The Essential Conan, Volume #1 (Conan the Barbarian #1-25) [Paperback]

Roy Thomas (Author), Stan Lee (Editor), Barry Windsor-Smith (Illustrator), John Buscema (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2000

Trade paperback.

Product Details

• Paperback: 530 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785107517
• ISBN-13: 978-0785107514
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #849,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The development of Barry Windsor-Smith as an Illustrator, September 20, 2000

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Essential Conan, Volume #1 (Conan the Barbarian #1-25) (Paperback)

I remember when Barry Smith drew his first comic for Marvel Comics. It was an issue of the X-Men that we all thought was THE WORST DRAWN COMIC BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. It turned out that Smith, newly arrived from England, drew the issue on park benches in NYC. When the first issue of Conan the Barbarian arrived it was clear he was not that bad. By the time his run as artist on "Conan" ended it was even more clear he was something special and the fact that the illustrative style that had evolved in those two-year span was not feasible within the demands of producing monthly issues of a comic book was a depressing irony.

Barry Windsor-Smith has long been my favorite "comic book artist," and this collection traces his evolution as such quite admirably. Indeed, not other collection could better serve that purpose. A simple comparison of the covers from Conan #1 and Smith's swansong issue #24 ("The Song of Red Sonja") evidences the transformation from artist to illustrator. For that matter you can also consider Smith intermediary style (e.g., #13 "Web of the Spider-God"). This transformation is as impressive because of how quickly in took place while he was drawing Conan as it is for the artistic growth. But even in his work today you can see how it is grounded in the style he developed while working on this comic.

These reprinted stories are presented in black and white, which is certainly better than nothing, but I look forward to Smith's work being presented in color as it originally appeared. I notice this most particularly in the Epilogue to Conan #20, "The Black Hound of Vengeance," which was originally presented in muted tones of gray, blue and brown. Smith abandoned panels in an interesting change of pace that underscored the emotional impact of the sequence. Without color that impact is most decidedly lost. One of the things that is still discernable is the increase in the number of panels per page from issue to issue through Smith's tenure as he became more comfortable with using art rather than dialogue to advance parts of the story. The best example of this is the hanging sequence on page 14 of Conan #10.

From a writing stand point it should be noted that there is a nice balance between stories adapted from Robert E. Howard's Conan work and original stories by Roy Thomas. For the former "The Tower of the Elephant" (#4) is usually considered the high point. The appearance of Michael Moorcock's Elric in issues #14-15 seems a bit forced, while the Fafnir character (original a quick tribute to Fritz Leiber's famous pair of thieves) becomes a wonderfully integrated character into an ongoing story line.

Of the 25 issues included in this collection not all are drawn by Smith. Several issues are drawn by Gil Kane because Smith had missed a deadline or took a hiatus from working on Conan. Thomas' ability as a storyteller capable of crafting bigger and longer storylines would continue to grow, and while John Buscema's artwork on Conan was quite excellent (especially when inked by Ernie Chan), Barry Smith's work will always stand on a plateau. Jim Steranko cracked open the door on stylized illustration in color comics, but Barry Smith was the one who gets credit for busting all the way through.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun look at the Hyborian age's greatest hero, July 16, 2000

By 

Nathan (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Conan, Volume #1 (Conan the Barbarian #1-25) (Paperback)

The essential Conan is a collection of the first 25 issues of the Conan the Barbarian comics released by Marvel back in the early seventies. Although this book is in black and white, a format which seems to have gone out of style, this book often manages to capture the spirit of the original Conan stories. The plots aren't usually too dumb, and as the book advances the comics go from a bunch of individual stories to big story-arcs, making it more readable and giving it more of a sense of continuity.

While this book doesn't always stick to the Conan stories continuity-wise, for the most part it fits in, filling little gaps in between those stories. Also, several of howard's better stories are adapted to comic format here; Tower of the Elephant, Frost Giant's Daughter, and Rogues in the House to name a few. We get the first comics' appearance of Red Sonja as well.

Overall, this is a fun, quick read, and although it's only in B&W, for the sheer amount of materiel included herein it's definitely worth the cover price.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE COMING OF CONAN, December 28, 2004

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Essential Conan, Volume #1 (Conan the Barbarian #1-25) (Paperback)

When Marvel, without much fanfare took a chance and gave an unknown Character named Conan his own title in 1970, it was quite a risk. Ok...so he wasn't unknown. The pulp character of the savage barbarian warrior had been around since the 1930's when created by Robert E. Howard and had undergone a revival in the 1960's with the release of the Ace/Lancer paperback editions of the Howard Stories.

Still, it was an interesting decision to give him his own title..Wow..and what a decision! The Conan title ran for nearly 30 years, and also included the companion titles King Conan, and the B & W magazine Savage Sword of Conan.

This huge trade paperback collects the first 25 issues of the conan comic written by Roy Thomas and drawn by a newcomer, British artist Barry Smith. Smith began as an artist heavily influenced by Jack Kirby, but over time began to develop own distinctive, and very detailed style.

His Barbarian differed than that of Frank Frazetta's in that Smiths was a younger, leaner, even skinny type, as opposed to Frazetta's heavily muscled giant. This image tended to turn some people off a bit but Smith has gone on to become such a renowned master that I think his work now gets the praise it justly deserves.

The first 25 issues are a mix of original stories by Roy Thomas as well as Howard adaptions such as "The Tower of the Elephant" and "Rogues in the House" as well as the first appearance of Red Sonja. There was also a silly teaming with Michael Moorcocks Elric which was way out of place.

it's nice to see Marvel's Essential collection put out at such an affordable price even if they are in B&W. This Conan collection is a must for any conan fan.