Back Issue #121 Preview by TwoMorrows Publishing

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Sept. 2020

No.121

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Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of ROY THOMAS & BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH’s

Conan the Barbarian #1!

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Conan at Marvel • Marvel’s “B” Barbarians • Conan at Dark Horse • Arak, Son of Thunder • plus more savage heroes and superstar creators

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Volume 1, Number 121 September 2020 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury

PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Barry Windsor-Smith (unused Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian #9 cover art, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions) COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Jerry Boyd Kurt Busiek Marc Buxton Cabinet Licensing LLC Dewey Cassell Drew Clark Conan Properties International LLC Jon B. Cooke Dark Horse Comics Thulsa Doom Nick Fatica Stephan Friedt Tomas Giorello Grand Comics Database Mike Grell Heritage Comics Auctions Jim and Ruth Keegan James Heath Lantz Andy Mangels Marvel Comics

Val Mayerik Ian Millsted Doug Moench Richard Morgan Cary Nord Luigi Novi Brian Peck Ron Randall David Scroggy Dann Thomas Steven Thompson Fred Van Lente Rick Welch Mark Wheatley Barry Windsor-Smith Marv Wolfman Thomas Yeates VERY SPECIAL THANKS Roy Thomas DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF Ernie Colón

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IN MEMORIAM: Ernie Colón. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FLASHBACK: Conan Goes to Adventure Town. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Top 50 Bronze Age Conan comic stories BEYOND CAPES: “B” is for Barbarian: Marvel’s Not-Quite Conans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 From Kull to Skull, the House of Ideas’ ’70s sword-slingers FLASHBACK: DC’s Bronze Age Barbarian Boom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 The Distinguished Competition’s answers to Conan’s popularity TIMELINE: In Conan’s Sandalsteps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Behold, more Bronze Age barbarians clawing their way onto the stands FLASHBACK: Conan the Syndicated Barbarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 The Cimmerian invades the ink-splattered realm of newspaper comic strips BEYOND CAPES: Arak, Son of Thunder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Roy and Dann Thomas’ DC Comics barbarian series THE TOY BOX: Enter the Lost World of the Warlord Action Figures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 How Mike Grell’s sword-and-sorcery star got He-Manned onto toy shelves BEYOND CAPES: Gray Morrow’s Edge of Chaos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 A time-displaced man becomes Hercules in this Pacific Comics miniseries FLASHBACK: Ride a Dark Horse: Conan at Dark Horse Comics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 A new generation of Conan comics stories and creators BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Reader reactions, plus Wheatley and Hempel’s Breathtaker turns 30

BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $89 Economy US, $135 International, $36 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Barry Windsor-Smith. Conan the Barbarian TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2020 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Conan and the Barbarians • BACK ISSUE • 1

Steven Thompson

There is a concept in television programming known unofficially as “Adventure Town.” It specifically refers to the type of TV series whose protagonist moves from one place to another every week, allowing for a mostly new cast of characters, a new setting, and no need for standing sets. Essentially, it’s a brilliant way to create an anthology series (which the public never much cared for) yet with a continuing character or two (which the public always loves). Classic shows that fit the trope include The Fugitive, with its protagonist on the run from week to week; Route 66, with its stars working their way cross-country with new jobs in a new town every week; Then Came Bronson, with its motorcyclist hero trying to find himself; and, of course, Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk, which saw Jekyll/ Hyde scientist David Banner packing up and leaving every time his green-skinned alter ego tore up a new place. In 1970, Marvel Comics sent a certain Cimmerian to Adventure Town, and it turned out that the idea worked just as well in comic books. Robert E. Howard created that Cimmerian, Conan, in 1932. Howard also created Conan’s entire world, the non-existent Hyborian Age, said to be between the sinking of Atlantis and the Roman Empire. In his brief lifetime, the young author published a scant 17 stories of Conan, all in issues of the pulp magazine, Weird Tales. Howard committed suicide in 1936 at the age of only 30, leaving behind four unpublished tales of his most famous character as well as quite a few unfinished story fragments. Conan’s journey to comic books has been well documented numerous times in TwoMorrows mags and elsewhere. Roy Thomas has even written books about his Conan comics and how they came to be. We aren’t going to rehash all of that here except to remind the reader that Robert E. Howard’s tales of a brutish adventurer in a lost age had been revived, republished, and then rebooted by other writers as strong-selling massmarket paperbacks in the mid-1960s and that their success was due in large part to Frank Frazetta’s attention-getting (and now iconic) cover paintings. At the end of the decade, Roy Thomas convinced a reluctant Stan Lee to give Comics Code-pushing, sword-and-sorcery comics a try, and Marvel Comics’ Conan the Barbarian #1 (Oct. 1970) was born. Conan the Barbarian was far from the first sword-and-sorcery comic book. Artist John Giunta had drawn several stories of Crom the Barbarian in Strange Worlds in the early 1950s; Wallace Wood and Al Williamson collaborated on Clawfang the Barbarian for Harvey Comics in the 1960s; and DC offered up Nightmaster with early Berni(e) Wrightson art. Believe it or not, there had even been a black-and-white Conan comic-book adaptation in Mexico in the 1950s! Perhaps testing the waters, earlier in 1970 the future Conan team of Roy Thomas and John Buscema had introduced the other-dimensional barbarian king, Arkon, into several issues of The Avengers. It is by no means an understatement to say that Conan the Barbarian #1 was as much a game changer as Fantastic Four #1 had been nearly a decade earlier. Howard’s mythmaking Conan tales had incited the imagination of many future creators, some of whom—like the team of L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter—contributed their own stories and novels to the canon, others of whom had their own similar heroes and anti-heroes such as Carter’s Thongor, Gardner Fox’s Kothar, and John Jakes’ Brak. About as far from your typical comic-book hero of the times as you could ever possibly get, Conan was a thief, a soldier, a reaver, a pirate, a serial killer in a way, and you don’t even want to think too much about his attitude toward women! He was uncouth, unclean, uneducated, and for the most part, unclothed. Yes, not only did Conan not have a super-suit like all the really cool characters from Deadman to Black Bolt to Herbie the Fat Fury, Conan practically wore almost nothing at all most of the time! I have no doubt that the folks at the Comics Code, after more than 15 years of pretty much absolute power when it came to American comic books, were having conniptions over Conan on a regular basis.

Then Came Conan Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, as rendered by Big John Buscema for the cover of the 1980 Conan Portfolio from S. Q. Publications. Original art courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Conan TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.

By 1970, Roy Thomas—himself a fanboy living the dream—had been at Marvel for five years. Although he had quickly developed a reputation as Stan Lee’s right-hand man, he had also progressed from writing Millie the Model stories to writing, amongst many others, a long and highly praised run on The Avengers. In other words, in that relatively short period of time, Roy had established himself as a major player. For the artist on the new title, John Buscema was chosen. In retrospect, a seemingly perfect choice, Buscema having been Roy’s longtime artistic collaborator on The Avengers. Fate being what it is,

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

Sword and Sorcery B.C. (Before Conan) (top left) Gardner Fox and John Giunta’s Crom the Barbarian dates back to the early 1950s. (top right) Writer Wally Wood and artist Al Williamson’s Clawfang the Barbarian had a short mid-1960s run in Harvey’s Thrill-O-Rama. (inset) Scribe Denny O’Neil introduced Nightmaster in 1969 in DC’s Showcase. (bottom) These dossiers of Conan the Barbarian creative team Roy Thomas and Barry Smith appeared in Marvel’s Savage Tales #3. Crom and Clawfang © the respective copyright holder. Nightmaster TM & © DC Comics. Savage Tales TM & © Marvel.

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however, the veteran artist had to pass… for the moment. The book was tossed to relative newcomer Barry Smith (later known as Barry Windsor-Smith), whose early Kirby swipes quickly gave way to a unique and beautiful elegance. He was about to become a superstar. Fifty years ago, the debut of Marvel’s Conan comic book coincided with what is generally considered the beginning of comics’ Bronze Age. Herewith, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Marvel’s Conan, we take a look at 50 Conan stories from those early days, celebrating the half-century since Conan first hit the four-color comic-book pages. Fifty best? No, just 50 favorites. Whose favorites? Mine, for one. And maybe yours. I polled some online Conan and Robert E. Howard groups as to what their favorite Marvel Conan stories might be, and they largely coincided with the list I had already pulled together (although one commenter opined that they were all terrible. Sigh… One in every crowd.). Besides having no regular setting, in the Adventure Town tradition, the Conan stories also tended to skip around in the character’s timeline, sharing tales ranging from teenage Conan to Social Security-age King Conan, but rarely in any type of order for more than a handful of issues at a time. This list can be regarded much the same way.

Top 50 Bronze Age Conan Favorites 50. “The Coming of Conan” (Conan the Barbarian #1, Oct. 1970) “The Coming of Conan” (Savage Sword of Conan #222, June 1994) The cover of Conan’s first Marvel appearance, signed by Barry Smith and John Verpoorten, was a busy piece of art, indeed. In front of a background of fire, smoke, and ersatz Kirby Krackle, winged green demons, and wild-looking humans and sub-humans fighting and seemingly killing each other, we catch our first look at our helmeted but otherwise unprotected hero, a sword in his right hand and a spiked spear in his left. In the tradition of the paperback covers, there’s a woman lying at his feet. “Off-screen,” there are the hands of a man holding what might be a magical staff. Surprisingly, the cover is not symbolic. Inside, the young Conan is already a mercenary, fighting on the side of the Aesir against the Vanir for gold. He is captured by the demons for a shaman, who proceeds to show—more for the benefit of the reader than any of the characters—just where the Cimmerian fits into the grand scheme of things. We see the past (including an early cameo by King Kull), the future (including the initial prediction of Conan becoming king someday), and even the far future. Scenes of astronauts in space seem rather jarring but help place Conan’s Age in contest. A far cry from Stan Lee’s enjoyable second-hand Shakespeare, Roy’s writing here is perfectly pulpy and Barry’s pencils (with Sal Buscema’s inks) still raw and undeveloped. The second version, 24 years later, uses an expansion of that same script to allow John Buscema—ultimately the strip’s main artist— to illustrate the tale he had to pass on back in the proverbial day.

49. “Night of the Wolf” (Conan the Barbarian #158, May 1984) John Buscema is credited with plotting this tale, inked beautifully by Rudy Nebres, with dialogue by Michael Fleisher. Conan slaughters two kidnappers in the desert in order to rescue a woman in a box. A celebratory feast given by her father is interrupted by a monster and the daughter is again tied and taken away. In the end, Conan finds that it’s the girl herself who is the monster, a werewolf, and only her father can bring her torture to an end.

47. “The Witch of the Mists” (King Conan #1, Mar. 1980) “The Black Sphinx of Nebthu” (King Conan #2 June 1980) “Red Moon of Zembabwei” (King Conan #3, Sept. 1980) “Shadows in the Skull” (King Conan #4, Dec. 1980) The stories where Conan is king of Aquilonia have an entirely different feel to them. So much so that at one point, Marvel gave them their own series. Initially entitled King Conan, the double-sized, quarterly comic series was retitled Conan the King with its 20th issue (Jan. 1984), presumably in order to have it listed on comic-shop order forms next to the regular Conan title. From the beginning, we knew these stories were coming. Once Conan learns the prophecy, or prediction, he truly believes it and knows it to be just a matter of time. It can be argued that one of the reasons he is fearless throughout his many dangerous adventures with soldiers, corsairs, monsters, mages, and (most of all) strong women, is that he knows he can’t be killed because the prophecy has not yet come to pass. For the first time ever in Conan comics, there’s a regular supporting cast consisting of Conan’s queen, Zenobia, their several sons, one daughter, and various members of the royal court. In fact, many of the adventures herein center around young Prince Conn, a.k.a. Conan the Second. He even shares the corner box after a while. Having been raised in an entirely different, decidedly more civilized environment, Conn is anything but his father’s second coming. Conan dotes on Conn, his favorite son, but he’s far from an ideal father. Ruler though he may be, and approaching 60 in the early issues according to Roy, Conan simply can’t resist the urge to fall back into his old habits now and again… and again. These first four issues of King Conan—by the regular crew of Thomas, Buscema, and Ernie Chan (the latter replaced by Danny Bulanadi for the concluding chapter)—tell the tale of Conan’s supposedly ultimate encounter with his old foe, the sorcerous ThothAmon. (Spoiler: Thoth comes back in a later storyline.) Unlike the Conan of old who just needed a sword and a swift steed, King Conan takes along an army, a sorcerer of his own, some magic talismans, and his heir, Prince Conn, to track down and defeat his foe. The stories in this series overall grew to be a mix of Tales of Asgard, Italian Peplum movies, big-screen swashbucklers, and As the World Turns. They’re filled with court intrigue, backstabbing viziers, border disputes, politics, and at the heart of it all, family secrets. With all its druids and armored soldiers, the Hyborian Age in King Conan/ Conan the King is certainly entertaining, but looks more like where one might be expected to find Asterix and Obelix than our once freewheeling Conan.

46. “The Fall of Acheron” (Conan the Barbarian #200, Nov. 1987)

48. “Conan the Destroyer” (Marvel Super Special #35, 1984) Conan the Destroyer, the second Conan movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was not as well received as the first, nor is it as well remembered. Its comics adaptation by Michael Fleisher, drawn by John Buscema, actually fares better than the film itself. Its main problem is that Conan is inexplicably drawn to look more like a Native American than either a barbarian or the future Terminator.

Jim Owsley, the writer later known as Priest or Christopher Priest, contributed greatly to the Conan comics canon. Although more or less self-contained, this apocalyptic little gem with art from Val Semeiks continues from Savage Sword and has Conan, Red Sonja, and friends face-to-face with the almost Galactus-like Devourer of Souls. The latter is dealt a setback and takes on human form that changes some of his perspective.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

Marc Buxton

Know, O Prince, that between the years when the Silver Age began in the gleaming city of York the New, and the years of the rise of Bronze Age wond ers, there was an Age undreamed of, when many industry-changing genres lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen -eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth to tread the jeweled thrones of fandom under his sandaled feet. And Conan madeth money; so his handlers, the many brilliant artists and writers who dwell ed in the immortal Valhalla-like region known as Marvel Comics, decided to cash in on Conan. Marv el tried to find other barbarians, swordsmen (and in one case, a swordswoman), slayers, and bash ers of skulls to stand side-by-side with Conan on the battlefield of the newsstands and candy stores of the Age known as Bronze. This is the story of the Marvel barbarians who were not Conan. See their fury and tremble, O Prince, for their numbers were many, their appearanc es were sporadic, and their tales were fascinating. Hear now; attend, as I open the pages of the tomes of comicbook history and journey into a time where these barbarians and blood-drunk dogs of war attem pted to challenge superheroes for comic-book supre macy.

Detail from Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian #57 (Dec. 1975). Art by Gil Kane and Vince Colletta. Conan TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15

KULL

Here Comes King Kull! (top) The legend of Kull is referenced in Thomas and Smith’s Conan the Barbarian #1 (Oct. 1970). (bottom left) Kull stars in Creatures on the Loose #10 (Mar. 1971). Cover by Herb Trimpe and Marie Severin. (bottom right) More Marvel Kull.

It’s ironic that the barbarian, warrior, and king known as Kull would follow the blood-soaked path forged by Conan into Marvel lore because in the days of yore, Conan followed Kull into the world of prose. In the world of pulp fiction, Kull first appeared in the Robert E. Howard-penned “The Shadow Kingdom,” published in Weird Tales’ August 1929 edition. Three other Kull stories were published in Howard’s lifetime, but he penned a fourth, entitled “By This Axe I Rule!,” which was rejected for publication by Weird Tales’ editorial steward. Instead of abandoning his Kull tale, Howard rewrote the tale and replaced Kull with a new barbarian character named Conan. The powers-that-be operating Weird Tales liked the Conan robert e. howard version of this bloody yarn better than Kull… and the rest is history. The reengineered Kull story was now titled “The Phoenix on the Sword” and appeared in the December 1932 issue of Weird Tales. Fantasy fiction would never be the same again. (It should be noted that a character named Conan was named in brief appearances in separate narratives and poetry before the reworked Kull story, before the actual Conan made his proper debut in late 1932.) Other Howard-written Kull stories would be published after the author’s death, but the character would forever play second fiddle to Conan. It is the whim of history, is it not, O Prince, that after Conan created such a storm of success for Marvel, the door was opened for Kull, the character Conan replaced, to forge his own comic-book legend? Kull would actually make his first Marvel appearance in Conan the Barbarian #1 (Oct. 1970) during a vision sequence linking Conan to the primordial past of the world the two Howard warriors shared. This brief appearance was a signal to fantasy readers that Marvel was not only going whole-hog on Conan, but it was evident that other Howard creations were in play as well. That promise came to fruition when Kull made his first full-fledged appearance in Marvel’s Creatures on the Loose #10 (Mar. 1971) in the Roy Thomas-written, Bernie Wrightson-drawn “The Skull of Silence!” O Prince, what mighty a pair of creators that were chosen to bring Kull to four-color life! Thomas was a no-brainer, but a young Wrightson, arguably one of the greatest genre artists of the 20th Century? Truly, the stuff of legends. The differences between Kull and Conan were evident from the opening pages of Kull’s Marvel debut. Kull begins his premiere Marvel adventure lamenting that he could no longer be, as Thomas writes, a “wild-maned barbarian.” Kull now has the weight of the crown of the realm of Valusia and must bear the responsibilities of a kingdom. Kull’s monarchial responsibilities instantly set Kull apart

Conan TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC. Kull TM & © Kull Productions, Inc.

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Barbarians Bound (left) Red Sonja, Belit, and our favorite Cimmerian imperiled by horrific harpies in a 1977 illo by Pablo Marcos. From a 1977 San Francisco comic-con program, courtesy of Jazzy Jerry Boyd. (right) Culled from Heritage’s archives, an unused page of Neal Adams penciled art from the first “Killraven: War of the Worlds” installment in Amazing Adventures vol. 2 #18 (May 1973). Red Sonja © Red Sonja, LLC. Conan and Belit TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC. Killraven TM & © Marvel.

concerned, so I thought it might’ve been confusing to readers to have a Valeria comic. And Belit’s death was well known, so while we could have done such a series as flashback, I had no real interest in doing it.” So it was Red Sonja who became Marvel’s leading warrior woman as the She-Devil with a Sword became the second most popular barbarian in comics and is forever interconnected with the worlds of Robert E. Howard… even though REH really only inspired her creation. This iconic character status speaks to the enduring work of Thomas and all the great artists like Frank Thorne and Barry Windsor-Smith, creators who all defined fantasy’s greatest warrior woman in an age where barbarians ruled the comic racks. [Editor’s note: Red Sonja fans, see BACK ISSUE #43 and 118 for more of the She-Devil with a Sword.]

h. g.

KILLRAVEN

Killraven is probably the most unique addition to our list, O Prince. While Conan, Kull, Gullivar Jones, Thongor, and Elric all come from the world of prose fiction, Killraven was an original Marvel creation inserted into an original prose narrative. Created by Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, and Gerry Conway, and first appearing in Amazing Adventures #18 (May 1973), Killraven was the protagonist of Marvel’s version of H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, but instead of doing

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a direct adaptation of the Wells classic, Marvel set its Wells exploration in the far future and chose a Conanlike barbarian as a protagonist. Thomas, Adams, and Conway may have created Killraven, but it was the great scribe Don McGregor who truly transformed Killraven into one of the most acclaimed titles of the Bronze Age. McGregor infused the strip with lyrical pathos and made sure that Killraven was viewed as more than just another barbarian. Real name Jonathan Raven, Killraven was born into a world already conquered by the Wells Martians. One of the fascinating aspects of the “Killraven: War of the Worlds” strip was the fact that this wasn’t the world of Wells’ novel or the modern world of the early 1970s. Killraven was set in the far-flung future of the Marvel Universe. So in this timeline, Wells’ wells Martian invaders not only conquered Earth, they did so by taking out the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the rest of Marvel’s colorful champions. Only Killraven was left, a long-haired, very barbarian-looking character, deft with sword and fist, and on the surface, another reaction to the barbarian craze that Marvel began with Conan. Think about it, O Prince. Marvel could have chosen any genre type for its War of the Worlds protagonist. It could have been a new or retooled

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Michael Eury

TM & © DC Comics.

During the Bronze Age and beyond, DC Comics was often late to the party. An example: Competitor Marvel Comics wasted no time exploiting the martial-arts craze of the 1970s by releasing Master of Kung Fu in 1973, soon followed by Iron Fist, the black-and-white magazine Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, and a few random characters that bowed to the genre. DC’s kick-offs into that market, 1975’s Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter and 1976’s Karate Kid, strolled onto the stands after the fad had peaked. One might make the same accusation about DC’s slow response to the success of Conan the Barbarian, as Marvel’s Distinguished Competition’s main output of similar titles, branded as its “adventure line,” wasn’t rolled out until 1975. But before you get your chain-mailed britches in a bunch, at the time Conan #1 was released, DC had recently preceded Marvel in the Bronze Age sword-and-sorcery game! Well over a year before a certain Cimmerian joined the Mighty Marvel lineup, writer Denny O’Neil unsheathed the sword-wielding Nightmaster for a three-issue run in Showcase, beginning with issue #82 (cover-dated May 1969). Billed on that cover as a “great new sword and sorcery saga,” the feature’s star is actually rock singer Jim Rook, who is transported to another dimension where he reconnects with his heritage of supernatural swordplay. Despite dynamite Joe Kubert covers on all three issues and beautiful Bernie Wrightson art on the character’s second and third installments, Nightmaster failed to find an audience during these waning days of the Silver Age (although in more recent years he’s been co-opted into the mystic team Shadowpact and used elsewhere in the DC Universe). One year earlier, cartoonist Howie Post had premiered the humor-laced, coming-of-(Stone) Age saga “Anthro” in DC’s Showcase #74 (May 1968), followed by a short-lived Anthro series. While not a sword-and-sorcery comic in the strictest sense, Anthro employed some of the genre’s notable elements including primitive heroes fighting gigantic beasts. Of course, when blowing the dust off the DC vault and squinting inside, you’ll realize that long before Anthro and Nightmaster, the publisher already had a number of “high adventure” characters like the Viking Prince, the Golden Gladiator, and the Shining Knight (and shortly, Robin Hood), swashbucklers cut more from the Errol Flynn cloth than Robert E. Howard’s but sword-fighters (who sometimes encountered sorcery) nonetheless. They burst onto the stands in The Brave and the Bold #1 (Aug.–Sept. 1955), an anthology that later became famous as the launch pad for the Justice League of America, Silver Age Hawkman, and Teen Titans as well as a Batman team-up comic. However, by the time B&B #1 went on sale, Marvel (then Atlas) had already published three issues of its Black Knight series, the American Comics Group had introduced its own galahads like Roger of Sherwood Forest and Prince Athel in the Young Heroes title, and as noted in this issue’s lead article, Avon’s Crom the Barbarian had beaten them all to the punch. Such fable-fueled funnybooks were then rare, though, easily lost amid a 1950s stampede of Western comics starring both Hollywood-licensed and original cowboys.

As the Silver Age evolved, throughout the 1960s a few protobarbarians and savage heroes staked their claim amid market mania over Batman and the burgeoning Marvel Age of Comics. Charlton’s Hercules, Gold Key’s Mighty Samson and Turok, Son of Stone, and Harvey’s Clawfang the Barbarian catered to those readers who enjoyed rough-edged heroes in something other than spandex, as did Saturday morning cartoons The Mighty Mightor and Dino Boy, both of whom also made appearances in comic books in Gold Key’s Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes anthology. If you enjoy a good debate you might even argue that Marvel’s The Mighty Thor was a sword-and-sorcery comic masquerading as a superhero one. During the ’60s, DC mostly eschewed swords and savages for science as it grew its superhero line, although toward the end of the decade the company released a Bomba the Jungle Boy TV tie-in comic as well as its aforementioned Anthro and Nightmaster entries. Behold, 1970 and the dawn of the Bronze Age! Once Marvel’s Conan survived a shaky start and sliced its way to the top of the sales heap, DC took notice and released a succession of savage series all its own. While the majority of these comic-book titles have previously been explored in BACK ISSUE’s pages, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, what follows is a round-up of DC’s entries into the Bronze Age barbarian market, with handy notations to previous BI articles containing further details.

Hard-Rockin’ Swordsman Signed Bernie Wrightson original art from Nightmaster’s second appearance, in Showcase #83 (June 1969). TM & © DC Comics.

Barbarians At the Gate (opposite) Masters of swordplay, spears, maces, clubs, lasers, you name it… DC’s Savage Stars of the 1970s and 1980s (pre-Crisis). All characters TM & © DC Comics, except: Tarzan, Korak, John Carter of Mars, Pellucidar, Carson of Venus © ERB, Inc. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser © Fritz Leiber Estate. Tor © Joe Kubert Estate. Masters of the Universe © Mattel. Camelot 3000 © Michael W. Barr and Brian Bolland. Ronin © Frank Miller. Warlords © Steve Skeates and David Wenzel. Lords of the Ultra-Realm © Doug Moench and Pat Broderick.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 31

Know, O Prince, that during the heralded Bronze Age, other ferocious fighters plied sinew, steel, and sweat against mages, monsters, and madmen, among them:

Gil Kane (with uncredited scripter Archie Goodwin) produced this early graphic novel, released in paperback from Bantam Books.

Bronze Age reprint series begins re-presenting writer Gaylor DuBois’ former backup feature from Gold Key’s Tarzan of the Apes.

Shanna the She-Devil

Ka-Zar Returns

During the age of Women’s Lib, Mighty Marvel introduces a new Jungle Queen with a thoroughly modern attitude. (See BI #43 for more info.)

Atlas/Seaboard’s first entry into sword and sorcery premiered with this amazing Neal Adams cover.

Pat Boyetteproduced Charlton adaptation of the Saturday morning live-action series from HannaBarbera Productions.

Wulf the Barbarian

Marvel’s he-man from the Savage Land gets another shot at stardom in this Bronze Age reboot, featuring a Shanna cameo.

Demon Hunter

Larry Hama created, wrote, and illustrated this short-lived Atlas/Seaboard title. (See BI #43 for more info.)

Robert E. Howard’s James Allison, the Texan who lived past lives as heroes of yesteryear, adapted by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane.

Korg: 70,000 B.C.

Brothers of the Spear

Ironjaw Valley of the Worm © REH Properties. Supernatural Thrillers TM & © Marvel.

Demons and rogue gods learn to fear the defiant sword-wielder in Gold Key’s Bronze Age barbarian comic from Don Glut and Jesse Santos.

Blackmark

Valley of the Worm

Barry WindsorSmith moonlighted from Conan to draw Sean Kelly’s parody of essayist/political activist Norman Mailer in National Lampoon’s May 1972 issue.

Two months before Conan #1, Marvel’s Lord of the Jungle headlines both a new series in Astonishing Tales and a short-lived reprint giant.

Dagar the Invincible

Norman the Barbarian

Ka-Zar

Michael Eury

compiled by

Rich Buckler and David Anthony Kraft later reinvented this superhero/swordand-sorcery hybrid as Marvel’s Devil-Slayer. (See BI #71 for more info.)

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 37

Dewey Cassell

Conan of Des Moines From Savage Sword of Conan #34 (Oct. 1978), a Conan Sunday strip promoting the barbarian’s syndicated adventures. By Roy Thomas and John Buscema. Scan courtesy of Dewey Cassell. TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.

Created in 1932 by Robert E. Howard, Conan the Barbarian conquered virtually every foe he encountered and every format from pulp magazines to books to poetry over the next 46 years. One of the last horizons to cross—save a feature film, which would arrive in 1982—was the newspaper. So it was that the year 1978 marked the debut of a Marvel Comics newspaper strip based on Howard’s legendary barbarian. The Conan newspaper strip followed on the heels of Marvel strips featuring The Amazing Spider-Man, which began in January 1977, and Howard the Duck, which started five months later. Although the Howard the Duck newspaper strip would end the month after the Conan strip began, The Amazing Spider-Man strip continued for 42 years. But the success (or lack thereof) of the previous strips likely wasn’t the only factor in the decision to launch a strip based on Conan. Former Marvel Comics writer and editor-in-chief Roy Thomas explains, “Since it was the Register and Tribune Syndicate that had the [other] strips, it might have been at least partly their idea, or maybe an idea they chose from among a number of possibilities Stan [Lee] gave. Nobody ever told me exactly. It was all done through Stan. There is the fact that, of course, by that time, Conan had become one of Marvel’s two or three bestselling titles at the same period in which they did that medallion. They did three medallions: Spider-Man, Hulk, and Conan. So Conan was a pretty hot property, and it was a way to do something that wasn’t just another superhero like Spider-Man or, to some extent, even the Hulk. They wanted something a little different, and doing Fantastic Four or Daredevil or Thor would not have been as different as doing Conan.” A newspaper strip featuring the Hulk began the month after Conan. Thomas himself may have helped seal the deal with the syndicate when he made a trip to Iowa, as he elaborates, “They never approached me directly. I just happened to meet with them later because, soon after it started, by coincidence, my wife Dann went to Des Moines because

that was where the insurance company that she managed an office for was centered. She went there and I went along, and since the syndicate happened to be there, I got together with one or two of the top people there. We had lunch, sitting around one of those Cinvano umbrellas, as I recall, and talked a little bit. That was the only contact I think I ever had directly with the Register and Tribune Syndicate people. But a lot of times you don’t meet the people you’re working with, especially since the whole thing was being handled through Marvel.” Whether Marvel had to obtain special permission from the Robert E. Howard Estate to do the strip or whether it may have fallen under the existing agreement for the comic book is uncertain. Thomas notes, “I don’t know if they used powers that were inherent, but I’m sure they paid them money. They may have gone to the Howard Estate anyway just to make sure it was okay, because they wouldn’t have wanted a quarrel over it with somebody suddenly saying, ‘You don’t have the right to sell those rights.’ But I imagine Glenn [Lord, literary agent for the Howard properties] was probably just happy to see it go out in the paper and reach some more people. It was always the possibility of casting a wider net to make Conan popular at a time when the studios were trying to get a movie going. It was kind of stalled for a few years.” The same creative team who produced the Conan comic book was slated to create the Conan strip. Thomas recalls the genesis of the strip: “There was no sample. They probably showed some pictures of John [Buscema]’s work, or the Conan comics, and they knew what it was going to look like, because John was originally going to pencil and ink it. And he did, for that one adventure. So there were no samples, they just had us start going. I was paid a flat rate, $100 or $150 a week or something like that, to do it. It wasn’t a big deal, but I thought, well, I’d still kind of like to do it. I liked the idea of doing a newspaper strip. That was a thing that people in comics always wanted to do, and here

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“Other than that, I made up stories. I brought in Red Sonja. was one being handed to me on a platter, so I may as well do it. If it had become a big hit, then maybe we could have talked about more About once a year, for a few weeks I would bring in Sonja, and she and money, but at the time I just thought it’d be all right to do.” Conan would be off after the Amphora of Zarfhaana that I made up, There was no question regarding the commitment of the Register which was this magical vase from Zarfhaana, one of the countries in and Tribune Syndicate. From his meeting with them, “[There’s] one Kull’s time. Thulsa Doom was in a storyline there, and a few other things thing I do remember [about] the young guy who was sort of in charge,” here and there. I had one that had kind of a Japanese feel to it that Thomas recalls. “As we were sitting around having a drink that Alfredo [Alcala] was drawing. One was about a plague. Just whatever afternoon, he was talking about how he felt about Conan. He was happened to occur to me at the time. “I didn’t adapt any of the [Howard] Conan stories until right at the wrong on this, but he felt that Conan was one that was going to last. Maybe Howard [the Duck] was already gone, I don’t remember, but he end, when I began to feel the strip was not going anywhere and it may wasn’t sure that something like the Hulk was really made for a be discontinued sometime. This was about the time I was just about newspaper strip, but he felt like Spider-Man and Conan could really getting ready to leave [Marvel] for DC anyway, and who knew if I’d be make it.” Reflecting that commitment, the syndicate publicized the able to continue on it, so I adapted ‘Tower of the Elephant’ again, new Conan strip. As Thomas notes, “The syndicate sent out some which I had adapted in both Conan the Barbarian and in Savage Sword pretty nice advance materials with color sheets and everything to of Conan before, so I just did it for the strip, too.” [See the sidebar for a complete list of Conan strip storylines.] newspapers, and they gave it a nice push.” Marvel also promoted the strip with a preview in issue However, there was no attempt to maintain any link #27 of Savage Sword of Conan, cover-dated March 1978. or continuity between the Conan newspaper strip The preview included sample strips by Thomas and and the stories appearing in Marvel publications. Buscema from the first week, “which recounts the Thomas recalls, “I tried to make the characters like previous history of Conan and the Hyborian Age,” as Conan and Sonja fairly faithful, but I didn’t really have many characters repeating from one to the well as select strips from the first regular storyline. other, just him and Sonja, and there wasn’t any The accompanying article stated, “The precise attempt to work in where that would exactly fit. starting-date of the strip is not yet set, but Dennis R. I always felt [the strip was] somewhere vaguely in Allen, head of the Register and Tribune Syndicate (which also produces Spidey and Howard), informs us the not-very-far future of where we were in the the it’ll be ‘early in 1978.’ Which means any day now.” comics at the time.” The preview in Savage Sword That optimism proved premature, however, since it of Conan #27 said the strip was “chronicling tales wasn’t until Monday, September 4, 1978 that the of the Cimmerian from a period when Conan is in john buscema his late 20s, some time after the current colorstrip first appeared in newspapers. Timed to coincide comics stories.” with its debut, Savage Sword of Conan #34 included a second preview with additional samples of the strip, noting, There was one unconventional source of material for the Conan “a number of major newspapers have already signed on to carry strip, as Thomas describes. “One other thing I did is I adapted one Conan’s exploits,” followed by a list and encouragement to readers if not a couple of stories that Len Wein had written for the Power Records version of Conan. I was really annoyed at Len, because I to get their newspapers to pick up the strip. When it came to writing the strip, one might imagine that Roy thought, if somebody had come to me and asked, ‘Do you want Thomas would have adapted Conan stories by Robert E. Howard or to do a Power Records adaptation of, say, Swamp Thing,’ I would used the comic-book stories Thomas himself had previously written, never have done it. But Len just did it and didn’t bother to call me but that was not usually the case. “Most of it was new,” he explains. and tell me. It just suddenly pops up. That was when I decided “There were two storylines that were done from non-Conan Howard that Len and I would be friendly forever, but that was the end of stories. One was ‘The Voice of El-Lil,’ a very minor story, which I added any personal feeling for him in my case, because I felt like, if you quite a bit to. And there was another one, the story ‘Wolfshead,’ which do something like that, you’re not really a friend. But I decided, I think was one of the very first stories that Howard ever sold, which is well, I should get some money out of it, so without informing him, basically a werewolf story set in Portuguese Africa, and I turned it into I just took some of those stories and I adapted them into the Conan a Conan story. I think Gerry Conway or somebody had turned it into newspaper strip so that I made money out of them. I always say a Kull story in the comic books. living well is the best revenge.”

Conan the Unseen Unpublished Conan dailies drawn by John Buscema and later used for layouts by Ernie Chan. Courtesy of Brian Peck. TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 41

Roy Thomas, perhaps more than any other comics writer, is responsible for the dawn of heroic fantasy in 1970 when he and artist Barry Windsor-Smith, and later John Buscema and others, adapted Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian for Marvel Comics. As you’ve been reading elsewhere in this issue, the success of Conan opened the door for other barbarians and swashbucklers to sharpen their blades in the comics pages and allowed Thomas and many more creators to bring other REH characters to the medium. After leaving Marvel to work for DC Comics, Thomas and his wife Dann, with artist Ernie Colón, created a new adventurer that went beyond Howardian lore. Arak, Son of Thunder debuted as a preview in The Warlord #48 (Aug. 1981) before the first of the hero’s 50 issues hit newsstands and comic shops. Draw your swords, O Dear Reader of BACK ISSUE, and prepare yourself for an inside look at the thunderous exploits of Arak that will make He-No proud.

James Heath Lantz

By 1981, Roy Thomas had been in the comic business for roughly 16 years, having made a name for himself writing such Marvel titles as X-Men, Sub-Mariner, Avengers, and, of course, Conan the Barbarian. According to Jim Amash’s interview with Thomas in Alter Ego #100, some staff at DC had made it clear that a job was available if Thomas ever became unhappy with Marvel. Creative and contractual disputes led him to leave the House of Ideas for the Distinguished Competition. Arak, Son of Thunder originally was an entirely different idea at first, according to Thomas in AE #100 and discussions with BACK ISSUE. He had initially wanted to pitch for DC to license Robert E. Howard’s Cormac Mac Art. Those stories took place in about 500 A.D., the same period of Arak. However, there weren’t many Cormac stories compared to his Cimmerian brother-in-arms, and there weren’t the splendorous kingdoms like those in Conan’s Hyborian Age. Enter Danette Couto, then-fiancée of Roy Thomas, who would legally changed her name to Dann after their marriage. Dann liked the Dark Ages setting and came up with the idea of a Native American discovering Europe. Roy Thomas took time out of his busy schedule to talk with BACK ISSUE about Arak, Son of Thunder. He began with the process of working with his wife Dann on the book. “Dann and I would get together and discuss stories,” he recalls. “Of course, Arak was on a journey, so that helped shape the stories. First to the court of Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus), then on to Rome and the Near East, etc. “Dann did much more research than I. I think Dann did the first rough draft of the dialogue in many stories, though I don’t recall for which ones. For the first few I probably did the entire script, but of course the plotting had been by both of us.” There have been obvious comparisons of Arak, Son of Thunder to Conan the Barbarian. Both are in the sword and sorcery/heroic fantasy genre. Both characters’ comics have similar artistic visual styles, and Thomas wrote for both adventurers. However, Thomas confirms with BACK ISSUE that the Son of Thunder was not a mere rehashing of Robert E. Howard’s famous Cimmerian. “I was going to DC after my six years of Marvel contracts expired, near the end of 1980, and DC wanted me to do a new sword-andsorcery book for them,” Thomas says. “So Arak, Son of Thunder’s early issues were not Conan stories re-cast with Arak. They just had similar elements because Howard was my primary influence in sword and sorcery, so I just naturally thought that way.”

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 47

THUNDEROUS HISTORY

The Coming of Arak (top) Dann and Roy Thomas in November 2019. Photo by and courtesy of John Cimino. (inset) The Warlord #48 (Aug. 1981). Cover by Mike Grell. (bottom) First page from that issue’s Arak, Son of Thunder preview. By Roy Thomas, Ernie Colón, and Tony DeZuniga. Photo courtesy of Facebook. Arak TM & © DC Comics.

48 • BACK ISSUE • Conan and the Barbarians Issue

Ernie Colón, who collaborated with Roy Thomas on adaptations of L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter’s “Moon of Blood” and Dann Thomas’ “Sea of No Return” in Savage Sword of Conan, co-created Arak, Son of Thunder with the Thomases. It was his first comic for DC. Colón is credited for art on issues #1–14, 31, 37, and Annual #1, including backup stories and pinups. According to Roger Slifer’s interview with Colón published in David Anthony Kraft’s Comics Interview #13, he got the job thanks to Roy Thomas, who liked his Conan art. When Thomas began working for DC Comics, he insisted that Colón show his work to Dick Giordano, DC’s editorial director. Colón had done so without knowing that Thomas had already given copies to Giordano. This led Giordano, Thomas, and Colón to discuss Arak, Son of Thunder. Colón loved the concept, but he eventually felt that Arak didn’t stand out more as a character. Ernie gradually lost interest in Arak, Son of Thunder and went on to other comics. He did, however, keep a copy of his cover image for Arak #12 at the time of the Comics Interview piece. On an interesting sidenote, Ernie Colón also drew the map of Arak’s world that appears at the end of Arak, Son of Thunder #2 (Oct. 1981). Yet, he had mistakenly left out the entire Mediterranean peninsula, where Greece is located. Colón had been embarrassed by the error, and the omission was later corrected in future issues of Arak where the map was printed. Detective Comics’ Bob Smith, Firestorm’s Rodin Rodriguez, and Conan alumni Tony DeZuniga and Alfredo Alcala inked Colón’s pencils until Ernie eventually took on full art chores. Colón discussed these inkers and his views on inking in general in a 2011 interview published in Scarce #77. He stated that he felt his tight pencils in early Arak comics were disregarded by the inker. Perhaps this was due to a belief that they were rough drawings. Whatever the case may be, Colón felt “the more brush strokes, the better” approach obliterated his pencil work to the point the image style didn’t seem like his own. Roy Thomas would later admit that some inks “watered down” Ernie Colón’s unique art style. Colon’s visuals combined the historical concepts with the fantasy elements he had used in the aforementioned Conan tales. Plus, his attention to detail in the early Arak issues gave readers a taste of what was to come from Colón in his later comics such as Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. Roy Thomas informs BACK ISSUE about the artistic changes in Arak after Ernie Colón’s departure and DC’s attempts to attract Conan fans. “We tried,” he states. “Alfredo Alcala was an example. Other guys did their best, but Arak, from first to last, never really found the right artist.” Names are important for a brand, an artist, or a character. One could make the case that history might be different for Timely Comics, Mortimer Mouse, and David Robert Jones if they had been respectively called something other than Marvel Comics, Mickey Mouse, and David Bowie. Arak had much different moniker in promotional material. The May 1981-dated DC Coming Attractions #54 contained a caption that read Bloodwolf, Son of Thunder. According to Amazing Heroes #1, DC Comics

You have to be careful what you say about He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. To me, looking back now on the 1980s cartoon, the whole premise seems kind of hokey. But there are fiercely loyal He-Man fans who will swear that the adventures at Castle Grayskull were seminal to their adolescent development. I guess the truth is, each of us has things from our childhood that hold a special place in our hearts. (At least it wasn’t My Little Pony, right?) Now that I have offended a legion of toy collectors, you find yourself wondering, “What does this have to do with the Warlord action figures?” Patience, Travis Morgan fans. All will be made clear in due time. You see, before He-Man was a cartoon, he was an action figure. In the early 1980s, Mattel was looking for a new hit toy, having watched Kenner reap great rewards with their Star Wars line. Mattel had tried making action figures based on licensed properties such as Flash Gordon and Battlestar Galactica, with little success. So they decided to create their own character, something bigger and better than Star Wars. Their designers came up with the idea for He-Man. In what would later prove ironic, Conan Properties International, LLC sued Mattel for copyright infringement, claiming that He-Man bore a striking resemblance to a certain barbarian, whose movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was in theaters at the time. Reportedly, Conan Properties had earlier been in talks with Mattel about producing a Conan action figure. (The contract to produce Conan action figures was awarded to Remco.) Regardless, Mattel won the lawsuit and the He-Man action figure was a hit, spawning cartoons, spinoffs (She-Ra), and comic books. Which brings us to the Warlord, sort of. You see, before Warlord was an action figure, he was a comic book. The Warlord debuted in the pages of DC Comics’ 1st Issue Special #8 (Nov. 1975) before receiving his own title in February of the following year. The Warlord was the brainchild of Mike Grell, who initially wrote, penciled, and inked the stories. The premise was that Air Force pilot Travis Morgan veered off course and passed through an opening in the Earth at the North Pole, finding himself in a land within our own, Skartaris, filled with perpetual sunlight, prehistoric creatures, swords, and sorcery. In short, way more believable than He-Man. Plausibility aside, the Warlord comic book was a hit, becoming one of DC Comics’ top sellers. Remco, which already had a relationship with DC Comics through the Sgt. Rock line of action figures, set its sights on Travis Morgan. In 1982, Remco created a new line of 5½inch action figures under the banner “Lost World of the Warlord” that included not only Morgan and related characters Machiste, Mikola, and the villain Deimos, but also Arak and Hercules [of Hercules Unbound], each with six points of articulation and some real clothing, packaged with a weapon or accessory on a colorful blister card. The character Arak [covered elsewhere in this issue] first appeared in a special insert in Warlord #48, but Hercules had no connection to Warlord, other than also appearing in fantasy-related DC comic books. You might assume that Remco and DC Comics would turn to Warlord creator Mike Grell to help design the action figures. You would be mistaken. I asked Grell about his involvement with the Warlord action figures. The conversation went like this:

Dewey Cassell

CASSELL: So tell me how the Remco Warlord action figure came about. GRELL: Are you talking about the one that was done from the models of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, where everybody looks like they’re constipated? CASSELL: Exactly, yes. GRELL: I had nothing to do with that whatsoever.

DC’s He-Men Original art for the comic house ad promoting Remco’s Warlord line. Inks by Mike DeCarlo, penciler unknown. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

Therein lies a lesson in work-for-hire versus creator-owned properties, which will have to wait for another time. But Grell brings up a common misperception that the Warlord action figures were simply recasts of He-Man. Although both figures share the same general appearance, they are not exactly the same. It was close enough, though, to lead Mattel to sue Remco, filing an appeal in late 1983. The ruling from the appellate court case—Mattel, Inc., a Delaware Corporation, Appellant, v.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 57

s. “Wel come to Gray Morr ow’s Edge of Chao -issue three a of t llmen insta This is the first one of mini-series. Gray Morrow has long been with and ts, talen cted respe most comic art’s a this series he utilizes all his skills to create has Gray ow. Morr pure is that story ing gripp iler, done it ALL on this opus—he is writer, penc many inker, letterer, and colorist. There are not talents who even attempt to carry this load, and even fewe r who are able to pull it off. s Gray Morrow is one of those rare individual who brings all of the components together than into a seamless package that is truly more ts the sum of its parts—an adventure that reflec r. l-clea crysta or creat its of vision the “We knew we were dealing with a talent who ed the had a sense of humor when we first receiv ltuous tumu the ing admir After issue. cover for this iled action scene, we noticed a message penc or into the margin. It wasn’t a coloring note the some other bit of technical direction, but s obser vation that “It looks like happy hour’ the t ghou throu nt prese over!” This humor is ntion script, giving Edge of Chaos a lack of prete very that genre a in hing that is very refres in no often takes itself a mite too seriously. This this of ment excite and n actio the ens way damp saga but adds one more dimension to an already well-rounded yarn.”

With that observation, David Scroggy, editor at Pacific Comics, opened his editorial for the first issue of Edge of Chaos, published in July of 1983. Pacific Comics was an independent comic publisher out of San Diego, California, established by the brothers Steve and William Schanes as an offshoot of their comic shop and distribution business. From 1981–1984, Pacific shared the independent market with fellow publishers Eclipse, First, and others in the new field of direct-market books. They were instrumental in the push for creator-owned titles, sharing profits generously with creators when a title became successful. This attracted several mainstream creators like Jack Kirby, Mike Grell, and Neal Adams. I asked David about the series over lunch with him and William Schanes (publisher, Pacific Comics):

Just Call Me… Hercules Gray Morrow promotional art for Edge of Chaos, which was also used (inset) for the cover of Amazing Heroes #26 (July 1, 1983), which previewed the series. Edge of Chaos © Pocho Morrow. Amazing Heroes © Fantagraphics.

60 • BACK ISSUE • Conan and the Barbarians Issue

Stephan Friedt

STEPHAN FRIEDT: Did you approach Gray or did he approach Pacific Comics? DAVID SCROGGY: Gray brought it to us, initially through contact with Steve Schanes, the first issue completely done. I didn’t have much contact after that, other than maybe a phone call or two over deadlines with the following issues.

GRAY MATTERS

Dwight Graydon “Gray” Morrow was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on March 7, 1934. Gray got the cartooning bug early, and served as editor of his high school yearbook and supplied it with cartoons and illustrations. In 1954, at the age of 20, Morrow enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He described his two nights a week for three months under the tutelage of Jerry Warshaw as the “total of my entire formal art training.” Gray tried to break into the art business… a brief and unsatisfactory foray with Feldkamp-Malloy Art Studio, and an inspiring meeting with strip artist Allen Saunders, that prompted him to try submitting comic-strip ideas to the syndicates… also unsuccessful. In the winter of 1955, Morrow headed to New York City, where he roomed with Howie O’Donnell, a friend from Chicago. By spring of 1956, he had connected with artists Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, and Wallace “Wally” Wood. Al Williamson has recalled, “Gray had met Wally at the National Cartoonists Society meeting. Wally lived a few blocks from Gray’s apartment in Manhattan. We all met in the park to play baseball. In a way the park became a studio for a group of artists who didn’t share a studio. When we weren’t playing ball or helping each other out doing art, we went to the movies. “I didn’t need to give him any pointers and I definitely gave him no criticism. If I had any part in his early development, it would be from sharing with him some of the knowledge that had been passed down to me from Roy Krenkel—who had turned me on to the great illustrators like Joseph Clement Coll, Arthur Rackham, Frank Goodwin, and others. Gray had his own remarkable talent and a passion for the material from the very start.” Morrow’s association with comicbook artists would lead to his first sale to Toby Press, a romance story that was unfortunately bought just before the company went under, so it was never published. He worked briefly for Western Publishing, but it too collapsed shortly after. He also contributed several stories and covers for EC Comics. Gray continued to do backgrounds and layout for Al and Wally and supplied some stories for Marvel/Atlas that saw print after he was drafted into the US Army in late 1956. He continued to work on his art throughout his service, providing illustrations and paintings for what ever was needed. He was discharged in 1958 and returned to New York. Al Williamson recalled, “Who’d have thought that he could go serve in Korea and come back a better artist? But he did. By the time Gray came back from Korea, he had mastered painting.” Upon Morrow’s return, Angelo Torres connected him with Joe Simon at Hastings Associates for a couple

of stories and with the Gilberton Company. At Gilberton Gray worked regularly and provided numerous art jobs for the Classics Illustrated line. In the 1960s Gray moved to California and continued to work for Gilberton, and illustrated several books for Bobbs-Merrill’s juvenile book series Childhood of Famous Americans. Gray would provide comic art for numerous publishing companies… particularly for the adult-themed black-and-white magazines. He worked for Warren Publishing for three years, as well as providing stories for rival Skywald magazines. At Marvel he co-created the character Man-Thing with Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway for the House of Ideas’ entry into the black-and-white field, Savage Tales #1 (May 1972). [Editor’s note: Join us this fall for our look at the muck-encrusted Man-Thing’s history, coming in BACK ISSUE #124.]

Chariot of the Gods Eric Cleese—whose name seems like a wink to two Monty Python comedians—and the core cast of Edge of Chaos. From Hermes Press’ book, Gray Morrow’s Orion. Edge of Chaos © Pocho Morrow.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 61

Ian Millsted

For nearly 15 years, the keeper of the flame of Conan in comic-book form was Dark Horse Comics. With a range of top talent and innovative editorial control, Dark Horse worked some magic with the character and world created by Robert E. Howard. As well as offering a new set of adaptations of original stories, they created a whole new tapestry of linking material. There were also wellpresented reprint collections of much of the Marvel version examined earlier in this issue. Let’s take a look at how Dark Horse created its distinctive vision of Howard’s best-known protagonist.

THE MAN WITH ONE NAME

For many years, prior to picking up the rights to do Conan comic books, Dark Horse had established itself as king of licensed comics. Having produced well-received comics based on film franchises such as Aliens, Predator, The Terminator, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, and pulp series Doc Savage and The Shadow, Dark Horse was a company well placed to be able to reinvigorate Conan in the comic industry. Towards the end of their time as holders of the Conan comics license, Dark Horse creative personnel seemed unsure of what to do with the character. Where Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan had once been among Marvel’s top sellers, by the late 1990s the character had been marginalized to a succession of irregular miniseries while Marvel had concentrated its efforts on its own creations. The time was ripe for Conan to once more take a place of honor on the shelves of the local comic shop. Dark Horse, with title editor Scott Allie, took their time to make sure everything was in place for a strong start for the new launch. This involved an attractive preview issue and getting the right creators. Writer Kurt Busiek came to the series with a strong track record of success including Marvels, Astro City, Thunderbolts, The Avengers, and others. In an interview on the Dark Horse website he explained his interest in the character: “One of the things I like most about Conan is the grand sweep of his life— the way he changes and grows and does different things over time. He’s got no Batcave to return to, no coffeehouse to hang out in—he just keeps moving, encountering new things.” Kurt Busiek explains to BACK ISSUE, in more detail, how he came to be involved with the project. “I had dinner at a San Diego Con with Mike Richardson, the publisher at Dark Horse. I forget what it was we were supposed to be talking about, but Mike was tying up a deal to do Conan, and he told me about it. So we wound up spending most of the dinner talking about how Dark Horse might approach a Conan comic—what had kurt busiek been done right in the past, what had Joshin Yamada. been done wrong, what could be done differently in the present day. It was a lot of fun. “When I got back home, I’d thought of more ideas, so I wrote a letter to Mike suggesting a launch strategy, with a 25-cent preview comic and various other approaches, because I wanted to see the DH Conan series do well. At this point, I wasn’t thinking of myself as writer, I was just enthusiastic about DH doing it, and I wanted to be supportive and help out with a few ideas. “Anyway, Mike liked my suggestions and passed the letter off to Scott Allie, telling him to see if I’d be up to write the book. Scott was under the impression that Mike had offered me the book, and I was under the impression I was just making suggestions from the sidelines, so it took a little while to unsnarl that, but eventually we were on the same page and Scott offered me the book. Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 65

No Comics Code From its bloodsplattered Joseph Michael Linsner cover to this title page depicting a beheading, Dark Horse’s Conan #1 (Feb. 2004) clearly was for a more sophisticated audience than the original Marvel interpretation. TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.

Which, despite me making all those suggestions, came as a surprise— I wasn’t the kind of writer you’d generally think of for Conan.” And the lead artist was Cary Nord, best known at the time for a run on Marvel’s Daredevil, who brought a whole new style to Conan. Busiek interviewed Nord for the text page of the preview issue, in which Nord revealed how he got the job. “Scott Allie asked if I would do some samples. I did a couple of pinup type drawings that, I guess, were well received because they asked me to do a threepage story sample afterwards, which I did. And that was it as far as sample art went. Then the waiting part began…” Readers first got to see the product of this partnership in the aforementioned preview issue. Dark Horse made the bold move of putting out an issue #0 (Nov. 2003) for only 25 cents and titled, simply, Conan. For that budget price the reader got a 16-page story, a three-page character sketchbook by Nord, and the Busiek/ Nord interview. From Frazetta, [Windsor-]Smith, Buscema, and others onwards, Conan has been a character where artists have been able to showcase their talents and experiment. Cary Nord took the opportunity to show a wholly different approach with the published art using his uninked pencils. Nord explained, “Not having to worry about how it’s going to be inked certainly gives me more artistic liberties. I’m able to flirt with gray tones, which would be impossible to ink. That offers a new dimension to my style. I can’t tell you how great it feels to turn over all of this stuff to an amazing colorist like Dave Stewart who knows exactly what to do with it. The whole idea to skip the inking process came about when everyone saw Dave’s colors over my page with the giant ape. It just looked complete, and this style really suits this particular book. Conan is raw and savage, and he doesn’t play by the rules, and I think the look we’ve created enhances that feeling.” The story in the preview was largely given over to the prince and his Wazir who advises him with the familiar start, “Know, O Prince…” Another shrewd move was to allow a three-month gap between #0 and 1 (Feb. 2004) so that word of mouth could spread and, crucially, comic retailers could understand the potential interest and make appropriate orders for the ongoing series. An addition to the creative team for #1 was cover artist Joseph Michael Linsner, who brought a bold sense of design to the first seven issues. While there was much that was distinctive about the Dark Horse series, it did cary nord share a common approach with the original Marvel comics in as much as they both started with © Luigi Novi/ Wikimedia Commons. Conan aged about 16 or 17, but looking older, and mainly telling the story in chronological order. The nature of Conan’s character was established in thePREVIEW, first issue, IF YOU ENJOYED THIS allowing the creators to moveCLICK directly, in LINK #2, toTO one of Howard’s THE ORDER THIS original stories, “The Frost Giant’s was another brave ISSUEDaughter.” IN PRINT This OR DIGITAL FORMAT! move. On the one hand, this is a well-known tale among Howard enthusiasts and the Marvel adaptation of the ’70s was popular enough to be reprinted more than once. On the other hand, the subject matter is controversial. It is a not unreasonable reading of the story that Conan follows the beautiful woman of the title with the intention of raping her. The Dark Horse adaptation manages to stay true to the core of the Howard story while giving more dialogue to the woman and emphasizing the extent to which Conan is being manipulated. With #3 (Apr. 2004), Thomas Yeates joins the art team, doing backgrounds and some layouts, and the strong visuals continued. Conan had proven to be a big hit for Dark Horse with early issues being the publisher’s top title each month. However, maintaining the monthly schedule was a challenge for Cary Nord, and the publishers had built in a cleverly planned series of fill-ins right from the outset. With #8 (Sept. 2004), Kurt Busiek was joined by artist Greg Ruth for the first of an occasional series of one-off BACK ISSUE #121 CONAN & THE BARBARIANS! Celebrating 50th anniversary stories that told episodes of Conan’s childhood. Therethewould be of ROY THOMAS and BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH’s Conanto #1! six of these altogether, building up into an effective prequel The Bronze Age Barbarian Boom, Top 50 Marvel Conan stories, the main ongoing storyline. Marvel’s Not-Quite Conans (from Kull to Skull), Arak–Son of WarlordBusiek action figures, MORROW’s Edge of Meanwhile, in the main Thunder, narrative, andGRAY Nord introduced Chaos, and Conan the Barbarian at Dark Horse Comics. With an a new character, Janissa. As with other female characters, the comicunused WINDSOR-SMITH Conan #9 cover. book version of Red Sonja being the best-known example, Janissa (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

66 • BACK ISSUE • Conan and the Barbarians Issue

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