where he can't pay for a drink and where nobody accepts his arm-wrestling challenge (knowing the big youth has no coin to pay should he lose, which seems rather improbable in any case). Brooding, Conan observes an old thief, the weasely Klepsis, adroitly purloining the money pouch of a drunken customer. Intrigued by this means of raising capital, Conan follows Klepsis and persuades him to become his teacher in the art of thievery. The following nights see Conan, who is really too big to make a good thief, accompanying Klepsis on a few adventures. The thief is a real fount of folk-wisdom regarding his ignoble art but isn't as swift as he used to be; Conan even has to save him from angry guards at one point. Returning from a nightly foray, Conan witnesses the departure of the three Khauranis from the prefect's villa; as the hood of one of them is briefly pulled away, it is revealed that these guys have horns on their head and look definitely unnatural. Determined to steal the gem-filled casket, Conan devises a plan to enter the dungeon. For some undisclosed reason typical of pulp magazine stories, the Cimmerian decides that the best way to do so is to get arrested, hoping to be sequestered next to the jewels. The idea that he might be chained to a wall in the process doesn't seem to strike his inexperienced mind (I told you he was young)! The barbarian starts by robbing the prefect's paymaster in broad daylight, and next proceeds to spend the money in a local tavern, making as much noise as possible. When the police force fails to come and arrest him, he starts a bar fight. Eventually the authorities take notice and finally subdue him, much to his relief. That's where the ill-advised plan reveals its caveats : instead of being simply locked in a cell with a flimsy door and no guard, the Cimmerian is suspended by four ropes, spread-eagled, over a huge vat of boiling oil; Sgt. Romatha even has the pleasure of hanging the huge sword Conan forged earlier on his hated recruit's neck. His avowed goal is to see the Cimmerian's bull neck eventually tire, causing him to lower the head and drop the sword in the oil, resulting in a searing and painful splash. But hey, this is Conan we're talking about! He does drop his head, but the sword doesn't go far before the barbarian catches the thong it's tied to with his teeth. The blade swings back up, cutting one of the thongs binding him; he then quickly grabs the heavy weapon and frees himself, swinging away from the vat of oil which he topples toward the assembled guards. In the resulting tumult, he escapes the dungeon and makes his way to the chambers below, where he finds the coveted casket before making good his escape through the sewers!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 15, 2016 17:41:57 GMT -5
SSoC #180 ------------- There is however little honour among thieves; soon thereafter, Conan's teacher Klepsis tries to abscond with the loot. Little does he know that the three Khaurani demons have a mean of looking through the jewels at anyone opening the casket, and they easily recover it from him as he tries to put some distance between himself and his pupil. Conan feigns to believe Klepsis,s explanation that the casket was stolen from them as they both were sleeping, and decides they will have to trail the prefect as he travels to his meeting with his accomplices. Accompanied by his mistress Syreena, Sgt. Romatha and a few guards, the prefect gets on his way. He doesn't have to go all the way to the mountain rendez-vous as he thought, for he meets the three demons in a forest on the way; they explain that they didn't want to reveal what their actual destination was and gave him false directions. The spot they can get the prefect the means top topple the Zamoran ruler is to be found right there, under a dolmen rising from the forest. While the demons make their magic preparation with their mysterious casket, the prefect has noisy sex with Syreena in his tent, making Sgt. Romatha feel more and more hot and bothered. A bit later, as the moon fantastically takes the form of giant celestial eye (cool visuals, here!) the three demons cause the ground below the dolmen to open up and reveal a circular well leading to subterranean tunnels. The forest around the dolmen also changes, taking a more primeval aspect. The trio, the prefect and some guards descend into the darkness. Meanwhile, seeing his chance, Romatha enters the prefect's tent and tries to have his way with Syreena. Luckily Conan intervenes and, catching Romatha with his pants down (literally), performs an impromptu and permanent lobotomy on his enemy. Conan, Klepsis and the brave Syreena then decide to follow the prefect's group underground, still intent on recovering the casket of gems. Apparently the three demons can use their magic to reach into the past and their plan to put the prefect on the throne involves providing him with an army of giant reptilian monsters, one of which they cause to emerge from a subterranean lake. When Conan shows up and goes after the casket again, the expected sort of mayhem ensues; there are sword fights, fights against the monster, fights against a giant snake and the eventual collapsing of the tunnels when a good kick is given to a certain stone that seems to be the equivalent of an auto-destruct button. Anyway, as you'd expect, Conan, Klepsis and Syreena all escape eventually, and with the casket to boot! Conan and Syreena part from Klepsis on bittersweet terms; the old thief, for all that he's a sympathetic scoundrel, has tried to double-cross his pupil too many times; Conan has no qualms about leaving him then and there, without a share of the booty. After cursing a lot, Klepsis eventually finds the humour in this turn of event and laughs good-naturedly. Conan and Syreena make camp, but when Conan opens the casket to show the gems to his girlfriend she exclaims "they're not jewels!" before being magically turned into water. The jewels are eyes, cursed eyes, with sorcerous powers! Conan kicks the casket away without looking at the damned thing too closely, and reflects upon how much sorcery can't be trusted. Notes : - Conan is probably 17 in this story, set before "The tower of the elephant". (Says Howard : As you deduct, Conan was about seventeen when he was introduced to the public in "The Tower of the Elephant.") - Syreena was a pretty good character, brave, smart and loyal. Her death was a real blow, which shows that Conway did a good job in developing her. - Zamora's king is named Tiridates here, and we don't know whet he looks like. Tiridates may be the unnamed Zamoran king we saw in issue #81, in a story set shortly after this one. We know that five years later, in SSoC #1, the king of Zamora was named Hadranor. - Several in-story references to other tales are made, much to my delight. Conan is still wearing his yak-horn helmet from CtB #1-6. The prefect mentions the wizard Yara from Arenjun, who is said to have turned a prince to a spider (a reference to "The tower of the elephant", CtB #4 and SSoC # 24). When lowering himself in the caverns, Conan mentions having recently climbed down a crypt and faced a creature in it, a reference to "The thing in the crypt" adapted in CtB #92. Conan learning how to be a thief is also a nice continuity touch.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 15, 2016 17:54:16 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #181, January 1991 Cover by Dorian Nice pin-up somewhere in the mag, by Wagner and McLeod. Table of contents
Two Conan adventures, The face of God and The rescueNo! No! NO!!! After all the appropriate continuity references of the previous issue... this. Two stories in the purest tradition of the '80s, in which writers do whatever they want with Conan's history. Invented gods. Incorrect Hyborian age history. Wrong names for rulers. Wrong geopolitics. Wrong description of cultures. Countries mistaken for cities. That's just the stuff that sent me packing at some point, turning my back on years and years of Conan comics collecting. Editor! Where's the editor? Not that the stories are all that bad (well... the first one isn't). Paul Kupperberg even tells a pretty intelligent and engaging fantasy story in "The face of God". But you can't just shoehorn certain concepts into the world of Conan; if its pseudo-historical coherence is to be maintained, one has to go the extra mile and make sure that one's story makes sense in this particular context. That means, as far as certain other writers are concerned, no flying cities; no giant mechanical tortoises; no Conan wasting his youth pushing a bloody wheel. In the case of "The face of God", it would mean not contradicting what Robert E.Howard has established (and hopefully doing the same thing for Roy Thomas).
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 15, 2016 18:07:33 GMT -5
SSoC #181 ------------- The face of GodStory by Paul Kupperberg Art by Mike Docherty and Ricardo Villagran I'm going to criticize several aspects of this story, so let's start with praise instead of wallowing in negativity. The art is pretty good; Docherty and Villagran make a great team, one that meshes as well as the teams of Byrne and Austin, Colan and Palmer or Buscema and Chan. The backgrounds are a little sparse (especially compared to the work of Gary Kwapisz), but the action scenes are very dynamic. The story is a reflection on responsibility and sacrifice, at the level of individuals, politicians and even gods, and if it was a stand-alone tale of Grunt the Wisigoth instead of Conan the Cimmerian I would give it very high marks indeed. What kills the story for me are all the Hyborian wrong notes scattered along the way. That's unfortunate, because otherwise the tale is fine. It all begins on a battlefield where Conan, once again, is one of the few survivors still fighting on the losing side. A caption informs us that he was part of a rebel army that tried to topple the Zamoran king, whose troops just crushed the upstarts. As Conan is surrounded by overwhelming numbers, the Zamoran general Ganth suddenly realizes something and orders his men not to harm the Cimmerian. Ganth, like most Zamorans we meet in this story, swears by "Sareth". Sareth? What's a Sareth? Why not use one of the known gods worshipped in Zamora like Bel, Omm, Ishtar or Nergal? Conan is knocked out and carried to the "city of Zamora". There is no city of Zamora. Zamora is not a city-state, it is one of the major countries of its time; its capital is named Shadizar. "Shadizar the wicked", even, and that will be an important point later on. Ganth brings Conan to his king, a plump fellow named Fahl. Never heard of a king Fahl of Zamora, never will again. Ganth explains why he spared Conan's life, and why the man could serve the interests of the kingdom : it turns out that he's the spitting image of the famous and popular demi-god Shan, a great warrior deified centuries before! The proof is to be seen on "the shield of Shan", a shield on which the face of the god is etched : he and Conan could indeed be twins. What in Crom's name??? Conan has the same face as a famous Zamoran god? Really? And nobody ever mentioned it during the years the man spent in the country at different times in his life? And who is this famous "Shan" anyway? How can a major deity never be mentioned in all the years Conan has had adventures in Zamora? Come on, you can't pull that kind of stunt when decades of continuity go against it. If you really have to to make Conan look like a demi-god, fine; but set your story in some small city-state no one's ever heard of, not in a major kingdom like Zamora! Well, in any case, let's play ball. Ganth's idea is to hire Conan to play the role of Shan returned; since the god is extremely popular with the people, they will go along with whatever he says (and in this case it will be something like "be nice and obedient citizens to your good King Fahl"). Even more : with a capable soldier like Conan playing his role, the returned Shan could lead a crusade against Brythunia, the country located northwest of Zamora. Why Brythunia? (It could have been because the country has been pummelled again anad again by Nemedia, as shown in Chuck Dixon's stories, but no). The reason is that Zamora is apparently a young country that escaped the domination of Brythunian masters in the not so distant past, and it would like to get even. Woah, hold your horses! Zamora's history is nothing like that. The country was founded by the Zhemri, a pre-cataclysmic people; it emerged completely independently from the rise of the Hyborian kingdoms to the west. From what we read in Howard's essay The Hyborian age, Zamora even seems to predate Brythunia by at least a few centuries: Be that as it may, Conan agrees to the plan because the money is good, and because it beats being executed as a rebel. The high priest of Shan, a weak and elderly man, has a few scruples about the deception but is made to understand that at his age, finding himself unemployed could prove very uncomfortable. The good people of Zamora assemble in front of the temple of Shan when called by its bells, and witness the return of their god; they all cheer and sing his praise and Conan gets drunk on the public adulation. Aaaaaand I have another problem. Who are all these honest, god-fearing and devout people? Zamora's capital is named, as noted earlier, Shadizar the wicked, for heaven's sake! The entire country is a den of iniquity, a wretched hive of scum and villainy, in which the second city in order of importance doesn't even have a name in Howard's original stories because everyone calls it "The City of Thieves"! Once again, this development would have worked in some other city, but certainly not in the capital of Zamora. Conan plays his role well, but some citizens are not convinced. A rebel leader named Bren, a true man of the people, suspects that this Shan is an imposter in the pocket of the tyrannical king Fahl. When Conan manages to play hooky from the royal palace for a night of carousing in the city's seedier district, Bren's men try to kill him. They fail miserably, but Conan spares Bren's life, realizing that the man is not an evil guy but an idealist. Bren makes a second attempt a few nights later, this time leading a band right to the palace, hoping to get inside and kill the false god; unluckily for him, general Ganth is a competent man who expected just such a move and has placed archers all around the premises. Bren's men are slaughtered and he barely escapes himself, an arrow jutting from his shoulder blade. Ganth and Fahl's plan proceeds apace and "Shan" leads a rag-tag army of devout Zamorans in a crusade against the Brythunians. When they reach the border, a Brythunian officer swears "by Dehdra"; he never expected Zamora to be able to assemble such an army. "Dehdra"? Who's Dehdra? Most Hyborians are monotheists and worship Mitra. The few who don't are located south of Brythunia, in Koth and Khoraja, where the cult of Shemite gods and goddesses like Ishtar established itself. But Dehdra? Why mention yet another made-up god? (there's even one more new deity mentioned in the book, someone named "Zamm". At least that one has a name that sounds like both Omm and Zath, two actual Zamoran spider-gods). The Zamorans and Brythunians clash while king Fahl witnesses the scene from his comfy chair behind the battle lines in the company of general Ganth. Things go well for Conan's side, when a divine voice stops the proceedings and a lightning bolt strikes the ground, revealing the giant form of Shan! The real one! Shan does indeed look like Conan; heck, they’re even dressed the same, since Conan is wearing a Shan disguise. The only difference is that the god is ten feet tall. Shan is furious that his Zamorans are waging war following an imposter. Let them make war as much as they like, sure, but it should be in HIS name only! (This actually makes little sense. Conan might be an imposter, but the war being waged IS in Shan's name, not in Conan's. Shan gets all the glory he seems to crave, but doesn't have to do any work. I guess he's a little full of himself and none too bright as deities go). The people realize they have been abused, and abase themselves in front of their god. Shan blasts king Fahl and general Ganth with bolts of lightning, along with all those who orchestrated the deception. As for Conan, Shan intends to take care of him mano a mano. Give this to Conan : for a guy who's scared of the supernatural, he doesn't seem overly stressed at being singled out for destruction by a god. He defiantly challenges Shan, and the two start fighting with swords. (It looks pretty bad ass to have Conan face a guy twice his size, but come on... wouldn't Shan cleave him in two with the first blow? It's like a guy facing a steam shovel in a boxing match). As they clash, Conan throws a lot of harsh truths at the irate deity. He points out that *he*, Shan, is the real betrayer : how for centuries he has basked in the people's adoration and has heard their prayers while letting them stew in poverty and oppression. He never lifted one of his divine fingers in their behalf, and intervened today solely because he was jealous of an imposter taking his place. As Conan talks the reality of his words has an effect on the Zamorans present, and their faith in Shan is shaken. Since apparently a god's power is proportional to how much people love him, Shan starts shrinking down to human size. (Again, that's pretty convenient... Aren't there millions of Zamoran citizens elsewhere in the country whose faith is as strong as ever?) Eventually, Shan gets to a killable size and Conan runs him through. The god's body flies back to heaven, there to endure the jeers of other Zamoran gods. When the dust clears, the Zamorans thrown themselves on the ground again, ready to worship Conan as a more proper god and offering him the throne that's just been vacated by the disintegrated Fahl. Conan rebukes them for being willing to exchange one tyrant for another and tells them to start taking charge of their own lives. He refuses the throne, saying that while he always thought he'd be a king someday, it wasn't in Zamora, and that if they really need a king they should go and find the rebel Bren, who has their best interest at heart. Er... why? If the past is any indication, Conan would accept any throne, anywhere, provided it brought him wine, women, fortune and power. At different times he tried to carve a kingdom for himself in Afghulistan; carved a kingdom for himself as chief of the Bamulas; did become king of Tombalku and finally became and remained king of Aquilonia not because that kingdom was his ultimate goal, but because that's the only time things worked out. I see no reason why he'd refuse the throne of Zamora if offered. But hey, perhaps Grunt the Wisigoth might! Notes : - No chronology hint allows us to place this story, but considering its several continuity incongruities it should anyway go into the "out of continuity file". - The theme of responsibility is very interestingly explored in this story. Even the weak high priest has a change of heart at one point, and goes back to the side of the angels. - General Ganth is a good character : he's competent and shrewd, and not given to histrionics. Excellent multi-layered villain.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 15, 2016 18:13:50 GMT -5
SSoC #181 ------------- The rescueStory by Dwight Jon Zimmerman Art by Tony DeZuniga "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a sword and sorcery story. Once it is done, you will call its hero Conan. The name of any country in it will be chosen at random on the Hyborian age map we used to see on the second page of this magazine. As always, should your story contradict continuity, the editorial staff will disavow any knowledge of such a thing".This short tale involves the attempted rescue of the crown prince of Khoraja, a rescue led by his sister with the help of Conan and a few nobles. "Ah, yes", you might say. "Princess Yasmela of Khoraja from Black colossus, whose brother Khossus was abducted by the king of Ophir... but wasn't he king of Khoraja instead of crown prince? And wasn't he freed by Conan in CtB annual #3 and restored to his throne?" Alas, no. This particular princess is named "Midea, warrior-princess of Khoraja". One has to assume that either the entire royal house of Khoraja has been murdered and replaced since the time of Black colossus, or that the writer didn't read Robert Howard's stories. (Why choose Khoraja at all? this story could be set anywhere; this would have been a good time to invent the name of some Shemitish city-state). A caption also claims that Khoraja is remote and dangerous and that brigands and renegades would much rather kill each other than try to seek sanctuary in its cursed hills. Khoraja is remote from what, exactly? it's right next to Koth, and it sounded just like a normal kingdom in Black colossus. Certainly it wasn't described as a dangerous place. Aaaaaanyhoo. So the rescuers have made it to a spot in the mountains where a certain altar is currently occupied by the spread-eagled form of the prince, surrounded by nasty-looking evil priests who intend to perform evil priestly acts on him. Before doing anything else, Conan insists on receiving the six gold pieces he was promised to get this far while the nobles that form the rest of the crew protest that they just want to serve the princess and expect no reward. Seemingly touched by such nobility, Midea asks them if they'd be ready to take a blood oath on that and offers them to cut their palms on her dagger, something all of them agree to do. The Khorajans and the Cimmerian interrupt the sacrifice or whatever it is that the priests were doing, and kill them all. But then the princess stabs her own brother, which triggers the apparition of a cat-headed cloudy creature, the god "Z'Un Tha"! As for the Khorajans, they are now all mind-controlled due to the oath they made earlier on the princess's dagger! The villainous beauty never meant to save her brother at all, she made a pact with an evil godling to get the throne for herself! As part of the deal, she was to summon the cat-headed thing. Z'Un Tha needs a host body to remain in our world and give Midea all the power he promised, and he's elected Conan as his next earthly pied-à-terre. But the resourceful Cimmerian, well versed in the art of comic-book logic, understands that the dagger that controls the Khorajans' minds is certainly the key to send Z'Un Tha back to where he came from. He steals the weapon from the princess and stabs the cloudy cat-headed god, and all of a sudden god, princess and Khorajans are whisked away to some netherworld. Conan remains alone, intending to spend his gold coins in a tavern. 'Nuff said.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 16, 2016 15:47:33 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #182, February 1991 Cover by Ovi Several pin-ups by Ricardo Villagran, whose inking I always enjoyed. Clearly his pencils are pretty noticeable too!!! Table of contentsThe devourers, wherein Conan faces an unbeatbale army Matters of life and death, a tale of young Conan The man who would be king, in which an unusual sort of usurper finds his just rewards The letters page mentions that John Buscema would return to the mag as its principal penciller with issue #190. Little did readers know that this return would be accompanied by that of stellar Conan scribe Roy Thomas!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 16, 2016 16:06:00 GMT -5
SSoC #182 ------------- The devourersScript by Doug Murray Art by Rich Buckler and Romeo Tanghal Doug Murray is best known for his work on The ‘Nam, which was an outstanding comic-book in the '80s. In a previous issue, #171, he had referenced the modern story “the most dangerous game”; here he does the same with the 1954 movie The naked jungle. (He also references the movie Conan the barbarian, alas, as the Cimmerian asks someone "do you want to live forever?" - the less that film is referenced in the comic, the happier I am). The story is different from what we’ve seen before in the mag, since Conan faces a force of nature instead of human or supernatural enemies. The art by Buckler and Tanghal is serviceable (I remember thinking “Romeo Tanghal? Isn’t he the inker on teen Titans?” when I first read the story... never really pictured him as a Marvel contributor). Many images have a familiar feel, and at least two are swipes from earlier SSoC issues (see below). Some sequences are however pretty well drawn. Conan is in a southern jungle with a trio of partners : massive Galter, ever-complaining Athicus and even-tempered Escelan. Since Conan is called “captain” on occasion, maybe they’re all pirates who have taken a working vacation on land (Athicus certainly looks piratical) but it’s hard to tell. They are currently looking for a certain lost city they heard of from a stranger a few days prior. Right from the start, much to my chagrin, we enter Bad Hyboriana territory. The quartet of adventurers is following the river Zarkheba in search of their rumoured lost city. Sigh. Let’s quote from a Robert E. Howard story, The queen of the Black Coast. You’ll remember the rest : there was indeed a lost city upstream of that cursed and feared river, one that caused the death of Bêlit and her entire crew. Conan would never go back there willingly. And even if he did move beyond the trauma of that adventure and was ready to dare the Zarkheba again, he wouldn’t have to wait for a stranger to tell him where to find a lost city on it: he already knows where to find one, still with a lot of buried treasure. My guess is that Murray wanted a southern spot on the map where he could believably use army ants, and he chose the Zarkheba river because it’s one of the few places on the map with an actual name. The four men encounter a city, but it is hardly a lost one : it looks like an opulent town, one with a massive dam holding back the waters of a lake. The dam is a beautifully carved work of wood, with hundreds of faces of gods on it. The city, strangely enough, is deserted. Upon inspection, the town reveals itself to be filled with gold, jewels and other valuables. The lack of damage to the houses suggests that the inhabitants all fled in a hurry for an undisclosed reason. In one of the houses, they find a blond girl tied to a bed. When her gag is removed, she warns them to beware the maribunta! (For those who haven’t seen the film, the maribunta are what it called army ants; the proper name is apparently mar abunta. But I'm no myrmecologist). Escelan knows exactly what the girl is talking about, and he runs out of the house to inspect the horizon. There are the ants, marching upon the town in wave upon wave of ravenous insects, like a moving black lake. They look like they’ll be there the next day. Making camp for the night, Conan and his comrades talk with the girl they freed. Her name is…. er… let me check… say, we never get her name! Conan just calls her “girl” throughout the book! (That could count as the story’s second reference to the Conan the barbarian movie, in which Valeria was never called by name before the credits rolled). In any case, she explains that her erstwhile master, a fellow named Moloch, is the one who directed Conan and his friends to this place. He probably wanted them to fall prey to the maribunta, which would have kept them from raiding his own caravan, one carrying an important treasure. Moloch, a resourceful if immoral entrepreneur, has been following the maribunta for weeks, pillaging the towns the insects clear of anything alive. When the wave of ants eventually turned toward the girl’s native village she broke away from her master to warn its inhabitants. Moloch caught up with her before she could flee with the others and left her tied up to the bed to be eaten alive by the maribunta. This story turns out to be true, but had I been Inspector Conan I would have raised the following points: 1- How can a fair-skinned blonde be native to a village on the banks of the Zarkheba river? That’s deep in equatorial Africa. 2- How come she stayed in town long enough for Moloch to catch her instead of fleeing with the other inhabitants? There was no trace of fighting, so it’s not as if she was just among a few stragglers who were surprised by Moloch's men; she must truly have been the last person around when he showed up. 3- If Moloch did reach the abandoned town, why did he not plunder it? Conan and his friends found the town still full of gold and other valuables. 4- Why would Moloch approach Conan at all with a lost city story? How could he have known that a quartet of men in a Kushite town could potentially prove a threat to him and his caravan? And instead of concocting a tale about a lost city, why not tell the truth and say “there’s an abandoned town a day's march from here, abandoned by its citizens who fear the arrival of army ants? I’m sure a few bugs wouldn’t scare a big fellow like you". It is also not explained why Conan and his crew stay in town and try to defend it instead of running for their lives. What are they trying to do? There's nobody to be saved, and if they want to secure the loot, all they have to do is let the ants do their thing and return in a few days. Conan and the girl retire for the night, which is a kind of crappy thing to do as the Cimmerian had ordered Athicus to stay away from her. That does nothing for the pirate’s morale, and he mutters words that bodes ill for the future. In fact, the next morning, when Athicus walks into Conan and the girl’s room “to warn them”, he has a drawn knife in hand… one which he prudently puts away when Conan wakes with a start. Escelan, who is familiar with this part of the world and the maribunta, is busy preparing his own death; fatalistically, he carves religious symbols in his own skin. The ants are moving closer to town. Conan, the girl, Athicus and Galter go take a close look at the moving arthropod army. Galter gets careless and tries to stomp a few; in a matter of seconds he is covered in ants and eaten alive. The other three prudently run back to town. To try and stop the maribunta, they dig a trench across the army’s path; a trench that they fill with naptha. (There are barrels and barrels of the stuff in town; it is apparently used to waterproof the roofs). The naptha is then set aflame. The wall of fire that results stops the ants for a while, but it is clear the defenders will run out of naphta before the army runs out of ants. Next, Conan decides to drown the little devils. he orders his comrades to start weakening the dam that overlooks the town. Escelan considers that such an act defies the will of the gods. He apologetically attacks Conan, claiming that even if he doesn’t want to hurt him, he can’t let him damage what is clearly a divine construction. The battle that follows in stopped when Athicus shoots Escelan in the back. One hour later, the ants cross the fiery moat almost before the sapping work is done. It is all that Conan and Co. can do to set the wooden dam on fire using more naphta, and climbing on an upper section to escape the flood they hope to trigger before the maribunta show up. The plan works! The dam finally bursts! Alas, Athicus is caught in the rushing waters and brutally carried by the flood that runs through the town’s streets. When he is found again, he is almost dead; Conan gives him his part of the loot before the pirate expires, and the man says he had misjudged his captain. Conan and the girl leave, with the Cimmerian promising to find Moloch and have a word with him about the difference between thieves and ghouls. Notes : - If Conan is a pirate, this story would probably occur during his Barachan career; he’d be around 36. - In hindsight, if Conan had just moved a few kilometers out of the maribunta's way, everybody would have been perfectly safe. They could have moved back after the ants were gone, filled their pockets, and returned rich to the coast. Later, the city's inhabitants would have returned to find their town a little poorer, but in perfect shape. As it is, Conan did get some loot, but his three comrades are dead and the city and its beautiful and useful dam are destroyed. No wonder they call him a barbarian! - Here is an example of what I suspect are several swiped images in this issue. The one on the left is the original, by Buscema and DeZuniga. Here’s another; the original on the left is by the same team.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 16, 2016 16:10:29 GMT -5
SSoC #182 ------------- Matters of life and deathStory by Steve Proudfoot Art by Armando Gil A rare instance of a story featuring young Conan prior to his first foray into the southern lands. Here he must be 16 or 17, fighting along the Aesir against the Vanir. Conan notices an Aesir youth who carries a shield but no sword. Following the lad into the woods and half-suspecting him of working for the enemy, the Cimmerian questions him about his lack of weapon. The young Aesir eventually tells Conan about how he killed his drunken father with his own sword as the man was beating his mother, and that since then he has decided not to use an attack weapon anymore. When Vanir warriors suddenly erupt from the forest and attack the pair, the Aesir lad shows that he handles a shield just as well as could be hoped, using it offensively as well as defensively. The Vanir are slain to the last man, and Conan accepts that it doesn’t require a sword to make a man brave in battle. The two leave the scene, well on their way to become good friends. The man who would be kingStory by John Arcudi Art by Fred Carillo A nice and plausible twist on an old theme: naturally, few people in the kingdom of Valusia would actually know what their king looks like! A thief named Dendor decides to take advantage of the fact, leading his bands of brigands in unsuspecting villages, wearing a crown and pretending to be King Kull. The villages next fall prey to his band. A lad escapes just such an attack on his home and makes his way to Brule the spear-slayer, who is in the region with a cohort of Red Slayers, hunting the last followers of the wizard Ohris Dehjmal. Brule decides to set a trap for the fake Kull. The trap is sprung in the next village and Dendor deserts his men, wounded and scared. Just a few minutes ahead of the pursuing Red Slayers, Dendors runs by accident into the camp of the last followers of Dehjmal, whom he doesn’t know are enemies of the king. He begs for their assistance, pretending to be Kull running from bandits. The wizard’s followers make ready to slay him then and there, when Dendor realizes his mistake and starts explaining that he’s not really Kull. His begging half convinces his captors, for he's definitely not as big nor as brave as they made Kull to be, and he doesn’t have his famous scar. But right then the Red Slayers show up, and the Dehjmal cultists are convinced they must be there to rescue their king; they cut Dendor to little pieces before being slain in turn by Kull’s soldiers. The only part of dendor that makes it back to the City of Winders in his head, kept in a box as a prop for this story when it will be told to Kull. This issue marks something of a landmark for this thread : it was the final issue in my first SSoC long box! Now on to the second!
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Post by foxley on Apr 16, 2016 21:46:56 GMT -5
"The Devourers" sounds like in had the makings of a decent Conan story, if had been set somewhere other than the Zarkheba river (which could be charitably ascribed to being a chronicler's error). I like the idea of Conan having to confront an unstoppable force of nature, and the idea of a villain following the trail of ants to loot the towns they overrun is a good twist and a sound idea. After all, the ants aren't going to consume gems or precious metals.
"Leiningen Versus the Ants" is the classic short story (originally in German) that was the was the basis for ''The Naked Jungle'', and has inspired many stories of a hero standing against a horde of advancing ants (including a MacGyver episode). Where the Conan tale falls down (as you pointed out) is that Conan had no reason not to retreat. In the original story, Leiningen refused to leave because it was his plantation that was under threat and he was not surrendering what he worked so hard to carve out of the jungle. Most the problems (but not all) in "The Devourers" would disappear if Conan was forced to stay, either by having something he needed to protect in the town, or by having escape cut off (e.g. by having the town hemmed in by jungle on all sides, and one of his companions steals their boat to escape).
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Post by jbruel0 on Apr 17, 2016 3:06:47 GMT -5
"The letters page mentions that John Buscema would return to the mag as its principal penciller with issue #190. Little did readers know that this return would be accompanied by that of stellar Conan scribe Roy Thomas!"The pity is that it was done only in 3 occasions (the coming of Conan and the last two number episods) while announced in many opportunities. The poor quality of the drawings up to number 235 is certainly the main reason of the reader lost of interest, after King Conan stop and Conan the Barbarian drawings quality drop and stop too. The only announcement of SSoC termination in number 234 and no reader Swords and Scrolls Q/A in 235 was disappointing...
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 24, 2016 10:02:48 GMT -5
Savage sword of Conan #183, March 1991 Cover by Dorian, featuring a scene from this issue's main story. Table of contents The decapitating god, a story of Conan as leader of those desert warriors, the Zuagirs Threnody, a King Kull story
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 24, 2016 10:03:49 GMT -5
SSoC #183 ------------- The decapitating godStory by Chuck Dixon Art by Ernie Chan The city-state of Shushan, in Shem, is ruled by a rather indecisive King Bharri Zhan who seems to enjoy the perks of his job far more than its responsibilities. When an astrologer forecasts the return of the ancient god Kah-tah-dhen and an imminent earthquake that comes to pass almost immediately, King Bharri Zhan takes the man's warning seriously and sends a few soldiers to inspect the quake's epicentre, some distance to the east. (How Shemites from 10 000 years ago knew about epicentres is not explained, and actually not that important). Reaching the mountain of Kah-tah-dhen, also known as the decapitating god, the soldiers momentarily lose sight of one of their own. When the man's horse brings him back, the hapless soldier is missing his head! His colleagues flee in panic to make their report. Back in Shushan, the king's councillors are divided on the course of action to follow. Kah-tah-dhen might be assuaged by sacrificing him the most beautiful woman in the land, but it could also be worthwhile to send the best warrior of Shushan get rid of the creature. Not being a man of decisions, the king sends both his favourite mistress and the brawny Lord Kharga. The departure of the small caravan for Mt. Kah-tah-dhen is witnessed by two goofy rogues, Yuseph and his partner, who reflect that a camel train leaving Shushan might very well carry treasure and that the desert raider Conan and his Zuagirs might pay for the information. The pair makes its way to the Zuagir encampment at an oasis. The Zuagirs are enduring lean times : the summer is too hot for caravans to travel, and they have no one to rob. Receiving Yuseph, Conan decides that a phantom hope is better than nothing at all and he, the warrior-woman Vivalda and the Zuagirs decide to track king Bharri Zhan's envoys. Analyzing the camel tracks and observing the caravan from afar, Conan concludes that the two rogues let their imagination go wild; far from the hundred camels and horses they described, there are barely more than a dozen beasts; furthermore they are clearly traveling light, not carrying any treasure. Still, he reflects, perhaps they are on their way to pick something valuable and so the Zuagirs will keep tracking them. The travellers, unaware that they're being spied on, go about their business. When the beauteous Alana discovers that her own king and lover is ready to let her be sacrificed to the decapitating god, she is heartbroken. (A while later Conan witnesses her bathing, an activity for which he is rewarded by a right cross to the chin from the jealous Vitalia). Meanwhile, the vain Lord Kharga brags about how he'll kill Kah-Tah-Dehn and become famous. When the caravan and then the Zuagirs get in reach of Mount Kah-Tah-Dehn, a few of Conan's men try to mutiny; the Cimmerian has to kill a few and then shame the rest into accompanying him, pointing out that Vitalia means to go on and that anyone who backs out now will live with the knowledge that a woman was braver than they. Realizing that the caravan must be there for some religious reason related to Kah-Tah-Dehn, Conan means to follow them to whatever temple might be hiding in the mountain, for who has ever heard of a cult that did not bring tribute to its god? Kah-Tah-Dehn's temple is hidden in caves. There is indeed an abundance of riches stacked in there, undisturbed for centuries. Exploring the underground network adjacent to the temple, the Shushanites discover a huge pile of skulls that turn out to be filled with hand-sized venomous spiders. Lord Kharga takes Alana with him deeper in the caves, saying that he'll try the sacrifice approach first and engage the god in battle if that fails. Out of everyone else's eyesight, he then tells Alana that he might decide to forego starting with the sacrifice if she agrees to have sex with him right there and then. Alana defends herself and throws sand in the ruffian’s eyes, and then escapes his grasp and runs away. Kah-Tah-Dehn then arrives upon the scene: it is a gigantic spider. The lecherous Lord Kharga gets what he so fully deserves, and loses his head. The screams of the man reach the ears of the Zuagirs who have made their way to the temple. Vitalia reads the hieroglyphs on the walls and reveals that Kah-Tah-Dehn is not a god but a goddess, who uses the heads of men as incubators to lay her eggs and allow her children to hatch and grow. Conan pushes deeper into the caverns to find Alana (an act that angers Vitalia), and in an eventful traditional fight/escape sequence the Cimmerian and the Zuagirs finally cause the beast to be crushed by a collapsing cave. Since Alana, during her ordeal, promised the goddess Derketo to devote her life to her service should she escape the fangs of the spider, she refuses Conan's good-natured invitation to show her gratitude with a kiss. When Conan turns to Vitalia, he’s told by the wariror-woman that there’s no way she'll ever be a man's second choice, and she walks out on him. A bemused Cimmerian concludes that he'll never understand women. Notes : - All the gods mentioned in this story are culturally and geographically appropriate. Full marks for Mr. Dixon! - Mount Katahdin (which sounds a lot like Kah-Tah-Dhen) is the highest peak in Maine; (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Katahdin) it is supposed to be the home of Pamola, the spirit of cold weather. Katahdin (http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Katahdin) is also the name of a female monstrous grizzly bear in the 1979 movie The prophecy. - Conan being a Zuagir, he is around 30 in this story. - This is not the first time Conan plays the peeping Tom while a woman bathes in an oasis; he did the same thing as a 17-year old as Isparana was washing off the dust of the desert in SSoC #55. - Throughout the story, Ernie Chan uses non-conventional page designs; instead of rectangular grids, he uses many circular and/or sinuous frames.
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