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Solomon Kane
The Chronicles Of Solomon Kane
"Back, ye minions of hell-in the name of the Lord and Solomon Kane!" Continuing in the vein of the successful Chronicles of Conan collection series, Dark Horse is expanding its Robert E. Howard reprint line by presenting all of the original 1970s and 1980s Marvel color comic books featuring Solomon Kane in one awesome volume! This graphic novel features the landmark stories "The Mark of Kane" and "Fangs of the Gorilla God," by Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin, and the entire Sword of Solomon Kane mini-series, by Ralph Macchio and a host of talented artists - including Mike Mignola, Al Williamson, Bret Blevins, John Ridgeway, and others! From the French countryside to the Black Forest in Germany, from England to Africa, follow Robert E. Howard's solemn, driven Puritan, Solomon Kane, as he cuts a path of vengeance across the globe!
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
1 person is currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
Roy Thomas
4,481 books272 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 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 4, 2016
The Reformation comes alive!!
Puritan ass-kicker Solomon Kane because of his religious convictions is no longer welcome in his native England, so he travels around the known world beating up Papists and Infidels when and where ever the good lord wills it.
Amen!
He also runs into pirates, vampires, man-bats (Fact: Africa was plagued by both vampires and Man-bats in the 1500’s) and werewolves. His beliefs are put to the test when he encounters and is saved by an African voodoo priest, who’s magic runs counter to what the good book says.
Zounds!
Robert E. Howard, best known for creating Conan, was given the Marvel comics treatment via Solomon Kane; twice - once in the early seventies by Roy Thomas, then again in the eighties by Ralph Macchio. Aside from two tales by Macchio, all were adaptations of existing Howard stories.
Interestingly, you can compare Thomas and Macchio’s re-working of the same story, “Red Shadows” – Howard’s tale of Kane’s pursuit of justice across continents. Thomas tacks on a different beginning and I almost thought I was reading a different story when I started Macchio’s version, which irons out some plot points that get jumbled in Thomas’ version.
A note on the art – Howard Chaykin illustrated Thomas’ tale; Mike Mignola (Mr. Hellboy) drew one of Macchio’s renderings.
Bottom Line: If you dig pulpy swashbuckling stories with the added monster or two, this one’s for you.
July 13, 2023
Very nice adaptions of Howard's character. Some nice new stories as add to this collection. Enjoyable read. Recommended
July 22, 2020
This is a nice volume collecting the six issues of The Sword of Solomon Kane that Ralph Macchio wrote in 1985, and the Roy Thomas adaptation of Robert E. Howard's story Red Shadows from Marvel Premiere from 1976. One of the Macchio stories is also a Red Shadows adaptation, so it's interesting to compare the way the two writers and artists handled the material. (I preferred the Thomas, probably because Howard Chaykin illustrated it.) Two of the Macchio stories are original; I rather liked And Faith, Undying, a good werewolf tale, and didn't much care for The Prophet, despite the Mignola art, which is a religious story that I didn't feel was true to Howard's character. The other stories adapted here are Hills of the Dead, Wings in the Night, and Blades of the Brotherhood, which I thought was the best of the lot. Howard's stories are from the 1920s, and there are some leftover racist bits that come through. I thought Macchio could have solved that and reworked some elements a bit more by staying closer to Howard's vision, if that makes sense. My favorite piece is Howard's poem Solomon Kane's Homecoming, a lovely and stirring bit of doggerel which serves as a nice coda to the book.
January 8, 2021
Da sempre un appassionato di Howard, quando hanno raccolto in due volumi le storie apparse sui magazine in b/n Marvel degli anni '70, non ho potuto resistere.
Tra l'altro il folle puritano spadaccino è da sempre tra i miei personaggi preferiti.
Qui Roy Thomas, principalmente, adatta al fumetto i racconti originali, e ai disegni troviamo tanti grandi nomi del fumetto americano di quegli anni, tra cui spicca Neal Adams, ma non solo.
Quattro stelle e mezza ben meritate.
Tra l'altro il folle puritano spadaccino è da sempre tra i miei personaggi preferiti.
Qui Roy Thomas, principalmente, adatta al fumetto i racconti originali, e ai disegni troviamo tanti grandi nomi del fumetto americano di quegli anni, tra cui spicca Neal Adams, ma non solo.
Quattro stelle e mezza ben meritate.
June 2, 2019
There is some lovely old school art in this collection and it certainly is a unique perspective and setting for a story to be told but I think the era in which the books and the comics were written now shows a little too much for its own good and I found some of the elements of the book a little distracting.
This is in reality a straight forwards ‘I am an awesome god fearing swordsman’ adventure tale. There was very little nuance to the views of Solomon and the book suffered for it. As I read the book I couldn't help but wonder whether is was written to appease the god-squads of the time to show them that comic were not ALL there to tempt us to Satan.
The choice of a puritan as the lead character seemed odd and as he travelled the world with his own brand of whiteman religious zealotry I found myself feeling uncomfortable. Some of the art deals too much in racial stereotypes for my liking and there were too many fair maidens to be avenged. The idea that he would be considered a god among every tribe he visited seemed off as well. I happened twice in very close succession and yet it appeared from the book that the magic of the tribes he visited worked better than his own god.
The language was a little too formal as well. Very bible quoty.
It sounds like I hated the book, I didn't but the difficulties I had with it kept taking me out of the narrative. The premise was new, the character seemed like a unique one but for my taste there was just too much God, too much british empire, too many racial stereotypes, an over dependance on formal language and not enough strong women.
Apart from that it was ace.
This is in reality a straight forwards ‘I am an awesome god fearing swordsman’ adventure tale. There was very little nuance to the views of Solomon and the book suffered for it. As I read the book I couldn't help but wonder whether is was written to appease the god-squads of the time to show them that comic were not ALL there to tempt us to Satan.
The choice of a puritan as the lead character seemed odd and as he travelled the world with his own brand of whiteman religious zealotry I found myself feeling uncomfortable. Some of the art deals too much in racial stereotypes for my liking and there were too many fair maidens to be avenged. The idea that he would be considered a god among every tribe he visited seemed off as well. I happened twice in very close succession and yet it appeared from the book that the magic of the tribes he visited worked better than his own god.
The language was a little too formal as well. Very bible quoty.
It sounds like I hated the book, I didn't but the difficulties I had with it kept taking me out of the narrative. The premise was new, the character seemed like a unique one but for my taste there was just too much God, too much british empire, too many racial stereotypes, an over dependance on formal language and not enough strong women.
Apart from that it was ace.
March 20, 2016
I adore Solomon Kane and was very excited to read this collection, though I can't say I ended up caring for it all that much.
The art work was fine. About average for the time periods the stories came from. The problem was in the actual adaptation of the stories. In some ways, the stories lend themselves to the comic format rather well. Pages of Howard's, admittedly wonderful, solid description ends up being a picture so the stories flow much faster.
The stories also end up a little wonky because they retain the racism present in Howard's original stories, which honestly could have been worked around in the retelling, and they actually played up the Christian elements. There are far more mentions of Puritan persecution in this slight volume than there is in the entirety of the prose stories. Also, I'm not sure if the people adapting these stories were super Christian, but these stories make me think they were. People preaching about God seems to be a much bigger part of these stories than it ever was in the original.
Recommended for Kane purists only. Anyone else should read the originals.
The art work was fine. About average for the time periods the stories came from. The problem was in the actual adaptation of the stories. In some ways, the stories lend themselves to the comic format rather well. Pages of Howard's, admittedly wonderful, solid description ends up being a picture so the stories flow much faster.
The stories also end up a little wonky because they retain the racism present in Howard's original stories, which honestly could have been worked around in the retelling, and they actually played up the Christian elements. There are far more mentions of Puritan persecution in this slight volume than there is in the entirety of the prose stories. Also, I'm not sure if the people adapting these stories were super Christian, but these stories make me think they were. People preaching about God seems to be a much bigger part of these stories than it ever was in the original.
Recommended for Kane purists only. Anyone else should read the originals.
June 20, 2023
First of all,don't believe or be misguided by woke reviews calling these stories "racist" or inappropriate. If you do get into this amazing collection you are in for a great supernatural adventure spamming through multiple continents. It has it all voodoo priests,zombies,witches,werewolves,pirates,vampires,ghouls....you name it.
October 15, 2024
When you start reading the same damn story for the second time (literally) all interest ceases. This volume is of real interest to academics only, or serious obsessives looking to compare art frame to frame.
February 26, 2024
Didn't think the stories were that good. My favorite Howard character is Bran mac Morn.
September 21, 2010
Solomon Kane my favorite of Howard's creations now in comic book form.
The Art: Is very nice in this book with a number of different artists all doing good work and capturing the feel of the character and the worlds he passes through. The coloring has all been redone and over all takes on a lot of dark pastels which suit the series very well. Lots of greys and grey blue hues throughout with reds and oranges used mostly for punctuation of a panel or of some action.
The Stories: Are fun when they are not making you cringe out of shame for the handling of Africa. This is one series were I read the actual stories before the comic enjoying them a lot. These comic stories stay pretty true to the books with all the food and bad it entails. Kane a Puritan on the run from england out dispensing justice and the lords work via pistol and sword is a great character. He is like Dirty Harry or The man with no name in a better wardrobe and with better dialogue. He is relentless and superhuman in his fighting prowess. We are both shown this and told this (told maybe a bit more then we need to be). The stories here which include a one off from the 70s along with an 80s mini series are very fun. The only real damper is the depiction of Africa and its people. Thankfully we are shown it has both food and bad people but what we are not shown much are capable people. What we do see are a lot of savages in need of this great white hopes aid. That does not play as well in this day and age and I could see how black readers especially could be turned off by the series. Knowing the era this came out of explains it and at the time the lack of most peoples understanding of Africa or the people living there is part of why it was chosen by Howard. It made for a perfect dark and foreboding setting that ran contrary to everything the main character was about. The real kicker is we have not moved past this mentality in the 75 plus years since these types of stories where told. Avatar being a very recent example of modern white man being the primitives great hope in the fight against the evil that is threatening them.
Ignorant use of the continent of Africa and it's people aside Solomon Kane volume one is a very fun read for me and one I would love to see ongoing right now. The character has been borrowed a lot and deserves its own due. Vampire hunter D and hammer films I am looking at you as prime examples of blunt Kane stories sans Kane.
The Art: Is very nice in this book with a number of different artists all doing good work and capturing the feel of the character and the worlds he passes through. The coloring has all been redone and over all takes on a lot of dark pastels which suit the series very well. Lots of greys and grey blue hues throughout with reds and oranges used mostly for punctuation of a panel or of some action.
The Stories: Are fun when they are not making you cringe out of shame for the handling of Africa. This is one series were I read the actual stories before the comic enjoying them a lot. These comic stories stay pretty true to the books with all the food and bad it entails. Kane a Puritan on the run from england out dispensing justice and the lords work via pistol and sword is a great character. He is like Dirty Harry or The man with no name in a better wardrobe and with better dialogue. He is relentless and superhuman in his fighting prowess. We are both shown this and told this (told maybe a bit more then we need to be). The stories here which include a one off from the 70s along with an 80s mini series are very fun. The only real damper is the depiction of Africa and its people. Thankfully we are shown it has both food and bad people but what we are not shown much are capable people. What we do see are a lot of savages in need of this great white hopes aid. That does not play as well in this day and age and I could see how black readers especially could be turned off by the series. Knowing the era this came out of explains it and at the time the lack of most peoples understanding of Africa or the people living there is part of why it was chosen by Howard. It made for a perfect dark and foreboding setting that ran contrary to everything the main character was about. The real kicker is we have not moved past this mentality in the 75 plus years since these types of stories where told. Avatar being a very recent example of modern white man being the primitives great hope in the fight against the evil that is threatening them.
Ignorant use of the continent of Africa and it's people aside Solomon Kane volume one is a very fun read for me and one I would love to see ongoing right now. The character has been borrowed a lot and deserves its own due. Vampire hunter D and hammer films I am looking at you as prime examples of blunt Kane stories sans Kane.
March 1, 2013
Bewährte Dark-Horse-Qualität
Dieser Sammelband, der zwei "Marvel Premiere"-Ausgaben aus den 70ern und die Solomon-Kane-Miniserie mit 6 Ausgaben aus den 80ern bündelt, hat meines Erachtens zwei Highlights, die ihn über die Masse der sonstigen Dark-Horse-Sammlungen herausheben.
Erstens, das interessante Gegenüberstellen der alten Roy-Thomas-Version von "Red Shadows" und der (10 Jahre später erschienenen) von Ralph Macchio. Sehr nett zu sehen, wie sich die Comicwelt zeichnerisch, aber auch beim Plotting weiterentwickelt hat.
Zweitens, die Ausgabe, die von Mike Mignola gezeichnet wird. Ich bin ein Mignola-Fan, und auch wenn diese Zeichnungen noch weit von Hellboy entfernt sind, erkennt man doch schon das Potenzial, das in ihnen steckt - viel Schwarzraum, glühende Augen im Dunkel, sehr atmosphärische Charakterisierungen (den portugiesischen Piraten finde ich besonders gelungen). Ein sehr eigener und erkennbarer Stil, den die anderen Zeichner (Ridgway, Bogdanove, Chaykin und Blevins) nicht erreichen, deren Werke eher einheitlich wirken und kaum zu unterscheiden sind. Doch auch sie schaffen es, die düstere Stimmung der Originalgeschichten ins Comicmedium zu transferieren.
Die Aufmachung ist im inzwischen sehr ausgereiften "Chronicles"-Stil von Dark Horse; da gibt es wirklich nichts zu meckern in Bezug auf Bindung, Papier und Druck (einige wenige Seiten sind etwas verwischt worden, vielleicht ist das aber auch nur mein Exemplar).
Tolle Umsetzung des R.E.-Howard-Helden in Bildern; diese Reihe gefällt mir deutlich besser als die "Kull"-Reihe oder die späteren "Conan"-Comics.
Dieser Sammelband, der zwei "Marvel Premiere"-Ausgaben aus den 70ern und die Solomon-Kane-Miniserie mit 6 Ausgaben aus den 80ern bündelt, hat meines Erachtens zwei Highlights, die ihn über die Masse der sonstigen Dark-Horse-Sammlungen herausheben.
Erstens, das interessante Gegenüberstellen der alten Roy-Thomas-Version von "Red Shadows" und der (10 Jahre später erschienenen) von Ralph Macchio. Sehr nett zu sehen, wie sich die Comicwelt zeichnerisch, aber auch beim Plotting weiterentwickelt hat.
Zweitens, die Ausgabe, die von Mike Mignola gezeichnet wird. Ich bin ein Mignola-Fan, und auch wenn diese Zeichnungen noch weit von Hellboy entfernt sind, erkennt man doch schon das Potenzial, das in ihnen steckt - viel Schwarzraum, glühende Augen im Dunkel, sehr atmosphärische Charakterisierungen (den portugiesischen Piraten finde ich besonders gelungen). Ein sehr eigener und erkennbarer Stil, den die anderen Zeichner (Ridgway, Bogdanove, Chaykin und Blevins) nicht erreichen, deren Werke eher einheitlich wirken und kaum zu unterscheiden sind. Doch auch sie schaffen es, die düstere Stimmung der Originalgeschichten ins Comicmedium zu transferieren.
Die Aufmachung ist im inzwischen sehr ausgereiften "Chronicles"-Stil von Dark Horse; da gibt es wirklich nichts zu meckern in Bezug auf Bindung, Papier und Druck (einige wenige Seiten sind etwas verwischt worden, vielleicht ist das aber auch nur mein Exemplar).
Tolle Umsetzung des R.E.-Howard-Helden in Bildern; diese Reihe gefällt mir deutlich besser als die "Kull"-Reihe oder die späteren "Conan"-Comics.
January 1, 2010
I have previously lamented the fact that the excellent 1985 series The Sword of Solomon Kane remained uncollected. Dark Horse remedies my complaint in The Chronicles of Solomon Kane, which contains all six issues of the series plus the Solomon Kane stories from Marvel Premiere. Produced by an impressive array of talent--Roy Thomas, Ralph Macchio, Howard Chaykin, Brett Blevins, John Ridgeway, Al Williamson, Sandy Plunkett, Kevin Nowlan, Jon Bogdanove, and Mike Mignola--, The Chronicles of Solomon Kane reprints the extant of the Marvel's superior full color renditions of Robert E. Howard's dour Puritan hero.
August 7, 2011
This volume collects a two volume series called The Mark of Kane and a later six issue miniseries called The Sword of Solomon Kane.
Despite scripts by Roy Thomas, the former is a little on the cheesy side, but I was pleasantly surprised by the Sword of Solomon Kane series. With only six issues to work with, I found it baffling that they spent time making a few original stories (one called The Prophet was particularly sleight and disappointing, despite excellent Mike Mignola artwork) rather than sticking with adaptations of the original Robert E. Howard short stories, but the comic versions of Red Shadows, Hills of the Dead, and Wings in the Night were well done.
The highlight of this volume was the characterization, however. While the authors of the current Dark Horse series seem to be struggling with how to present Kane, the staff of this old Marvel comic got him right. Dour, vengeful, and above all driven.
While I wouldn't recommend this volume as an introduction to the adventures of Solomon Kane, it's certainly worth a look for those already familiar with the character.
Despite scripts by Roy Thomas, the former is a little on the cheesy side, but I was pleasantly surprised by the Sword of Solomon Kane series. With only six issues to work with, I found it baffling that they spent time making a few original stories (one called The Prophet was particularly sleight and disappointing, despite excellent Mike Mignola artwork) rather than sticking with adaptations of the original Robert E. Howard short stories, but the comic versions of Red Shadows, Hills of the Dead, and Wings in the Night were well done.
The highlight of this volume was the characterization, however. While the authors of the current Dark Horse series seem to be struggling with how to present Kane, the staff of this old Marvel comic got him right. Dour, vengeful, and above all driven.
While I wouldn't recommend this volume as an introduction to the adventures of Solomon Kane, it's certainly worth a look for those already familiar with the character.
October 26, 2012
It was great to go back and revisit these stories which hold up very well in my opinion. The artwork (Mike Mignola, Bret Blevins, Howard Chaykin, Al Williamson, among others)is all perfect for the tone of these stories. Ralph Macchio really gets the character and does a couple of his own stories based on the Robert E. Howard character. "And Faith, Undying" a werewolf/friendship story, comes across much better than "The Prophet" but in all of them the core of the character comes through and I'm reminded why I loved these stories when I first encountered them. In the introduction, Macchio says "What appealed to me about the dour Puritan was that he was so many things I was not." which certainly makes sense to me.
May 8, 2019
I reread the book and really enjoyed it. I must have been in a mood the first time reading it. The art is great. It’s been retouched which might upset those readers wanting a pure experience to the original version but I didn’t mind it. It’s definitely a lot better than the more recent comic adaptations that came out.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews