The Savage Sword of Conan, Volume 2

The Savage Sword of Conan

by Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith (Illustrator), John Buscema (Illustrator)

In the mid 1970s a comics magazine was published containing some of the most exciting epic fantasy tales the world has ever known - The Savage Sword of Conan. Based on the work of renowned author Robert E. Howard, each issue offered multiple thrilling of tales of the legendary barbarian. The magazine was also a showcase of comics talent, headed up by Conan aficionado Roy Thomas. Now for the first time ever, these stories are being collected in a series of omnibus-style books, with over 500 pages of classic sword and sorcery - for the complete Conan collector! Included in this volume are tales featuring the stunning art of such comics luminaries as Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala, Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Pablo Marcos, Walter Simonson, and many more.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Fiction, Sword and Sorcery

544 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 2008

About the author

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Reviews

[Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being somewhere along the "middle age" spectrum, I sometimes go back in my mind to try to ferret out what experiences might have been formative to me when I was growing up. The reason is entirely selfish - I want to recapture some of the feelings I had as a child, before the big bad world started beating me up, like it does all of us. Sometimes, when I go back, I am astounded at the age at which certain key events happened. Take, for example, my discovery of The Savage Sword of Conan, a "magazine" (really a comic book in which graphic violence and sultry imagery and subject matter were not strictly forbidden) that I first read when I was 8 years old. I remember the very night it happened: My father was enlisted in the Air Force for my entire childhood. We were living in Italy at the time and because the family housing on the base where we worked was being built, we lived in the town of Brindisi. Mom and Dad wanted to go see a movie (I originally remembered it as Superman, but that doesn't mesh with the timeline - this was before Superman was released), so they did what all good parents of Air Force dependents do in such situations, they dropped me off at the base's daycare (or in this case, night-care). Now, this may come as a surprise to some, but the military is not particularly good at understanding children's needs and is particularly bad at gauging what is age-appropriate material. So please don't be surprised when I tell you that I picked up my first issue of The Savage Sword of Conan, issue #20, at the daycare. I'm guessing now that, like most other reading material at the daycare, it was donated by some kind-hearted GI who thought that some of the older kids at the daycare might want to read a good comic book.

And how!

Not only did I get to read it there, the daycare person told me I could take the "comic" home with me, if I liked. My parents, hardly looking at it, let me take it.

Thus began the corruption of my youth.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I'm perfectly fine with it. Obviously, I liked it enough to come back to it after many years away. I read and occasionally bought issues of SSoC at the Stars and Stripes Bookstore on base. There were other comics (Star Wars came out that year, for instance), but nothing quite like SSoC. Even the "regular" Conan the Barbarian comic just didn't do it for me. Savage Sword's artwork was so much higher quality and the storytelling was much more compelling and complex than the simple Conan comic. Given the choice between buying an issue of Savage Sword and an issue of the Conan comic, I always went Savage Sword.

Fast forward to 2008, when Dark Horse comics re-released all of the Savage Sword of Conan issues in omnibus format. I was a little slow in hearing about this, but I caught up eventually. I read volume one and was mildly tickled by it, but not super impressed. Then came volume 2, the volume containing the issues from my time, and I was whisked back to my childhood days. Of course, I understand the subtleties and innuendos much better than I did then. In fact, the more I read and reread the stories, the more I appreciate them. Most of the stories in this volume were either direct translations of Robert E. Howard's stories or were constructed using Howard's outline notes for incomplete stories. Say what you will about Howard as a person, his strange idiosyncrasies and his misogyny (and there was much) - Howard was, above all, a solid writer who knew how to plot an intriguing story and who created, in Conan and others, characters who were always consistent with themselves. Still, as with any collection of short stories, whether in words or graphic format, these tales vary in quality and enjoyability. Some of this is due to Howard's writing (or incompleteness of writing, in regards to stories that were never fully fleshed out before his suicide), some is due to artistic interpretations of the works.

This volume covers issues #11 - #24, published April 1976 - November 1977. Here are some highlight and lowlights:

"The Abode of the Damned" tracks Conan through a city inhabited entirely by thieves and bandits, of which he is one of the most notorious. This one left me a bit flat, as the reverse deus-ex-machina, composed of three un-named sorcerous strangers, were the hinge point of the plot. Howard's written better.

"The Haunters of Castle Crimson," like many of the stories in this volume, is a complex intrigue of political machinations and deception. Here, not everyone is who they seem to be, and the implications for the rulership and influence in the region in which the story takes place are of great consequence. As with many of the Conan stories, sorcery is afoot, this time in the form of a skeletal horde of warriors who were betrayed and who seek revenge on the traitor. Layer on top of this a friendship gone awry between Conan and his old comrade-in-arms, Malthom of Nemedia, and you've got the type of yarn Howard is famous for. A very satisfying read.

"The Gods of Bal-Sagoth" was my least favorite story of the volume. The pencils, done by Gil Kane, were my least favorite. This is a little strange, because the drawings are similar to those done by Jeff Dee, of Dungeons and Dragons fame. And I love Dee's artwork. Kane's work is like a poor pastiche of Dee, though I'm not entirely sure whether either knew of the other and, if they did, which one drew first. Maybe Dee's art is an improvement on Kane's? In any case, Kane's art was not for me and the story was pretty vanilla. Kane was well-known for his superhero art, but Conan was far more gritty than any contemporary super-hero. The music doesn't match the groove here.

"Shadows in Zamboula" was one of my favorites in this volume. An enterprising innkeeper is feeding his guests to cannibals, but Conan isn't about to be a meal! He rescues a maiden (a Howard trope used ad nauseum), Zabibi, who leads him to retrieve The Star of Khorala, a magical ring. While at the temple of the idol-god Hanuman, Zabibi is stolen from Conan (another Howard trope), and he encounters the sorcerous and monstrously strong Baal-Pteor, one of the fabled Stranglers of Yota-Pong. But Conan bests the brutish champion at his own game. Meanwhile, the priest of Hanuman, has captured Zabibi in order to exact revenge for her theft, along with her lover, of the Star of Khorala. Conan rescues her, then disposes of the innkeeper who got him into this mess in the first place, in an appropriately . . . culinary manner.

"The People of the Black Circle," which spans issues #16-#19, inclusive, is an epic tale that takes the themes of political intrigue, romance, sorcery, influence among thieves, backstabbing, and betrayal to their heights. This is one of Howard's best stories. If you're going to read one segment of Savage Sword of Conan in an attempt to get the feel of the series, this is the one. I won't spoil the story - I'm certain others have outlined it in other reviews. Suffice it to say that if you haven't read this, you haven't read Conan.

"The Slithering Shadow" is my top story of the volume. This was the one I read as a kid in daycare and reread time and time again. It is one of the most "Lovecraftian" Conan stories that Howard ever wrote (Howard and Lovecraft were contemporaries, by the way, and had extensive correspondence between them). Here, Conan and the Brythunian ex-slave, Natala, are seen about to die in the desert. Conan is about to administer the mercy stroke to her, to spare her the suffering of death by dehydration, when they spy a city in the desert. They investigate and find the city inhabited by a strange race of sleepers who wake only for limited periods to engage in all sorts of ribald decadence before again drugging themselves to wander among the dreamlands. The dread god Thog shambles in the shadows, eating the sleepers on his own inscrutable dinner schedule. Conan and Natala encounter a Stygian woman named Thalis who had come into the city of Xuthal as a child. Thalis lusts after Conan and, so, steals away Natala (see a theme here?) to torture the Brythunian out of sheer jealousy. Then the Lovecraftian element, the dread god Thog, crawls out of the shadows and . . . well, I don't want to spoil things for you. One thing I love about this story is that, while Conan, as always, escapes with his life, he is in the worst shape you will ever see him. We see that Conan is no superman. He is human, mortal, and vulnerable, especially to things, and here I mean "things that crawl around in darkness in order to kill you in nasty, face-melting ways", from places far-removed from our reality. If you're a fan of the Cthulhu mythos and want a segue into the world of Conan, this is the story for you.

There are several other stories in this volume, as well. Had it only had the last three I mentioned above, it would be a five-star book, albeit a much shorter five-star book. A couple of duds don't drag the volume down too far, and if you're not familiar with the original Conan stories, you might not even think the lesser stories are duds at all. And even the most jaded Conan fan will find something to love in this volume. I did, and some of these tales have stuck in my head for forty years now. I can't say that about a lot of things. Maybe when senility finally kicks in I'll start wearing a bearskin loincloth and swinging a sword. You'll probably see me in the headlines, by Crom!!!

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pardon my repetition - The saga of Conan of Cimmeria has existed for over a century now. This “comic book” was the second of an oversized b&w format that had Roy Thomas heading the effort.

This edition's featured story is "Black Colossus." The storyline shows Thomas' talent in adapting Robert E. Howard to the graphic novel format. The artwork by John Buscema and Alfred Alcala is as perfect as it could possible be.

Sword and sorcery are blended in a rousing tale that gains momentum with every page. If you find that this rendering is not to your taste, read no further, because this is as good as it gets!

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A better than average ratio of great art and stories vs just ok ones here.

[Doug Bolden · Rating 4 out of 5]

The edition I read had a different cover, but for now I'll let it stand with this one since it seems to be the same in all other aspects.

I'm just not 100% sure how to review it, because some of the very things I would want to take shots at in other books—the racism, the sexism, the casual violence, the extreme repetition of plot—work so well in the Savage Sword mode that it feels wrong to call them out. Especially when the main character has oddly complicated rules towards women [pull them towards you, if they resist, pull harder, if they keep resisting, go ahead and let go...and always save a woman...but encourage her to...I don't know...it's complicated] and is against racism...sort of...in that he says lots of racist stuff but he just doesn't seem to take it to heart? And partially the sexism thing is weird because really Conan is more a apotheosis of man than any of the women in his stories are of women, and frankly having every page tell you how all "lesser men" [read: the male reading the comic] would balls up everything Conan does right starts to feel emasculating. And well, though the stories kind of repeat, there is something about crawling to the top of a desert temple to fight a squishy monster, again, that is kind of neat.

So, um, yeah. There you go. Half naked gorgeous men and women flex muscle and breast and things get stabbed and other things say "CROM!" and then they ride across the desert, and it's neat and weird and semi-Lovecraftian and has really impolite jokes and there's some nice art and some fine writing and there you go. 4 stars. Obviously.

Just FYI, if you have only read the old (or new) color edition Conan comics [like Conan the Barbarian] then you should give this a shot. The stories are bolder, the writing is more mature, the art is superior, and the value for money is a few notches up.

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Volume 1 in this series and noticed that the best stories were the adaptations of real Howard stories. The same held true for this volume. Fortunately, most of the adaptations were from Howard's stuff ("Shadows in Zamboula," "The Devil in Iron," "The People of the Black Circle," and "The Tower of the Elephant"; I forget whether or not "The Slithering Shadow" is original Howard, an adaptation from an unfinished manuscript or a completely original pastiche).

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think these early Savage Sword issues are some of the best Conan comics ever published. The black and white art looks great and really fits the character. The longer form stories work great as well, and the slightly more mature stories allowed in this magazine are perfect for Conan.

These issues are mostly based on Robert E. Howard stories, some of them Conan tales and others Howard stories that were transformed into Conan stories.

Really good material here, a must for Conan fans.

[Aildiin · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading a lot of the new Conan being published by Dark Horse these last few years, I have new found respect for the old stuff.
The art is amazing compared to what is being produced today ( and the black and white actually enhances it) and the story, if a little similar, still pretty good ( but lets be clear, the art is really the clear winner here).

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought these individually when they came out years ago, but the magazines have long vanished (many moves) but these black and white stories are still as good now as when I bought them before. This volume includes some of Barry Smith's drawings. They alone are worth the price.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The character Conan and the stories about him are sometimes seen as primitive versions of the fantasy stories that came later. Part of that is a matter of chronology; part of it is his similarity to characters like Tarzan; part of it is that he's a pretty primitive fellow himself. But I think it's also because Conan is a character without any checks or balances. In roleplaying games, for example, you generally have to specialise, to choose one area in which to excel, and that often has implications for other aspects of your character. Conan has no such limitations. He's the strongest, and also the fastest. He's the biggest, but also the sneakiest. He's the best hand-to-hand fighter, but also the best general. He's the best at absolutely everything, even as a youngster, no matter how much different abilities might seem likely to clash with each other. He's a superhero, basically.

This must have been said before, but he is also, metaphorically, a phallus, pushing his way through the cloth of these adventures in search of women. His primary characteristic isn't his strength or his agility, it's that he can't be cockblocked: anyone who tries will feel the length of his sword (oo-er). When he meets a woman he wants, he knows he will have her, and so does everyone else. The message of his loincloth, like Tarzan's, is that sex is never more than a second away; it's both a threat and a promise. In fact, the entire book is a call to the reader's groin: a chance to let your imagination wander where your sense would never let you; a chance to luxuriate in fantasies of sex and violence.

That doesn't stop if from being hugely entertaining. In fact, reading this book was one of the most sheerly enjoyable, uncomplicated reading experiences of my life. Somewhere in the middle of it I stopped reading it for the sake of my ten-year-old self (for whom every issue of Conan he could find was a priceless treasure), and started to read it for myself.

There was a lot to enjoy, even as a (relatively) mature adult: this volume is even better than the previous one. For one thing, the magazine settles down to a series of full-length stories, forty and even fifty-page epics. It also benefits hugely from the presence of John Buscema, contributing to almost every issue, bringing both continuity and, of course, brilliant artwork. There's a craftmanship and artistry to these comics unusual for comics of the time, evident both in the art and in the writing of Roy Thomas. (Sometime I'd like to compare the comics with the stories to see how much of that writing is Roy Thomas and how much is Robert Howard - but even if turns out that all the writing I admire in these comics is from Howard's pen, credit would still go to Thomas for knowing not to interfere with it, and translating prose to comic so expertly.)

If there is one problem with the art, it's that the reverse C-shape panel layout is used too often - i.e. where panel one is above panel three, with panel two stretching vertically across them at the right. It's a very confusing way of laying out panels. But when a book contains some of the most befuddlingly attractive women ever created by a pencil, it seems ungrateful to complain about the layouts!

The original magazines had black and white interiors, so almost nothing has been lost from the artwork by printing these in the Essential/Showcase format (though I often think comics look better in black and white anyway, given how primitive comics colouring was until relatively recently). The exception would be the magazine covers, which deserve a colour book of their own to show them at their best. Those paintings are simply stunning, even in greyscale.

The centrepiece of the book is "The People of the Black Circle", a one hundred and twenty page adaptation of the Howard story, which was serialised across four issues of the original magazine. It's absolutely marvellous, but then so are nearly all the stories in the book (though I could have done without the cannibals, which must have seemed like a dated racial stereotype even in the seventies).

I had mixed feelings about a later story, "The Pool of the Black One". Conan always shows a reckless disregard for the lives of others - he's happy to kill guards and the like, if they're in his way, even if they aren't individually his enemies. In "The Pool of the Black One", however, he commits a murder, plain and simple, just for his own convenience. Having not read the original Howard stories (I thought I had, till I came to catalogue them on Goodreads), I was a bit surprised by the story. It wasn't a nice guy he murdered, but it was someone who had saved his life. It seemed to me that Conan crosses a line in that one.

But then that's what he's for - he's for crossing the line, doing what we wouldn't. He's the unrestrained killer, the irresistable lover, the epitome of the male stereotype. He's what women would like men to be, but would despise them for being; he's the image men can't live up to, and the image they can't live down.

We were a bit short of money this month, to the point where I had to cancel our Sky subscription - maybe that's why I found a bit of Conan so compelling; he wouldn't have to worry about anything like that. I feel bad that I had to cancel Sky, but also bad that something as trivial as affording Sky feels like the measure of my manhood... Jeepers, listen to me... I'll be going hunting to make up for my inadequacies next...

[Matthew J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally better than Volume 1, this has some really good art. The writing is...OK. When it hews closer to Howard's actual words, it's better. The John Buscema stuff is especially good. This is fun Sword & Sorcery comic book stuff. It's not really great Conan.

[Jed · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of high fantasy, so the main appeal here is the art, particularly John Buscema inked by Alfredo Alcala. Buscema's pencils tend to be pretty spare, but his figures are gorgeous, and he's an amazing draftsman in general, so with the addition of Alcala's classic engraving ink style, its a match made in illustration heaven, harking back to the early days of Joseph Clement Col and Alex Raymond. Sometimes its just nice to see beautifully drawn figures in action. Buscema's layouts, as usual, are very readable, and he doesn't do some of the more annoying tilted panel, extreme close-up stuff he tends to rely on a lot in his superhero comics. I get the impression that high fantasy is more his element. Really, his work's never looked better, and I give Alcala much of the credit.

There's also some nice Gil Kane, here, as well. The book couldn't be more appealing to look at. I didn't even mind the Boris Vallejo cover! I only wish I could get more into the content. It's about barbarians, and they do a lot of barbarian things, like sword fighting and rescuing damsels in distress, and there's some intrigue, and wonderfully silly titles like, "The abode of the Damned" and the stories are entertaining enough in their way. Really, half the reason for reading the stories is to savor the drawings in context.

But, you know, it's Conan. You either like this sort of thing or you don't. I will say that art-wise, this is probably the best Conan I've seen, and really, some of the best draftsmanship happening in comics of that era, and the illustration field in general, since this kind of black and white, pen and ink and brush draftsmanship was seldom seen anywhere else. There were so many great Pilipino artists at that time, like Alcala and Nino and Tony Dezuniga. Those guys could draw! But it's Conan, and tends to be a hard sell to anyone but the strictist comics nerds, which is a shame, since anyone who admires good draftsmanship might appreciate these if they could see them for what they are: great figurative work done by masters of the craft.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roy Thomas' stories become much stronger in this volume. Most of the artists keep up, but some are little better than high school doodlers. The lettering looks good but is filled with a gawdawful number of mistakes, from misspellings to entirely wrong words. You can't tell if these mistakes were in the original issues or if they popped up sometime in the scanning and editing of later reprints.

These stories still aren't for all tastes and many reflect older tolerances for racism and sexism. (It's surprising how close to John Norman's Gor novels these stories become at times.) Still, Conan fans will know what they're in for, and these stories, both adapted and original, are sure to please.

[Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good fun! Stirring, unsanitary adventure in the best pulpy style.

Any fans of Cerebus will see where Dave Sim got his art style for his first book.

At times it's sexist, racist, or both (Conan fireman-carries the floopy, helpless buxom blonde away, saving her from the ravening cannibalistic rapist black men!). These comics, made in the 70s, tone that down a bit from the stories on which they are based, written in the 30s. It is what it is.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional work as an adaptation and groundbreaking stuff for seventies comics. And I have read it all, from Proust to Joyce to Pynchon, and all I want to make clear is this work has its own particular savage merit.

[pastiesandpages - Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nearly 550 pages of fantasy action in this Dark Horse Comics collection that reprints the black & white tales from the magazine launched in the 1970s.
Written by Roy Thomas with many of the stories adapted from the original Robert E Howard pulp fiction classics including 'Shadows in Zamboula', 'The People of The Black Circle' & 'The Tower of the Elephant'.
Conan stories don't get much better than this especially when these epics that appeared in issues 11 to 24 were mainly drawn by John Buscema with some additional art from Alfredo Alcala, Gil Kane and Neal Adams.

By Crom, it's a sword & sorcery feast for the senses .
Action, adventure, impossible creatures and battles, traitorous villains and mythical cities, beautiful companions and dark magic. Everyone's favourite barbarian flexes his muscles and provides plenty of thrills.

[Ceejay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tarzan (starting in 1912) and Conan the Barbarian (starting in 1932) are two of the most sucessful characters to have been born in the era of pulp magazines, and then made it to the 21st century!This is a nearly 550 page collection of Conan stories. These stories all appeared in the 1970's in the Savage Sword of Conan Magazine published by Marvel comics. Comics writer Roy Thomas adopted all the stories from original material from Conan creator Robert Howard.Mr. Thomas did an amazing job. It's Conan! You know what you're going to get. If you love Conan you'll love this collection. Erase the horrible Conan movies from your mind, and enjoy the real deal!

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The black and white art of John Buscema is simply the best. Roy Thomas does a good adaption of Robert E. Howard's stories (although tbh, I have never read original REH's stories, Conan & Solomon Kane are only stories I know through comix reading). As someone else put it the stories are simplistic, there's no trouble that Conan can't hack and slash his way out of, but the art is truly magnificent & it's nice having a hero that isn't crippled by inner turmoil or human emotions, that when faced w/a problem it's hewing & stabbing time for Conan! Great 1970's comix fun w/bodacious babe & rock-hard tough guys like our hero, the shaggy-loin cloth wearing barbarian.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much exploitation, covering all the bases. Spattery ultraviolence, with big scoops of racism and sexism, although it can be argued that the sexism is occasionally interestingly nuanced. I was surprised by the density of the storytelling. By and large, the art is great.

The Castle Crimson story was delightful, as it’s not every day you get an army of revenant skeletons wreaking havoc across the page.

[Tim Pieraccini · Rating 4 out of 5]

A larger helping of John Buscema art in this volume than the first, especially in collaboration with Alfredo Alcala, which is always good value. Conan is the most problematic of faves, of course, but the stories are well told (albeit with the odd over-purple flourish from Roy Thomas/Howard) and beautifully drawn. Not all comics seem as impressive to adult eyes as they did to my teenage self (e.g. the Englehart/Heck Avengers), but these mostly do.

[Philip Athans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know this will feel dated to a lot of people and like most sword and sorcery fiction from either era—the 30s or the 70s—it can be weird in terms of gender and race, but still I gobbled this up like candy. The art was inspired, Roy Thomas’s writing was suitably respectful of the source material, and action roared out of every page.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic graphic novel, you could tell Roy Thomas put his whole life into this, incredible writing, and such a deep storyline with people and worlds and far off lands. I really enjoyed this Conan book.

[Álvar García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grandes historias como La torre del elefante o Xuthal del ocaso.

[Peter Wesolowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another pleasant walk down memory lane. If you liked reading the Conan magazines in the 80's, you will love reading the old reprints.

[sohrab sitaram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. Fantastic language, mind blowing dialogues, lovely artwork too. ! Incredible storylines

[Al Capwned · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a relatively uneven volume actually but the good stories are pretty great, hence the rating.

[Geoff Sebesta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not only a comic about Conan but the various slave girls and princesses that Conan offhandedly rescues and seduces. There are also a lot of other guys who look exactly like Conan. There's one story where he's not even in it, but the main character is a guy who looks exactly like him with blond hair.

That said, this is some of the best comics I've read for a while. It's a visceral thrill to watch Conan hack his way across the page. Conan is the one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind, the smart beast in a world where men are stupid beasts and women are beautiful half naked prizes for their combat. Conan always wins. It's pretty rapey.

I can't figure out how to separate the compelling from the offensive here, which is usually the case when I encounter Robert E. Howard. I think the reason that Conan is a million times more compelling than all the other characters exactly like him (Tor springs to mind, because I'm reading that right now too) is because Howard had the courage to go in there and be completely crazy.

The art is amazing. Buscema was just starting out when he did these, and he hadn't really gotten the trick of drawing more than one type of man, but the one man he could draw looked great. Alfredo Alcala was the inker, and this is seriously some of the best ink work I've ever seen. I don't think this style of work can be captured or reliably reproduced by computers. The line is simply too thin, the detail to fine. It's defiantly black and white, and would be nearly impossible to color without losing the vitality. More's the pity. I would love to draw like this, but current technology does not permit it.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good collection (issues 11-24) Although, chapter 11 and 12's panels seem a little less detailed than the original printing (probably from resizing) but doesn't distract from the story.
Favorite stories are:
Chapter 1- Abode of the Damned
Chapter 2- The Haunters of Castle Crimson
Chapter 10- The Slithering Shadow
Chapter 11- Horror of the Red Tower
and my favourite, Chapter 14- The Tower of the Elephant

[Spencer Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't high lit but it's reliably fun and I love it.

There's something very comforting about reading classic Conan. It's sword and sorcery at its best: a nice blend of high fantasy and eldritch horror. Our favorite Cimmerian gets himself in and out of trouble with ease and there always seems to be a woman he has to save.

The artwork is blisteringly beautiful in Savage Sword. It's hard to believe that these were regular monthly publications.

Not everything is comfortable about Savage Sword. As you may expect, these stories aren't progressive, (e.g. the gender dynamics) so it's good to bring a critical eye.

[Giacomo · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a comic-book fan, this is probably your best chance of liking Conan. If you are a Conan fan, these is are possibly the best comic-book adaptations you'll find, those which defined the Golden Age of popularity for the Cimmerian and eventually spawned the Schwarzenegger movies. However, if you are not interested in swords&sorcery classics, and you don't like comics, you should probably give this a miss.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

These B&W stories (Conan adaptations mixed with adaptations of other Robert E. Howard work) were originally published magazine size and I find them a lot harder to read squished to comic-book size. That said, I don't think John Buscema's art (illustrated by Alfred Alcala) has ever looked better--it's a pleasure just to watch the pages. The stories are mostly strong though Shadows in Zamboula (with Neal Adams art) has way too many racist stereotypes.