Dragonslayer is a terrific movie that has been criminally neglected on home video--an unrestored bare-bones DVD release over 15 years ago, and that's about it. As a practical effect, that dragon still looks great 40 years later. Also worth noting, Brother Jacopus was played by Ian McDiarmid in between his initial gigs as Emperor Palpatine.

And usually I can spot gender disguises, but this is one of two movies where that caught me completely by surprise (hate to mention the other because that certainly counts as a spoiler).

Regarding Neuromancer, I tend to agree with you about cyberpunk, though for me it isn't the bleakness but the fact that it's too often been a style in search of a story. Gibson IMO shares with writers like Lovecraft an exceptional ability to draw word pictures of things that can't really be visualized, but I never cared for him as a storyteller. Maybe a parallel would be Tim Burton, who I think is a very talented visual artist but not much of a director.

It's almost like a classic Kull book!

Marvel Graphic Novel #53, Conan: The Skull of Set



You know, I think I've seen her somewhere before. I recognize the face.

Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Paul Gulacy-pencils, Gary Martin-inks, David Jackson-letters, Steve Mattsson-colors, Terry Kavanaugh-editor

Shooters gone; let's have Moench and Gulacy do a Conan story! This should be interesting. Wonder who Gulacy's facial model for Conan will be?

Synopsis: Conan is chilling in a bar, in Argos, Howard's sort of Greek/Crete locale, bordering the Western Sea. Some soldiers are arguing about their current war with Koth (pseudo ancient Italy, pre-Roman), which one says was stirred up by the Cult of Set moving up from Stygia (Egypt), through Shem (Mesopotamia) into Koth. Conan has had a few meads and he scoffs at the soldiers and they get their breeches in a twist and a brawl breaks out, which Conan wins, but the local police turn up and haul him off to see the judge.



He gives Conan the standard choice: jopin the Army or do time.....inside the bellies of jackals. Conan heads the words of Groucho Marx (Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read!) and joins up, but he gets to lead his own troop, his way, and is promised a fat reward upon delivery a wagon of weapons to Napalitos. So, he sets in the morning, with a hangover and a uniform that is 8 sizes too big and itchy. Well, he sets out. Conan don't wear no stinking uniforms!

As they leave, their Deuce and a half nearly runs head on with some rich woman, in a Mercedes Coach, fleeing the city. Outside, they see a cloud of dust: hill tribes attacking their wagon. Conan decides to defend on the opposite side of the river, with the weapons in the wagon. That is, until he finds out there are only a few, to make it look good and hide the treasure in the wagon. Well that screws that idea so they haul trash to a canyon to be safe from the raiders. The hillmen fire bows from horseback and much of Conan's troop is killed, as is his own horse, though he hops on the war wagon, in time. John Wayne and Kirk Douglas ride off with him.

At night, Conan stops one of the soldiers from trying to steal the treasure and says they are going to ransom it back.

Meanwhile, a coach speeds on with an aristocratic couple, a merchant and a priestess of Mitra. The merchant looks like Roger C Carmel (Harry Mudd, on Star Trek) and is an a-hole, as is the male aristo. Only the women act like grownups. The aristo yells at the driver to speed up and it cause the coach to lose horsepower, literally, as two horses come up lame, stranding them. Lady Vassalia (Duchess of Onions) apologizes to Ramara, the Mitra priestess, and the discuss comparative religion...



The group is saved when Conan comes along with his war wagon. You know this isn't going to go well. The aristo gets mouthy ...and a broken hand, when he tries to attack Conan. He tells them to get aboard, and the aristo snivels at his wife, who dresses like a stripper, which fits the Duchess of Onion (Vasallia), as who else would peel off layers?

It's a weak joke but it's cleaner than a few I could make, based on how Paul is drawing the lady.

The aristo endears himself to all and, later, Vasallia goes to apologize to Conan for her husband. Then she tries to get him to do the horizontal mambo, complaining that her husband hasn't touched her in two years, since he has concubines and she knows what a jerkwad he is and he knows she knows. Conan turns her down, if you can believe it.

Soldiers are on the trail, hunting spy from the coach and find the dead driver (hill tribe), but not the passengers. They move on. The hill tribe shows up and Conan speeds the wagon, but they are on a winding mountain road...



Conan cuts the horses free and momentum carries the wagon down the side of the hill and it jumps a chasm and lands, badly, on a mesa with a derelict temple.



Tamara identifies it as the Ruins of Eidoran. They hunker down for the night, since the bandits can't hit them from above, but they know they can catch them below, as the see them head off to come up from below. Then, soldiers turn up above, wanting the spy, with orders to kill all 4 passengers, though Conan can go. he doesn't buy it and refuses and they seek shelter inside the old temple.

A hooded guy is poking around and is part of the Cult of Set. he appeals to some statue and gets knifed, but, his blood turns into a snake and carries off his life force. Ewww...........



It finds Vasallia and it gets all metaphoric as he takes over her body. She find s skull, with a jewel, in the wagon's treasure. Conan finds the dead dude and a dagger, and drops it at Tamara's feet, then strips off her robe, to reveal a buff chick underneath...



She is a nun; but more of a biker nun, as the Brides of Mitra are a tough bunch. She isn't a spy, she is out to stop the cult from raising trapped demons. She seeks a skull, which Conan knows. Vasallia brings the skull to a man who appears, who enters her body and focuses power to bring statues to life. They start attacking everyone and the Hill tribe has had enough and leaves. Tamara and Conan fight them. Vasallia awakens some bi Tchernabog-looking demon..



A column falls across the chasm and the aristo uses it to cross and is cut down by the waiting soldiers. They start to cross but tremors cause them to turn back. Tamara cuts Vasallia's possessed head off; but, the demon is free. They fight and Conan hits it with the wagon and knocks it into the chasm; but, it survives. H uses the skull to wound it (blood on the ruby activates its power), but, it isn't enough. he uses the skull like a hand grenade and launches it inside the mouth which destroys the demons. They get off the plateau and Roger C Carmel is revealed as the spy and forced to eat the stolen documents. Conan takes some left over treasure and rides off, leaving Tamara behind.

Thoughts: Pretty good story, though demon statues coming to life is pretty run of the mill in Conan stories (and Harryhausen films). the intrigue of the spy and everyone not being what they seem adds some weight to the story, making it more entertaining than the average Conan yarn. Moench does a pretty good job of keeping it grounded and throws in some feminism via Tamara and Vasallia.

Gulacy is in good form and his Conan is a little less bulky than some, though not as lean as his usual heroes. Gary Martin is good in some spots and in some the art doesn't look very Gulacy.

All in all, a pretty satisfying tale. We will have to see how it compares to the other Conan graphic novel coming down the road.

Yeah I really liked that, but Moench + Gulacy are a pretty reliable team for me. Some of their stuff is better than others and this is probably at the lower end of their range in terms of quality, but very rarely do I find myself disappointed in any of their work together.

Previous to reading this book I wouldn't have thought his style would be a good match for REH story but now I wish he'd done more of this kind of thing. I'd love to see him and Moench do a good,long Kull story, for example. And going by a couple Turok miniseries Gulacy drew for DC, I'd also love to see Gulacy draw an ERB-style planetary romance.

I'm not gonna spend much time on the graphic novels that don't interest me; so we will get some fast looks at some of them.

Marvel Graphic Novel #54, Roger Rabbit: the Resurrection of Doom



Judge Doom is resurrected by the wesels, using a model sheet. He fakes being CB Maroon and destroys the studio, until Eddie Valiant exposes him. Bob Foster & Dan Spiegle produced it, and it looks like it might have been based on the aborted sequel script; or, at least, a plot. It ends with an adaptation of Tummy Trouble, the then-new RR cartoon, shown with Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Nothing horrible; but nothing special here.

Marvel Graphic Novel #55, Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe



I covered this in my Squadron Supreme thread, before I tapped out with Supreme Power, when they started to shift direction on it. Not particularly great and was pretty much the middling par for the course for Marvel, at this point.

Marvel Graphic Novel #56, Cloak & Dagger and Power Pack: Shelter from the Storm



Bill Mantlo and Sal Velutto & Mark Farmer tackle the subjects of abuse and runaways, in what starts out as a nice book, but throw in some kind of monster creature that is messing with people and ruin what could have been a more grounded tale. The book also features resources for victims of abuse. Nice thought, so-so execution.

Marvel Graphic Novel #57



James Hudnall and John Ridgeway tell a story of espionage and intrigue. Mercenary super agents have taken over a Latin America dictatorship, ending a civil war. Mason goes inside to scope it out, after meeting Nick Fury, who shows up looking nothing like himself. Interesting idea and Hudnal is good at this stuff, as seen in his own series ESPers, at Eclipse. Ridgeway had experience at this kind of thing in the UK. It's a nice departure from marvel's standard fare, though tying it into the Marvel universe, with Fury and the Kingpin, yet dealing with super-powered mercenaries and no existing Marvel characters suggests that stuff was shoehorned in. Hudnall would be returning to ESPers, under the Epic imprint. I preferred David Lloyd on the ESPers material; Ridgeway is a little too scratchy, for my tastes.

Marvel Graphic Novel #58, Silver Surfer: The Enslavers



Stan Lee and Kieth Pollard handle the gnarly one and some space slavers and a guy based on Carl Sagan and I really can't be bothered, as Surfer tends to bore me. Flipping through it, there is lots of Kirby effects and none of the Kirby imagination and a lot of space hookers hanging out with alien enslavers.

Marvel Graphic Novel #59, Conan: The Horn of Azoth



Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway adapt their original script for Conan the Destroyer. Mike Docherty pencils and Tony DeZuniga inks.

Pretty much the same basic plot as the film (for which Roy & Gerry got screen credit, after WGA arbitration); but executed a bit differently. The princess chaarcter recruits Conan to aid her in getting the Horn of Azoth, while the rest of their team come in at different points. There is no comic relief character, like Tracy Walters' Malek. The Grace Jones character hunts down Conan after he steals the jeweled Eye of Isis, killing the parent of a child who also tries to kill him. They find the horn, bring it back, and awaken an ancient monster.

Decent story, so-so art, aided by DeZuniga. Not different eough or stylistic enough to really grab my interest, like the Moench & Gulacy story.

Marvel Graphic Novel #60, Rio Rides Again



This is the second Rio graphic novel, from Jonny Quest creator Doug Wildey (and model for Peevy, in The Rocketeer)

A pair of outlaws intend to kidnap the son of a banker, to force him to bring money and leave it at a river bank. They intend to use Rio's old informant pal Weasel to deliver the note, in exchange for whiskey. Rio comes into Limestone City to accept an offer to be the interim sheriff, until the election. He runs into Zee, an old friend (a woman) who happens to be the woman of Jesse James, mother of his son, whose identity is hidden. Rio also meets Bob Ford. As in The Coward Robert Ford. Timmy, aka Jesse Jr., is nabbed by the robbers by mistake, after he goes home with the banker's family. Rio learns of the kidnapping and goes to investigate the place specified for the money drop. Meanwhile, Weasel sells his story to the local newspaper, including a photo of the man known as Tom Howard, aka Jesse James (the photo has Frank & Jesse and the Younger Brothers). Rio climbs up to the caves where the robbers are, via the back way and surprises them, killing one and rescuing Timmy. When he returns with the boy, his identity known, the town council talk about taking him away from his mother, when Jesse turns up. He takes his family away, while Rio does nothing. The council fires him, then he reveals that the old sheriff knew and that the town's peaceful life was due to a deal made by the old sheriff and Jesse. Jesse catches up with the surviving robber and kills him. Rio catches up with Jesse and declines to join him. he tries to warn Jesse about Bob Ford's questions about reward money; but, Jesse says he is reliable. As Rio predicted, gunmen start turning up in Limestone City, looking to track down Jesse James. Rio is headed out on the next train. It doesn't take long for trouble to start and the new sheriff, a kid, isn't up to the job. The council turns to Rio, who tells them to stuff their star, but helps out because of the kid sheriff, gunned down without a thought. Rio scares off the gunmen and shoots down the killer, when he tries to draw on him. Then he leaves the council to sort out their mess.











Terrific stuff from a master storyteller. This is real old fashioned, honest to goodness western adventure, with a dash of history for color and tremendous art. The first Rio GN was published ta Comico and was also a thing of beauty. With any real interest in the marketplace this should have been part of a western renaissance, but the topic was considered passe pretty much everywhere. I can only imagine what we could have had from masters like Alex Toth, Dan Spiegle, John Severin, unleashed from the Comics Code and cliched stories; not to mention the younger generation, like Tim Truman, who dabbled a bit. I think we could have had a nice prestige Western line, with a bit of effort and marketing to bookstores, rather than comic shops.

I will continue to handle Marvel Super Special as single issues; but, I will probably go through the rest of the numbered graphic novels in this manner, depending on how much they engage me.

It depends on which version you watch. Lucas added Ian McDiarmid in his Revenge of the Sith make-up and changed some of the dialogue for the 2004 DVD Release.

Editor Richard Chew made a persuasive argument why the Treadwell and Tosche Station scenes needed to go: They make Tatooine seem civilized and safe. In the released version, Threepio and Artoo crash land in a featureless desert with bad guys close behind and no sign of life, let alone help. Then they're captured by slavers and sold to a plantation run by people whose intentions are unclear, and the dad seems kinda mean. Artoo runs away, and only when kindly Ben enters the picture do we really feel like things can turn around.

I agree that the absence of the early Biggs scene robs his later appearance (and death) of impact, but the trade-off was worth it.