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sThe Tempo-Star Conan the Barbarian Paperbacks: Part 6
Sunday , 20, September 2020 Morgan Comics Leave a commentGrosset & Dunlap had released five Conan the Barbarian paperbacks in 1978. There was a gap of more than half a year before Volume 6 was released in early 1979. Roy Thomas was back with an energetic three-page introduction: “Conan is the most popular sword-and-sorcery hero in the world today. Period. . . Conan […]
The Tempo-Star Conan the Barbarian Paperbacks: Part 5
Sunday , 6, September 2020 Morgan Comics Leave a commentVolume 5 of Stan Lee Presents Conan the Barbarian contains a three-page introduction by Roy Thomas. He gives a chronology of Conan publishing. What is strange is he mentions the first three Temp paperbacks published simultaneously in February 1979, not 1978. Comics.org had a key date of 5-10-1978 for volume 5. Thomas also mentions 1980 […]
The Tempo-Star Conan the Barbarian Paperbacks: Part 4
Sunday , 30, August 2020 Morgan Comics Leave a comment1978 was the high point of disco fever. You could not turn on the radio without hearing a song from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Luckily, comic book readers might find one of the Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian reprint paperbacks. Vol. 4 would cost you $1.95. A key date of 4-10-1978 is given at […]
The Tempo-Star Conan the Barbarian Paperbacks: Part 3
Sunday , 23, August 2020 Morgan Comics 1 CommentVolume 3 of Stan Lee Presents Conan the Barbarian is listed as having a key date of 3-10-1978 at comics.org. Roy Thomas said in the introduction to Vol. 3 that the vol one and two are on sale “simultaneously” as vol. 3. The copyright page has 1978 but nothing more specific as to month of […]
The Tempo-Star Conan the Barbarian Paperbacks: Part 2
Sunday , 16, August 2020 Morgan Comics 1 CommentIn 1978, Grosset & Dunlap began reprinting Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian in mass market paperback form. The company used the Ace Books imprint for distribution. Ace was also distributing the Conan Lancer paperbacks repacked under the Prestige imprint. Another foray was the publication of trade paperbacks under the Grosset & Dunlap imprint of […]
The Tempo-Star Conan the Barbarian Paperbacks: Part 1
Sunday , 9, August 2020 Morgan Comics 3 CommentsThe “Bronze Age” of comic books is said by some to have started in 1970 when Jack Kirby left Marvel Comics. Old time science fiction pulp editor Mort Weisinger (1915-1978) stepped down at D.C. Comics. The creation of Conan the Barbarian by Marvel Comics in 1970s is seen as a pivotal event in the creation […]
There are few truly enduring characters of popular culture: Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, James Bond are first string. Doc Savage, The Man with No Name, Batman are in the list. You can’t argue with the inclusion of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian. The character is primal which probably accounts for the continued popularity in prose […]
Marvel Comics’ title Conan the Barbarian under the editorship of Roy Thomas was one of the classic bronze age comic books. Barbarian Life: A Literary Biography of Conan the Barbarian (Pulp Hero Press) by Roy Thomas gives a detailed issue by issue history of the first 51 issues of comic book. Thomas had originally wrote […]
Building the Hero: The Pulp Approach
Saturday , 8, July 2017 Vlad James Appendix N, Authors, Before the Big Three, Fiction 16 CommentsSay what you will about the pulps, but even their most dogged detractor would admit they produced damn memorable heroes. Tarzan is one of the most influential characters of the 20th century. Conan is still iconic and beloved to this day. And a slew of others, like The Shadow, Red Sonja, and Doc Savage had […]
Most works derived from Robert E. Howard’s Conan are lousy. Conan the Destroyer (1984), while it has a few amusing elements, is ultimately a mediocre, forgettable 80s swords-and-sorcery flick. There was a TV series that ran from 1997 to 1998 called Conan: The Adventurer. It was horrendous. I mentioned a children’s cartoon called Conan: The Adventurer from the early […]