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Friday, May 6, 2022

Favourite comics: Conan the Barbarian issue 37

I can still recall with crystal clarity the first time I saw a Conan the Barbarian comic on a late evening stroll with my family on a weekend holiday in Blackpool. That particular comic was Conan issue 26 (May 1973) and I was instantly hooked on Conan and sword and sorcery at that point. Sadly it would be more over a year before I picked up my next Conan comic, but what an issue that was to end my Conan drought. Conan issue 37 (April 1974) "The Curse of the Golden Skull" by Roy Thomas and the late and truly great Neal Adams is a classic. This story was originally planned to be published in the black and white magazine Savage Sword of Conan but for some reason it was decided to publish this tale in the colour monthly, luckily the art has survived the transition to the smaller page size. Below is a selection of some of my favourite pages from the pen of the wonderful Neal Adams.
The splash page , depicting Conan riding his horse through a windswept northern scene is some of Neal Adams best work, the detail in this page, and the previous 3 pages are just stunning.
Any story with a giant slug is pretty much always a winner in my book.
Darn Mr Adams was good wasn't he?
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14 comments:

  1. KidMay 6, 2022 at 7:27 AM

    I never saw this issue at the time, though I bought the True Believers reprint of it a couple or so years back. If it ever finally made it into the b&w mags, I may have seen it there, but not certain. Great art to be sure, but I still prefer Buscema drawing Conan.

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    1. McSCOTTYMay 6, 2022 at 10:13 AM

      John Buscema will always be the Conan artist for me as well Kid. Adams Conan was always a special treat to the regular Buscema (with Alcala in the black and white mag) magic and Adams always did Conan exceptionally well on his occasional forays into the Hyborian age.

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  2. Rip JaggerMay 6, 2022 at 8:22 AM

    Adams was superb on Conan. His somewhat more realistic style brought a heft to the stories, made them feel more immediate and made the Hyborian Age come into focus. The romance of my favorite Conan artist Buscema was missing, but it felt more visceral.

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  3. McSCOTTYMay 6, 2022 at 10:22 AM

    I always felt that Adams Conan art was meant for the black and white Savage Sword magazine, as you say he gave the character added “heft” that suited the b&w format for me. I also really liked Neal Adams (Crusty bunkers?) inks on issues 44 and 45 over John Buscemas pencils (what a superstar combo)

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  4. Colin JonesMay 6, 2022 at 1:46 PM

    My first Conan comic was Marvel UK's 'Savage Sword Of Conan' weekly No.2 dated March 15th 1975. It featured the story "The Lair Of The Beast-Men" by Roy Thomas, Barry Smith and Sal Buscema on inks. The plot was basically Spartacus meets Planet Of The Apes in the Hyborian Age.

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    1. McSCOTTYMay 9, 2022 at 12:08 AM

      Hi Colin, apologies for the delay in replying work is still hectic and is taking up way more time than it should. My first Barry Smith Conan comic was issue 1 of the UK Savage Sword of Conan weekly which I still have along with issues 2 and a few others. Have to say I didn't put this story together with Planet of the Apes meets Spartacus at the time but from memory I think your right.

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  5. baggseyMay 6, 2022 at 9:51 PM

    This was a great comic, McScotty. I remember buying that issue, and recently picked up the True Believers $1 reprint of it. I see that the story was reprinted in the 1980s in Marvel B&W Conan Saga #8....I have never seen a copy of it, but it would be interesting to see how the original artwork was reproduced in that medium.

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    1. KidMay 7, 2022 at 1:08 AM

      I've got Conan Saga #8, B, so I'll post some pages on my blog one of these days.

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    2. baggseyMay 7, 2022 at 1:12 AM

      Thanks Kid - a comparison of some of the pages might be quite interesting. Presumably the artwork was drawn for a different page ratio if the original intention was B&W.

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    3. McSCOTTYMay 9, 2022 at 12:11 AM

      I don't think I saw the True Believers edition of Conan 37 baggsey but my original issue 37 is still in pristine condition (he says smugly) .

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    4. KidMay 9, 2022 at 1:38 AM

      You'd have seen it if you'd been paying attention to my blog, you buggah!

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    5. KidMay 12, 2022 at 8:57 PM

      I'm not sure whether or not it was originally drawn for b&w, but regardless, the pages in b&w look to be the same dimensions as the colour version. Look in on my blog in around half an hour and you'll see what they look like without colour.

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  6. McSCOTTYMay 9, 2022 at 12:13 AM

    Kid, it would indeed be nice to see a few pages of Conan Saga issue 8 just to see how the art looks in the format it was meant to be presented in.

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    Replies
    1. KidMay 9, 2022 at 1:39 AM

      I'll have to dig it out of a cupboard first, but I'll try and get it done in the next few days.

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