The Chronicles of Kull Volume 1: A King Comes Riding and Other Stories kicks off Dark Horse's newest addition to its popular Robert E. Howard reprint line. Presenting every color Kull comic from the 1970s and '80s chronologically for the first time ever, Volume 1 features completely remastered color Kull stories from Creatures on the Loose! #10, Monsters on the Prowl #16, and Kull the Conqueror #1 to #9. The writing talents of legendary creators Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Len Wein, and John Jakes and the stunning visuals of Marie Severin, John Severin, and Bernie Wrightson are on display in such thrilling tales as "The Skull of Silence," "Night of the Red Slayers," and "The Forbidden Swamp!" See how Robert E. Howard's Kull stories were interpreted over three decades ago in comics.
| ||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Artistic Highpoint...,
By
This review is from: The Chronicles Of Kull Volume 1: A King Comes Riding And Other Stories (Chronicles of Kull 1) (Paperback)
This collection from Dark Horse is a wonderful assembly of Marvel Comics first attempts at adapting Kull to comics. The stories are all very readable and in many ways superior to the Conan series Kull was intended to cash in on. But the real "draw" here is the artwork. Kull first appeared in comics under the pen of Berni Wrightson. After Wrightson, the legendary Wally Wood (inked by Ross Andru) drew the first issue of "Kull the Conqueror." But then, Marie and John Severin took over the art chores and stayed with the book until it was canceled with issue #10. The Severins brought a beautiful "illustrative" quality to the book at a time when Barry Smith was still developing his artistic style on "Conan." This collection even includes two short backup stories done by the Severins. A nice addition, but its a real shame Dark Horse couldn't have squeezed in just one more issue (#10) to capture Marie Severin's complete run on "Kull" in a single volume (that last issue wasn't inked by John). Still, this is a great collection for fans of great comic art. Wrightson, Wood, Andru and Severin (both of them). It just doesn't get much better.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Origins of King Kull,
By Doc Watson (Southern California) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Chronicles Of Kull Volume 1: A King Comes Riding And Other Stories (Chronicles of Kull 1) (Paperback)
Robert E. Howard's King Kull is generally regarded as something of a stepchild to the author's more famous creation, Conan. As it is with REH's original stories and so it is with the comic book incarnations of the two characters. Justifiably, in my opinion, the Conan comics, especially early on with the combo of Roy Thomas' writing and the exquisite artwork of Barry Windsor-Smith were $.20 masterpieces. The Kull books, well, not so much, having a bit of a "me too" air to them.This volume collects the early appearances of Kull from the early 1970s, first in other comic titles, including the Conan book, and then in the first nine issues of Kull's own comic. The artwork in the first Kull story, by Berni Wrightson, is dark and shadowy, befitting of the character's origin in 1930's pulps like Weird Tales. It would have be interesting to see how the series might have looked had Wrightson continued to draw it. However, Kull came into its own once the brother and sister team of Marie and John Serverin took over the art duties. Good or bad (and the drawings certainly have some of both) the artwork certainly establishes Kull's world as unique from Conan's Hyborian Age. As Mark Flint notes in his forward to the book, the artwork takes on a decided Prince Valiant look. Indeed, while their style is detailed and distinct, it's likely to remind the reader of the Sunday comics supplement. This is particularly the case with the coloring. Those who have appreciated the more subtle coloring in the Dark Horse Conan collections, may find the more basic coloring of this title, with the prevalence of primary colors, a bit jarring. Also somewhat off-putting are the Severins' tendency to depict Kull in a series of differently colored Speedos. Worse, the recurring arch-villian Thulsa Doom, who appears with a white skull head on a human body, red cape and black underwear, strongly calls to mind, as another reviewer has already mentioned, Skeletor. Probably not the vibe they were shooting for. On the whole, though, I enjoyed the stories in this book. They hew pretty closely to the original Howard yarns, including elements like the snakemen of the shadow kingdom and the conspirators who are always looking to unseat the usurping Atlantean who is now king Valusia. Good stuff. So if you enjoy books like the Conan comics, but are looking for something a bit different, you could do worse than to give the Kull stories a try.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A King Comes Brooding,
This review is from: The Chronicles Of Kull Volume 1: A King Comes Riding And Other Stories (Chronicles of Kull 1) (Paperback)
And brood he does, but that doesn't detract in the slightest from this first volume. Kull's burden-of-the-crown is portrayed rather nicely and I overall couldn't put the book down. I haven't read anything about Kull prior to reading this so that may bias my review a bit.Kull is an Atlantean barbarian exile-turned king of civilized Valusia, and the story tends to revolve around the various evils and intrigues that pop up during his reign; always with the help of his trusty comrade-in-arms Brule, the Pict. From Thulsa Doom to snakemen, Kull just can't get a break - and then include the very burden of the crown and as a result you have a pretty, as aforementioned, brooding character. However unlike most of the angsty teenagers in much modern entertainment, it feels real and Kull doesn't let it weaken him. Just as anyone goes through a drastic change in conditions in life they may feel a longing for how things once were, but responsibilities keep us, and Kull, from going back. The art is fairly good and pretty consistent throughout the book - it never detracts from the story and definitely adds something to it. I've not read much from this time frame so I can't comment on his it compared to its contemporaries. Overall it's a good read - if you have any experience with Conan you'll definitely see Kull as a bit of a prototype, but by no means is that a bad thing. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in barbarians, especially those of the brooding kind.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
