I suppose the biggest selling point for a collection like this is that the included comics have been out of print for years, so it’s the first time some readers – myself included – can easily find these stories. But these days, we’re spoiled with great Conan comics. Dark Horse’s monthly Conan series has been consistently excellent, and King Conan is generally similar in that regard. Those comics are mostly adapted directly from Robert E. Howard‘s stories, with a few original story arcs to fill in the gaps in Howard’s chronology.
While some issues of the Savage Sword of Conan are adapted from Howard’s stories as well, the issues included in this volume are not. That by itself doesn’t make these stories bad, but they’re missing the qualities that Conan such a great character. Instead of drawing from Howard’s work, these comics are original stories that end up bearing only a surface-level similarity to Howard’s Conan. He shouts, “Crom!” a lot, but there’s not much substance to his character in these comics. He’s depicted as heroic and impeccably honorable, saving innocent women and children without compensation, but there’s not much depth to him beyond that. Not to say that he isn’t violent though; that part’s still there. The bad guys in these comics die in pretty gruesome ways.
The artwork is decent. There are several artists in this volume, and the style varies a little from story to story, though there are some common elements. The book is all in black and white though, as is the entire Savage Sword of Conan series. That might be an issue for some people, but the inking and detail in the illustration is good enough that I don’t mind it not being in color. After all, that’s how these comics were originally presented. Then again, adding color worked pretty well for Humanoids’ Armies collection. But in this case I think the comics are better off in black and white. It shows a style of artwork and inking that isn’t often seen in newer comics.
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| taken from http://www.darkhorse.com |
The stories included in Volume 14 are occasionally interesting, but they’re missing the qualities that make a Conan comic stand out. Of course I say that having only read the issues included in this volume. The Savage Sword of Conan was a very long-running series that was pretty popular in its heyday. For many readers, the early issues were their first experiences with Conan, and there’s still some lingering nostalgia from people who read this series in the 70’s. The first Conan comic I read was Dark Horse’s recent adaptation of the Frost Giant’s Daughter, and the Kurt Busiek/Cary Nord run remains my favorite comic version of the Cimmerian. But I’ll have to read the first volume of the Savage Sword of Conan; maybe that nostalgia has its roots in some really great comics.
In any case, Volume 14’s cover price of $19.99 includes ten stories that add up to more than 500 pages. It’s a good deal for that many comics, but as I said earlier, there are so many great Conan comics these days that you might be better off choosing a different one. The stories in this volume are generally unconnected episodes, and there’s not much to each story past the set-up followed by a climactic battle, with variations in that formula to set the stories apart. These comics have only a passing resemblance to the character created by Robert E. Howard, and they’ve been eclipsed by all the great new Conan comics. Buy this volume if none of that bothers you, or if you want to see what Conan comics were like in the late 80’s, but there are many better comics out there today.
Danilo Culibrk, aka Augustus, is a staff writer for the Red Shirt Crew. He left his savage sword at home, but at least he brought a barbaric blade. You can follow his aimless wanderings across lands unknown on Twitter at @Augustusing.
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