The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 1 (v. 1) [Paperback]

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

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2011

In the mid 1970s following the colossal success of Conan the Barbarian, Roy Thomas helped expand the universe of Conan to showcase further stories and the talents of some of the comics industry's best with the equally popular Savage Sword of Conan magazine. Now, for the first time in over thirty years, these primal tales, featuring Robert E. Howard's most popular character, are available in this, the first in a series of massive trade paperbacks, collecting all Savage Sword Conan stories beginning with issue one. Included in this volume are tales by Roy Thomas, featuring the breathtaking art of such legends as Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala, Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Pablo Marcos, Walter Simonson and more. But that's not all. Also included in this tome are Conan's few appearances in the title Savage Tales - for the complete Conan collection!

Product Details

• Paperback: 542 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse; Reprint edition (March 29, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593078382
• ISBN-13: 978-1593078386
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Long Last!, January 11, 2008

By 

amsterdamaged - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

I have to say that I disagree with the negative reviews about this product. For the sheer volume of material vs. price, this is a great bargain. Consider the fact that the DH reprints of the "Conan the Barbarian" comic (Chronicles of Conan) are printed on high quality paper and cost approximately the same price as this volume. But they also only contain seven or eight issues per volume and run less than 150 pages. This volume reprints over 500 pages and contains material from 15 seperate issues. So, I guess DH could have just reprinted issues 1-5 on high quality paper, and made us wait two months for the next volume, or the could have charged us $40.00 to $50.00 for each volume. You do the math.

Yes, the size has been shrunk from the normal magazine size, but I don't actually have a problem with that because the artwork is left completely intact. I know that one reviewer claims otherwise. Maybe he just obtained a bad copy. I don't know. But NONE of the artwork is hidden from view, at least not in my copy. The quality of the paper is the same as the original magazine, which is what I anticipated. No surprises there. Bottom line: I didn't buy this as an investment that would increase in value over the years. I bought this because I get to see great stories and artwork that I thought I would never see again. I threw out my old SSOC magazines years ago, and ever since the Howard revival that started in 2002 or so, I've been regretting that decision.

Ah, the memories! For those who've never seen SSOC, in the 70s and 80s, this was the "hardcore" big brother to the comic book. It was completely unrestrained by the comics code, and the artists took full advantage of that fact. While this volume is pretty tame, in the subsequent years it became racier and racier. This is Conan the way Howard wrote Conan: R rated. Being 9 or 10 at the time, I remember hiding these from my parents. Even the covers, which often featured a well endowed female wearing only brass pasties, would have sent my mom into a hissy.

There are beautifully rendered adaptions of great Howard stories: Black Colossus, The Frost Giants Daughter, Red Nails, Iron Shadows in the Moon, A Witch Shall Be Born, and Hour of The Dragon. Also included are non-Conan Howard stories adapted for Conan, including Curse of the Undead Man, People of the Dark, and The Dark Man.

My only disappointment is that they didn't reprint the other material from the magazine, such as the King Kull, Bran Mak Morn, and Solomon Kane stories, as well as the excellent essays. And they only feature the last few chapters of Hour of the Dragon, but not the complete novel. But all things considered, I'm very pleased with the purchase, and look forward to volume 2. I just hope that it doesn't prove as difficult to obtain.

If you're a Conan fan, this is a must have. Five stars!!!

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Savage Sword Swings Again!, January 18, 2008

By 

Darrell Heath (Little Rock, AR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

I can still recollect that summer day in 1974 when, at the tender age of 12, I first encountered Marvel's "Savage Sword of Conan". I happened to have about $1.50 on hand and I was eager to go to my local drugstore (my only source for comics at the time)and see what all was new on the racks. So, I hopped on my trusty bike and rode like the wind over my 1 1/2 mile trek. When I got inside the drugstore the first thing that caught my eye was a magazine sized comic with one of the most glorious covers I had ever seen. It depicted a huge muscled sword wielding guy and a buxom sword wielding red haired woman apparently fighting for their very lives against a horde of scary looking axe wielding skeletons!! I was hooked. I had to have the magazine and find out just who this Conan guy was and how had he managed to get himself and this woman in such a dire predicament. Well, needless to say that was the day I first encountered sword and sworcery fiction, Conan, Robert E. Howard, Boris Vallejo, Barry Smith, Neal Adams, Esteban Moroto, John Buscema, Roy Thomas and a slew of other very talented folks. And all in one issue!!!

I still have a few of those original comics and to this day they still manage to evoke that same feeling of excitement and sense of adventure whenever I look at them all these long years later. Truly, this was Conan done right and no interpretation of Howard's barbarian hero done since feels quite as authentic as "Savage Sword" did. Which isn't to say I dislike Dark Horses recent Conan series. Its just that the new series is often hit or miss and the writers sometimes seem to be giving us what they think their interpretation of Conan should be as opposed to Howard's original conception. But SSOC, to me at least, seemed to be consistently firing on all cylinders and the storytelling and artwork were often nothing short of breathtaking. If you aren't familiar with SSOC just do a search on the internet for "Savage Sword of Conan" and check out the covers on some of those old issues. Or, better yet go to your local bookstore or comics dealer and check out this latest omnibus edition from Dark Horse and glance inside at the art.

Now I know that there are some purist folks out there who have some major complaints about page formatting, paper quality etc. (and their points are well taken) but in the end I'm just content to have access to these fabulous stories once again and at a very reasonable price to boot. This volume BTW collects issues 1-10 of SSOC as well as 5 rare story appearances in the magazine called Savage Tales. Thats over 500 plus pages of sword and sorcery action and barbaric mayhem! All rendered in some of the most fantastic fantasy art and comic book story telling you are likely to ever see.

Now, I would love to have seen SSOC given a deluxe treatment but then it probably would have broken my bank account to have collected all the volumes of such a series so I have to be happy with what I got, which is still pretty good BTW. So, if you are new to Conan and the genre of sword and sorcery and you are looking for a good introduction then by all means get a hold of this volume ASAP. If you are looking for the definitive editions of SSOC you may be sorely disappointed by this collection. Either way you look at it though I am just happy to see the re-emergence of this classic comic which, combined with the new series and the reprinting of Robert E. Howard's original works from Ballantine, helps to keep Conan and his creator well within the eye of current pop culture. Long may he stay there!!

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ignore all the negative reviews, January 17, 2008

By 

Christopher Gwyn (over there) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

I just received this book today and am very happy with the product. This book has been ridiculously denigrated by reviewers. I dont get it. It is just like a Marvel Essential or a DC Showcase book. Since these stories were originally presented in black and white anyway, you lose nothing in this format. There is no problem with binding or margin at all. I can read every panel including those on the inside of the pages. I ordered the Predator Omnibus from Dark Horse and was surprised at the smaller size of the book. Not this book. This volume is the exact same dimensions as any standard sized TPB. Maybe my copy came from a second printing but it is larger than I expected.

As far as the content goes, this is classic Conan. Some of the best writing and art in the history of Conan's existence as a comic character is found in these pages. I am pre-ordering volume 2 right now. BUY THIS BOOK if you are a fan of Conan and his adventures.