Snakehaven #01 - Doom of the Dark Delta

Author James Reasoner is mostly known for his western contributions in the Stagecoach Station, Longarm, Trailsman, and Wind River series titles. But, Reasoner has a sincere fondness for the pulps, evident with his blog reviews and commentary on the subject through social media. It is that admiration for the genre that prompted him to author a pulpy sword-and-sorcery series titled Snakehaven. As of this writing there are three installments – Doom of the Dark Delta, Fear on the Fever Coast, and Lair of the Serpent Queen. These are one-buck ebooks that weigh in at one-hundred pages give or take a font size. 

In Doom of the Dark Delta, readers learn that series hero Jorras Trevayle is from the land of Albrionne. His father is Lord Amaril and he has two brothers, both of which serve in a loyal and honorable way. Trevayle, being the brave-hearted iron-fisted hero, served as a soldier. On a mission to quell an uprising, Trevayle was betrayed by a superior officer and sent back to his land in chains. Lord Amaril, apparently torn on the matter, buried Trevayle in work – which is where this novella begins. 

Trevayle began a journey down the Gulf of Matoxia to have a contract signed by a plantation owner specializing in giant snakes. These enormous serpents are called Nloka Maccumba. His ship was taken over by pirates and Trevayle washes ashore on an island unknown to him. Immediately a naked woman burst from the swamp as warriors chase her. Trevayle, unarmed, joins the woman in running from these armed combatants. 

Later, he learns that this woman is the daughter of the plantation owner he was to originally meet. Trevayle is then thrust into a battle with a ruler named Ostrizahl as well as the giant serpents, savage troops, and even the woman's own allies. On this island Trevayle has no alliances, no allegiance, and often no weapons. Outnumbered, he must fight to survive this grisly ordeal. 

Through chases, sword fights, prison escapes, and damsel-in-distress rescues, Doom of the Dark Delta is a pulp-inspired sword-and-sorcery tale that is brimming over with nonstop action. With the shorter page length, Reasoner puts his skills to the test with quick character development that matches the fast-paced narrative. I'm imagining this is just as fun for the author as it is for the reader. Doom of the Dark Delta is just fantastic and highly recommended for anyone that loves a great men's adventure. Get it HERE.

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 112

Today's exciting episode reviews the life and career of a crime-fiction and pulp megastar named Stewart Sterling. He wrote over 400 pulp detective stories and is credited as the creator of the specialty detective formula. Sterling also wrote numerous paperbacks for publishers like Beacon, Fawcett Gold Medal, Dell, Ace, Pyramid, and Avon. Additionally, the fallout from the Brian G. Berry accusations, Eric reviews the new sword-and-sorcery novella Doom of the Dark Delta by James Reasoner, and much more. Listen to the episode below or on any streaming platform. You can also download HERE. If you prefer to listen on YouTube you can click HERE.

Listen to "Episode 112: Stewart Sterling" on Spreaker.

Conan - Conan the Valorous

Author John Maddox Roberts took his first swing at Tor's Conan pastiche novels in 1985 – Conan the Valorous. Many consider Roberts contributions to the Tor line as the most enjoyable, and thus far I would agree. I enjoyed his novel Conan the Bold and wanted to try his very first experience with the character. 

Conan the Valorous is stationed between the L. Sprague de Camp/REH story “The Blood-stained God” and “The Frost Giant's Daughter”. Conan is out of money and staying at an inn in northern Koth. A messenger comes to his room and asks that he meet a Stygian woman named Hathor-Ka. In that meeting Hathor-Ka, an aspiring Stygian sorcerer, offers Conan a great deal of money to carry a magical flask to Cimmeria. The goal is for Conan to pour this flask in the cave of Ben Morgh, the ancestral home of Conan's god Crom. Conan swears he will make the journey and perform the task in exchange for up-front money.

While Conan is on a road trip through Ophir, Nemedia, and the Border Kingdom, another aspiring sorcerer is doing the same, only a shortcut by river. Conan can't take this same route due to his Cimmerian heritage feuding with the Picts. This sorcerer, Jaganath, plans to ambush Conan in Cimmeria and steal this flask for himself. 

The book mostly works like one long road trip for the three-fourths of the narrative. The most entertaining portion of the novel is Conan's miniature adventure in a town called Cragsfell. Here, a chieftainess named Aelfrith is warring with a psychotic ruler living nearby. This part of the narrative explains the origins of the feud and how Conan can help. Initially, Conan declines his services to Aelfrith – despite her beautiful seduction – but once he learns that Aelfrith's daughter has been captured he changes his mind and leads a rescue by storming a castle and fighting off hordes of baddies. 

The book's last quarter features Conan aligning various Cimmerian clans to fight a sorcerer growing legions of followers, and a hideous creature, in the underground tunnels below Ben Morgh. 

The entertaining portions include the aforementioned rescue of Aelfrith's daughter (which could have been its own novel), Conan meeting various kinsmen from his boyhood, and the brief appearance of Conan villain-royalty in Thoth-Amon (from “The Phoenix on the Sword”). However, I feel that the last few scenes wrapped up the story too quickly with many promised fights evaporating like a silent fart. Jaganath has a killer in his ranks named Gopal and I was anticipating an epic fight with Conan. That never came to fruition. 

If you enjoy the very honorable, true good-guy boy-scout Conan character of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian comics or these pastiche novels, then this novel is certainly worth reading. I have a mindset when I read these types of Conan novels – this isn't the nihilistic gritty character created by Robert E. Howard, it's a re-imagining of Conan. If you can live with that then this book along with hundreds of other Conan works should be entertaining. Conan the Valorous is recommended. Buy it HERE. 

Conan - Savage Sword of Conan #3 (Curtis)

The Savage Sword of Conan #3 was first published in December of 1974. The cover, inspired by Bjorn Nyberg's short story “The People of the Summit” (more on that in a bit), was painted by Mike Kaluta. The first pinup, which again is probably inspired by Nyberg's story, is penciled by Alfredo Alcala. 

The book's first story is “At the Mountain of the Moon-God”, a sequel to Robert E. Howard's “Black Colossus” story that first appeared in Weird Tales in 1933. That story was adapted to comic form in the second issue of The Savage Sword of Conan by Roy Thomas, who takes the writing reigns to pen this sequel to Howard's original story. The art was created by both John Buscema and Pablo Marcos. 

After the events of “Black Colossus”, Conan and a Khoraja princess named Yasmela are enjoying each other's company. However, a messenger climbs through the window carrying a warning that Yasmela's brother, King Khossus, is being held prisoner in Ophir. The messenger dies but passes a scrawled map of Khossus' whereabouts – the Mountain of the Moon-God. Conan makes the decision to journey to Ophir to liberate Khossus despite the qualms of a Prince of Stygia now serving Yasmela. Unfortunately, Yasmela's servant steals the map and delivers it to the King of Koth. The King of Koth wants to capture Khossus as well so he leads a badass named Sergius to the Mountain of the Moon God. Thankfully, Conan arrives and there's a three-way tussle to free Khossus. 

This was an entertaining story perfectly penned by Thomas to incorporate so many elements and layers to this otherwise standard search-and-rescue tale. The artists create two formidable foes in Captain Geballus and Sergius, both possessing facial expressions that would stop a clock. The story's ending puts to rest this chapter of Conan's life. 

“The First Barbarian: Chronicles of the Sword Part II” follows next. It is a continuation of the essay written by Lin Carter dating the sword-and-sorcery origins and Howard's acknowledgment of Clark Ashton Smith. He cites Smith's Atlantis stories as an inspiration on King Kull. 

The next story continues Gil Kane's Blackmark novel with “The Testing of Blackmark”. The first two issues of Savage Sword of Conan introduced this post-apocalyptic hero. In this story, Blackmark is hurled into savage gladiator games by King Kargon. The main event is a highly touted match between Blackmark and the Flame Lizard. I enjoyed the story and liked the connection to a character from Blackmark's childhood. Kane's art is always delightful as he introduces another element to Blackmark mythos with a silver rocket. That will be the highlight of the next Blackmark adventure.

Next is “Kull of Atlantis”. The editors explain that in the early days of the Conan comic-magazine (I assume they are referencing Conan the Barbarian), Barry Smith and Roy Thomas toyed briefly with the idea of a Kull of Atlantis comic book. What follows is seven pages of Smith's artwork with quotes taken from Robert E. Howard's “Exile of Atlantis”. It is interesting to see that Smith draws Kull just like the early issues of Conan the Barbarian, complete with the same face and horned helmet. I'm fairly certain some of the character's poses and positioning were repurposed for Conan the Barbarian or vice-versa. Conan the Barbarian's first issue was in 1970 and this magazine was published in 1974. It would depend on what the editors are referring to as “the early days of the Conan comic-magazine”. My guess is that these drawings of Kull came after Conan the Barbarian's debut. 

The last story is an adaptation of Bjorn Nyberg's “The People of the Summit”, originally published in The Mighty Swordsmen in 1970 by Lancer. Roy Thomas changed the title to “Demons of the Summit” and the artist is Tony deZuniga. 

"Demons of the Summit” features a twenty-something Conan taking a job as a mercenary to serve King Yildiz of Turan. Conan is provided the role of makeshift sergeant and ordered to lead a small army of Turanians into the Khozgari Hills in hopes to bribe and threaten the restless tribesmen from raiding Turan's lowlands. 

The Khozgari are brutal barbarians and they ambush the Turanian force leaving only Conan and a fellow soldier named Jamal alive to escape. The two are spotted by the daughter of a Khozgari chief, Shanya, and Conan takes her hostage to secure a safe pass back to a Turanian city. But, to avoid any unnecessary engagement, Conan decides to take the trio across the Misty Mountains. The chief's daughter begins screaming at Conan's decision and swears they will all be killed by the mysterious people there. 

I read and reviewed Nyberg's short story recently and found this adaptation by Thomas a much better narrative. The inclusion of a ghastly leader named Shangara vying for control of Shanya really enhanced the story. Conan's fights with the hideous creatures is worth the price of this whole issue. de Zuniga's use of pitch black pencil shading cleverly leaves a little for the imagination. This was an excellent adaptation to what is otherwise an average Nyberg story.

The last pages of the issue advertises “Iron Shadows in the Moon” is included in the next issue. There is also a great advertisement for the seventh issue of Savage Tales featuring Ka-Zar. 

Conan - The Flame Knife

“Three-Bladed Doom” was a short story authored by Robert E. Howard starring his character El Borak. It was not published during Howard's lifetime. There were two versions of the story, one printed in REH Lone Star Fictioneer in 1976 and a longer version in the Zebra paperback of the same name published in 1977. However, L. Sprague de Camp decided to rewrite the story to feature Conan, which was a common occurrence for both de Camp and Lin Carter in the 1960s and 1970s. “Three-Bladed Doom” was rewritten and included as part of de Camp's novella The Flame Knife. It was originally published in Tales of Conan in 1955. The novella was then reprinted as part of the Conan the Wanderer collection by Lancer in 1968 and then again as its own book, Conan: The Flame Knife, in 1981 by Ace. The story was also adapted to comic form in Savage Sword of Conan #31-32.

The Flame Knife is set during Conan's “Free Companions” era. He's instructed by Kobad Shah, the king of Iranistan, to lead a team of men to hunt a bandit named Balash. The problem is that Conan and Balash are old allies and Conan refuses the task. Instead, he teams with his companion Tubal and the two, along with a woman named Nanaia, ride to Balash's camp in the Ilbars Mountains to warn him of Shah's pursuit. Meanwhile, Shah is stabbed in his chambers by an assassin carrying a sacred knife marked with a symbol of the Hidden Ones. Whatever that means. Shah, along with his royal guard's captain, believe that Conan's sudden departure and the arrival of this assassin means that the Cimmerian is instrumental to this Hidden Ones cult. Shah orders a large army to hunt and kill Conan.

Convinced by Balash that there are mysterious things happening on the Drujistan border, Conan, Tulal, and Nanaia head there. This is where the narrative finally begins to settle in. Conan discovers a large city within the rocky terrain housing the Zuagirs, a mysterious tribe led by a leader deemed The Magus who declares he is part of the ancient Hidden Ones cult. 

Soon, the book kicks off a rapid pace as Conan escapes imprisonment and commits to freeing Nanaia, who has been captured by The Magus. Conan's overall goal is to overtake the Zuagirs and use their fortified city as a compound where he and the Free Companions can hold off Shah's oncoming forces. Conan fights a giant snow ape (depicted beautifully by Sanjulian on the Ace paperback cover) and finally ends a longtime rivalry with Olgerd Vladislav, the raider he usurped in Howard's 1934 Weird Tales story ”A Witch Shall Be Born”. 

Overall, this was just an average novella. If you have read de Camp's Conan stories you know that his version of Conan is much different than Robert E. Howard's. In de Camp's novels Conan is a cookie-cutter hero that personifies all that is good. The bad guys are carbon-copy bad. In The Flame Knife, Conan wants to free Nanaia. If Howard wrote this, Conan's nihilistic approach would be something to the effect of, “So what?” Additionally, I'm not sure under Howard's watch if Conan would attempt to even save Balash. With de Camp's writing, I mentally can compartmentalize his work as more of Conan the Barbarian's comic character. I do the same with the Tor paperbacks. These are “heroic” Conan stories. 

The Flame Knife is an average Conan novella filled with swordplay, prison escapes, crazy cults, and a fiendish cave creature. If the comic version of Conan is your jam, then this knife spreads the enjoyment. Get the book HERE.

Conan - The People of the Summit

Bjorn Nyberg (1929-2004) briefly associated himself with Conan lore beginning in the 1950s. The Swedish author collaborated with L. Sprague de Camp in 1957 to write the novel The Return of Conan, published by Gnome Press. Nyberg authored two short Conan stories, “The People of the Summit” and “The Star of Khorala”, and both are featured in the paperback collections published by Bantam and Ace. Lately, I've been reading early The Savage Sword of Conan magazines and stumbled up on a story titled “Demons of the Summit” in issue three. It was based on “The People of the Summit”, so I decided to check out Nyberg's story before reading the comic adaptation. 

“The People of the Summit” features a twenty-something Conan taking a job as a mercenary to serve King Yildiz of Turan. Conan is provided the role of makeshift sergeant and ordered to lead a small army of Turanians into the Khozgari Hills in hopes to bribe and threaten the restless tribesmen from raiding Turan's lowlands. Sounds easy enough, right?

The Khozgari are brutal barbarians and they ambush the Turanian force leaving only Conan and a fellow soldier named Jamal alive to escape. The two are spotted by the daughter of a Khozgari chief and Conan takes her hostage to secure a safe pass back to a Turanian city. But, to avoid any unnecessary engagement, Conan decides to take the trio across the Misty Mountains. The chief's daughter begins screaming at Conan's decision and swears they will all be killed by the mysterious people there. She describes it, “'Tis a land of terror and death! Do not go there!”. 

But they do and this is where the bulk of the story remains. Nyberg's action scenes were well-written, but I felt Conan's dialogue left something to be desired. Additionally, Conan's strategies were nothing short of awful – he led his men into an ambush and then foolishly took a shortcut that led to even more danger than the original Khozgari warriors. On top of that, the chief's daughter is captured. It's just a complete failure on Conan's part, but I suppose without that we don't have a story. Nyberg's descriptions of a tower existing in the foggy whiteness of the Misty Mountains was very effective and moody, leaving a supernatural atmosphere to blanket these characters and story. 

As I mentioned in my opening, “The People of the Summit” was adapted into “Demons of the Summit” by Roy Thomas and printed in Savage Sword of Conan #3. The story's original appearance was in The Mighty Swordsmen collection published by Lancer in 1970. Additionally the story was also edited and published in Conan the Swordsman by Bantam in 1978 and was also included in a collection titled Sagas of Conan by Tor in 2004. Get the Bantam paperback HERE.

Conan - Lord of the Mount

British publisher Titan Books began licensing Robert E. Howard's Conan character from Heroic Signatures in 2022. The publisher has been very active in printing a new series of Conan the Barbarian comics and The Savage Sword of Conan magazine. In addition, the publisher has thrust the character into novels and novellas like S.M. Stirling's Blood of the Serpent. In 2023 the publisher launched a series of ebook short stories dedicated to Conan and other characters like Solomon Kane and Belit titled Heroic Legends. The first of the stories was Conan: Lord of the Mount, published in September 2023 as an ebook and authored by Stephen Graham Jones (Night of the Mannequins, I Was a Teenage Slasher).

In this 23-page story, Conan awakens as a cow is licking his face. He has no clear memory of what has happened to him other than he was engaged in battle with the Two Kings' army. A cattle farmer named Jen Ro is nearby and he explains that he thought Conan was another sacrifice to something called Lord of the Mount. Jen Ro then uses some sort of magical black lotus to cut a piece of steak from a live cow. Weird. Just weird.

Jen Ro advises Conan that if he will ride with him and the cattle through a mountain pass then he will bring him to the fabled village of Trinnecerl where “your cup will never run dry”. The catch is that Conan will kill this aggravating creature deemed Lord of the Mount. 

The duo venture through the pass and Conan fights the creature(s). He learns that Jen Ro had a reason for leading him to the creature and the reader is left with this very forgettable story. 

Needless to say, this may be one of the worst Conan stories I've read this far. It was shocking to me considering that Stephen Graham Jones, a quality writer, wrote this kind of uninspired drivel. While I've read some mixed reviews of these new Titan shorts, I had no idea that it would be this underwhelming. Or, how someone like Jones became involved in this. He clearly has no understanding of the Conan character. An example would be in this scene when the creature claws Conan's stomach: “Conan screamed, rolled away, and when he came down it was to nearly impale himself on the faint purple horns of a long-dead cow or bull.” Two words - “Conan screamed”. That doesn't happen. 

Conan's dialogue and mannerisms fail to match what fans have come to expect from the mighty Cimmerian. Granted, every author has a unique perspective on the characteristics and traits, but they should still have a uniform scope to preserve the integrity of the character and series. Despite the identification issues, the story just isn't that interesting. 

Conan: Lord of the Mount is nothing short of abysmal. Even at the $2 price point it isn't worth the pixels it possesses.

Conan - Savage Sword of Conan #01 (Titan)

Robert E. Howard's Conan licensing is a moving target in the comics industry. Many associate the character with Marvel based on the success of the 1970s Conan the Barbarian comic and the Savage Sword of Conan magazine. However, the character was a dominant force when Dark Horse comics purchased the license, only to lose it to Marvel decades later. Recently, the entertainment studio company Heroic Signatures purchased the licensing and offers their IP to anyone with a thick wallet – like British publisher Titan Comics.

Titan began publishing their series, Conan the Barbarian, in August of 2023 through a licensing agreement with Heroic Signatures. In February, 2024, the inevitable The Savage Sword of Conan black and white magazine was published. Like any respectable Conan fan, I bought two copies of the first issue in hopes that I can wallpaper my future grandchildren's home in thousand-dollar bills. I hope to review more modern Conan publications so I thought I would begin here with the first issue of The Savage Sword of Conan by Titan Comics. 

My issue features the cover created by Joe Jusko, an astounding artist that painted Conan the Barbarian trading cards in the 1990s. In other Conan-related works, he provided interior illustrations for the Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed RPG and Dynamite's Red Sonja. The other Jusko cover associated with this issue is the FOC cover which is the full panel with no fonts or title. The cover is also featured in black and white in the inside to accompany a Conan short-story titled "Sacrifice in the Sand" by Jim Zub, which was inspired by Jusko's art. 

Roberto De La Torre is an important artist in modern Conan. De La Torre was an active contributor on the Conan the Barbarian (2019-2021), King Conan (2021-2022), and Conan: Exodus and Other Tales (2021) titles that were all published by Marvel. I really enjoy his artwork and his amazing Conan pin-up is on page three. Additionally, Rebeca Puebla (007: King and Country, Bettie Page) provides a pin-up of Belit on page six. Fans of the 1970s Conan the Barbarian comic will enjoy artist Howard Chaykin's pin-up of Solomon Kane on page 77.

As you open the magazine, the first thing that really stands out is a personal introduction by Conan royalty, Roy Thomas. He provides a brief history of Conan in the comics and the pains and triumphs of the character in print. Thomas also adds that he was invited by Titan to write more Conan stories for this magazine – an offer he is apparently taking them up on.

The issue's main story is "Conan & The Dragon Horde". It was written by John Arcudi, a veteran comic storyteller that wrote in Savage Sword of Conan issues #150-152, 158, 165, 182 and also penned stories for Savage Tales. Arcudi is a dynamic, all-around author that has contributed to hundreds of comic titles since 1986. The story's art was created by Max Von Fafner. He created the cover for Conan the Barbarian #3 (2023), Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #2 (2024), and a variant cover for this Savage Sword of Conan issue. 

In the story, Conan is serving as a general in a Hyrkanian cavalry division headed to a large fortress in the Hyrkania desert. Conan is leading a band of soldiers, bandits, and mercenaries that are assisting an ousted prince in returning to the fortress to seize a lucrative treasure hold. There are twin soldiers serving the prince (who totes around two lions) that immediately piss Conan off when they insult a Turanian woman, Ineah, serving as a weapons engineer. 

Soon, Conan beds down Ineah and Von Fafner leaves nothing to the imagination. She is gorgeous. But, she proves to be a capable fighter and a brilliant mastermind in terms of weapon placement and use. The bizarre part of the story is when a dinosaur – yes a dinosaur – breaks from the fortress and attacks Conan's men. Thankfully, Ineah saves the day with her ballista. 

When Conan and company make camp outside of the fortress, they are surprised that no one from within the compound has bothered to attack them. As the days continue with no activity, Conan uses his thief background to climb into the city to determine what is actually happening there. 

I felt that the story was just okay. The artwork leads the way, as usual, and Conan's mannerisms and leadership is par for the course. There's nothing to dislike about Arcudi's writing, but it didn't wow me like a traditional first issue's lead story should. 

The aforementioned “Sacrifice in the Sand” short story by Jim Zub followed. Honestly, I just skipped it to jump into the Solomon Kane story, “Master of the Hunt”. This is the first of a promised trilogy of stories that places Kane on the hunt for a monster terrorizing a village. The story and art is by Patrick Zircher, a veteran that has worked on numerous Marvel and DC titles like Action Comics, Detective Comics, Superman, Captain America, Avengers, and Iron Man just to name a few. I love Solomon Kane so I was anxious to see what he could do with the character.

The story is set in Glamorgan, Wales on All Hallow's Eve. A blind man drinking ale in a bar explains that this night is when the gateways between worlds is very thin. Outside the tavern, readers are treated to small panels showing some sort of monster attacking and killing sheep. The next day Kane arrives and sees the monster's tracks. He chances upon a woman and her son living in a small farmhouse. The woman explains that her husband has embarked on the “great hunt” with other villagers in search of the monster.

I can't give too much away here due to spoilers, but this was a well-written, fast-paced narrative that excellently “got” REH's Kane character. There are scenes of Kane praying as well as dialogue emphasizing Kane's commitment to God to rid the world of evil. Although the twist ending could be seen a mile away, it didn't detract me from the story and art. The promised sequel should take the characters and monster in a new direction and I'm looking forward to that. 

More Solomon Kane is included at the end with an excellent essay penned by Jeffrey Shanks explaining the character's publication history and failure to equal the popularity of Kull and Conan. 

Overall, The Savage Sword of Conan #1 was pretty good. There's nothing to complain about, but at this point there is just so many Conan comics, books, collections, ebooks, and stories being published that the market is completely saturated. You could read nothing but Conan your entire life and never get through it all. With that being said, my failure to be overly stimulated by this new version of Savage Sword can partly be blamed on too much too fast. I have the same issue with Batman. It's an embarrassment of riches available to anyone anytime.

Get this issue plus the following two issues HERE.

Island of the Dead

It would be difficult to discuss zombie novels without including a cornerstone of the genre, Brian Keene. Many consider his novel The Rising (2003), along with Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead, as catalysts for zombie pop-culture of the 2000s. Keene's novel spawned a sequel, City of the Walking Dead, and two additional entries that live in the very undead world of The Rising. Additionally, Keene authored stand-alone "zombie" novels like Dead Sea (2007), Entombed (2011), and The Complex (2016). Now, in 2024, he returns with another living dead novel in Island of the Dead, published by independent publisher Apex Book Company with glorious artwork by Mikio Murikami (Silent Q Design). The book flips the narrative by placing zombies in a sword-and-sorcery environment, an ambitious hybrid described by Keene as Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian) meets George Romero (Night of the Living Dead).

In the book's opening pages, slaves aboard a galley ship learn that Einar is from the northern barbarian tribes. But Einar, who has worked as a thief, mercenary, pirate, and a bodyguard across sweltering deserts, mountain peaks, and jungles, is quick to explain to his fellow captives that his tribe doesn't call themselves barbarians. As introductions are made, readers learn that Einar was arrested after a tavern brawl that left several people dead. He now serves as a slave on a ship lifting, pushing, and pulling oars across the sea to a war-torn land. 

Einar hesitantly advises a charismatic slave named Chuy that he plans on escaping the ship. After convincing the guards that he must relieve himself at the head, Einar is able to overtake the guards and free the slaves. However, a freak storm has appeared that creates a disaster for the ship and crew. While the fight for liberation ensues, monstrous tidal waves thrust the men into the depths of the ocean as the ship is destroyed. When Einar awakens he discovers he has washed ashore on an island alongside a few fellow slaves and a number of guards. What is this mysterious island? What horrors does it host? These are all enjoyable surprises that await readers as they explore the Island of the Dead.

Keene makes a valid reference to Robert E. Howard with his Conan-styled hero Einar. The barbarian often speaks like the Cimmerian, referring to friend and foe as “dogs” while expertly wielding a sword to hack and decapitate enemy hordes. His diverse background parallels Conan's own experiences as a pirate, thief, and mercenary. In fact, in terms of Conan lore, Island of the Dead's early premise is similar to Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp's 1967 story “The City of Skulls”, which was adapted to comic form in Savage Sword of Conan #59, Conan the Barbarian #37, and even the “Blood Brother” episode of the Conan: The Adventurer animated show. 

The placement of this barbaric hero in a zombie-styled universe is an exhilarating concept enhanced by the violence, gore, and temperament of Keene's unique storytelling. In a horror sense, this story delivers the goods in grand fashion. However, looking beyond the zombie dangers, the story also possesses a cagey human element that presents both the slave and ruler's eternal dilemma and the political strife that ignites a powder keg. These apocalyptic stories always prove that human design and the quest for power leads to chaos and ruin. As scary as they may be, the zombies are just the innocent weapons of man's destruction.

Island of the Dead is out now and you can get your copy HERE.

The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert E. Howard

Glenn Lord (1931-2011) became a literary agent for the Robert E. Howard estate in 1965, a role he served in for over 25 years. Lord was instrumental in the resurgence of Howard's work in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Lord was able to amass hundreds of unpublished stories and poems and provided the source material for the author's contents to appear in media from 1965-1997. In 1976, Lord edited and compiled a 400-page reference book titled The Last Celt: A Bio-Bibliography of Robert E. Howard. Reviewing non-fiction and reference materials isn't really our style, so the below "review" is a loose description of the book's contents and why you should track it down.

The book's introduction is an informative and touching essay by E. Hoffmann Price, one of the only Howard contemporaries to have met the man. In this 16-page article, Price commends Howard as a natural storyteller and cites the author as one of his early influences. He also recalls meeting the author at his home in Cross Plains, TX. Following this introduction is a four-page Foreword from Lord outlining some of his references while explaining that The Last Celt is the outgrowth of 15 years of collecting "Howardiana".

"The Wandering Years" is a short autobiography that Howard began writing not long before his death. In this piece, Howard documents his family's history back to 1724. He documents his ancestors in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. He writes about his grandparents and parents. This is very minor stuff in the grand scheme of things. This is followed by the short half-page "An Autobiography", which Howard wrote while attending high school. 

In 1930, Howard chronicled a few events in history in a piece named "A Touch of Trivia". In it Howard writes about WWI, Jack Dempsey, the American Revolutionary War, and the great Potato Famine of 1842. 

Next is a letter written circa 1931 to Weird Tales editor Farnsworth Wright. The letter was never published and gathers more autobiographical contents from Howard. In it he recalls selling Wright his first story, "Spear and Fang", when he was just 18 years of age. The next section, titled "On Reading - And Writing" is another historical piece in which Howard applauds and criticizes literary works. The moral to the story is that Howard admits he would rather read Zane Grey the rest of his life than to read the popular American writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Jean Nathan, Mike Gold, and Floyd Dell. He also doesn't care much for French works. The final portion of this section is a collection of various letters written to a variety of correspondents. 

Alvin Earl Perry, a legendary fantasy fan and fellow Texan, offers up "A Biographical Sketch of Robert E. Howard". There are some arguments on whether Perry and Howard communicated, but this is a great two-pager describing the author, various payments he received, and that Howard loved Jack London's work. 

H.P. Lovecraft's "Robert Ervin Howard: A Memoriam" has been popularized and reprinted numerous times and it is included here. Lovecraft and Howard communicated through numerous letters, some now lost in the annals of time. This is a moving eulogy that describes Howard's stories and writing style. There is clearly a real admiration on display and Lovecraft captures that beautifully. 

The highlight of the book is Glenn Lord's "Lone Star Fictioneer", a detailed history and account of Howard's literary work and life beginning in 1906 through his tragic suicide in 1936. Howard's education, family life, work history, and early influences are all meticulously analyzed. The insight on his industry sales and receipts of payment was really compelling. I love the peek behind the typewriter to see what his stories sold for. 

"A Memory of R.E. Howard" is another piece written by E. Hoffmann Price, this one documenting his own writing history and correspondence with Howard through the years. The famed meeting between Price and Howard is described in detail and remains as fascinating today as it did then. It's as if Stephen King paid a visit to Clive Barker's house (which maybe he has and I just didn't know it). I love the reference to Howard's characters as a sort of rebuilding of his boyhood. Price speculates that some of the bravado and overcorrection on certain characters may have been a result of the men of Cross Plains belittling him for not having a "real" job. 

Harold Preece's "The Last Celt" is a written connection between Howard's writing and his interest in Celtica. He describes various conversations he had with Howard, both oral and written, as intellectual, passionate conversations about Celtica. 

The rest of the book serves as a massive bibliography detailing stories both published and unpublished as well as listings of poetry. There is also an index by character and the collections that existed upon the time of this book's publication. Whether this bibliography is still useful for Howard fans 50 years later is in the eye of the beholder. I still find some interesting tidbits gathered here and the story listings is really helpful. The bibliography finishes out with unfinished Howard books and stories, Conan pastiches, comics, and any other Howard related piece of literature. 

The last section of the book are photos of various letters, manuscripts, and a lot of the pulp magazine covers that published Howard stories. 

So, the question is do you really need this hardcover book? Yeah, I think so. It is a handy reference book that still connects in so many ways to the spirit, talent, and personality of one of the greatest pulp writers of all-time. There is enough information here to warrant a spot on your bookshelf. Recommended. Get it HERE

The Castle of Dark

British science-fiction and fantasy author Tanith Lee (1947-2015) debuted her first full-length novel, The Dragon Hoard, in 1971. She amassed a robust career that featured over 90 novels and 300 shorts. She was awarded both the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement in Horror as well as the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award. I've picked up a few of her paperbacks over the years and wanted to sample her work. I chose The Castle of Dark, a fantasy/horror novel that was first published by Macmillan London in 1978 and then later in 1984 by Unwin Paperbacks, which is the version I reviewed.

The book is set in the Middle Ages with a narrative that revolves around two main characters, a young woman named Lilune and a minstrel (traveling musician) known as Lir. In the early chapters, the author introduces these characters in very different scenarios. As the book progresses, naturally these scenarios will clash, intertwine, and ultimately create a finale. Creative Writing 101.

Lilune's situation is right out of The Brothers Grimm fairy tales. She is being held captive by two old hags in the Castle of Dark. But, there are some unique offerings here that spin Brothers Grimm into Hammer Horror. Lilune sleeps in a casket during the day and prowls the castle and its barren surroundings at night. She burns in the sunlight and she doesn't eat food. Quacks like a duck, walks like a duck – bound to be a bloodsucking Vampire enchantress, right? But Lilune has a different type of curse that I won't spoil here.

Lir is a pretty good harp player and gets noticed by a wise old musician that may be the Devil. He informs Lir that he has a special musical talent and instructs him to create a new harp made from bone. Lir peddles around the graveyard and tombs to make his morbid instrument. He then feels a spiritual tug that leads him on a short journey to the Castle of Dark. Here's where things get really interesting. 

In the closest populated town the upstanding citizens encourage Lir to go to the castle (never mind those rumors of supernatural occurrences and dead people roaming at night) and check out a young girl that was taken there by her mother when she was a babe. Lir's arrival at the castle is met with abrasion (naturally) and he is led to free Lilune from her eternal imprisonment. But, be careful what you ask for. Little does he know that he is traveling with a....I can't give it away.

The Castle of Dark is a short read at just 178 pages, but the page count just breezes by. I was done in just a few reading hours and felt extremely satisfied with the character development, the central mystery regarding Lilune, and the “darkness” that envelopes the town. What I really enjoyed about the location is that near the castle is another town that is completely uninhabited - empty buildings to explore by moonlight. I felt like I was with Lilune as she would effortlessly glide through the fog into this little abandoned village. The hints at a vampire tale are steady, but for fantasy fans there is a good mix of action and adventure as Lir takes on the quest in true monomyth style...only he's brandishing a harp instead of a savage blade. 

If you want to read something really different, try Tanith Lee's The Castle of Dark. Get a copy HERE

Wolfshead

If I may take some liberties here, I'm introducing my review of Robert E. Howard's horror tale “Wolfshead” with a fun tidbit of how this story became published. I'm summarizing pages 76-77 of The Last Celt: Bio-Bibliography of Robert E. Howard, specifically the chapter “Lone Star Fictioneer” by the book's editor Glenn Lord.

After Howard's first two published stories, “Spear and Fang” (Weird Tales, July 1925) and “In the Forest of Villefere” (Weird Tales, Aug 1925), Howard went to work writing “Wolfshead” (a sequel to "In the Forest..."), a supernatural narrative featuring a werewolf terrorizing an assortment of characters in a castle. Weird Tales accepted the story and paid Howard $40. The plan was for “Wolfshead” to be the lead cover story for the April 1926 issue. While artist E.M. Stevenson was completing the cover art, he discovered that he had either misplaced the story or simply lost it. Weird Tales editor Farnsworth Wright contacted Howard and asked him to mail a carbon copy of the story as a replacement. Unfortunately, Howard never made one so he had to re-write the story from memory. Eventually the original manuscript was found prior to publication and Wright paid Howard an additional $10 due to the mistake.

That is a goofy way to begin my review of “Wolfshead”, but on that introduction you have learned that “Wolfshead” was the lead story for the April 1926 issue of Weird Tales and it was only the author's third story to be published (outside of his local school paper). And...what a story it is!

In first-person narration, an unnamed individual is explaining to a group of soldiers that despite their adventures on wind-lashed seas they have never experienced “hair-raising, horror-crawling fear”. To demonstrate that the narrator has seen terror first-hand, he recounts a time that he was invited to a castle.

Dom Vicente sends an invitation for the narrator to join him and a gathering of guests to a vacation on the African coast. Here, Vicente had cleared the jungle and built a huge castle, complete with storehouses and a nearby village of slaves and workforce. The narrator accepts the invitation and joins the guests at the castle for a few days of flirting and drinking. With his Spanish friend de Seville, the narrator explains that upon first impression he dislikes a man named De Montour. He feels that the man isn't trust worthy and may have a hidden agenda of some kind.

That night, De Montour enters the narrator's bedroom and kindly warns him to lock his bedroom door at night. Things are apparently amiss in the castle. The next morning the narrator and guests learn that a villager was ripped to shreds by some sort of animal. Suspicions are aroused when a guest is attacked in the house. The narrator places his bets that De Montour isn't all that he appears to be. As the narrative continues, the killer is revealed with a backstory on lycanthropy.

While some may disagree, “Wolfshead” is an entertaining, fleshed-out tale that captures the imagery and imaginations of several genres – horror, swashbuckling, action-adventure, locked-room mystery, and even fantasy (to a minor degree). The suspect is pretty easy to pinpoint but the fun is just getting to the reveal and explanation of the attacks. While there is an isolation among the prey, the castle halls are still frenzied with accusations and suspicions. When the reveal is made, the story makes an advancement into sword-fighting and minor military campaign. Overall, just a versatile story that should appeal to readers in the broadest of terms. I didn't read "In the Forest of Villefere", but I feel like the events in that story were relayed here. 

Roy Thomas penned a 1999 comic adaptation of this story for Cross Plains Comics. Kull the Conqueror #8 (May 1973) features an adaptation of the story with Kull inserted as the main character. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the werewolf horror film series Howling used this story as an obvious blueprint for the fifth installment, Howling V: The Rebirth (written by Clive Turner), which is a fantastic film and a real highlight of that otherwise sub-par series.

You can get the Lancer paperback collection, which includes and is titled after this story, HERE

Raven #02 - A Time of Ghosts

British publisher Corgi took advantage of the 1970s sword-and-sorcery fascination by publishing five books starring a female warrior named Raven. I reviewed the series debut, Swordmistres of Chaos, and wanted to check back into the series to continue the blade slingin' fun. A Time of Ghosts, the series second installment, originally published in 1978 by Corgi and later reprinted by Ace in 1987 with a painted cover by Luis Royo. 

As the book begins, Raven, the nearly transparent magician Argor, and her sorcerer colleague Spellbinder are sparring with a young blonde-haired swordsman named Silver. He has joined the trio for their next great adventure. Soon, Spellbinder senses a dark force at work in the land, something that will bring Raven closer to her destiny of being the Chaos-Bringer. Argor, who can travel in and out of dimensions, advises the group that Lifebane has created a rift in the world with a bold political move.

In the series debut, Raven met the Viking-esque Lifebane and the two had a romantic fling while doing battle with a fierce opponent named Donwayne. When that book ended, readers could sense that Lifebane was “one of the good guys”. However, according to Argor, Lifebane has sailed into a nearby land and captured that King's daughter. To what end? The group needs to find Lifebane and discover why he is creating political turbulence to that part of the world. 

The first adventure has Raven and the group liberating a slave train where they pick up two more characters to join them in the fight. There is a small backstory on these characters and the history they share with Silver. That small story-arc comes to fruition as the book finalizes. But, the journey digs deeper into the relationships. After the slave train is freed, the band split up with different missions that will ultimately help solve the crisis. 

My review may seem a little disjointed but there is a lot that happens over the course of this 200-page narrative. I felt like just this book alone could have spilled into several books to compile one epic adventure. But, authors Angus Wells and Robert Holdstock (collectively listed as Richard Kirk on the cover) don't waste a single page. There is nautical adventure as the group fight slave raiders and an underwater behemoth to compose most of the book's first half. 

The novel's second half mostly consists of the group climbing a mountain range in The Lost Mountains and The Frozen Peaks (just the names beg reading!). The book's finale is a frosty affair as the group settle down to fight the main villain, a recurring character from the series debut, in an ice-fortress. 

This was one of the best books I've read all year. The epic adventure, compelling characters, rotating settings and atmosphere, and the general idea that the protagonist is on a much grander through-story is really an addictive flavoring sprinkled over this classic sword-and-sorcery tale. I'm going to have to do some searching for the next installments. Stay tuned! 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Dagar the Invincible - Archives Vol. #1

Western Publishing Company, a Wisconsin company, made a huge splash in the world of home entertainment in the early 20th century. The company was one of the first manufacturers of paper puzzles and tabletop games. Their enterprise eventually expanded into book publishing, initially developing the line of Little Golden Books. By the middle of the century they had partnered with Walt Disney Productions, Warner Brothers, MGM, and even the estate of the popular author Edgar Rice Burroughs. 

From 1938 through 1961 the company published comics under a partnership with Dell. But, in 1962 Western Publishing began their own comic book company, Gold Key Comics. The marketing strategy was to license just about anything they could get their hands on. From Planet of the Apes to Star Trek nothing was out of bounds in the world of Gold Key Comics. Back then the chances were pretty high that if you watched it on television, Gold Key had an accompanying comic book to go with it. But, the company also published their own original titles as well like Doctor Solar, Magnus Robot Fighter, and Space Family Robinson. While I've read my share of Gold Key comics back in the day, a few titles escaped me, like Dagar the Invicible.

In the 1970s, the sword-and-sorcery genre was at an all-time high with the reprint publications of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian stories in paperback. Beginning in 1966, readers were able to finally read the original Conan stories in affordable paperbacks by Lancer. These books had amazing artwork and featured original published stories, but also many incomplete stories that were discovered as drafts and completed by authors Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp. The books sold well and by the end of the decade countless imitators appeared – some good, some not so good. Along with paperbacks, the comic book industry quickly got involved with sword-and-sorcery. The early 1970s saw the publication of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan. 

Gold Key marched out their sword-and-sorcery comic, Dagar the Invincible in October 1972 with the blurb “Tales of Sword and Sorcery”. The entire series was visually created by artist Jesse Santos and written by Donald F. Glut. It ran a total of 19 issues with two issues reprinting the debut (#19 published under the Whitman brand). You can still get these issues fairly cheap online or you can purchase two hardcover collections from Dark Horse that compile the entire series. Very cool. This review is on the first hardcover collection, simply titled Dagar the Invincible Archives Volume #1. This compiles issues #1-9.

Jesse Santos broke into comics in his home country of The Philippines in 1946. He drew Halakhak Kommiks' “Kidlat” before moving to the U.S. to work on comics like The Microbots and Brothers of the Spear. Along with Dagar the Invincible, Santos would later draw Gold Key's The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor and Tragg and the Sky Gods. He turned down an offer to work for Marvel on the Conan the Barbarian comic. 

Donald F. Glut began his writing career by working with Warren Publishing and their black and white magazines Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella as well as the Skywald Publication Psycho. Along with writing Dagar the Invincible, Glut teamed with Santos on The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor, and Tragg and the Sky Gods. He would later move on to writing for Marvel books like Captain America, Savage Sword of Conan, and Thor as well as the DC Comics titles House of Mystery and House of Secrets. 

The first issue is a true origin story, “The Sword of Dagar”, explaining how Dagar became the heroic fantasy warrior. The era is explained vaguely as a “time when Gods and Demons walked the Earth as men and certain men possessed the best and worst qualities of both”. From what I gather, this particular world is a combination of prehistoric elements and the Middle Ages militant kingdoms complete with rival leadership and classes. Glut specifies it is the twilight years between the end of the stone age and the beginning of Babylon. 

In the opening pages of the first issue, Dagar is battling a saber-tooth tiger while reflecting on his life and heritage. In a flashback sequence, readers see young Dagar admiring his grandfather's battle helmet. In an onslaught of brutality a swarm of invaders ride into town and slay every Tulgoian except Dagar and his grandfather. Thus, a sworn oath is made that Dagar will train under his grandfather's tutelage and become INVINCIBLE! After a few years of training, the grandfather dies and Dagar is shown wearing an animal skin and holding a sword. He plans to find the one named Scorpio that led the assault on his people. He also states repeatedly that he will take on a life of fighting for money. I didn't quite grasp the significance of this. 

In this issue's second part, “Castle of the Skull”, an old man asks Dagar to journey to a cursed castle and rescue his daughter. The narrative really picks up the action and gets Dagar into dark hallways slaying skeletons with a magical mace. There is a little trick ending that recalls some of the surprises found in the horror comics of the time (hint: the young beautiful woman is really an old hag). 

The second issue, “The Beast Within”, Dagar takes on a job finding a beautiful woman's missing brother. But, little does he realize that the missing man is actually a werewolf who disappears during a full moon to keep from killing his loved ones. When Dagar teams up the werewolf they hunt down Scorpio to another monolithic castle (there are a lot of those). The finale comes when both are forced to fight an enormous lizard. This story reminded me so much of the Conan stories, complete with the cavernous castle and behemoth reptile. 

The third issue features one of my favorite covers of the series. Let's face it, every cover in this series is simply awe-inspiring, but the use of the red castle, the cliff, the vampire bat creature set against a moody backdrop of purple just invokes so much color and imagery into this sword-and-sorcery affair. The story in this one is called “Wrath of the Vampires” and has a demonic beginning. Dagar rides up on a ghoulish scene as a woman is being sacrificed on an altar. But, instead of saving her he rides off and says to himself he only fights for money. Either that is totally badass or just plain despicable...I can't decide which. Dagar gets an explanation from a guy that the girl has been sacrificed on Blood Mountain to a race of vampires that prey upon the community. On the quest to find and free the girl he gets himself imprisoned by a sadistic creature called King Desmos. Dagar breaks free and teams up with some hideous monsters that have been abused by Desmos to fight their way through the savage hordes. At the end, Dagar and his new lover, Graylin, ride off into the sunset.

In “Vengeance-Sweet Vengeance”, issue five's story, the Dagar and Scorpio confrontation is promised to deliver the goods. In the beginning, Dagar is following a map he obtained that supposedly leads to Scorpio. Fortunately (or unfortunately), he stumbles upon some sort of floating wormhole that immediately jets him into Scorpio's coveted stronghold. As being the only guy in the building half nude wearing animal skins, Dagar is immediately recognized and forced into captivity. The only logical use for him is to deposit him in the gladiator games to fight lions and stuff. After fighting free of the arena, Dagar goes into an underground tunnel and teams up with an old man who gives him advice on how to fight Scorpio. There's some drugged out colors and designs swirling all over this issue with a stinging final boss fight of Dagar fighting a gigantic scorpion. The end proves this through story has reached its conclusion and Scorpio has been vanquished. Revenge complete.

Issue six is a real turning point for the series and sees more narration in third-person instead of Dagar speaking to himself to narrate the story for readers. I was waiting for this type of storytelling to emerge. It makes the comic a bit more modern. I hate when the heroes of the golden age would say things to themselves like, “I must pick up this sword and go down that hallway to fight the beast”. Instead, the narrator does that much better by telling us the story and then allowing the art and dialogue to supplement it. 

In this story, “Another World...Another Time”, Dagar journeys back to his lover Graylin but instead hears her cries from another world. It seems Graylin went off searching for Dagar and accidentally went into an “oracle cave”. Dagar finds the cave and journeys through it to discover a savage prehistoric playground of dinosaurs and volcanoes. Basically, this is Donald Glut conjuring his Edgar Rice Burroughs' styled comic Tragg and the Sky Gods into a Dagar book. One of the cave-men from Tragg, a guy named Jarn, teams up with Dagar in this issue to rescue Graylin from an evil sorcerer named Zerg. There is a bunch of dinosaur fighting and weird hypnotic stuff before the end that sees Dagar and Graylin once again on horseback riding off into another adventure in their own time. 

The sixth issue is broken down into two separate stories with the first being “Treasure of Nai-Po-Gah”. This story is right out of Conan with the two hunting for treasure in a seemingly abandoned city. When Dagar removes a jewel from a large statue they hear a man calling for help. In interviewing the man, who seems to be trapped in a well, Dagar has a moment of clarity – he only fights for money! But Graylin insists he help the man. Dagar should have stuck with his code here because once the man is free he turns into a giant demon named Zu-Borr that creates a ton of chaos for the two lovers. That story ends and a new one begins titled “Demon of the Temple”, a short narrative that features Graylin and Dagar fighting a monster and a mad mage. 

The series seventh issue puts Dagar on the high seas in "Two Swords Against Zora-Zal". The hero is out fishing on the shore when a band of pirates net him and force him into a galley slave ship. While brutally rowing for days and days Dagar strikes up a friendship with a fellow slave named Durak. When the ship anchors on the Island of Queen Zora-Zal, Dagar and Durak are put to work building a giant tower. After an escape attempt an evil sorcerer throws Dagar into a deep well to fight another monster (recurring theme here). Dagar wins and then leads Durak to overthrow their captors and free the island. At the end Durak says farewell to Dagar and steers the galley ship off to adventure. 

In the following issue, Dagar returns back to the city only to find that his beloved Graylin has been drug off with other women to a smoking crater on Mount Bargoll. This story, "The Red Ruby of Garloth", shows a little more compassion from Dagar. Since he only fights for money, he wants to rescue Graylin only. However, a young girl gives Dagar her only possession, a necklace, to help find her mother. Dagar refuses the necklace and is shown dropping the other coins he was paid into the dirt. He tracks Graylin to the mountain and finds it riddled with the undead! A zombie named Kagra is using a magical gem to resurrect dead people. However, the deal requires a sacrifice - one live one for one dead one. Dagar puts an end to the transactions and with Graylin's help they destroy the place. 

"The Night of the Serpent" closes out this volume, the lead story in issue nine. Dagar and Graylin watch as a large sloth is fatally poisoned by a coiling giant serpent. The two are headed to the city of Yang-Dorr where 

Dagar hopes to place his sword for hire, but they get distracted in the swamps. It is here that the tribe of nomadic black warriors known as Zargani use their spears and battleaxes to hunt and survive. The tribe's chieftain, Torgus, and his wife Renya are out walking when Renya drinks from the same river that the injured giant serpent retreated to. Renya gets poisoned and Torgus is desperate for a cure. Readers are treated to a flashback sequence explaining how Nar-Kal, a sorcerer, obtained the Magical Eye of the God Org-Ra. It is explained that Nar-Kal is actually in control of the giant serpent and each time the snake kills then Nar-Kal becomes more powerful. Torgus needs to stop Nar-Kal so his beloved wife can heal. There is a brief fight between Dagar and Torgus before the two realize they are better as allies fighting Nar-Kal. The story ends with with both Dagar and Graylin enjoying time with the Zargani couple.

At nine meaty issues, sword-and-sorcery fans will find plenty to like about Dagar and his adventures through this savage land. Obviously there is a huge nod to Conan, but I never felt like the writing and art was at that level - no matter who was writing or drawing Conan over at Marvel. This is more of a third-tier type of series that is still wildly enjoyable and reeks of nostalgic pleasure. The art is good, the writing is okay. It just isn't something that is mandatory or suggested unless you really love this genre, era, and brand. Gold Key has a cult following cemented by titles like Dagar. For me, I got enough out of it to want to read more...just give me a few months. This collection has so much material and it's a little bit of a chore to get through it all. But, if you like this genre then by all means you need to at least sample Dagar the Invincible. 

Conan - Savage Sword of Conan #02 (Curtis)

The Savage Sword of Conan #2 was published in October, 1974. For a complete history of the making of this magazine title, including reviews of the contents of issue one, check out my review HERE. This installment of the series has an awesome Neal Adams cover and once again features content inspired by the works of Robert E. Howard. This issue features:

“Black Colossus” - Roy Thomas/John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala
“Chronicles of the Sword” - Lin Carter/Al Milgrom, Alan Weiss, Joe Staton
“Black Mark Chapter II” - Gil Kane
“The Beast from the Abyss” - Steve Englehart/Howard Chaykin 

In addition to the stories and articles, this issue's stand-alone panel is illustrated by Mike Zeck.

The lead story is “Black Colossus”, a 36-pager that is broken down into three parts. The inspiration is Robert E. Howard's story, which originally appeared for the first time in Weird Tales, June 1933. It has been reprinted numerous times in print format with and without the minor edits made by L. Sprague de Camp. To my knowledge this issue features the first adaptation of the story in comic format. The adaptation was reprinted again by Marvel in their Marvel Treasury Edition #15 as a colorized edition. I won't go into the details of the story because I already covered it in great detail HERE. 

The story's short intro is simply “Black Colossus”, the second chapter of the story is titled “Hordes of the Veiled One” and the last chapter is “Chariot of the Man-Demon”. Each title insert is a one-page panel carefully constructed by Buscema and Alcala. I love the title page to chapter two with Princess Yasmela, partially clothed, crawling towards the darkness of the pit-spawned incubus. It is just an incredible mix of light and dark with a lot of lines in the foreground to make it look more chaotic as the scene shifts to the dark right corner. As I mentioned in my review of Dark Horse's first issue of Conan, “Out of the Darksome Hills”, that Cary Nord's depiction of an armored Conan slightly resembles page 18 of this issue as Conan is fully decked out like a gladiator. 

The story stays true to Robert E. Howard's version and it's a great read. This is on par with “The Frost Giant's Daughter” (reviewed HERE) in terms of this magazine's most iconic moments. I may sound like a broken record but the art is just spectacular. Page 27's Thugra Khotanlike on the skeletal black camel is awe-inspiring and seems to draw influence from the 1865 painting by Gustave Dore, “Death on the Pale Horse (Revelation)”. This story gains a sequel in the next issue. 

Some fans dislike author Lin Carter, but I have genuinely enjoyed his literary work and the contributions he made to science-fiction and sword-and-sorcery/fantasy. His informal history of the sword-and-sorcery genre, “Chronicles of the Sword”, is just fascinating. Carter points to early literature like Beowulf and Hercules mythology as a catalyst to what would eventually form sword-and-sorcery. He also examines Lord Dunsay's “The Gods of Pegana” and “The Sword of Welleran” among others, citing the “at the Edge of the World” as a sort of gyroscope utilized for the genre”. Obviously, Carter delves into the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard and their impact on the Weird Tales publication. 

The second chapter of Blackmark continues in this issue. As I alluded to in my review of the first issue, this content was originally published in the 1971 Bantam paperback Blackmark. The smaller graphic novel pages have been formatted to magazine size and the book's contents were spread over the first four issues of Savage Sword of Conan. 

In this portion of the story, Blackmark looks to be about 10 years old and has began practicing swordplay in between working for his father Zeph. While Blackmark is away from the village, an armed group of horseback riders attack and begin slaughtering the citizens. When Blackmark sees the smoke he runs to the village to see his father fighting the men with a staff. After his father is murdered, Blackmark is forced to watch his mother being raped and killed. The men leave Blackmark as a survivor so he can tell others about their strength and dominance. Later, Blackmark is captured by slave raiders.

This was a real turning point in the story and sets up Blackmark's adolescent years and subsequent arena fights as a slave (featured in the next issue). Again, Gil Kane is a phenomenal artist and his storytelling skills propel the narrative in a smooth and unforced way. While a lot has happened to Blackmark, from birth to jaded young man, the narrative is spread enough to allow readers to imagine and fill in the gaps in these characters' lives off the page.

Up to Kull's appearance in this issue's story, “The Beast from the Abyss”, the character had appeared numerous times in comic format. The hero is seen in Conan's vision in the very first issue of Conan the Barbarian in July, 1970. He later appeared in Creatures on the Loose #10 (Mar1971),  Monsters on the Prowl #16 (Jan 1972), Conan the Barbarian #25 (Jan 1973) and #37 (Jan 1974), Tomb of Dracula #26 (Jul 1974). Of course he had his own short-lived title as well, Kull the Conqueror #1-10 (1971-1973) and Kull the Destroyer #11-28 (1973-1978) prior to “The Beast from the Abyss”. 

“The Beast from the Abyss” is adapted from the story “Black Abyss”. This work was left unfinished by Robert E. Howard with Lin Carter finishing the story (beginning with Chapter 3) and it was first published in the Lancer paperback King Kull in 1967. I enjoyed that story immensely and I was happy it was adapted into comic form by Steve Englehart (Batman, Daredevil, Doctor Strange) and drawn by Howard Chaykin (Star Wars, Batman, Punisher)

Kull is in Kamula on business and enjoying a dance routine with Baron Ergon. Kull's friend and confidant Brule, the Pictish Warrior, storms into the room and advises that his tribal brother Grogar has been captured from somewhere in the palace. The duo venture back to the place the man was last seen and discover another corpse. From inside the wall they hear a strange piping sound - “the sort of music dead men dance to on the scarlet floors of Hell!”. 

The two journey through the wall's secret passageway and descend stairs into a macabre scene of the Baron, half-naked women, a piper, and Grogar laid on an altar awaiting a ghoulish fate. These crazed people are worshiping a giant slug-like creature called Zugthuu the Slitherer. The creature isn't actually named by Chaykin in the story, but the name appears in the magazine's TOC. Kull and Brule get to work fighting Zugthuu, eventually killing the monstrosity and escape with Grogar. 

The adaptation stays true to the story and successfully visualizes the demonic scene of the piper on the altar. This story borders the horror genre closely (don't they all?) and Chaykin's drawings capture the creepy vibes so well. I was really pleased with how this turned out considering the strength of the original material. 

This was another fantastic issue and one that is often cited as a real highlight of the series. It is definitely worth your time to pursue it in whatever format you prefer – trade, digital, individual issues, hardcover. Recommended! 

Buy a copy of this book HERE