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The Savage Sword of Conan
The Savage Sword of Conan, Volume 3
Conan's phenomenal popularity in the early comics series Conan the Barbarian would soon reach new heights thanks to a supplementary publication whose very name would come to represent quality in epic-fantasy storytelling - The Savage Sword of Conan! These pulp tomes would become an inspiration to generations of Conan fans, containing some of the best adaptations and pastiches of Robert E. Howard's work ever to be seen in sequential form.
544 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 2008
7 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Roy Thomas
4,354 books265 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
December 25, 2015
[7/10]
Conan comics are an acquired taste and may not appeal to all categories of readers (women in particular are depicted in a very political incorrect way). For me though, these black and white oldies capture the spirit of the Robert E Howard stories in the best possible way.
I may have some reservations about Roy Thomas abuse of purple language in the text captions, but John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala are names to conjure with - the high standard in draughtsmanship and inking that I hold up to most of the recent comics on the market. The lack of colour on the panels allows for the inclusion of a lot more detail and expression on the faces of characters and in the backgrounds than what I'm seeing today. And, despite some exaggerations in the matter of muscular limbs and prominent bossoms, the characters are anatomically corect and caught often in very dynamic postures.
The stories themselves are familiar to fans of Robert E Howard, and frankly even repetitive in our tall, dark and handsome barbarian encounters with giant snakes, undead wizards, cannibals, pirates, desert raiders, deadly temptresses and various damzells in distress. The real bonus is in the length of the main story arcs - usually more than 50 pages in each issue - and in the extra materials. Arcs featuring Solomon Kane, Kull of Atlantis, Red Sonja and other sword & sorcery staples alternate with in depth articles on Hyborian history, REH trivia and current news about publishers of Conan material. Even the publicity pages have a certain nostalgic charm when I come across ads for karate lessons with Bruce Lee, bodybuilding miracle regimens, acne treats and whatnot from 40 years ago.
I will continue with the rest of the Savage Sword albmus, there's a lot of them still waiting, but I may not review each on its own. As I said, they are quite repetitive, but as long as the graphic art remains at this high level, I'm in the fanboy camp.
John Buscema poster
Conan comics are an acquired taste and may not appeal to all categories of readers (women in particular are depicted in a very political incorrect way). For me though, these black and white oldies capture the spirit of the Robert E Howard stories in the best possible way.
I may have some reservations about Roy Thomas abuse of purple language in the text captions, but John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala are names to conjure with - the high standard in draughtsmanship and inking that I hold up to most of the recent comics on the market. The lack of colour on the panels allows for the inclusion of a lot more detail and expression on the faces of characters and in the backgrounds than what I'm seeing today. And, despite some exaggerations in the matter of muscular limbs and prominent bossoms, the characters are anatomically corect and caught often in very dynamic postures.
The stories themselves are familiar to fans of Robert E Howard, and frankly even repetitive in our tall, dark and handsome barbarian encounters with giant snakes, undead wizards, cannibals, pirates, desert raiders, deadly temptresses and various damzells in distress. The real bonus is in the length of the main story arcs - usually more than 50 pages in each issue - and in the extra materials. Arcs featuring Solomon Kane, Kull of Atlantis, Red Sonja and other sword & sorcery staples alternate with in depth articles on Hyborian history, REH trivia and current news about publishers of Conan material. Even the publicity pages have a certain nostalgic charm when I come across ads for karate lessons with Bruce Lee, bodybuilding miracle regimens, acne treats and whatnot from 40 years ago.
I will continue with the rest of the Savage Sword albmus, there's a lot of them still waiting, but I may not review each on its own. As I said, they are quite repetitive, but as long as the graphic art remains at this high level, I'm in the fanboy camp.
John Buscema poster
April 25, 2021
I always loved the longer, more adult oriented stories in the black and white Savage Sword of Conan magazine, and these are no exception. The stories just seem to take things to a different level than you normally see in comics. Most of the stories are based in part on prose fiction from Robert E. Howard and others, and I like how Roy Thomas would adapt non-Conan stories into Conan stories for this series. The art is usually exceptional with John Buscema joined by various inkers and other artists joining in as well. The black and white art gives the stories a gritty feel that the color comics sometimes lacked (although I'm a big fan of the color series as well.)
I'm really glad Dark Horse reprinted this series in this format as readers can finally get the entire series in great editions.
I'm really glad Dark Horse reprinted this series in this format as readers can finally get the entire series in great editions.
June 4, 2023
co to w ogóle jest
April 29, 2009
Three stars primarily because it contains what is (arguably) Howard's best Conan tale - "Beyond the Black River," which has no scantily clad maid nor lost city. It's the tale of Conan, Balthus and a dog, and their efforts to thwart a Pictish invasion of Aquilonia. Technically and in terms of story, it's quite good.
This volume also contains a good map of the Hyborian Continent.
The rest of the stories are either "average" Conan or pastiches. Still, if you're a Conan fan, they're worth a look.
This volume also contains a good map of the Hyborian Continent.
The rest of the stories are either "average" Conan or pastiches. Still, if you're a Conan fan, they're worth a look.
January 19, 2011
Still good, still adventurous. I suppose that since I bought them new these are a trip down memory lane for me...but they are still great. While (like the Lancer books) these have to branch out some from strictly staying with the Howard work...they still do a pretty good Conan. Enjoy.
December 15, 2019
Good Conan stories, mostly by Roy Thomas and a variety of artists. This volume isn't reinventing the wheel. That said "People of the Black Circle" is good but how many adaptations of these stories can one have? Savage Sword in the 70s started strong but about 2 years in they are hitting a rut and the thing about iconic characters is that they can easily fall into those. Still worth it for Busecema art, even when it gets buried by his inkers, then again JB sometimes only did layouts and rough pencils leaving it to inkers to finish it up.
September 7, 2019
A little thinner than the previous two, but still classic stories. Will definitely buy the next one.
May 6, 2020
Incredible. Fantastic language, mind blowing dialogues, lovely artwork too. ! Incredible storylines
January 19, 2015
My review of the second volume mostly sums up the things I'm thinking here: though I'd argue the sexism is sort of down—in that a few of the female characters arguably kick more ass—and the racism is up a notch—see the scene in the "Hawks Over Shem" when the black guards go to break up a riot, and stop off, I shit you not, to loot and rape white women. This collection involves fewer of the Howard originals and more of the Lin Carter + L. Sprague de Camp rewrites, which has its pluses and minuses. The comic book version of Conan has always been more in line with the Carter/Camp Hyborian Vision than the Howard, so the style of the storylines tends to overall fit the flavor of the Savage Sword line; and Carter/Camp are perfectly fine with going more-or-less Lovecraftian with their stories—the ghouls show up in in one story, and another has a squishy sort of ancient horror crawling down a dark monolith— but they have also codified the Conan universe a bit more by having Conan always react a particular way to magic, to blond women, to whatever.
Perhaps most humorous of the problems is the struggle to keep the comic-aesthetic Conan going—mostly shirtless with some sort of bear-skin loincloth—even when the script clearly mentions deflecting knives with his back—implying thick mail but then showing a silk thin shirt the reader has to assume is really strong armor—or having him wearing a breastplate because the storyline calls for it but running around in the Hyborian equivalent of gym shorts. Less humorous in the problems is that the art direction became more creative but less consistent in readability, sometimes requiring the reading to guess which order panels or word-bubbles are meant to be read, leading to a few pages requiring a couple of reads with some creative interpretation. Still, bravo on breaking free from the somewhat stodgy 1970s comic-book layout.
Still, this Savage Sword, and the hits are a lot of fun. Conan is a hulking giant, occasionally a thoughtful one, who faces down evil and bothersome liches by sheer force of will and muscle. The world is crazy, already ancient and weird but still less ancient and weird than the world it is built upon. The women are often busty and lovingly drawn, many of the men are strong and extra-manly. The situations are kind of simple, but fun. It's a good read, but if you have read other Conan comics and found them liking, especially the earlier two volumes of Savage Sword, then there isn't much to recommend here. But if you liked them, you will probably like this. So, three stars if you are coming in cold, four stars if you have read the first two and really liked them (like me), maybe two stars if you read them and thought they were just ok, avoid in all other cases.
My favorite two are probably the Carter/Camp shorter tales: "Curse of the Monolith" and "Lair of the White Worm". Both are quick and to the point. Of the longer, "Beyond the Black River" kept mostly true to Howard's vision. Quite a few of those like "Blood of the Gods" (and the aforementioned "Hawks Over Shem") were non-Conan stories that got rewritten. They make ok Conan stories, but just ok.
Perhaps most humorous of the problems is the struggle to keep the comic-aesthetic Conan going—mostly shirtless with some sort of bear-skin loincloth—even when the script clearly mentions deflecting knives with his back—implying thick mail but then showing a silk thin shirt the reader has to assume is really strong armor—or having him wearing a breastplate because the storyline calls for it but running around in the Hyborian equivalent of gym shorts. Less humorous in the problems is that the art direction became more creative but less consistent in readability, sometimes requiring the reading to guess which order panels or word-bubbles are meant to be read, leading to a few pages requiring a couple of reads with some creative interpretation. Still, bravo on breaking free from the somewhat stodgy 1970s comic-book layout.
Still, this Savage Sword, and the hits are a lot of fun. Conan is a hulking giant, occasionally a thoughtful one, who faces down evil and bothersome liches by sheer force of will and muscle. The world is crazy, already ancient and weird but still less ancient and weird than the world it is built upon. The women are often busty and lovingly drawn, many of the men are strong and extra-manly. The situations are kind of simple, but fun. It's a good read, but if you have read other Conan comics and found them liking, especially the earlier two volumes of Savage Sword, then there isn't much to recommend here. But if you liked them, you will probably like this. So, three stars if you are coming in cold, four stars if you have read the first two and really liked them (like me), maybe two stars if you read them and thought they were just ok, avoid in all other cases.
My favorite two are probably the Carter/Camp shorter tales: "Curse of the Monolith" and "Lair of the White Worm". Both are quick and to the point. Of the longer, "Beyond the Black River" kept mostly true to Howard's vision. Quite a few of those like "Blood of the Gods" (and the aforementioned "Hawks Over Shem") were non-Conan stories that got rewritten. They make ok Conan stories, but just ok.
March 1, 2013
Conan für Erwachsene
Die Hauptattraktion dieses Bandes ist meines Erachtens die Geschichte "Hawks over Shem", eine Echtwelt-Story von R.E. Howard, die von L.S. de Camp nach Hyboria versetzt wurde.
Auch neben dieser Geschichte wird man mit gewohnt guten Roy-Thomas-Skripten verwöhnt, der es als einziger Pastiche-Autor schaffte, den Howard-Conan einigermaßen originalgetreu und trotzdem kreativ darzustellen.
Spitzenmäßig sind die Zeichnungen; besonders das geniale Duo Buscema/Alcala, aber auch der von mir sehr geschätzte Ernie Chan und ein herausragender Carmine Infantino, lassen die hyborische Welt sehr plastisch auferstehen. Die Zeichnungen gehören mit zum Besten, was es an Fantasycomics gibt.
Dabei wird die Reihe dem Anspruch, Conan mal "für Erwachsene" zu bringen, durchaus gerecht: Viel nackte Haut, laszive Posen, wenig Zurückhaltung bei der Darstellung von Gewalt.
Die Aufmachung ist praktisch identisch zur "Essentials"-Reihe von Marvel: Telefonbuchpapier (dünn bis zum Durchscheinen), schwarz-weiß und recht dick, dünner Karton als Einband. Die Originalcover sind mit abgedruckt, und hin und wieder eine ganzseitige Illustration.
Wie bereits Band 1 und 2 für alle Conan-Fans ein Pflichtkauf, ebenso wie für allgemein an Fantasycomics Interessierten.
Die Hauptattraktion dieses Bandes ist meines Erachtens die Geschichte "Hawks over Shem", eine Echtwelt-Story von R.E. Howard, die von L.S. de Camp nach Hyboria versetzt wurde.
Auch neben dieser Geschichte wird man mit gewohnt guten Roy-Thomas-Skripten verwöhnt, der es als einziger Pastiche-Autor schaffte, den Howard-Conan einigermaßen originalgetreu und trotzdem kreativ darzustellen.
Spitzenmäßig sind die Zeichnungen; besonders das geniale Duo Buscema/Alcala, aber auch der von mir sehr geschätzte Ernie Chan und ein herausragender Carmine Infantino, lassen die hyborische Welt sehr plastisch auferstehen. Die Zeichnungen gehören mit zum Besten, was es an Fantasycomics gibt.
Dabei wird die Reihe dem Anspruch, Conan mal "für Erwachsene" zu bringen, durchaus gerecht: Viel nackte Haut, laszive Posen, wenig Zurückhaltung bei der Darstellung von Gewalt.
Die Aufmachung ist praktisch identisch zur "Essentials"-Reihe von Marvel: Telefonbuchpapier (dünn bis zum Durchscheinen), schwarz-weiß und recht dick, dünner Karton als Einband. Die Originalcover sind mit abgedruckt, und hin und wieder eine ganzseitige Illustration.
Wie bereits Band 1 und 2 für alle Conan-Fans ein Pflichtkauf, ebenso wie für allgemein an Fantasycomics Interessierten.
June 27, 2013
I literally cannot name a single other time when the inker so totally outshone everyone else on the book, including the writer. Alfredo Alcala was only in a few stories in this book, and some of them are weird. He's not always inking Buscema, and the story where he inks Carmine Infantino makes it clear that he's the one doing the heavy lifting.
The Alcala vision of Conan and his world is clearly the superior version. It has little to do with Howard's vision of the character, it's more an outgrowth of Frazetta's take, but it is easily the equal of Frazetta. Frazetta creates a character, Alcala creates a world. It's absolutely thrilling to see Conan alive in his environment.
But he's not in this volume very often, and when it's not his inks the stories aren't nearly as good.
There's one issue where, if I had to guess, I'd say they shipped him a box of zipatone (Alcala lived in the Philippines) and he didn't understand the instructions and thought he had to use it all. It's hilariously vulgar, definitely the best use of zipatone I've ever seen in an American comic.
The Alcala vision of Conan and his world is clearly the superior version. It has little to do with Howard's vision of the character, it's more an outgrowth of Frazetta's take, but it is easily the equal of Frazetta. Frazetta creates a character, Alcala creates a world. It's absolutely thrilling to see Conan alive in his environment.
But he's not in this volume very often, and when it's not his inks the stories aren't nearly as good.
There's one issue where, if I had to guess, I'd say they shipped him a box of zipatone (Alcala lived in the Philippines) and he didn't understand the instructions and thought he had to use it all. It's hilariously vulgar, definitely the best use of zipatone I've ever seen in an American comic.
December 28, 2016
Another superb volume, its highlight being the lengthy 'Beyond the Black River', a grim and tense tale indeed, but all of the contents are worthy of praise.
Thankfully, more volumes yet remain for my attention! These really are superb!
My single complaint is that the cover of this volume doesn't have the dark grandeur of the previous two.
Thankfully, more volumes yet remain for my attention! These really are superb!
My single complaint is that the cover of this volume doesn't have the dark grandeur of the previous two.
July 31, 2011
Very good compilation, I must look for the previous volumes as I now have Conan Fever.
The stories are action packed, the art is very good and the writing serves its purpose.
The stories are action packed, the art is very good and the writing serves its purpose.
June 17, 2012
Classic Black and White Conan tales from the 70's originally published in Marvel Comics legendary "Savage sword of Conan" B&W monthly magazine. Loved this stuff!
December 17, 2013
This book features one of the best Conan stories "Beyond the Black River".In this book, stories tend to depict certain aspects of Conan's character in a more visible way. Good effort.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews