Back Issue #121 by TwoMorrows Publishing

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Sept. 2020

No.121

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Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of ROY THOMAS & BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH’s

Conan the Barbarian #1!

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Conan at Marvel • Marvel’s “B” Barbarians • Conan at Dark Horse • Arak, Son of Thunder • plus more savage heroes and superstar creators

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Volume 1, Number 121 September 2020 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Barry Windsor-Smith (unused Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian #9 cover art, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions) COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore PROOFREADER Rob Smentek SPECIAL THANKS Val Mayerik Jerry Boyd Ian Millsted Kurt Busiek Doug Moench Marc Buxton Cabinet Licensing Richard Morgan Cary Nord LLC Luigi Novi Dewey Cassell Brian Peck Drew Clark Ron Randall Conan Properties International LLC David Scroggy Dann Thomas Jon B. Cooke Dark Horse Comics Steven Thompson Fred Van Lente Thulsa Doom Rick Welch Nick Fatica Mark Wheatley Stephan Friedt Barry Windsor-Smith Tomas Giorello Marv Wolfman Grand Comics Thomas Yeates Database Mike Grell Heritage Comics VERY SPECIAL THANKS Auctions Roy Thomas Jim and Ruth Keegan James Heath Lantz DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF Andy Mangels Ernie Colón Marvel Comics

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IN MEMORIAM: Ernie Colón. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FLASHBACK: Conan Goes to Adventure Town. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Top 50 Bronze Age Conan comic stories BEYOND CAPES: “B” is for Barbarian: Marvel’s Not-Quite Conans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 From Kull to Skull, the House of Ideas’ ’70s sword-slingers FLASHBACK: DC’s Bronze Age Barbarian Boom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 The Distinguished Competition’s answers to Conan’s popularity TIMELINE: In Conan’s Sandalsteps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Behold, more Bronze Age barbarians clawing their way onto the stands FLASHBACK: Conan the Syndicated Barbarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 The Cimmerian invades the ink-splattered realm of newspaper comic strips BEYOND CAPES: Arak, Son of Thunder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Roy and Dann Thomas’ DC Comics barbarian series THE TOY BOX: Enter the Lost World of the Warlord Action Figures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 How Mike Grell’s sword-and-sorcery star got He-Manned onto toy shelves BEYOND CAPES: Gray Morrow’s Edge of Chaos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 A time-displaced man becomes Hercules in this Pacific Comics miniseries FLASHBACK: Ride a Dark Horse: Conan at Dark Horse Comics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 A new generation of Conan comics stories and creators BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Reader reactions, plus Wheatley and Hempel’s Breathtaker turns 30

BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $89 Economy US, $135 International, $36 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Barry Windsor-Smith. Conan the Barbarian TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2020 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Conan and the Barbarians • BACK ISSUE • 1

In Memoriam

ERNIE COLÓN (1931–2019)

Marvel Wikia.

Amethyst, Arak, Batman, Secrets of Haunted House, Wonder Woman © DC Comics. Damage Control © Marvel. Richie Rich, Timmy Time © Classic Media, LLC. Grim Ghost © SP Media Group. New Kids on the Block © New Kids on the Block.

2 • BACK ISSUE • Conan and the Barbarians Issue

by S

teven Thompson

There is a concept in television programming known unofficially as “Adventure Town.” It specifically refers to the type of TV series whose protagonist moves from one place to another every week, allowing for a mostly new cast of characters, a new setting, and no need for standing sets. Essentially, it’s a brilliant way to create an anthology series (which the public never much cared for) yet with a continuing character or two (which the public always loves). Classic shows that fit the trope include The Fugitive, with its protagonist on the run from week to week; Route 66, with its stars working their way cross-country with new jobs in a new town every week; Then Came Bronson, with its motorcyclist hero trying to find himself; and, of course, Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk, which saw Jekyll/ Hyde scientist David Banner packing up and leaving every time his green-skinned alter ego tore up a new place. In 1970, Marvel Comics sent a certain Cimmerian to Adventure Town, and it turned out that the idea worked just as well in comic books. Robert E. Howard created that Cimmerian, Conan, in 1932. Howard also created Conan’s entire world, the non-existent Hyborian Age, said to be between the sinking of Atlantis and the Roman Empire. In his brief lifetime, the young author published a scant 17 stories of Conan, all in issues of the pulp magazine, Weird Tales. Howard committed suicide in 1936 at the age of only 30, leaving behind four unpublished tales of his most famous character as well as quite a few unfinished story fragments. Conan’s journey to comic books has been well documented numerous times in TwoMorrows mags and elsewhere. Roy Thomas has even written books about his Conan comics and how they came to be. We aren’t going to rehash all of that here except to remind the reader that Robert E. Howard’s tales of a brutish adventurer in a lost age had been revived, republished, and then rebooted by other writers as strong-selling massmarket paperbacks in the mid-1960s and that their success was due in large part to Frank Frazetta’s attention-getting (and now iconic) cover paintings. At the end of the decade, Roy Thomas convinced a reluctant Stan Lee to give Comics Code-pushing, sword-and-sorcery comics a try, and Marvel Comics’ Conan the Barbarian #1 (Oct. 1970) was born. Conan the Barbarian was far from the first sword-and-sorcery comic book. Artist John Giunta had drawn several stories of Crom the Barbarian in Strange Worlds in the early 1950s; Wallace Wood and Al Williamson collaborated on Clawfang the Barbarian for Harvey Comics in the 1960s; and DC offered up Nightmaster with early Berni(e) Wrightson art. Believe it or not, there had even been a black-and-white Conan comic-book adaptation in Mexico in the 1950s! Perhaps testing the waters, earlier in 1970 the future Conan team of Roy Thomas and John Buscema had introduced the other-dimensional barbarian king, Arkon, into several issues of The Avengers. It is by no means an understatement to say that Conan the Barbarian #1 was as much a game changer as Fantastic Four #1 had been nearly a decade earlier. Howard’s mythmaking Conan tales had incited the imagination of many future creators, some of whom—like the team of L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter—contributed their own stories and novels to the canon, others of whom had their own similar heroes and anti-heroes such as Carter’s Thongor, Gardner Fox’s Kothar, and John Jakes’ Brak. About as far from your typical comic-book hero of the times as you could ever possibly get, Conan was a thief, a soldier, a reaver, a pirate, a serial killer in a way, and you don’t even want to think too much about his attitude toward women! He was uncouth, unclean, uneducated, and for the most part, unclothed. Yes, not only did Conan not have a super-suit like all the really cool characters from Deadman to Black Bolt to Herbie the Fat Fury, Conan practically wore almost nothing at all most of the time! I have no doubt that the folks at the Comics Code, after more than 15 years of pretty much absolute power when it came to American comic books, were having conniptions over Conan on a regular basis.

Then Came Conan Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, as rendered by Big John Buscema for the cover of the 1980 Conan Portfolio from S. Q. Publications. Original art courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Conan TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.

By 1970, Roy Thomas—himself a fanboy living the dream—had been at Marvel for five years. Although he had quickly developed a reputation as Stan Lee’s right-hand man, he had also progressed from writing Millie the Model stories to writing, amongst many others, a long and highly praised run on The Avengers. In other words, in that relatively short period of time, Roy had established himself as a major player. For the artist on the new title, John Buscema was chosen. In retrospect, a seemingly perfect choice, Buscema having been Roy’s longtime artistic collaborator on The Avengers. Fate being what it is,

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

2. “A Witch Shall Be Born” (Savage Sword of Conan #5, Apr. 1975) Perhaps the most iconic image of our barbarian friend is of a defiant Conan crucified in the desert. This story is where that image originated. Howard’s original is considered one of his lesser works in spite of over-the-top mayhem involving a beautiful queen and her evil lookalike sister, and a particularly ugly monster, but most experts agree that one scene shows more than anything else what makes Conan an interesting character and not just a serial killer with a sword. Left by a cruel rival and nailed to a cross to die, Conan marshals all his fortitude and survival instincts, channeling his hatred for the soldier who did this to him. Eventually, he is rescued by outlaws and works his way up through the ranks, determined to find his rival and give him the fate he had meant for Conan. It’s a powerful sequence in any format, and the comics version is aided by one of Buscema’s best art jobs, with DeZuniga’s ad hoc crew, the Tribe, adding great detail in the inking. The women are gorgeous, Conan is steely eyed, and the 55-page story is paced just right. If anything, Roy improved on the original here.

1. “Red Nails” (Savage Tales #2–3, Oct. 1973–Feb. 1974) Marvel Treasury Edition #4 (1975) By the time the first chapter of “Red Nails” appeared in Savage Tales #2, there was little doubt that Barry was too good for the room (see above right). It was clear that this was no longer a student struggling to find his own way. This was a master showing how it was done. And Roy seemed equally inspired, making the two segments of “Red Nails,” an adventure with Conan and Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, an easy choice for number one on the list of great Bronze Age Marvel Conan stories. Although originally printed in black and white, my favorite version of “Red Nails” is actually the color version. It was printed oversized and slightly retouched in spots in the first-ever Conan issue of Marvel Treasury Edition (#4, 1975). Barry is actually credited with doing the color himself, along with Linda Lessman. Based on one of Howard’s best-known stories, “Red Nails” stars Valeria, one of several strong female characters in Conan’s world. It was the first time we readers had met her in the comics, although clearly not the first time Conan had. Unlike Sonja, or Belit, Valeria seems more… civilized, more intelligent. Soon enough, though, we learn she can take care of herself. She’s a blonde pirate with a long history of blood on her not-so-delicate hands. As our story begins, she finds herself almost literally in the middle of nowhere when Conan suddenly sneaks up and surprises her, following her from an adventure that wouldn’t even be told for another 19 years (see #38 on this list). The pair best a very hungry dragon before setting off toward an ominously quiet walled city in the middle of a desert. There they find two thinning tribes at war for 50 years, a horny prince, and a magical princess who needs new blood to live forever. There are also torture devices, a half-dead wizard with a laser-beam wand, a sacrificial altar, and a wall of human heads. Throw in lots of swordfighting, and what’s not to like? Although at its heart a typical Conan story, its length allows for more character development and more plot development from Roy. The at-times astonishingly ornate art and coloring of Smith, combined with his now-mature sequential storytelling skills, is just a joy. There’s even a happy ending! Well… with lots of gore and corpses but, hey, Conan does get the girl in the end, and willingly at that!

That first issue of Conan the Barbarian way back when was not just another comic book. It was a revolution, spawning a genre within the field that continues to this day. The Conan books would continue to sell throughout the 1980s, ’90s, and beyond, the comics and mags expanded to multiple titles, and other Robert E. Howard characters like Kull and Solomon Kane also gained new lives and new fans. At Marvel, DC, and elsewhere, all-new characters followed in Conan’s footsteps. Eventually, Marvel lost the license to the Robert E. Howard characters, but Conan continued to thrive at Dark Horse for a number of years [as explored later in this issue—ed.]. The new comics were more explicitly violent and sexual but they often retold the same stories, sometimes even written by Roy Thomas himself. The swords were just as sharp as ever, but in spite of all the wizards and magicians, they were somehow missing the sorcery. They retold the myth but somehow missed much of the magic. And now Marvel has the Conan license back, and once again they’re publishing some rousing sword-and-sorcery adventures. Conan has even joined the Avengers! It’s unlikely any of these modern renditions will topple the memories of those heady Bronze Age beginnings, but one never knows. The whole original Marvel run, with all its spin-offs and tie-ins, is really just an embarrassment of storytelling riches, even after Roy Thomas moves on. I hope you’ve enjoyed this look back at 50 great Conan issues and storylines as Robert E. Howard’s legacy in comics reaches its 50th year. Your own list might be different. I’d love to see it. But by Crom and Mitra, there’s no denying these are some of the best-written and -drawn comic-book stories of all time! By this point, one thing becomes clear. The old shaman’s prophecy was correct. After countless action-filled life-or-death adventures chronicled in multiple media for nearly a full century now, Conan of Cimmeria has indeed become, in his own way, very much a king! STEVEN THOMPSON is Booksteve of Booksteve’s Library (http://booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com) and a dozen other blogs. He has written for Fantagraphics, TwoMorrows, Yoe Books, Bear Manor Media, and Time Capsule Productions.

14 • BACK ISSUE • Conan and the Barbarians Issue

by M a r c

Buxton

Know, O Prince, that between the years when the Silver Age began in the gleaming city of York the New, and the years of the rise of Bronze Age wond ers, there was an Age undreamed of, when many industry-changing genres lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen -eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth to tread the jeweled thrones of fandom under his sandaled feet. And Conan madeth money; so his handlers, the many brilliant artists and writers who dwell ed in the immortal Valhalla-like region known as Marvel Comics, decided to cash in on Conan. Marv el tried to find other barbarians, swordsmen (and in one case, a swordswoman), slayers, and bash ers of skulls to stand side-by-side with Conan on the battlefield of the newsstands and candy stores of the Age known as Bronze. This is the story of the Marvel barbarians who were not Conan. See their fury and tremble, O Prince, for their numbers were many, their appearanc es were sporadic, and their tales were fascinating. Hear now; attend, as I open the pages of the tomes of comicbook history and journey into a time where these barbarians and blood-drunk dogs of war attem pted to challenge superheroes for comic-book supre macy.

Detail from Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian #57 (Dec. 1975). Art by Gil Kane and Vince Colletta. Conan TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15

KULL

Here Comes King Kull! (top) The legend of Kull is referenced in Thomas and Smith’s Conan the Barbarian #1 (Oct. 1970). (bottom left) Kull stars in Creatures on the Loose #10 (Mar. 1971). Cover by Herb Trimpe and Marie Severin. (bottom right) More Marvel Kull.

It’s ironic that the barbarian, warrior, and king known as Kull would follow the blood-soaked path forged by Conan into Marvel lore because in the days of yore, Conan followed Kull into the world of prose. In the world of pulp fiction, Kull first appeared in the Robert E. Howard-penned “The Shadow Kingdom,” published in Weird Tales’ August 1929 edition. Three other Kull stories were published in Howard’s lifetime, but he penned a fourth, entitled “By This Axe I Rule!,” which was rejected for publication by Weird Tales’ editorial steward. Instead of abandoning his Kull tale, Howard rewrote the tale and replaced Kull with a new barbarian character named Conan. The powers-that-be operating Weird Tales liked the Conan robert e. howard version of this bloody yarn better than Kull… and the rest is history. The reengineered Kull story was now titled “The Phoenix on the Sword” and appeared in the December 1932 issue of Weird Tales. Fantasy fiction would never be the same again. (It should be noted that a character named Conan was named in brief appearances in separate narratives and poetry before the reworked Kull story, before the actual Conan made his proper debut in late 1932.) Other Howard-written Kull stories would be published after the author’s death, but the character would forever play second fiddle to Conan. It is the whim of history, is it not, O Prince, that after Conan created such a storm of success for Marvel, the door was opened for Kull, the character Conan replaced, to forge his own comic-book legend? Kull would actually make his first Marvel appearance in Conan the Barbarian #1 (Oct. 1970) during a vision sequence linking Conan to the primordial past of the world the two Howard warriors shared. This brief appearance was a signal to fantasy readers that Marvel was not only going whole-hog on Conan, but it was evident that other Howard creations were in play as well. That promise came to fruition when Kull made his first full-fledged appearance in Marvel’s Creatures on the Loose #10 (Mar. 1971) in the Roy Thomas-written, Bernie Wrightson-drawn “The Skull of Silence!” O Prince, what mighty a pair of creators that were chosen to bring Kull to four-color life! Thomas was a no-brainer, but a young Wrightson, arguably one of the greatest genre artists of the 20th Century? Truly, the stuff of legends. The differences between Kull and Conan were evident from the opening pages of Kull’s Marvel debut. Kull begins his premiere Marvel adventure lamenting that he could no longer be, as Thomas writes, a “wild-maned barbarian.” Kull now has the weight of the crown of the realm of Valusia and must bear the responsibilities of a kingdom. Kull’s monarchial responsibilities instantly set Kull apart

Conan TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC. Kull TM & © Kull Productions, Inc.

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from Conan, and in an interview published in Alter Ego #70 (July 2007), conducted by Jim Amash and transcribed by Brian K. Morris, Thomas remembered, “It’s harder to have a king in the same kind of action as a young barbarian just coming down from the hills. We didn’t start, after all, with King Conan when we did his comic, even though Howard had started that way.” In Kull’s first appearance, Thomas got to explore the weight a crown has on a king, a far cry from the freewheeling yarns starring Conan. In his first Marvel adventure, Kull must spring into action against the cosmic horror of the castle known as the Skull of Silence, but he also has the kingly responsibility to lead his Pict subjects to safety. In Alter Ego #70, Thomas recalled Kull as much more introspective than Conan: “Kull was given more to thinking than Conan was. He was the kind of guy who could lose himself looking into the mirrors.” Of course, the setting of ancient Atlantis set centuries before Conan was splitting skulls and quaffing ale also provides a contrast between Kull and Conan. Magic is more common in Kull’s world, and Thomas makes the early Kull comics a showcase of the pulpish weird tales that Howard and authors like H. P. Lovecraft made famous. Conan faced his share of cosmic horrors, but this type of stygian nightmare is Kull’s stock and trade. Another difference between Kull and the more renowned Conan is Kull’s connection to the Marvel Universe. Elements that were birthed in the Kull comic have appeared in the Marvel Universe proper as Thomas takes a number of opportunities to connect Kull’s ancient Atlantis to the underwater realms of Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Heck, King Kull even (sort of) teams up with Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up #112 (Dec. 1981). In addition, a villain more commonly associated with Conan first appeared in a Kull feature. Thulsa Doom made his first appearance in the second Marvel title to feature Kull, Monsters on the Prowl #16 (Apr. 1972), by Thomas, Marie Severin, and John Severin. Thulsa Doom, an immortal sorcerer who would be resurrected throughout the ages, would later face Conan in both print and in film, becoming one of the few common elements to bridge both barbarians’ time periods. All in all, while Conan became the greatest comic-book barbarian legend of all, Kull forged his own path to Marvel greatness. At times, according to Thomas, it seemed that Marvel did not provide enough distinction between the two Howard barbarians. “Kull, as written by REH, is more cerebral than Conan,” Thomas confesses today to BACK ISSUE. “Although when we did the comics stories, I’m not sure that really came about and Kull just seemed like Conan done by other hands.” However, this similarity to Conan despite the intrinsic differences in the characters did not stop Kull from finding comic-book success of his own. The King of Valusia appeared in his own magazine soon after his Creatures on the Loose debut. The title began as Kull the Conqueror with issue #1 (June 1971) and ended with the name-changed Kull the Destroyer #29 (Oct. 1978). Kull appeared in myriad backups featured in The Savage Sword of Conan and was even featured in his own black-and-white magazine entitled Kull and the Barbarians, the first issue cover-dated May 1975. This oversized mag only lasted three issues [see BACK ISSUE #88]; however, the short-lived title’s existence makes Kull Marvel’s only fantasy character besides Conan to carry his own black-and-white magazine. Kull would return in 1982 with a second volume of Kull the Destroyer. This time fantasy-comics legend John Buscema would be featured on art, making the popular Conan the Barbarian artist “Big” John another commonality between Kull and Conan. Kull might not have been as prolific as his Cimmerian counterpart, but Marvel certainly took every opportunity to feature the Howard character that inspired the creation of the more famous Conan, and like the Crom-worshipping Conan, Kull’s various titles featured some of the best fantasy artists of the Bronze Age. So all hail the King of Valusia, the mighty barbarian king who continued the barbarian tradition at Marvel.

Spider-Man the Barbarian (top left) What could be weirder than a Spidey/Kull adventure? (top right) How ’bout this? Marvel Team-Up #112 (Dec. 1981) cover by Marie Severin and Terry Austin. MTU #79 (Mar. 1979) cover by John Byrne and Austin. MTU and Spider-Man TM & © Marvel. Kull TM & © Kull Productions, Inc. Red Sonja TM & © Red Sonja, LLC.

Comeback King Kull returns, in Monsters on the Prowl #16 (Apr. 1972). Original cover art by John Severin. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Kull TM & © Kull Productions, Inc. Monsters on the Prowl TM & © Marvel.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 17

by M

30 • BACK ISSUE • Conan and the Barbarians Issue

ichael Eury

TM & © DC Comics.

During the Bronze Age and beyond, DC Comics was often late to the party. An example: Competitor Marvel Comics wasted no time exploiting the martial-arts craze of the 1970s by releasing Master of Kung Fu in 1973, soon followed by Iron Fist, the black-and-white magazine Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, and a few random characters that bowed to the genre. DC’s kick-offs into that market, 1975’s Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter and 1976’s Karate Kid, strolled onto the stands after the fad had peaked. One might make the same accusation about DC’s slow response to the success of Conan the Barbarian, as Marvel’s Distinguished Competition’s main output of similar titles, branded as its “adventure line,” wasn’t rolled out until 1975. But before you get your chain-mailed britches in a bunch, at the time Conan #1 was released, DC had recently preceded Marvel in the Bronze Age sword-and-sorcery game! Well over a year before a certain Cimmerian joined the Mighty Marvel lineup, writer Denny O’Neil unsheathed the sword-wielding Nightmaster for a three-issue run in Showcase, beginning with issue #82 (cover-dated May 1969). Billed on that cover as a “great new sword and sorcery saga,” the feature’s star is actually rock singer Jim Rook, who is transported to another dimension where he reconnects with his heritage of supernatural swordplay. Despite dynamite Joe Kubert covers on all three issues and beautiful Bernie Wrightson art on the character’s second and third installments, Nightmaster failed to find an audience during these waning days of the Silver Age (although in more recent years he’s been co-opted into the mystic team Shadowpact and used elsewhere in the DC Universe). One year earlier, cartoonist Howie Post had premiered the humor-laced, coming-of-(Stone) Age saga “Anthro” in DC’s Showcase #74 (May 1968), followed by a short-lived Anthro series. While not a sword-and-sorcery comic in the strictest sense, Anthro employed some of the genre’s notable elements including primitive heroes fighting gigantic beasts. Of course, when blowing the dust off the DC vault and squinting inside, you’ll realize that long before Anthro and Nightmaster, the publisher already had a number of “high adventure” characters like the Viking Prince, the Golden Gladiator, and the Shining Knight (and shortly, Robin Hood), swashbucklers cut more from the Errol Flynn cloth than Robert E. Howard’s but sword-fighters (who sometimes encountered sorcery) nonetheless. They burst onto the stands in The Brave and the Bold #1 (Aug.–Sept. 1955), an anthology that later became famous as the launch pad for the Justice League of America, Silver Age Hawkman, and Teen Titans as well as a Batman team-up comic. However, by the time B&B #1 went on sale, Marvel (then Atlas) had already published three issues of its Black Knight series, the American Comics Group had introduced its own galahads like Roger of Sherwood Forest and Prince Athel in the Young Heroes title, and as noted in this issue’s lead article, Avon’s Crom the Barbarian had beaten them all to the punch. Such fable-fueled funnybooks were then rare, though, easily lost amid a 1950s stampede of Western comics starring both Hollywood-licensed and original cowboys.

As the Silver Age evolved, throughout the 1960s a few protobarbarians and savage heroes staked their claim amid market mania over Batman and the burgeoning Marvel Age of Comics. Charlton’s Hercules, Gold Key’s Mighty Samson and Turok, Son of Stone, and Harvey’s Clawfang the Barbarian catered to those readers who enjoyed rough-edged heroes in something other than spandex, as did Saturday morning cartoons The Mighty Mightor and Dino Boy, both of whom also made appearances in comic books in Gold Key’s Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes anthology. If you enjoy a good debate you might even argue that Marvel’s The Mighty Thor was a sword-and-sorcery comic masquerading as a superhero one. During the ’60s, DC mostly eschewed swords and savages for science as it grew its superhero line, although toward the end of the decade the company released a Bomba the Jungle Boy TV tie-in comic as well as its aforementioned Anthro and Nightmaster entries. Behold, 1970 and the dawn of the Bronze Age! Once Marvel’s Conan survived a shaky start and sliced its way to the top of the sales heap, DC took notice and released a succession of savage series all its own. While the majority of these comic-book titles have previously been explored in BACK ISSUE’s pages, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, what follows is a round-up of DC’s entries into the Bronze Age barbarian market, with handy notations to previous BI articles containing further details.

Hard-Rockin’ Swordsman Signed Bernie Wrightson original art from Nightmaster’s second appearance, in Showcase #83 (June 1969). TM & © DC Comics.

Barbarians At the Gate (opposite) Masters of swordplay, spears, maces, clubs, lasers, you name it… DC’s Savage Stars of the 1970s and 1980s (pre-Crisis). All characters TM & © DC Comics, except: Tarzan, Korak, John Carter of Mars, Pellucidar, Carson of Venus © ERB, Inc. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser © Fritz Leiber Estate. Tor © Joe Kubert Estate. Masters of the Universe © Mattel. Camelot 3000 © Michael W. Barr and Brian Bolland. Ronin © Frank Miller. Warlords © Steve Skeates and David Wenzel. Lords of the Ultra-Realm © Doug Moench and Pat Broderick.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 31

by D

ewey Cassell

Conan of Des Moines From Savage Sword of Conan #34 (Oct. 1978), a Conan Sunday strip promoting the barbarian’s syndicated adventures. By Roy Thomas and John Buscema. Scan courtesy of Dewey Cassell. TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.

Created in 1932 by Robert E. Howard, Conan the Barbarian conquered virtually every foe he encountered and every format from pulp magazines to books to poetry over the next 46 years. One of the last horizons to cross—save a feature film, which would arrive in 1982—was the newspaper. So it was that the year 1978 marked the debut of a Marvel Comics newspaper strip based on Howard’s legendary barbarian. The Conan newspaper strip followed on the heels of Marvel strips featuring The Amazing Spider-Man, which began in January 1977, and Howard the Duck, which started five months later. Although the Howard the Duck newspaper strip would end the month after the Conan strip began, The Amazing Spider-Man strip continued for 42 years. But the success (or lack thereof) of the previous strips likely wasn’t the only factor in the decision to launch a strip based on Conan. Former Marvel Comics writer and editor-in-chief Roy Thomas explains, “Since it was the Register and Tribune Syndicate that had the [other] strips, it might have been at least partly their idea, or maybe an idea they chose from among a number of possibilities Stan [Lee] gave. Nobody ever told me exactly. It was all done through Stan. There is the fact that, of course, by that time, Conan had become one of Marvel’s two or three bestselling titles at the same period in which they did that medallion. They did three medallions: Spider-Man, Hulk, and Conan. So Conan was a pretty hot property, and it was a way to do something that wasn’t just another superhero like Spider-Man or, to some extent, even the Hulk. They wanted something a little different, and doing Fantastic Four or Daredevil or Thor would not have been as different as doing Conan.” A newspaper strip featuring the Hulk began the month after Conan. Thomas himself may have helped seal the deal with the syndicate when he made a trip to Iowa, as he elaborates, “They never approached me directly. I just happened to meet with them later because, soon after it started, by coincidence, my wife Dann went to Des Moines because

that was where the insurance company that she managed an office for was centered. She went there and I went along, and since the syndicate happened to be there, I got together with one or two of the top people there. We had lunch, sitting around one of those Cinvano umbrellas, as I recall, and talked a little bit. That was the only contact I think I ever had directly with the Register and Tribune Syndicate people. But a lot of times you don’t meet the people you’re working with, especially since the whole thing was being handled through Marvel.” Whether Marvel had to obtain special permission from the Robert E. Howard Estate to do the strip or whether it may have fallen under the existing agreement for the comic book is uncertain. Thomas notes, “I don’t know if they used powers that were inherent, but I’m sure they paid them money. They may have gone to the Howard Estate anyway just to make sure it was okay, because they wouldn’t have wanted a quarrel over it with somebody suddenly saying, ‘You don’t have the right to sell those rights.’ But I imagine Glenn [Lord, literary agent for the Howard properties] was probably just happy to see it go out in the paper and reach some more people. It was always the possibility of casting a wider net to make Conan popular at a time when the studios were trying to get a movie going. It was kind of stalled for a few years.” The same creative team who produced the Conan comic book was slated to create the Conan strip. Thomas recalls the genesis of the strip: “There was no sample. They probably showed some pictures of John [Buscema]’s work, or the Conan comics, and they knew what it was going to look like, because John was originally going to pencil and ink it. And he did, for that one adventure. So there were no samples, they just had us start going. I was paid a flat rate, $100 or $150 a week or something like that, to do it. It wasn’t a big deal, but I thought, well, I’d still kind of like to do it. I liked the idea of doing a newspaper strip. That was a thing that people in comics always wanted to do, and here

40 • BACK ISSUE • Conan and the Barbarians Issue

“Other than that, I made up stories. I brought in Red Sonja. was one being handed to me on a platter, so I may as well do it. If it had become a big hit, then maybe we could have talked about more About once a year, for a few weeks I would bring in Sonja, and she and money, but at the time I just thought it’d be all right to do.” Conan would be off after the Amphora of Zarfhaana that I made up, There was no question regarding the commitment of the Register which was this magical vase from Zarfhaana, one of the countries in and Tribune Syndicate. From his meeting with them, “[There’s] one Kull’s time. Thulsa Doom was in a storyline there, and a few other things thing I do remember [about] the young guy who was sort of in charge,” here and there. I had one that had kind of a Japanese feel to it that Thomas recalls. “As we were sitting around having a drink that Alfredo [Alcala] was drawing. One was about a plague. Just whatever afternoon, he was talking about how he felt about Conan. He was happened to occur to me at the time. “I didn’t adapt any of the [Howard] Conan stories until right at the wrong on this, but he felt that Conan was one that was going to last. Maybe Howard [the Duck] was already gone, I don’t remember, but he end, when I began to feel the strip was not going anywhere and it may wasn’t sure that something like the Hulk was really made for a be discontinued sometime. This was about the time I was just about newspaper strip, but he felt like Spider-Man and Conan could really getting ready to leave [Marvel] for DC anyway, and who knew if I’d be make it.” Reflecting that commitment, the syndicate publicized the able to continue on it, so I adapted ‘Tower of the Elephant’ again, new Conan strip. As Thomas notes, “The syndicate sent out some which I had adapted in both Conan the Barbarian and in Savage Sword pretty nice advance materials with color sheets and everything to of Conan before, so I just did it for the strip, too.” [See the sidebar for a complete list of Conan strip storylines.] newspapers, and they gave it a nice push.” Marvel also promoted the strip with a preview in issue However, there was no attempt to maintain any link #27 of Savage Sword of Conan, cover-dated March 1978. or continuity between the Conan newspaper strip The preview included sample strips by Thomas and and the stories appearing in Marvel publications. Buscema from the first week, “which recounts the Thomas recalls, “I tried to make the characters like previous history of Conan and the Hyborian Age,” as Conan and Sonja fairly faithful, but I didn’t really have many characters repeating from one to the well as select strips from the first regular storyline. other, just him and Sonja, and there wasn’t any The accompanying article stated, “The precise attempt to work in where that would exactly fit. starting-date of the strip is not yet set, but Dennis R. I always felt [the strip was] somewhere vaguely in Allen, head of the Register and Tribune Syndicate (which also produces Spidey and Howard), informs us the not-very-far future of where we were in the the it’ll be ‘early in 1978.’ Which means any day now.” comics at the time.” The preview in Savage Sword That optimism proved premature, however, since it of Conan #27 said the strip was “chronicling tales wasn’t until Monday, September 4, 1978 that the of the Cimmerian from a period when Conan is in john buscema his late 20s, some time after the current colorstrip first appeared in newspapers. Timed to coincide comics stories.” with its debut, Savage Sword of Conan #34 included a second preview with additional samples of the strip, noting, There was one unconventional source of material for the Conan “a number of major newspapers have already signed on to carry strip, as Thomas describes. “One other thing I did is I adapted one Conan’s exploits,” followed by a list and encouragement to readers if not a couple of stories that Len Wein had written for the Power Records version of Conan. I was really annoyed at Len, because I to get their newspapers to pick up the strip. When it came to writing the strip, one might imagine that Roy thought, if somebody had come to me and asked, ‘Do you want Thomas would have adapted Conan stories by Robert E. Howard or to do a Power Records adaptation of, say, Swamp Thing,’ I would used the comic-book stories Thomas himself had previously written, never have done it. But Len just did it and didn’t bother to call me but that was not usually the case. “Most of it was new,” he explains. and tell me. It just suddenly pops up. That was when I decided “There were two storylines that were done from non-Conan Howard that Len and I would be friendly forever, but that was the end of stories. One was ‘The Voice of El-Lil,’ a very minor story, which I added any personal feeling for him in my case, because I felt like, if you quite a bit to. And there was another one, the story ‘Wolfshead,’ which do something like that, you’re not really a friend. But I decided, I think was one of the very first stories that Howard ever sold, which is well, I should get some money out of it, so without informing him, basically a werewolf story set in Portuguese Africa, and I turned it into I just took some of those stories and I adapted them into the Conan a Conan story. I think Gerry Conway or somebody had turned it into newspaper strip so that I made money out of them. I always say a Kull story in the comic books. living well is the best revenge.”

Conan the Unseen Unpublished Conan dailies drawn by John Buscema and later used for layouts by Ernie Chan. Courtesy of Brian Peck. TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 41

Broken Promise The final Conan strip published—this Sunday dated 4-12-81—teases an upcoming storyline that was not published. By Moench and Yeates. Courtesy of Dewey Cassell. TM & © Conan Properties International, LLC.

do. And I think it was less than a year later, I went into the corner people who are doing it, it becomes a thing where [newspaper] editors drugstore and there was Conan #1.” will look at it and say, ‘Drop it.’ So several people felt it might have Moench remembers how he got the assignment to write the had a fatal effect on the strip, which otherwise might have lasted Conan strip. “Sol Brodsky asked me if I would do it and I said yes. longer. If so, I say, good. [laughs] If they weren’t going to let me go I was very taken with the peculiar art of running the newspaper strip on doing the strip, I was glad to see it die.” That said, Thomas enjoyed writing the Conan strip and the creators in a three- or four-panel deal that was kind of satisfying in itself for a one-day thing and it ended with a little tease or a cliffhanger that he worked with. “They were all professionals. They knew what they were made you come back the next day. I really liked Milton Caniff’s doing. At least I was going to get good drawing. I didn’t have to worry Terry and the Pirates, but then I found out it’s one-fifth the size, about that. [The syndicate people] were real happy, especially when John so you physically can’t fit as many words in it, let alone art details. was drawing it. Maybe it hurt a little bit when he left right away, but So it was kind of disappointing that it had been shrunk to then we settled down to a fairly good run, and I think if it had postage stamp-size by the time I got to do a newspaper been handled differently, it could have gone on longer.” strip, but I still sort of enjoyed it, as I recall.” Thomas had plans for future adventures of the famed In taking over the strip, Moench didn’t have any barbarian, had he continued. “I was going to get into preconceived notions. “I had not been following it. some other weird adventures. Something with a Clark I’m not sure I even knew it existed. I was not getting Ashton Smith story utilizing one of the weird lands any newspapers at the time, so I just didn’t know. from his mythology, as the third great writer for I loved newspaper strips, but I would just get the Weird Tales. Red Sonja would have come back just reprint collections. So they gave me all of Roy’s run, about every year or so. Maybe I’d have gotten Kull and I read it, and then picked up literally in the in there. Maybe I’d have found a way to bring in middle of a story. And I’m pretty sure Sol Brodsky some other Howard characters, have him travel to asked me to do full-script.” other times, meet Solomon Kane.” Moench worked with several different artists As it is, Conan fans will have to content themselves on the strip, but he had a special connection to with reprints of the original strip. Thomas comments, doug moench Pablo Marcos. “When I first moved to New York to “It’s been nice to see it reprinted a time or two. Dark Horse printed about half the strips, but they didn’t work for Marvel,” Moench explains, “there was a cocktail party or something at some restaurant or bar, so I went get a really good source for them, so the reproduction didn’t look very and this guy started talking to me, but he couldn’t speak English. good. [The Dark Horse book is also missing a strip from the run.] Spain And he was real earnest, and it was really noisy in the place, and it reprinted the whole thing in some books, and then recently the French was just terrible. He was trying desperately to make me understand [Neofelis] reprinted the first year or thereabouts of the strip. I’m hoping what he was saying with almost no English, and even though I took that somebody will finish them up, including the ones done by others.” high school Spanish, that was no good. I couldn’t understand what Some of the Conan strips were also reprinted in Conan Saga and Marvel the hell he was saying. But he kept giving me a cocktail napkin and Treasury Edition #23, available on the secondary market. a pen.” Fortunately, there was another native-Spanish-speaking So, by Crom, find your favorite reprint of the Conan strips and artist at the party who was more fluent in English and helped him figure it out. Moench continues, “It turned out Pablo was trying to settle down to read about “an age undreamed of, when shining get me to write on the napkin that I am here in New York having a kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue drink with Pablo Marcos, and that I was supposed to sign it. And I mantles beneath the stars.” I think Mr. Howard said, ‘Okay! Why?’ And then the other artist asked him, and it turns himself would have been pleased. out I had just been voted the number one writer in Peru. That’s the only place I’ve ever been voted number one. I always say I must Many thanks to Roy Thomas, Doug Moench, and Thomas Yeates for their invaluable insights into the have had a great translator in Peru.” Roy Thomas believes Moench wasn’t set up for success with the Conan newspaper strip. Thanks also to Drew Clark, Conan strip, explaining something readers may have noticed. “Instead Brian Peck, and Richard Morgan for their help of giving credit to the new writer, Doug Moench, and to another and artwork. artist, as they had given me credit before on the top line, they ended DEWEY CASSELL is the Eisner Award-nominated author up just saying, ‘By Marvel Comics.’ And a couple of people told me of over 40 articles and four books, including Mike that when something like that happens, quite often it becomes an Grell: Life Is Drawing Without An Eraser, available excuse for newspapers to drop a strip. When you suddenly change the from TwoMorrows Publishing. 46 • BACK ISSUE • Conan and the Barbarians Issue

Roy Thomas, perhaps more than any other comics writer, is responsible for the dawn of heroic fantasy in 1970 when he and artist Barry Windsor-Smith, and later John Buscema and others, adapted Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian for Marvel Comics. As you’ve been reading elsewhere in this issue, the success of Conan opened the door for other barbarians and swashbucklers to sharpen their blades in the comics pages and allowed Thomas and many more creators to bring other REH characters to the medium. After leaving Marvel to work for DC Comics, Thomas and his wife Dann, with artist Ernie Colón, created a new adventurer that went beyond Howardian lore. Arak, Son of Thunder debuted as a preview in The Warlord #48 (Aug. 1981) before the first of the hero’s 50 issues hit newsstands and comic shops. Draw your swords, O Dear Reader of BACK ISSUE, and prepare yourself for an inside look at the thunderous exploits of Arak that will make He-No proud.

by J a

mes Heath Lantz

By 1981, Roy Thomas had been in the comic business for roughly 16 years, having made a name for himself writing such Marvel titles as X-Men, Sub-Mariner, Avengers, and, of course, Conan the Barbarian. According to Jim Amash’s interview with Thomas in Alter Ego #100, some staff at DC had made it clear that a job was available if Thomas ever became unhappy with Marvel. Creative and contractual disputes led him to leave the House of Ideas for the Distinguished Competition. Arak, Son of Thunder originally was an entirely different idea at first, according to Thomas in AE #100 and discussions with BACK ISSUE. He had initially wanted to pitch for DC to license Robert E. Howard’s Cormac Mac Art. Those stories took place in about 500 A.D., the same period of Arak. However, there weren’t many Cormac stories compared to his Cimmerian brother-in-arms, and there weren’t the splendorous kingdoms like those in Conan’s Hyborian Age. Enter Danette Couto, then-fiancée of Roy Thomas, who would legally changed her name to Dann after their marriage. Dann liked the Dark Ages setting and came up with the idea of a Native American discovering Europe. Roy Thomas took time out of his busy schedule to talk with BACK ISSUE about Arak, Son of Thunder. He began with the process of working with his wife Dann on the book. “Dann and I would get together and discuss stories,” he recalls. “Of course, Arak was on a journey, so that helped shape the stories. First to the court of Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus), then on to Rome and the Near East, etc. “Dann did much more research than I. I think Dann did the first rough draft of the dialogue in many stories, though I don’t recall for which ones. For the first few I probably did the entire script, but of course the plotting had been by both of us.” There have been obvious comparisons of Arak, Son of Thunder to Conan the Barbarian. Both are in the sword and sorcery/heroic fantasy genre. Both characters’ comics have similar artistic visual styles, and Thomas wrote for both adventurers. However, Thomas confirms with BACK ISSUE that the Son of Thunder was not a mere rehashing of Robert E. Howard’s famous Cimmerian. “I was going to DC after my six years of Marvel contracts expired, near the end of 1980, and DC wanted me to do a new sword-andsorcery book for them,” Thomas says. “So Arak, Son of Thunder’s early issues were not Conan stories re-cast with Arak. They just had similar elements because Howard was my primary influence in sword and sorcery, so I just naturally thought that way.”

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 47

THUNDEROUS HISTORY

The Coming of Arak (top) Dann and Roy Thomas in November 2019. Photo by and courtesy of John Cimino. (inset) The Warlord #48 (Aug. 1981). Cover by Mike Grell. (bottom) First page from that issue’s Arak, Son of Thunder preview. By Roy Thomas, Ernie Colón, and Tony DeZuniga. Photo courtesy of Facebook. Arak TM & © DC Comics.

48 • BACK ISSUE • Conan and the Barbarians Issue

Ernie Colón, who collaborated with Roy Thomas on adaptations of L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter’s “Moon of Blood” and Dann Thomas’ “Sea of No Return” in Savage Sword of Conan, co-created Arak, Son of Thunder with the Thomases. It was his first comic for DC. Colón is credited for art on issues #1–14, 31, 37, and Annual #1, including backup stories and pinups. According to Roger Slifer’s interview with Colón published in David Anthony Kraft’s Comics Interview #13, he got the job thanks to Roy Thomas, who liked his Conan art. When Thomas began working for DC Comics, he insisted that Colón show his work to Dick Giordano, DC’s editorial director. Colón had done so without knowing that Thomas had already given copies to Giordano. This led Giordano, Thomas, and Colón to discuss Arak, Son of Thunder. Colón loved the concept, but he eventually felt that Arak didn’t stand out more as a character. Ernie gradually lost interest in Arak, Son of Thunder and went on to other comics. He did, however, keep a copy of his cover image for Arak #12 at the time of the Comics Interview piece. On an interesting sidenote, Ernie Colón also drew the map of Arak’s world that appears at the end of Arak, Son of Thunder #2 (Oct. 1981). Yet, he had mistakenly left out the entire Mediterranean peninsula, where Greece is located. Colón had been embarrassed by the error, and the omission was later corrected in future issues of Arak where the map was printed. Detective Comics’ Bob Smith, Firestorm’s Rodin Rodriguez, and Conan alumni Tony DeZuniga and Alfredo Alcala inked Colón’s pencils until Ernie eventually took on full art chores. Colón discussed these inkers and his views on inking in general in a 2011 interview published in Scarce #77. He stated that he felt his tight pencils in early Arak comics were disregarded by the inker. Perhaps this was due to a belief that they were rough drawings. Whatever the case may be, Colón felt “the more brush strokes, the better” approach obliterated his pencil work to the point the image style didn’t seem like his own. Roy Thomas would later admit that some inks “watered down” Ernie Colón’s unique art style. Colon’s visuals combined the historical concepts with the fantasy elements he had used in the aforementioned Conan tales. Plus, his attention to detail in the early Arak issues gave readers a taste of what was to come from Colón in his later comics such as Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. Roy Thomas informs BACK ISSUE about the artistic changes in Arak after Ernie Colón’s departure and DC’s attempts to attract Conan fans. “We tried,” he states. “Alfredo Alcala was an example. Other guys did their best, but Arak, from first to last, never really found the right artist.” Names are important for a brand, an artist, or a character. One could make the case that history might be different for Timely Comics, Mortimer Mouse, and David Robert Jones if they had been respectively called something other than Marvel Comics, Mickey Mouse, and David Bowie. Arak had much different moniker in promotional material. The May 1981-dated DC Coming Attractions #54 contained a caption that read Bloodwolf, Son of Thunder. According to Amazing Heroes #1, DC Comics

DC’s She-Devil with a Sword… …other than Katana, that is. Arak’s breakout co-star, Valda, the Iron Maiden, on the Ernie Colón-illo’ed cover of Arak #3 (Nov. 1981). Original cover art courtesy of Hertiage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 49

s. “Wel come to Gray Morr ow’s Edge of Chao -issue three a of t llmen insta This is the first one of mini-series. Gray Morrow has long been with and ts, talen cted respe most comic art’s a this series he utilizes all his skills to create has Gray ow. Morr pure is that story ing gripp iler, done it ALL on this opus—he is writer, penc many inker, letterer, and colorist. There are not talents who even attempt to carry this load, and even fewe r who are able to pull it off. s Gray Morrow is one of those rare individual who brings all of the components together than into a seamless package that is truly more ts the sum of its parts—an adventure that reflec r. l-clea crysta or creat its of vision the “We knew we were dealing with a talent who ed the had a sense of humor when we first receiv ltuous tumu the ing admir After issue. cover for this iled action scene, we noticed a message penc or into the margin. It wasn’t a coloring note the some other bit of technical direction, but s obser vation that “It looks like happy hour’ the t ghou throu nt prese over!” This humor is ntion script, giving Edge of Chaos a lack of prete very that genre a in hing that is very refres in no often takes itself a mite too seriously. This this of ment excite and n actio the ens way damp saga but adds one more dimension to an already well-rounded yarn.”

With that observation, David Scroggy, editor at Pacific Comics, opened his editorial for the first issue of Edge of Chaos, published in July of 1983. Pacific Comics was an independent comic publisher out of San Diego, California, established by the brothers Steve and William Schanes as an offshoot of their comic shop and distribution business. From 1981–1984, Pacific shared the independent market with fellow publishers Eclipse, First, and others in the new field of direct-market books. They were instrumental in the push for creator-owned titles, sharing profits generously with creators when a title became successful. This attracted several mainstream creators like Jack Kirby, Mike Grell, and Neal Adams. I asked David about the series over lunch with him and William Schanes (publisher, Pacific Comics):

Just Call Me… Hercules Gray Morrow promotional art for Edge of Chaos, which was also used (inset) for the cover of Amazing Heroes #26 (July 1, 1983), which previewed the series. Edge of Chaos © Pocho Morrow. Amazing Heroes © Fantagraphics.

60 • BACK ISSUE • Conan and the Barbarians Issue

by S t e p h a n

Friedt

STEPHAN FRIEDT: Did you approach Gray or did he approach Pacific Comics? DAVID SCROGGY: Gray brought it to us, initially through contact with Steve Schanes, the first issue completely done. I didn’t have much contact after that, other than maybe a phone call or two over deadlines with the following issues.

GRAY MATTERS

Dwight Graydon “Gray” Morrow was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on March 7, 1934. Gray got the cartooning bug early, and served as editor of his high school yearbook and supplied it with cartoons and illustrations. In 1954, at the age of 20, Morrow enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He described his two nights a week for three months under the tutelage of Jerry Warshaw as the “total of my entire formal art training.” Gray tried to break into the art business… a brief and unsatisfactory foray with Feldkamp-Malloy Art Studio, and an inspiring meeting with strip artist Allen Saunders, that prompted him to try submitting comic-strip ideas to the syndicates… also unsuccessful. In the winter of 1955, Morrow headed to New York City, where he roomed with Howie O’Donnell, a friend from Chicago. By spring of 1956, he had connected with artists Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, and Wallace “Wally” Wood. Al Williamson has recalled, “Gray had met Wally at the National Cartoonists Society meeting. Wally lived a few blocks from Gray’s apartment in Manhattan. We all met in the park to play baseball. In a way the park became a studio for a group of artists who didn’t share a studio. When we weren’t playing ball or helping each other out doing art, we went to the movies. “I didn’t need to give him any pointers and I definitely gave him no criticism. If I had any part in his early development, it would be from sharing with him some of the knowledge that had been passed down to me from Roy Krenkel—who had turned me on to the great illustrators like Joseph Clement Coll, Arthur Rackham, Frank Goodwin, and others. Gray had his own remarkable talent and a passion for the material from the very start.” Morrow’s association with comicbook artists would lead to his first sale to Toby Press, a romance story that was unfortunately bought just before the company went under, so it was never published. He worked briefly for Western Publishing, but it too collapsed shortly after. He also contributed several stories and covers for EC Comics. Gray continued to do backgrounds and layout for Al and Wally and supplied some stories for Marvel/Atlas that saw print after he was drafted into the US Army in late 1956. He continued to work on his art throughout his service, providing illustrations and paintings for what ever was needed. He was discharged in 1958 and returned to New York. Al Williamson recalled, “Who’d have thought that he could go serve in Korea and come back a better artist? But he did. By the time Gray came back from Korea, he had mastered painting.” Upon Morrow’s return, Angelo Torres connected him with Joe Simon at Hastings Associates for a couple

of stories and with the Gilberton Company. At Gilberton Gray worked regularly and provided numerous art jobs for the Classics Illustrated line. In the 1960s Gray moved to California and continued to work for Gilberton, and illustrated several books for Bobbs-Merrill’s juvenile book series Childhood of Famous Americans. Gray would provide comic art for numerous publishing companies… particularly for the adult-themed black-and-white magazines. He worked for Warren Publishing for three years, as well as providing stories for rival Skywald magazines. At Marvel he co-created the character Man-Thing with Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway for the House of Ideas’ entry into the black-and-white field, Savage Tales #1 (May 1972). [Editor’s note: Join us this fall for our look at the muck-encrusted Man-Thing’s history, coming in BACK ISSUE #124.]

Chariot of the Gods Eric Cleese—whose name seems like a wink to two Monty Python comedians—and the core cast of Edge of Chaos. From Hermes Press’ book, Gray Morrow’s Orion. Edge of Chaos © Pocho Morrow.

Conan and the Barbarians Issue • BACK ISSUE • 61