Conan Corner #8: Troubles with the gods and the perils of barbarian king's family life
This month: Conan the Barbarian #216, Savage Sword of Conan #157, Conan the King #51
This month sees a new chapter of the bimonthly Conan the King strike, a welcome depature from what I’ve seen from Conan the Barbarian in the past few months. It seems clear that pushing the writer off the book in favor of the artist was an ill-advised move on editor Don Daley’s part. As the three Conan titles are somewhat shockingly handled by three different editors, the disjointed quality of the titles during this period makes a bit more sense.
Let’s dive right in, starting with the aforementioned artist-driven Conan the Barbarian.
Conan the Barbarian #216 by Charles Santino, Val Semeiks, and Alfredo Alcala
Conan is working as a thief when he hears the strangled scream of a woman. He arrives too late to save her, as she has been sacrificed by cultists of the god Zed. The high priest — who distinctly looks like an extra from The Incal — goes on about more virgins needing to die in Zed’s name.
Conan hangs back as they secure the golden blade that the cult leader used to murder the woman. Once it’s put back in place, he steals it. The cult leader goes crazy when they learn it is gone, swearing the temple will be destroyed without the holy blade.
Conan returns to the inn that he’s staying. He prepares to enjoy the company of two women, but a small army of cultists have flooded the street below. They’ve tracked Conan with a hound. He tries to escape by rooftop. He’s attacked by cultists carrying crossbows, but they’re not talented enough shots to hit him.
This leads to a chase across the city of Al Azair, him using everyday objects and the city fires to hold them off. He eventually finds his way back to the temple, setting it aflame. He slays the cult leader with the golden blade, then keeps the weapon to sell as the remnants of Zed’s cultists burn. He returns to the inn to celebrate and watch the flames as the issue ends.
All attempts at continuity between issues have now faded, which is frustrating, as Savage Sword is supposed to be the title with loose continuity, not this one. This issue is very clearly just “Semeiks can draw whatever he likes” and what he likes doesn’t make for a particularly compelling story. Nor is the inexperienced Santino doing anything to try to otherwise elevate the work. What results is a rather bland barbarian story that could have featured literally any character and not a lot for me to say positively about any of it.
Savage Sword of Conan #157: “The Wrath of Crom” by Don Kraar, Dale Eaglesham, and Pat Redding
Before we dive right into the action, I have to call out painter Dorian Cleavenger’s amazing cover. His first work on the book two issues ago was rather bland, but this is an exceptionally drawn Conan and ape, equal to much of Joe Jusko’s work in the period.
None of the regular creatives that we’ve seen on the book are here for the lead feature. Instead, former Conan the King writer Don Kraar steps in with back-up semi-regular (and future DC superstar) Dale Eaglesham on art.
Conan has joined with a group of fellow Cimmerians to attack a Hyperborean slave camp. Conan scales the wall and cuts down the guards, ending four men in a matter of seconds. He makes his way to the gate and opens it for the rest of his party.
They attack the drunken slavers as a group, making relatively easy work of them. They rescue Deidre, the apparent wife of the warband’s leader Eamon. Eamon is Conan’s old friend and summoned him to help in this mission. He even promises to name his firstborn after Conan for his help in tracking and finding her. But Conan warns that they shouldn’t daudle, as the leader Krakanites was likely on his way with his own soldiers.
Also in their party is a brash young man named Arne, insistent on leaving runes of Crom etched around — and upon — the dead. They are joined by a young boy named Shaun and a supposed wizard named Leir (also the boy’s grandfather) as they lead the freed slaves back to their territory. Unfortunately they find the ford that they should cross has been taken by Krakanites and his men. The army also has a group of man-eating apes that they use to track escaped slaves. The party decides to enter the Marsh of Skulls and go the long way around to avoid the army.
They make it to the swamp, but the Hyperboreans are on horseback and keep up. Conan and the Cimmerian warriors stay back to slay the advance guard. Krakanites is hot on their heels and prepares the apes to track the Cimmerians through the swamp. Even as the enemy gets closer, the old wizard gathers ingredients, promising to summon the wrath of Crom against their enemies. Shaun even comes in handy for the warriors, as his sling proves a decided aid against the enemy’s horsemen.
They continue to fight skirmishes with both the apes and the Hyperboreans as they work through the marshes, but Conan loses allies along the way, including Arne. With the Hyperboreans drawing even closer, Leir leads them all to an unknown fortress, one which he swears he will bring down the wrath of Crom on their enemies. But even as they do, lights form as Krakanites summons his own powers.
They secure the fortress, but they are outnumbered twenty-to-one. Leir prepares the final stage of his spell, but his final ingredient is life’s blood freely given. Shaun agres to assist him, even as Conan argues about sacrificing his life for his grandfather’s ritual. But Leir puts the blade in Shaun’s hands and helps the boy to drive the blade into Leir’s own gut. He throws himself into the flames. Nothing seems to happen as a result, even as their enemies strike.
As the enemies charge, the ground opens beneath them. The many Cimmerian warriors buried upon the fields rise from the ground, undead spirits outnumbering the Hyperboreans. They behead Krakanites, just as he had to the Cimmerians who fell in the marsh. Every single Hyperborean is slain, but in the aftermath, the Cimmerians find no wounds on any of them, as though they died of fear. Eamon and Deidre agree to take in Shaun, but when they say they will name their first-born for Conan again, he tells them to instead name the boy for Leir.
Eaglesham’s pencils are unique in this book, keeping the feel of Conan’s world without aping the legendary John Buscema as most latter-day Conan artists would do. The result is a unique look for the book, making me wish we saw more on this series from Eaglesham and Redding as a pair. Sadly it would be a few years before they returned to the book, but they would draw a pair of back-ups for Conan the King in the time between.
“Infant Terrible” by Bruce Jones
Red Sonja gets a backup this month with both writing and art by Bruce Jones. He worked now and then on projects in the Hyborian Age, but this may be the only time he provided the art as well as the story.
Red Sonja rides up as a man in black robes prepares to murder a small child, no more than perhaps one or two, old enough to stand, but silent in nothing but a loincloth. She throws a sword into the man’s back. As he dies, she asks him why he would kill a baby. He swears the child is demon spawn as the last gasp of life leaves him.
Sonja isn’t sure how either got into the mountainous wasteland, nor is there any village nearby to leave the child. She does find an abandoned fort atop the mountain and decides to see if the child (who she calls Grub) has family there. She makes her way up the winding path, but doesn’t seem to draw closer. They camp for the night, only for her to awake to an attack by strange giggling creatures. She cuts them apart, although they don’t bleed. They vanish and she finds Grub just a few steps away. With her horse dead, she has to finish the climb up the path with Grub on her shoulders.
They don’t get any closer on their climb though. Sonja worries about their need for water. They find a lake right around a bend, drinking and bathing in it. As they’re in the water, a creature rises out and attacks them. Like before, it is bloodless and she cuts it down with her knife. Grub lands on shore without a wound.
Grub points onward and they travel a bit farther to find themselves suddenly at the keep. Inside they’re greeted by the same man Sonja slayed before taking Grub up the hill. He reveals that this was all a test to see if she would be a babysitter for his son and she has passed with flying colors. He expects this to be a reward for her, but she smacks him and walks away instead.
It’s a fun little tale, one I’m positive that has Jones using the actual likenesses of friends and relatives for the wizard and Grub, who both have far too distinctive faces and movements to not come from a photograph. While the tale certainly isn’t the best Sonja story ever, it’s a fun diversion after the far darker lead story.
The final page of the book also gives us a great Dave Simons pin-up.
Overall, this was the best issue of Savage Sword we’ve covered so far, both in art and story. Sadly, none of these creators will be back anytime soon on the series.
Conan the King #51: “Night Justice” by James Owsley (Christopher Priest) and Geoff Isherwood
This issue opens with the credits and a mention of previous writer and artist Alan Zelenetz and Marc Silvestri with “based on an original story by” credit. As this takes place between the end of their run and the previous run through issue #49, it seems Priest wanted to acknowledge that he’s building on an unfinished bit of lore between the runs. Having only read a handful of issues from the Zelenetz and Silvestri (pre-Uncanny X-Men) run, I cannot comment on how closely this ties into things coming out of their time on the book.
The story opens with Conan walking directly into the bandit camp set on near the edge of the Aquilonia border. He walks straight to the square, where the bandit’s leader recognizes him. He gloats that Conan is a fool for showing up here. Conan draws his sword and slays all of his guards.
The flat-footed bandits are surprised again when four of their storehouses burst into flame with one of the four Black Dragons — Conan’s ninja-like personal guards — in the doorways. As they finish in the village, Conan chases the leader into the nearby woods. When the bandit leader gets caught in the thistles trying to flee, Conan meets him and runs him through with his own blade.
As the townsfolk reveal a petition to release the captive Baron Aemilius (whose region of the kingdom is threatening succession), we switch scenes to the capitol where Conan’s daughter Radegund meets with Aemilius in his cell. Taurus tries to trick her with an illusion of a dragon before Conan arrives home. He storms by his children and orders a convening of the barons to discuss what to do about the threat of succession.
That evening, Conan’s advisors meet to reveal the existence of a visiting woman from Khitai. Last seen in King Conan #5, she and Conan hooked up as he searched for his wife. She had a child many years ago, Kang Sho, who is nearly identical to Prince Conn. He also claims that Conn is still alive, somewhere in Khitai. His ability to speak any language other than Khitai is poor, but he disappears before anyone else can meet him.
He catches sight of a storming Conan who grabs his wife’s guard Lysander for a night of drinking. Radegund talks to Queen Zenobia in the aftermath. Kang Sho doesn’t know either, but he shows himself to Radegund after the queen leaves. He’s surprised when she faints at the sight of her dead brother. When the boy finally returns to meet with the others, he’s carrying the unconscious Radegund in his arms.
Conan drinks and works out a way to resolve the Aemilius situation, only to be confronted by his entourage. They reveal the existence of Kang Sho to Conan as well as his claims that Conn still lives. This leaves Conan with the unfortunate need to reveal his infidelity to Zenobia. It also gives him a way to free Aemilius without losing face.
Aemilius immediately challenges him to fight after he’s freed, far from willing to give up his hatred with the barbarian king. Conan wins the fight, but Aemilius takes his final revenge by running himself through with Conan’s sword, well aware that no one would believe the king hadn’t slain him.
Radegund is confronted by a monster inside the castle, but thinks it is just another trick from her brother. Taurus is trying to get to know Kang Sho despite not sharing a language. The extradimensional creature is confused by Radegund’s lack of fear, but takes human form to walk among the people of the kingdom.
The issue ends with a figure known as Genjis working his way across foreign lands on his way toward Aquilonia. Genjis reveals himself as Kobe, and he seems to be another warrior with a striking resemblance to Conan.
But if that wasn’t enough action in one issue of Conan the King, this issue also starts a backup focused on Prince Conn as well.
“Son of the Barbarian King” by Maggie Blaustein, Dale Eaglesham, and Dell Barras
Aligned with the rebels in Khitai, Conn is frustrated at his role as a simple lieutenant in the rebel forces. Still he fights bravely, rushing into combat with a local lord named Kao. He slays several men before sending Kao plummeting down a cliff.
He returns to base and demands a higher rank from the rebel commander Tsinje, but is chastised. He failed to follow his commander Chensu’s orders and he lost the jewels Kao was carrying. The much younger Chensu recruits Conn to ride out and search for signs of scouting parties.
Conn tells the tale of “Tower of the Elephant” as though he lived it first hand, only to have his story ended by an arrow through Chensu’s neck. Conn and the two other rebels on the trip battle against the Horde’s scouts, only to find themselves outnumbered by a far stronger fighting force. Conn ultimately is the only one to escape, stumbling and dropping after a severe beating.
Tsinje finds him nearly unconscious. He strips Conn of his armor, explaining his plan to use Chensu’s family fortunes to buy his way into the Horde. The armor is his only way to recoup anything as he abandons a nearly naked Conn at chapter’s end.
This backup brings an interesting creative team. Eaglesham continues his work in a similar style as his Savage Sword appearance, although Dell Barras is a weaker inker than Pat Redding (who actually serves as this issue’s editor. He would fulfill that role for only this issue, the previous one, and the next.) He’s joined by young writer Maggie Blaustein (who had worked under Priest as an assistant), then using the initials A.S. as a reference to her then name.
Blaustein’s first work was on a pair of New Universe fill-ins and an issue of Web of Spider-Man. I’m not sure who hired her for this series of back-ups over the next three issues, but this would prove to be her only Conan work. She would move on to provide art for Marvel’s Power Pachyderms before extending her fantasy writing skills to DC’s Dragonlance and Spelljammer books under the TSR license. Her ability to pick doomed publishing initiatives continued as she moved on to Impact (then edited by this book’s lead writer) and Milestone (a company which Priest also helped develop in its early stages.) At Milestone, she introduced the first out transgender woman as part of the Deathwish limited series she wrote with her partner Yves Fezzani.
During the nineties, the intersex Blaustein transitioned from male to female adopting the name Addie from her dead name Adam before landing on Madeleine which quickly was shortened to Maddie. By the time her writing career in comics had ended, she was finding work in voice acting. She worked on several anime localizations before landing her biggest gig, voicing the character of Meowth on seven and a half seasons of Pokemon. Blaustein sadly passed away in 2008 from complications of untreated gastrointestinal issues at just 48, but she managed to experience one of the most unique careers of anyone in comics and animation.
While the version of this story I’m reading is clearly marred by Dark Horse’s inept coloring choices on reprints, Blaustein and Eaglesham seem ready to deliver a compelling tale of Conn for the next three issues of this series.
Overall, this was a far better month than the last. Conan the Barbarian has descended into an abject mess, but a solid installment of Savage Sword and the consistent quality of Conan the King make up for the inferior flagship title. We will see if Semeiks and Santino can up their games before they depart the book in a few issues.
What are your thoughts on these three issues and Conan’s late eighties run in general?