Customer Reviews

The Chronicles Of Kull Volume 1: A King Comes Riding And Other Stories (Chronicles of Kull 1)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but the stories (some of them, not all) were kind of stupid, they felt to me hurried and unfinished, and it left me wondering why Kull would do this or do that, maybe 2 or 3 issue story arch would have been better suited for some of the story plots and would have made better since to Kull's decision making. I don't know, this is just my opinion, but the book was canceled for a reason. However, I bought the book for the art, and the art is stunning.

A roaring good read and lots of it. Superior artwork. Some semi nudity might offend a few, otherwise Highly Recommended.

A "needed" item for people looking back to nostalgic "Comic' Golden Seventies."

Just fine Readable condition- as described (and even better.)

Kull had always been a poor cousin to Conan, even in the comics. The short run of this series testify to that lop-sided appreciation. Even Roy Thomas, who championed this series at first, gave up writing duties first to Len Wein and then Gerry Conway so as to focus on Conan and other titles. What really propels this series along is the quality artwork, which is clearly magnificent.

However, the writing here is rather too elaborate, with plot lines sometime missing their marks in trying to craft some context to these episodic stories. Except for Thulsa Doom, the continuity of plot lines is largely undeveloped. Thulsa Doom remains a very poor villian, resembling Skeletor (in He-Man Masters of the Universe), completely juvenile. Finally, unlike Conan, Kull does not take to wenching, preferring to hang out with Brule, the spear slayer.