What do you think?
Rate this book
The Savage Sword of Conan: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus
The Savage Sword of Conan: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus, Vol. 2
SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN, the cornerstone of Marvel's black-and-white magazine line, offered up stories of fiction's most famous barbarian unencumbered by the Comics Code. With the rules of civilized publishing cast off , SAVAGE SWORD presented ferocious, untamed tales the likes of which Conan himself would approve. Writer Roy Thomas and artistic greats, including John Buscema and Neal Adams, took full advantage, and the results were a sensation. Multipart sagas like "The People of the Black Circle" luxuriate in extended tellings, while a Buscema take on "The Tower of the Elephant" explores the nuance of an all-time Robert E. Howard classic. And we're topping it off with MARVEL COMICS SUPER SPECIAL #2, a tale of vengeance lavished with fully painted coloring.
COLLECTING: SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN (1974) 13-28, MARVEL COMICS SUPER SPECIAL (1977) 2
COLLECTING: SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN (1974) 13-28, MARVEL COMICS SUPER SPECIAL (1977) 2
944 pages, Hardcover
First published February 7, 1978
10 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Roy Thomas
4,479 books271 followersRoy 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 14, 2020
I finally got the second volume of this big ole door stopper a couple months ago! The 3rd is out in July and the 4th in January. They are big, expensive and good!! The end!!
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
September 27, 2022
Contains
* - Savage Sword 13 The Gods of Bal-Sagoth with Gil Kane reprinted from Conan the Barbarian 17
* - Savage Sword 14 Shadows in Zamboula with Neal Adams. Fantastic adaptation of the REH story.
✓ Savage Sword 15 REH's The Devil in Iron with Buscema+Alcala. Feels like a copycat of Iron Shadows in the Moon, but it is nice.
✓ Savage Sword 16,17,18,19 A long adaptation of REH's The People of the Black Circle done by Buscema + Alcala. Issue 18 it seems like Alcala didn't get enough time and they just printed Buscema's pencils. It's actually still cool, but makes the story inconsistent.
✓ Savage Sword 20 REH's The Slithering Shadow. Buscema + Alcala Very similar to Red Nails, it feels like a lesser version. Conan and a girl are dying in the desert and stumble upon and an old city that houses timeless terrors!
✓ Savage Sword 21 Horror from the Red Tower. Buscema + Trinidad. This one is interesting because the first half of the story doesn't have Conan at all. It follows a blonde Alqualonian named Amalric doing Conan-esque things like rescuing a woman, exploring a sleepy lost-in-time village, and killing a demon in a tower. Conan shows up when he's fleeing some demons. He's been working as a general in a hidden village with two kings. There's a revolt which Conan and Amalric try to escape.
✓ Savage Sword 22,23 REH's The Pool of the Black One with Buscema (22 is Trinidad, 23 is Alcala). Another classic. The second part is wonderful
✓ Savage Sword 24 REH's Tower of the Elephant. This was adapted in the color comics by BWS. Thankfully they let Buscema+Alcala also have a crack at it. It's perhaps the best Savage Sword story. It feels very Lovecraft-inspired with its otherworldly creature the titular Elephant. Also a wonderful REH poem illustrated by BWS + Tim Conrad make this a great issue.
✓ Savage Sword 25 REH's Jewels of Gwahlur with Dick Giordano. At this point Roy Thomas is just trying to adapt all the OG conan stories. I don't love this one as much. I think it was done adapted better years later by. P. Craig Russell
✓ Savage Sword 26,27 REH's Beyond the Black River Buscema + deZuniga - Another great tale. The ending is a bit of a let down, but it's cool to see Conan in his natural environment running through the forest.
✓ Savage Sword Annual Special 2 - A really cool full-color story with Buscema and Alcala. Unfortunately some of the pages are a bit murky on the printing. Both in the original magazine and the reprint here. Conan tricks an old pirate turned commander to spare his life in trade for the location of some treasure. They arrive on an uncharted island where the local tribe picks off the Commander's troops while Conan breaks his bonds and flees into the trees. Eventually they put their differences aside to escape the island together.
✓ Savage Sword 28 The Blood of the Gods with Buscema and Alcala. Roy Thomas freely adapts a story by REH and is on fire here. What a great run of comics! In this one the location of a mystic and his treasure is revealed to a few marauders. Conan helped this mystic and promised to keep his location a secret so feels compelled to interfere. He runs across the desert, almost dying of thirst (and arrows) trying to reach an oasis. Eventually he reaches the mystic's mountain location only to find he's gone mad and now has to defend the caves against an onslaught of bandits looking for treasure.
* - Savage Sword 13 The Gods of Bal-Sagoth with Gil Kane reprinted from Conan the Barbarian 17
* - Savage Sword 14 Shadows in Zamboula with Neal Adams. Fantastic adaptation of the REH story.
✓ Savage Sword 15 REH's The Devil in Iron with Buscema+Alcala. Feels like a copycat of Iron Shadows in the Moon, but it is nice.
✓ Savage Sword 16,17,18,19 A long adaptation of REH's The People of the Black Circle done by Buscema + Alcala. Issue 18 it seems like Alcala didn't get enough time and they just printed Buscema's pencils. It's actually still cool, but makes the story inconsistent.
✓ Savage Sword 20 REH's The Slithering Shadow. Buscema + Alcala Very similar to Red Nails, it feels like a lesser version. Conan and a girl are dying in the desert and stumble upon and an old city that houses timeless terrors!
✓ Savage Sword 21 Horror from the Red Tower. Buscema + Trinidad. This one is interesting because the first half of the story doesn't have Conan at all. It follows a blonde Alqualonian named Amalric doing Conan-esque things like rescuing a woman, exploring a sleepy lost-in-time village, and killing a demon in a tower. Conan shows up when he's fleeing some demons. He's been working as a general in a hidden village with two kings. There's a revolt which Conan and Amalric try to escape.
✓ Savage Sword 22,23 REH's The Pool of the Black One with Buscema (22 is Trinidad, 23 is Alcala). Another classic. The second part is wonderful
✓ Savage Sword 24 REH's Tower of the Elephant. This was adapted in the color comics by BWS. Thankfully they let Buscema+Alcala also have a crack at it. It's perhaps the best Savage Sword story. It feels very Lovecraft-inspired with its otherworldly creature the titular Elephant. Also a wonderful REH poem illustrated by BWS + Tim Conrad make this a great issue.
✓ Savage Sword 25 REH's Jewels of Gwahlur with Dick Giordano. At this point Roy Thomas is just trying to adapt all the OG conan stories. I don't love this one as much. I think it was done adapted better years later by. P. Craig Russell
✓ Savage Sword 26,27 REH's Beyond the Black River Buscema + deZuniga - Another great tale. The ending is a bit of a let down, but it's cool to see Conan in his natural environment running through the forest.
✓ Savage Sword Annual Special 2 - A really cool full-color story with Buscema and Alcala. Unfortunately some of the pages are a bit murky on the printing. Both in the original magazine and the reprint here. Conan tricks an old pirate turned commander to spare his life in trade for the location of some treasure. They arrive on an uncharted island where the local tribe picks off the Commander's troops while Conan breaks his bonds and flees into the trees. Eventually they put their differences aside to escape the island together.
✓ Savage Sword 28 The Blood of the Gods with Buscema and Alcala. Roy Thomas freely adapts a story by REH and is on fire here. What a great run of comics! In this one the location of a mystic and his treasure is revealed to a few marauders. Conan helped this mystic and promised to keep his location a secret so feels compelled to interfere. He runs across the desert, almost dying of thirst (and arrows) trying to reach an oasis. Eventually he reaches the mystic's mountain location only to find he's gone mad and now has to defend the caves against an onslaught of bandits looking for treasure.
February 1, 2025
(Zero spoiler review) 4.5/5
Who is the greatest comic's character in history? Batman? Spiderman? Superman? No, it might just be Conan. At least, I would challenge any self discerning comic's fan to tell me that any of the above three would struggle to put together as many top tier stories as Conan managed. And when you have the imperious Roy Thomas handling writing duty, and John Buscema with a laundry list of amazing inkers, you can't help but curb stomp the competition into submission. If there was any justice in the world, Conan would dominate pop culture in the same way as a Batman or a Spiderman. On second thoughts, given the utterly despicable and dispiriting (and intentional) degradation of so many wonderful characters and creations, I think I'd rather left well enough alone, thank you very much. Essential. 4.5/5
OmniBen.
Who is the greatest comic's character in history? Batman? Spiderman? Superman? No, it might just be Conan. At least, I would challenge any self discerning comic's fan to tell me that any of the above three would struggle to put together as many top tier stories as Conan managed. And when you have the imperious Roy Thomas handling writing duty, and John Buscema with a laundry list of amazing inkers, you can't help but curb stomp the competition into submission. If there was any justice in the world, Conan would dominate pop culture in the same way as a Batman or a Spiderman. On second thoughts, given the utterly despicable and dispiriting (and intentional) degradation of so many wonderful characters and creations, I think I'd rather left well enough alone, thank you very much. Essential. 4.5/5
OmniBen.
April 30, 2020
After more than 40 years, it's great to be able re-read these stories and enjoy the artwork of Buscema, Alcala and Norem. I wish they had included the Kull, Sonja and Solomon Kane stories too.
February 25, 2020
Again Marvel spoils us with these astounding Omnibuses, the second volume which collects the black and white Savage Sword of Conan comics, clocks in at about 1000 pages of beautiful art and some great extra material, from introductions to ads and articles included in the issues as well as the complete letters pages.
Unfortunately the variety here isn't as much as in the first volume, Barry Windson-Smith is off the comics now, which means that the vast majority is John Buscema's work. Buscema is supremely talented but is a slightly more mainstream artist. However when Buscema's work is embellished by Alfredo Alcala's intricate inking, it gains a whole other dimension. You really miss that when someone else inks his work or when Alcala tries to do some less intricate work due to time pressures.
In terms of stories this goes through a bunch of adaptations of Howard's original Conan tales as well as a few adaptations of non-Conan Howard stories re-tooled to have the title character as the protagonist. Some are more successful than others, but it's generally great stuff. Definitely recommended.
Unfortunately the variety here isn't as much as in the first volume, Barry Windson-Smith is off the comics now, which means that the vast majority is John Buscema's work. Buscema is supremely talented but is a slightly more mainstream artist. However when Buscema's work is embellished by Alfredo Alcala's intricate inking, it gains a whole other dimension. You really miss that when someone else inks his work or when Alcala tries to do some less intricate work due to time pressures.
In terms of stories this goes through a bunch of adaptations of Howard's original Conan tales as well as a few adaptations of non-Conan Howard stories re-tooled to have the title character as the protagonist. Some are more successful than others, but it's generally great stuff. Definitely recommended.
April 4, 2021
Not much else I can say about this book other than fantastic. I got this as a present from my wife at Christmas (and part 3 this weekend for my bday). I have been reading the stories spread out since then. Some of the greatest stories in comics at the time in a large scale magazine black and white format. They use many of Robert E Howard’s stories but not just the Conan ones. The last story in volume 2 is Blood of the Gods which I just read as a novel recently — it’s originally a pre Ww1 story that takes place in the Afghanistan region featuring a more modern but just as tough hero. I enjoy how they take some of those stories and make them into Conan stories. These books are worth your time and if you were a Savage Sword fan back in the 70’s and 80’s it is a can’t miss!
September 13, 2021
Again epic book full of the most lovely sword & sorcery comics. These Conan Omnibus books are one of the best ways to enjoy your own quality time.
August 26, 2023
These are long but enjoyable reads
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews