The Savage Sword of Conan, Volume 2(2008).
© Dark Horse

Mania Grade: A
Comic Trade Paperback: The Savage Sword of Conan
Issue: Volume 2
Written By: Roy Thomas
Publisher: Dark Horse
Pages: 544
Price: $17.95

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SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN, Vol. 2

In the second volume of Dark Horse Comics’ Savage Sword of Conan reprints, the book collects issues 11 through 24 of Marvel Comics’s 1970s black & white magazine. The first four to five years of this title were absolutely its zenith as it was blessed to have an incredible array of artistic talent and was headed up by writer Roy Thomas. Savage Sword had a huge advantage over the regular Conan comic for a few reasons. First, as it was a magazine and not a comic, it was not subject to approval by the Comics Code Authority. This resulted in stories that were often far more violent and bloody than could be told in the standard Conan comic. Secondly, the larger page count gave Thomas a chance to tell novel-length stories that otherwise would have taken up several issues of a normal comic. Finally, Savage Sword attracted so many great artists to its pages. They seemed to revel in the artistic freedom that the black and white format allowed.

A prime example of this comes in Savage Sword #13 featuring a rare Conan story drawn by the legendary Gil Kane. The Gods of Bal-Sagoth was not written by Robert E. Howard as a Conan story but rather as an adventure for another one of his creations, Turlough Dubh O'Brien. One thing that Thomas was a master at was taking a non-Conan story of Howard’s and adapting it for the barbarian. Conan steps in for O’Brien as he teams with a teams with a giant warrior from Vanaheim against a cult of priests on a remote island.

Shadows in Zamboula from Savage Sword #14 is an original Robert Howard Conan story, first seeing print in Weird Tales in 1935. This story benefits from not only being an original Howard story, but also the art of Neal Adams. Conan rescues a girl from cannibals on the streets of Zamboula and agrees to help her cure her lover who was driven mad by an evil high priest. Conan later battles Baal Pteor, known as the Strangler. 

The middle portion of the book is taken up by the four-issue adaptation of Howard’s The People of the Black Circle.  One of Howard’s most famous Conan tales, this would have needed about eight issues of a standard comic to tell. The art team of John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala are at the top of their game in this adaptation. 

Other stories in the book include the Lovecraftian-inspired The Slithering Shadow, and two more original Robert E. Howard Adaptation, The Pool of the Black One, and The Tower of the Elephant.  The latter has long been one of my favorite Conan stories. Set in Zamora’s City of Thieves, a young Conan overhears men in a tavern talk about a fantastic gem called The Heart of the Elephant hidden in the tower of a mage called Yara. Conan sets out to steal this powerful gem and inside the tower encounters Yag-Kosha, an ancient alien traveler with the body of a man and the head of an Elephant. Truly a fantastic tale!

The trade paperback is 544 pages in length without ads, all for $18 bucks. Great stories at a great price. Some of the best Conan stories ever written are in this volume.