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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 12, 2015 19:40:14 GMT -5
As the siege rages, Valenso has a vision of Thoth-Amon telling him that the time has come to pay the piper; the wizard has released the pictish demon from the cavern and sent him after the Zingaran. He flees the battlements and enters his hall. Belesa is reading a letter from her uncle, in which he begs her forgiveness, when she hears Tina scream; the lass has come upon the demon! Belesa's headshot here is another example of the excellent art in this issue. ![](http://i.imgur.com/hHaA9cw.jpg) Meanwhile, the Picts gain entrance while the pirates are busy squabbling; and there go first Zarono... ![](http://i.imgur.com/GEVIqKk.jpg) ...and then Strombanni... ![](http://i.imgur.com/h8Girfy.jpg) ... and then the manor catches fire. Ever chivalrous despite his uncouth ways, Conan charges through several opponents to rescue Belesa and Tina (with whom he's barely acquainted, but that's a good guy for you). Inside the burning hall, the Cimmerian comes upon the corpse of Valenso, hanged by the neck from the ceiling. In the same room he finds the two girls, as well as... the cavern's demon! Damn, but that's good stuff! It's like those great B&W monsters from Creepy. ![](http://i.imgur.com/yIvYTWu.jpg)
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 12, 2015 19:58:20 GMT -5
Conan manages to undo the creature by throwing a heavy silver candelabrum at it, causing it to fall in the hall's fireplace (silver and fire often being inimical to supernatural creatures, in the Cimmerian's experience). The trio difficultly escapes the stockade, totally overrun with Picts and on fire to boot. They take their breath at dawn, far away along the beach; using smoke signals, Conan tries to draw the attention of Strombanni's ship, the Red Hand, that had stayed far from the coast when the Picts had erupted from the forest. He's not worried about the Picts seeing the smoke; by this time, they're all drunk on Valenso's wine. The Cimmerian tells Belesa of his time in Aquilonia's capital, and about how king Numedides tried to have him executed for growing too popular. Numedides is quite the irrational tyrant, and a rebellion is brewing against him. A ship does come up, but it is not the Red Hand; it is a Poitainian galley carrying many of Conan's Aquilonian friends and acquaintances: Count Trocero, Prospero, Publius and Dexitheus. They tracked Conan's position thanks to magic, and now want him to lead the revolution against Numedides. Conan naturally accepts, and plans to go get recover the treasure of Tranicos to finance the military campaign that is to come; he does however provide Belesa with enough jewels to see to her future. ![](http://i.imgur.com/WSK0ziI.jpg) Notes: - While the details about how Conan will finance his revolution make sense, they really don't add much to the story. Howard's original yarn just had Conan hailing the Red Hand, intending to be a pirate again. - Next issue begins the story of how Conan became king, and in effect that story begins right here in the last few pages. - Count Trocero (black headed, with a mustache) and Publius (bearded, rotund and bald) are represented as they usually are. Prospero, often described as Conan's best friend during the early years of his reign, had a more changing appearance: he was a clean-shaven blond guy with short hair in CA#2, a brown haired, fully-bearded fellow here and other places, and in Conan the king was drawn as a brown-haired guy with a beard but no mustache. The latter depiction was actually how general Pallantides, another of Conan's allies, was depicted in Conan annual #4; Pallantides himself was drawn as a thinner Santa Claus in the Conan the king issues where Prospero had usurped his looks. - This issue tells us quite a bit about Thoth-Amon's comings and goings, but make it difficult to fit all the pieces together and still leave room for the story "Conan the buccaneer" adapted in SSoC 40-43.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 12, 2015 20:02:14 GMT -5
The barbarian in Babylonby Kenneth Turan An article reprinted from the Aug 27, 1979 issue of New West magazine. It tells of Robert E. Howard (whose work was unfortunately pretty much cast aside for the Conan movie) and talks about the Conan phenomenon. It has a photo of a young Arnold Schwarzenegger looking amazingly like a John Buscema drawing, even if he's in a tux, and this cool character study by artist Ron Cobb (who designed many of the sets and was also responsible for the design of the Nostromo in Alien). ![](http://i.imgur.com/zyBoaQw.jpg) Man, I so wanted the Conan movie to be brilliant. As it is, I think I had more fun watching Beastmaster.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,511
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Post by shaxper on Jan 12, 2015 20:09:10 GMT -5
I often wonder if Swartzenager's portrayal can be single-handedly blamed for the decline of Conan's popularity in the 1980s and beyond.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 12, 2015 20:17:33 GMT -5
I often wonder if Swartzenager's portrayal can be single-handedly blamed for the decline of Conan's popularity in the 1980s and beyond. I'd be sorely tempted to say yes, but I'm afraid I'd be wrong. The early 80s actually saw an increase in the sales of the Conan comic-books, and the letters page of SSoC, once the place where readers well-versed in Howardian lore would share comments and hypotheses, became replete with enthusiastic letters about the movie, about Arnold, and asking when Conan would meet Wolverine or the Punisher. Even today, after the efforts by Wandering Star and Del Rey (and Kurt Busiek Tim Truman at Dark Horse) to refocus Conan on Howard's creation, there are many fans clamouring for more Arnold as Conan. Which, as I understand, is going to happen. I am more than a bit depressed by the idea, honestly. Millius "Conan the overgrown boy-slave" has nothing in common with Howard's Conan the Cimmerian.
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Post by benday-dot on Jan 12, 2015 22:33:15 GMT -5
I often wonder if Swartzenager's portrayal can be single-handedly blamed for the decline of Conan's popularity in the 1980s and beyond. I'd be sorely tempted to say yes, but I'm afraid I'd be wrong. The early 80s actually saw an increase in the sales of the Conan comic-books, and the letters page of SSoC, once the place where readers well-versed in Howardian lore would share comments and hypotheses, became replete with enthusiastic letters about the movie, about Arnold, and asking when Conan would meet Wolverine or the Punisher. Even today, after the efforts by Wandering Star and Del Rey (and Kurt Busiek Tim Truman at Dark Horse) to refocus Conan on Howard's creation, there are many fans clamouring for more Arnold as Conan. Which, as I understand, is going to happen. I am more than a bit depressed by the idea, honestly. Millius "Conan the overgrown boy-slave" has nothing in common with Howard's Conan the Cimmerian. This is definitely true. Conan skyrocketed in popularity, as did Ahnold himself, following the first Conan film, which today abides as more than a cult classic. I would go so far as to say that the Millius Conan film brought Howard's character into mainstream consciousness. Following the movie Conan became a widely known pop culture figure, even if as a caricature, and launched a (almost always) dreadful barbarian subculture in films and entertainment. I'm not saying this was for the best, because everything RR says is completely true. Still, I bet it got at least a few more fans to to ultimately turn to the real stuff and seek out the Howard stories.
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Post by badwolf on Jan 12, 2015 22:43:05 GMT -5
I thought the more recent Conan film was alright.
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Post by berkley on Jan 13, 2015 0:01:36 GMT -5
I enjoyed the movies for what they were - stupid fun. Right from the beginning it was clear that they had little connection with the "real" Conan of the comics, let alone REH's stories, so I always thought of them as a separate thing.
I agree that the movies made Conan more popular than ever for a few brief years - and for that very reason contributed to the eventual waning of that popularity as the character began to seem a bit of a joke - and a dated joke at that.
The limited, mid-grade but steady popularity that had been built gradually over the previous 10 years or so by the comics and paperbacks was replaced by a briefly more impressive and widespread pop-culture trendiness that faded quickly as those things tend to do, and that probably did damage to the character in the long run.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Jan 13, 2015 0:15:19 GMT -5
You guys have probably seen these videos of Roy Thomas talking about the Conan comic and the movies already, but I only stumbled upon them a few nights ago. They're pretty watchable and since you're talking about the movies, I figured they're kind of relevant to this thread. Enjoy!
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Post by jbruel0 on Jan 13, 2015 7:48:30 GMT -5
The Thomas chronology published in Conan saga from #72 is also worth to be read.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 13, 2015 15:58:52 GMT -5
The Thomas chronology published in Conan saga from #72 is also worth to be read. Hey, I hadn't seen Superdupont in a good long while, J! Did you read the Superdupont/Superman crossover by Gotlib and Neal Adams? Not as funny as it could have been, but it was certainly a unique piece.
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Post by paulie on Jan 15, 2015 15:59:34 GMT -5
Is the plan to continue on to the Fleisher issues as well?
I thumbed through my box last night after reading 56-57 and 59 and saw 40 some odd issues I know are written by Fleisher and I can't say I am thrilled about reading them again.
But if I don't have to do it alone...
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 15, 2015 18:28:43 GMT -5
Is the plan to continue on to the Fleisher issues as well? I thumbed through my box last night after reading 56-57 and 59 and saw 40 some odd issues I know are written by Fleisher and I can't say I am thrilled about reading them again. But if I don't have to do it alone... Yes, I intend to cover those issues as well, although the reviews will be lighter until we hit the second Thomas run.
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Post by paulie on Jan 15, 2015 18:42:15 GMT -5
Is the plan to continue on to the Fleisher issues as well? I thumbed through my box last night after reading 56-57 and 59 and saw 40 some odd issues I know are written by Fleisher and I can't say I am thrilled about reading them again. But if I don't have to do it alone... Yes, I intend to cover those issues as well, although the reviews will be lighter until we hit the second Thomas run. It does pick up a little around 120 or so... At least those feel like REH stories. Remember 129 with the Zingaran pirates? Or 135 when Conan is trapped in the Pictish wilderness? But... (sigh) there are 60 plus issues of Girl, Wizard, Monster, Rescue Girl, between now and then.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 16, 2015 3:50:15 GMT -5
I used to love the first Conan movie as a kid...then I finally read all of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories when the Del Ray paperbacks started to come out in the early 2000's. I have no hope that a movie will ever properly portray Howard's musing on civilization vs barbarism or the intelligence and nuance that Conan actually possessed in the pulp stories. Don't even get my started on how Solomon Kane is misunderstood and dumbed down 99.9% of time!
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