World Famous Comics: The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 2 (v. 2)
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 2 (v. 2)
By: Roy Thomas Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 544 Publication Date: March 05, 2008 Studio: Dark Horse
Product Description: 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.
Wow ^ Brutal. The new adaptions of the Conan stories by Dark Horse are pretty impressive, and the old marvel comics, reprinted in this and the other volumes, were generally in the 25 cent bargain bins at comic shops and flea markets in the past. Now reading these volumes, I really don't understand why. These things rock. Robert Howard was a great writer, and though these adaptions are in fact adaptions, they loose none of the hardcore brutality of the original stories. And considering censorship of comics during the period that these came out, 1970's, I'm surprised Marvel wasn't forced to stop printing the Savage Sword series all together. Good for us that they did not. Incredible inking, cool stories, and should be worth rereading through time, as opposed to just reading and then discarding or selling the books. Volume 2 rocks. If your a Conan fan, check it out.
On a side note, I ended up with two copies of this volume, by mistakenly ordering two of the same volume. Both copies had the same page over sized and miss-folded, so I had to tear the page to read it. But whatever, this still gets 5 stars because the content makes up for such a trivial detail. And I'll just save the extra copy for a cool gift for someone.
Memories...in black & white ^ I used to be in a book club, and when they offered "TSSoC Vol. 1" in their catalog I purchased it. When I was in my late teens my grandfather gave me his old Conan comics and that's why I bought the first volume. Now I am no longer in the book club, but I am working on getting the whole collection of these books from Amazon. I like these books because they are printed on the rough, pulp type paper that the comics were originally printed on. The only minor complaint that I have is that even though they do reprint the original cover art for each issue within the collected books, they are printed on the same pulp paper and in Black & White. It's not a real big deal, but I do miss the glossy, Full Color covers.
The further adventures of comics greatest hero ^ Back in 2008, Dark Horse comics started reprinting Savage Sword of Conan,a black and white magazine format series that was published from 1974 to 1993. All I have to say is:THANK YOU!!!!!!!! They did a good job reprinting the color comics from the early 70's onwards, but reprinting quite possibly the best black and white comic book series is the greatest thing ever. What makes these volumes great is it is the complete collection. It includes the first five stories from the Savage Tales series.
The Best Of Howard, The Best Of Marvel ^ "Savage Sword Of Conan" was Marvel Comics' second attempt at capturing Conan, peaking ironically while Marvel's first attempt, the color monthly "Conan The Barbarian", was enjoying its greatest success. As great as the color comic was, this book amply demonstrates why "Savage" was the ideal medium for enjoying Conan in illustrated form.
Collecting issues 11-24 of "Savage Sword Of Conan", originally published through 1976-1977, this "Volume 2" is about as close to the conception of Conan creator Robert E. Howard as the comics ever got. Of the 14 issues, all but one ("The Haunters Of Castle Crimson") are adapted from Howard's stories. Some of these featured Conan, others were recrafted by series scripter Roy Thomas to become Conan stories.
Consistency is at the center of the collection in other ways. John Buscema was the lead penciller on all but two of the issues featured, mostly paired with Alfredo Alcala. Their dramatic sense for face and form are on fine display, along with an eye for perspective and detail that lends a tactile quality to Conan's fantasy world. You can get lost in just the opening splash pages of many of these stories, forget the many gripping frames within.
A great example of all this is in the last story, "The Tower Of The Elephant", an original Conan story by Howard previously featured in different, shorter form in the color comic. Dialogue, a.k.a. word bubbles, were often used in comics at this time for exposition purposes, never mind the absurdity of a hero discoursing about his situation in mid-fight. Thomas often did this to a fault. Here, however, he wisely lets Buscema and Alcela do the work, and they come through. Eight pages show Conan exploring the tower's interior and fighting a giant spider without offering more than an occasional oath in word or thought. A final confrontation with a wizard is equally as wordless.
The high point of this great collection is a four-part adaptation of one of Howard's Conan novellas, "People Of The Black Circle", which alone fills 120 of the book's 540 pages. Conan kidnaps a princess and finds himself up against the title beings, a group of magic users who have the ability to fly through the air, will their adversaries into killing themselves, and tranform into monsters. Howard is the master behind the story's many blood-chilling twists and turns, but Thomas, Buscema, and Alcala are with him at every step, demonstrating the wit that sets both Conan and Howard apart from the popular hack-and-slash image.
Thomas and his team also do well when they verge from straight reproductions from the source. The opening piece, "Abode Of The Damned", uses a non-Conan Howard story, "Country Of The Knife", as a starting point for an adventure featuring a lovely cinch-waisted maiden who finds herself saved by a Conan in disguise. "Gods Of Bal-Sagoth" is the most comic-y tale here, with more lurid pencilwork by Gil Kane, but it plays well in its own right with its less naturalistic compositions in a story about Conan and a friend paying a call on a doomed city.
A couple of stories even showcase Conan's gentler side to good effect. "The Haunters Of Castle Crimson" has him trying not to kill a friend who has taken a strong liking to his slave girl, while "Tower Of The Elephant" features an ironically bloody act which is also a rare moment of Conan compassion.
If there's any chance of you liking Conan, Robert E. Howard, and/or graphic story-telling, "Savage Sword Of Conan Vol. 2" will draw it out from you. It's an underappreciated art at its best.
Better than Volume 1 ^ Wow. I thought volume 1 was fun to read, but this one tops it. None of my enjoyment was ironic this time; I was sincerely impressed. The art is immaculate, the writing is spot-on, and the entertainment-to-price ratio is extremely favorable! I didn't even notice the few printing glitches that appeared often in the first volume.
There's one problem: Chapter 3, "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth," feels out of place here. It reads like it was written by stoners... The action is hurried and implausible, the dialogue is sublimely stupid, and even the art looks cheap - as if this story was imported from one of those "bad" early-1970s comics that people online now make fun of.
Even so, I still award this volume a full 5 stars because the rest of it was so good. (Warning - Conan stories are violent and may be offensive to women. However, this does not prevent them from being totally awesome.)
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