Tales from the past viewed through rose tinted glasses
Friday, April 14, 2023
My Famous Firsts: Conan the Barbarian issue 26
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Gone but not forgotten: Near Myths - The early work of Grant Morrison and Bryan Talbot
Near Myths was an A4 SF magazine (similar to Dez Skins’ “Warrior”) published out of the Science Fiction Bookshop in Edinburgh under the ”G...
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I was probably about seven years old when I walked into my local newsagents in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) with my pocket money firmly he... -
Following on from my last post featuring some of my favourite Marvel comic book covers from 1973, I thought I would show some of DC's ... -
Nearly a half-century on I still consider 1973 to be the year that cemented my destiny in becoming a lifetime comic book fan. It was a yea...
Big John Buscema was THE Conan comic book artist. Barry Windsor-Smith was magnificent and it was amazing to watch his art grow and develop in real time, but even his delightful take on the Hyborian Age was not as powerful as Buscema's. Big John was in his element and it showed.
ReplyDeleteBuscema's version of Conan was quite a radical change from Barry Smiths. Big John's Conan was a muscle built man where's Barry's Conan was like a young adult. I loved both versions but Mr Bucsema's Conan was, for me the real Conan. Conan the Barbarian under Roy Thomas was an exceptional comic book the first 50 plus books never missed a beat.
ReplyDeleteI loved Smiths art it was but as my first Conan was Buscema I gravitated to his version, especially when inked by Alcala. I can't recall seeing Smith inking anyone's art but it would have been interesting to have seen him and big John work together
ReplyDeleteSmith inked part of Kirby's Captain America's Bicentennial Battles Treasury Edition, McS. I bet you've seen it, but just forgotten.
DeleteI can't recall that one Kid I'll need to check it out as that's an interesting art team
ReplyDeleteI've just posted a page on my blog for you, McS.
DeleteThe first Conan story I ever read was "The Lair Of The Beast Men" in Marvel UK's Savage Sword Of Conan #2 in March 1975. The art was by Barry Smith and inked by Sal Buscema and I thought they made a great team in those early Conan stories. Whenever I'm reading a Robert E. Howard Conan story I always see John Buscema's version of Conan in my mind except for "The Frost Giant's Daughter" which makes me think of the Barry Smith Conan.
ReplyDeleteI have that "frost giants" US Conan the Barbarian comic it's one of my favourites . I enjoyed Bary Smiths early Conans ( and Sals inking) as well as the classic Smith art of "Red Nails" etc Those early Conan colour books were amazing we were spoilt with great art and stories.
ReplyDeleteThis one is a bit of a blast from the past, as I'd forgotten I'd owned it, but there it is listed in my collection checklist as noted in 1973. I was so taken by this issue that I went on to collect Conan from that point up until issue #53 or so, when I sold the lot to my pal Geoff Cousins. But despite being fond of Buscema's rendition, it was Barry Smith's version of The Frost Giant's Daughter - issue #16 - that really caught my imagination. That was peak Windsor-Smith without a doubt.
ReplyDeleteThe Conan comic was so good that it spurred me to collect the Sphere/Lancer paperback reprints of R.E. Howard's stories. I may be wrong, but I suspect that Conan is the only pulp hero that transferred to comics in the 70s successfully for the long haul, capturing the essence of the original stories.
Small world Ian, as Marvels Conan was also responsible for me picking up those Sphere paperbacks and eventually other R E Howard books like Kull etc.
ReplyDeleteI collected as many Conan ( and the black and white Savage Sword mag) as I could from issue 53 onwards the monthly comic I stopped around issue 70 as it became a bit "samey" but it was a great comic.
Barry Smiths Conan was special. I even picked up the Malibu/Marvel team up with Rune v Conan with Smith art