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Conan the Barbarian Epic Collection: The Original Marvel Years
Conan the Barbarian Epic Collection: The Original Marvel Years, Vol. 2: Hawks from the Sea
Marvel's first and best sword-and-sorcery epic continues - with iconic tales by writer Roy Thomas and artists Barry Windsor-Smith, Gil Kane and John Buscema! First, Conan the Barbarian's path crosses with the albino antihero Eric and his soul-stealing sword Stormbringer! Then, on the shores of Bal-Sagoth, Conan meets a new comrade in arms, the mighty Fafnir. Together Conan and Fafnir sail the Vilayet Sea and join the mercenary forces of the War of the Tarim, a holy conflict between Makkalet and Turan! It's a saga of adventure, intrigue and loss that shows the true face of war! And don't miss the full-color adaptation of Robert E. Howard's Conan classic, "The Frost Giant's Daughter" - and the first appearance of Thomas and Windsor-Smith's Red Sonja! COLLECTING: Conan the Barbarian (1970) 14-26
288 pages, Paperback
First published March 9, 2021
10 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Roy Thomas
4,516 books273 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.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 1, 2022
It won’t come as any surprise to my GR friends that I have an ongoing project to take the measure of the various ways in which Robert E. Howard’s creation has been adapted and enhanced over the past century.
I recently reviewed Marvel Comics first effort to market this material https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have chosen the material of Volume 2 as my next focus for several reasons:
1. Michael Moorcock – one of my earliest fantasy authors is given credit
2. The piece involves his character Elric along with Conan
3. There is also Robert E. Howard’s The Frost Giant’s Daughter in this volume.
Alas, disappointment reigns.
The artwork by Barry Windsor Smith isn’t quite right. The Elric story isn’t explained well and Moorcock is capable of better. I enjoyed the way Thomas adapted The Frost Giant’s Daughter, but again the artwork could have been better.
However, by the time we get to Conan’s first experience on the Sea of Vialyet in the service of a Turanian monarch, I am finding that Smith’s artwork is better fitted to the story. The length of the story, itself, allows for a better result.
Issue 23 of the original Conan the Barbarian marks the introduction of Red Sonja as a character. There must have been some uncertainty at this point in how that character would be treated. Her storyline is weak and one-dimensional and neither Gil Kane in #23 or Smith in #24 shows much skill in rendering her visually….a situation that improves markedly later in the series (*But not in this volume).
Artwork aside, the stories are as good as they will get and should please any Conan fan.
3.5*
I recently reviewed Marvel Comics first effort to market this material https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have chosen the material of Volume 2 as my next focus for several reasons:
1. Michael Moorcock – one of my earliest fantasy authors is given credit
2. The piece involves his character Elric along with Conan
3. There is also Robert E. Howard’s The Frost Giant’s Daughter in this volume.
Alas, disappointment reigns.
The artwork by Barry Windsor Smith isn’t quite right. The Elric story isn’t explained well and Moorcock is capable of better. I enjoyed the way Thomas adapted The Frost Giant’s Daughter, but again the artwork could have been better.
However, by the time we get to Conan’s first experience on the Sea of Vialyet in the service of a Turanian monarch, I am finding that Smith’s artwork is better fitted to the story. The length of the story, itself, allows for a better result.
Issue 23 of the original Conan the Barbarian marks the introduction of Red Sonja as a character. There must have been some uncertainty at this point in how that character would be treated. Her storyline is weak and one-dimensional and neither Gil Kane in #23 or Smith in #24 shows much skill in rendering her visually….a situation that improves markedly later in the series (*But not in this volume).
Artwork aside, the stories are as good as they will get and should please any Conan fan.
3.5*
February 24, 2022
HAWKS FROM THE SEA is the second installment of the CONAN THE BARBARIAN EPIC COLLECTION and deals with one of the best comic book story arcs ever written. With that impressive opening, I state that it truly was an incredible story arc with the story of Makkalet and its war with the country of Turan.
An adaptation of the Trojan War, Makkalet has kidnapped the "living god" of Turin and the people of his country take this personally. Conan and his friend Fafnir are initially involuntarily mercenaries for the Turan but end up on the outs after it becomes clear the Prince of said nation, Balthaz, has no respect for their lives. It's actually a genuinely touching moment when Conan loses a friend first to having his arm amputated and later due to said friend being dumped in the ocean because he was now useless.
Conan doesn't find Makkalet much more hospital because the wizard of said city-state has forseen that Conan will be his death, so of course ends up antagonizing the man to a ridiculous extent. The Queen immediately takes a liking to the Cimmerian with all the complications that causes. Also, we get an introduction to the fabulous Red Sonja as created by Roy Thomas.
This is a truly fabulously written set of stories with some fantastic art. There's a region that Conan the Barbarian remains one of the most timeless of Marvel comics' productions and everything inside here is a great pastiche of Howard's works. The ending of the arc, where it's revealed the truth of the Living God and his power was also genuinely shocking.
An adaptation of the Trojan War, Makkalet has kidnapped the "living god" of Turin and the people of his country take this personally. Conan and his friend Fafnir are initially involuntarily mercenaries for the Turan but end up on the outs after it becomes clear the Prince of said nation, Balthaz, has no respect for their lives. It's actually a genuinely touching moment when Conan loses a friend first to having his arm amputated and later due to said friend being dumped in the ocean because he was now useless.
Conan doesn't find Makkalet much more hospital because the wizard of said city-state has forseen that Conan will be his death, so of course ends up antagonizing the man to a ridiculous extent. The Queen immediately takes a liking to the Cimmerian with all the complications that causes. Also, we get an introduction to the fabulous Red Sonja as created by Roy Thomas.
This is a truly fabulously written set of stories with some fantastic art. There's a region that Conan the Barbarian remains one of the most timeless of Marvel comics' productions and everything inside here is a great pastiche of Howard's works. The ending of the arc, where it's revealed the truth of the Living God and his power was also genuinely shocking.
May 6, 2021
The Conan epics are shorter then most other epic collections. While most epics are 450-500 pages, these have been under 300 pages. And that might be a good thing. While the art is great (Barry Windsor-Smith, Gil Kane and John Buscema), the stories seem to blend together after a bit. If it went on longer then this it would blend together even more.
July 25, 2021
"I'm a barbarian. I was born in bloody battle in the bleak hills of the North and I've gore enough on my tail to damn me to a thousand hells, if hells there be… I'll drink a toast, to both the living and the dead, in the first tavern I find."
Conan the Barbarian Epic Collection, Vol. 2 collects issues #14-26 of the legendary early Conan the Barbarian comics written by Roy Thomas. Issue #24 "The Song of Red Sonja" closes out Barry Windsor-Smith's run as illustrator.
This collection is a lot of fun. The art and writing are top-notch for this genre. I cannot help but ask myself "What if Hollywood had adapted the Vilayet Sea stories?" This would have been a better Conan film than any of the three we have gotten so far. This ten-story cycle begins with #17 "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth" and runs through #26 "The Hour of the Griffin!"
Highlights of this collection include:
Issue #14 "A Sword Called Stormbringer!" and #15 “The Green Empress of Melniboné” feature Michael Moorcock's literary character Elric of Melniboné teaming up with Conan on an adventure. This is an interesting choice because Elric represents a nuanced, morally ambivalent sword-and-sorcery hero intended to stand in contrast to Robert E. Howard's clear-cut creation of thirty years previous. The story is a bit clunky in getting Elric from his universe to ours, but from then on the action is furious and the artwork is some of Barry Windsor-Smith's finest. The script emphasizes the vastly different worldviews of the sorcerer-king who embraces chaos magic and the barbarian who puts his faith only in his sword.
Issue #15 also includes the introduction of Kulan Gath, a minor sorcerer who appears briefly before being unceremoniously dispatched. However, he was resurrected for a Spider-Man/Red Sonja crossover in 1979. He became a recurring villain across several titles, most notably X-Men and Savage Avengers.
Issue #16 adapts one of my favorite Conan stories "The Frost Giant's Daughter". The art is fantastic but for the absurd choice to have Conan running around in snow-covered mountains wearing only a loincloth. In the prose story, he wore thick furs. Also, despite the northern clime, the colorist continues to use the darker "peachy" skin tone for Conan that originated in the middle of issue #13 to denote his pale skin had darkened under the desert sun.
(A black and white version of this same comic had appeared a year earlier in the 'Mature'-rated Savage Tales #1. In order to comply with the Comics Code Authority, many of the risqué panels had to be altered for the more family-friendly format.)
Issue #22 was a reprint of #1 but included here is the cover, which erroneously promises the next adventure "The Shadow of the Vulture".
Issues #23-24 introduce Red Sonja, the "red-haired she-devil more beautiful than the flames of hell" who of course has become a long-running popular comics character with numerous series of her own. She was loosely inspired by another Robert E. Howard character, but in the books she was a 16th century Polish-Ukranian warrior, not a contemporary of Conan.
[Note: The events of "The Song of Red Sonja" are recounted from Red Sonja's point of view in Marvel Feature: Red Sonja #1 (1975). This is worth reading. Readers learn what happens after she rides away from Makkalet under the cover of black night. Includes Conan in a brief flashback cameo.]
Some issues feature loose adaptations of Robert E. Howard's non-Conan stories that have been reworked to make Conan the hero: Issues #17-18 adapt "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth". Issue #21 adapts "The Black Stone". Issue #23 adapts "The Shadow of the Vulture". Issue #25 adapts "The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune".
This volume is light on bonus features:
• Includes a map of Conan's journey through the first 26 issues. Originally created for a special Conan Treasury Edition reprint.
• Includes covers for two reprints: The Essential Conan Vol. 1 and Conan: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1
• The letter from the CCA attorney demanding edits to "Frost Giant's Daughter". I am disappointed this book does not include the original uncensored black and white version from Savage Tales #1 for comparison purposes.
• Facsimiles of several pages of Windsor-Smith's uncolored art
Conan the Barbarian Epic Collection, Vol. 2 collects issues #14-26 of the legendary early Conan the Barbarian comics written by Roy Thomas. Issue #24 "The Song of Red Sonja" closes out Barry Windsor-Smith's run as illustrator.
This collection is a lot of fun. The art and writing are top-notch for this genre. I cannot help but ask myself "What if Hollywood had adapted the Vilayet Sea stories?" This would have been a better Conan film than any of the three we have gotten so far. This ten-story cycle begins with #17 "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth" and runs through #26 "The Hour of the Griffin!"
Highlights of this collection include:
Issue #14 "A Sword Called Stormbringer!" and #15 “The Green Empress of Melniboné” feature Michael Moorcock's literary character Elric of Melniboné teaming up with Conan on an adventure. This is an interesting choice because Elric represents a nuanced, morally ambivalent sword-and-sorcery hero intended to stand in contrast to Robert E. Howard's clear-cut creation of thirty years previous. The story is a bit clunky in getting Elric from his universe to ours, but from then on the action is furious and the artwork is some of Barry Windsor-Smith's finest. The script emphasizes the vastly different worldviews of the sorcerer-king who embraces chaos magic and the barbarian who puts his faith only in his sword.
Issue #15 also includes the introduction of Kulan Gath, a minor sorcerer who appears briefly before being unceremoniously dispatched. However, he was resurrected for a Spider-Man/Red Sonja crossover in 1979. He became a recurring villain across several titles, most notably X-Men and Savage Avengers.
Issue #16 adapts one of my favorite Conan stories "The Frost Giant's Daughter". The art is fantastic but for the absurd choice to have Conan running around in snow-covered mountains wearing only a loincloth. In the prose story, he wore thick furs. Also, despite the northern clime, the colorist continues to use the darker "peachy" skin tone for Conan that originated in the middle of issue #13 to denote his pale skin had darkened under the desert sun.
(A black and white version of this same comic had appeared a year earlier in the 'Mature'-rated Savage Tales #1. In order to comply with the Comics Code Authority, many of the risqué panels had to be altered for the more family-friendly format.)
Issue #22 was a reprint of #1 but included here is the cover, which erroneously promises the next adventure "The Shadow of the Vulture".
Issues #23-24 introduce Red Sonja, the "red-haired she-devil more beautiful than the flames of hell" who of course has become a long-running popular comics character with numerous series of her own. She was loosely inspired by another Robert E. Howard character, but in the books she was a 16th century Polish-Ukranian warrior, not a contemporary of Conan.
[Note: The events of "The Song of Red Sonja" are recounted from Red Sonja's point of view in Marvel Feature: Red Sonja #1 (1975). This is worth reading. Readers learn what happens after she rides away from Makkalet under the cover of black night. Includes Conan in a brief flashback cameo.]
Some issues feature loose adaptations of Robert E. Howard's non-Conan stories that have been reworked to make Conan the hero: Issues #17-18 adapt "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth". Issue #21 adapts "The Black Stone". Issue #23 adapts "The Shadow of the Vulture". Issue #25 adapts "The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune".
This volume is light on bonus features:
• Includes a map of Conan's journey through the first 26 issues. Originally created for a special Conan Treasury Edition reprint.
• Includes covers for two reprints: The Essential Conan Vol. 1 and Conan: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1
• The letter from the CCA attorney demanding edits to "Frost Giant's Daughter". I am disappointed this book does not include the original uncensored black and white version from Savage Tales #1 for comparison purposes.
• Facsimiles of several pages of Windsor-Smith's uncolored art
August 17, 2023
Extra star for Red Sonja
January 5, 2024
Druhá kniha archivní kolekce je lepší než ta první. Nejenom po výtvarné stránce, ale také scénaristicky. Ale i tahle kniha mě na začátku vyděsila. Můžou za to obličeje Barryho Smitha. Já jsem ty jeho obličeje nemusel už v první knize, ale to co předvedl v úvodním příběhu s Elrikem z Melniboné, to je extrém. Naštěstí se potom jeho kresba zlepšila a ke konci knihy je už jeho kresba úplně jinde. Je detailní, hodně prokreslená a celkově bych řekl povedená. V obličejích je sice stále vidět jeho styl, ale už to není taková hrůza.
Několik sešitů v této knize nakreslili také jiní výtvarníci. Dva sešity s příběhem Bohové Bal-Sagotu nakreslil Gil Kane. Ta změna stylu oproti Barrymu je osvěžující. V posledních dvou sešitech se kresby série ujímá John Buscema. Ta změna stylu je obrovská, i když to tak na první pohled nevypadá. Kresba Johna Buscemy je oproti kresbě Barryho Smitha, hlavně v jeho posledních sešitech, značně jednodušší. Není tak prokreslená a tím pádem je přehlednější. Ne všechny panely mají nakreslené pozadí, ale zvýšila se tím dynamika vyprávění. No a pak hlavně obličeje jsou pro mě stravitelnější.
Co se týká scénáře, tak úvodní dva sešity s Elrikem z Melniboné jsou nejhorší také po příběhové stránce. Celkově to vůbec nefunguje. Objevuje se tam Elrik z Melniboné a protivníci z jiných světů, jenom proto, aby se spolu nějakou dobu bili a potom zase zmizeli. Nuda. Tady šlo jen o to použít v Conanovi známé jméno.
To Dcera pána mrazu, to je jiné kafe. Viděl jsem už několik jiných zpracování této povídky a je zajímavé je vzájemně porovnávat. Toho není špatné, byť je vykleštěné.
Od povídky Bohové Bal-Sagotu, tj. od třetího sešitu, pak na sebe všechny následující sešity souvisle navazují a dá se tudíž říci, že tvoří jeden příběh. Jeho součástí je i sešit Mořští jestřábové, který dal jméno celé této knize. Později dojde i na chapadla a na Rudou Sonju, která zde ještě nemá své legendární “šupinové bikiny”. Celkově se mi zde líbila atmosféra a Conanovo znechucení z civilizace.
Kniha má opět obsáhle bohusy a jedním z nich jsou i autentické instrukce, jak změnit a vykleštit Dceru pána mrazu, aby prošla přes tehdejší komiksovou cenzuru. Je škoda, že součástí bonusů není i ten původní komiks před zásahem cenzora.
Několik sešitů v této knize nakreslili také jiní výtvarníci. Dva sešity s příběhem Bohové Bal-Sagotu nakreslil Gil Kane. Ta změna stylu oproti Barrymu je osvěžující. V posledních dvou sešitech se kresby série ujímá John Buscema. Ta změna stylu je obrovská, i když to tak na první pohled nevypadá. Kresba Johna Buscemy je oproti kresbě Barryho Smitha, hlavně v jeho posledních sešitech, značně jednodušší. Není tak prokreslená a tím pádem je přehlednější. Ne všechny panely mají nakreslené pozadí, ale zvýšila se tím dynamika vyprávění. No a pak hlavně obličeje jsou pro mě stravitelnější.
Co se týká scénáře, tak úvodní dva sešity s Elrikem z Melniboné jsou nejhorší také po příběhové stránce. Celkově to vůbec nefunguje. Objevuje se tam Elrik z Melniboné a protivníci z jiných světů, jenom proto, aby se spolu nějakou dobu bili a potom zase zmizeli. Nuda. Tady šlo jen o to použít v Conanovi známé jméno.
To Dcera pána mrazu, to je jiné kafe. Viděl jsem už několik jiných zpracování této povídky a je zajímavé je vzájemně porovnávat. Toho není špatné, byť je vykleštěné.
Od povídky Bohové Bal-Sagotu, tj. od třetího sešitu, pak na sebe všechny následující sešity souvisle navazují a dá se tudíž říci, že tvoří jeden příběh. Jeho součástí je i sešit Mořští jestřábové, který dal jméno celé této knize. Později dojde i na chapadla a na Rudou Sonju, která zde ještě nemá své legendární “šupinové bikiny”. Celkově se mi zde líbila atmosféra a Conanovo znechucení z civilizace.
Kniha má opět obsáhle bohusy a jedním z nich jsou i autentické instrukce, jak změnit a vykleštit Dceru pána mrazu, aby prošla přes tehdejší komiksovou cenzuru. Je škoda, že součástí bonusů není i ten původní komiks před zásahem cenzora.
January 24, 2022
For a 70s Era Marvel comic this is pretty good. Although a little repetitive, it is fun and action packed. Conan has some decent lines and fights tons of sorcerers and creatures. Although it's under 300 pages. The amount of story that is included makes you feel like you're getting your moneys worth.
Good for Conan Fans.
Good for Conan Fans.
July 19, 2024
اللقاء التاني مع كونان في رحلة طويلة من ١٣ عدد لعوالم سحرية..
ظهور شخصية ريد سونيا في الاعداد لا يختلف حتى الأن من بقية الثيمات النسائية الأخرى... غير إنها محاربة
في الرحلة بيواجه كونان الكثير من السحرة و المشعوذين و الملوك الغاضبين و الكهنة المتعطشين للسلطة و الخلود و كائنات غريبة من عوالم أخرى
لكن يفضل أخطر فخ بيقع فيه كونان "الأحمق" كل مرة هو فخ النساء 😏 حماقة ما بعدها حماقة 🤷
ظهور شخصية ريد سونيا في الاعداد لا يختلف حتى الأن من بقية الثيمات النسائية الأخرى... غير إنها محاربة
في الرحلة بيواجه كونان الكثير من السحرة و المشعوذين و الملوك الغاضبين و الكهنة المتعطشين للسلطة و الخلود و كائنات غريبة من عوالم أخرى
لكن يفضل أخطر فخ بيقع فيه كونان "الأحمق" كل مرة هو فخ النساء 😏 حماقة ما بعدها حماقة 🤷
January 24, 2023
Conan grows in strength and depth with every issue. This fantastic universe is well written and amazingly illustrated bringing Robert E Howard's tales to life.
February 15, 2023
The battle for Makkelet and the Living Tarim. Also, Elric.
September 15, 2023
This volume completes Londoner Barry Windsor-Smith's celebrated run on Conan that helped introduce the sword and sorcery character to a new generation. In this volume is the Song of Red Sonja, which effectively heralded another key character in the genre. It was at this time that Smith and scripter Roy Thomas were recognized for their achievements, including the Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards' Best Continuing Feature. Certainly one of the defining moments that signaled and defined the Bronze Age of comics.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews