Previously on Place, I shared some of my favourite issues of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian with you. It's rare nowadays for me to read "new" Bronze Age Conan material but this week I did just that with the first volume of Dark Horse's reprints of the Conan Newspaper strips from 1978-79.
As a primary school kid, I was hooked by the spicy adventures of James Bond and Jeff Hawke in the Daily Express. It was a stylish and adult version of the comic format In the late 70s, I discovered Vandal Savage through Tuska and Pasko's World's Greatest Superheroes strip in the East Kilbride News.
Aside from glimpses in Foom Magazine, this was the first time, however, that I had read the Conan dailies. Here are my thoughts on the story arcs reprinted in this volume:
The Wizard's Daughter: this is pure comic-book Conan by John Buscema from September, 1978. I couldn't find any Marvel issues of Conan on sale in those days.
I prefer the liquid embellishment of Alfredo Alcala for Buscema to be honest. This is a fatalistic tale as Conan strives- and fails- to protect the girl Norda from being reincarnated as her own father, the wizard Sutro. It should be a macabre story of possession but since Norda is a generic damsel in distress, it's hard to care about her.
Red Sonja: I think the art immediately improves with the début of Ernie Chan and it still looks like Marvel's Conan. I believe Buscema gave up the strip because it wasn't economically viable.
The She-Devil with a Sword rolls up for the first of her annual appearances. Given the newspaper format, Sonja's bikini is a bit less scanty than normal; she is pitted against Conan over a mystical amphora from the time of King Kull. It's a mildly entertaining (if predictable) tale of cross and double-cross which ends with a brief recap of Sonja's origin.
The Slavers: this arc is adapted, I believe, from a Len Wein story on a 70s Power Record . After being captured by slavers, Conan and one of their number find themselves pursued through a deserted city by a giant slug. There's a joke about the Leaning Citadel of Argos ( but I think it should be Ophir). Wein rehashes an old Star Trek trope: the repulsive slug is actually a beneficent entity creating a paradise for the infirm ( he also uses it in the Sporr/Thor story). However, I object to the message of this tale since the red-handed barbarian is excluded from the utopian world of the Crawler in the Mist for being too violent. It's an anti-heroic note for Marvel's Conan.
The Stolen City: another Power record adaptation, in which Conan becomes caught up in a contest between a father -and -son pair of wizards. This is a light-hearted change of pace and the hare-brained sorceror Sharkov is an endearing old duffer. Probably my second-favourite story in the book.
The People of the Cataclysm: my favourite story is a loose adaptation of REH's short story "The Voice of El-Lil". Conan and a naive Nemedian sage find themselves about to be sacrificed to a fish-god by a lost race from Kull's era. Epimus the sage is a charming foil with his boundless enthusiasm:" This is so thrilling!". I could have stood to see more of him.
The Castle of Vincenzo: this arc is an adaptation of the Kull story "Wolfshead". It would make for an intriguing murder mystery as long as you haven't read the original. The lycanthropic Aquilonian soldier Montaro is obviously the Lon Chaney stand-in from the beginning. The story makes reference to Belit's death in CTB 100 (July 1979): the arc itself saw print in June to August of '79, so it's a rather morbid tie-in.
The Rescue of King Sohram: this arc bares a very strong resemblance to REH's Black Colossus and Marvel's original sequel "At the Mountain of the Moon-God". Conan is hired by the regent of Khoraja/ Kordurra to rescue her brother from dungeons in Ophir/Koth. The alchemist Rhazes actually seems to be an astrologer. Dull when compared to the original version.
Bride of the Black Book: this is probably my third-favourite tale: Conan intervenes in an arranged marriage but discovers the bride's father, who struck an unholy bargain with Vendhyan priests, is trying to outsmart them. This would be a moody tale of intrigue if the Shadow-Men were more sinister. Obviously, in this format, they couldn't be the Stranglers of Yajur although they're meant to be.
So, to sum up: I enjoyed the book although some of the stories were paced very slowly and others were too familiar. The colour pages are vibrant and the one printing error in the volume (in the first arc) didn't bother me. After quite a lot of Conan these past few days, I've decided...
1) I prefer Barry Smith's gorgeous, decadent vision of the Hyborian Age (complete with the Kirby-isms) to Buscema. Big John's take on the world of Conan isn't exotic enough for me. Failing BWS, it's got to be the De Mille- dynamism of Gil Kane.
2) I can live with a little whimsy in the story. But there'd better be a flavour of ocean-whelmed cities and lurking cosmic horror.
3) I like the occasional sidekick who is a contrast to the Cimmerian: Epimus; Erfu, the Stygian magician; Tara the acrobat - but not Juma or Zula, who are too "comradely".
Now, I'll be going back to Glasgow for the weekend. When I return, I'll probably be reviewing some X-Men stories from the mid- 80s and a couple of Dr. Who audiobooks
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