Conan the Barbarian: The Original Marvel Years

This week’s Epic Comic Book Wednesday!
Conan the Barbarian!
Also check out:
Steve Donoghue:
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Epic Marvel Podcast on KZbin:
/ @epicmarvelpodcast

[@AJDunnReads]

You should be a comic book historian. I think that's the perfect job for you.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

If only i could get someone to pay me for that!

[@ABFrank.]

Your knowledge of the history of these comics is a joy to listen to 👍

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks! I know fewer people watch comic book stuff so I’m glad you liked it.

[@carlosdias1224]

I still have my collections from the 70's to the 90's of Conan! When I was a child, he was one of the great drivers for me to dedicate myself to fantasy art. The covers by artists like Boris and Frazetta were absolutely fantastic! Thank you for this time travel! Great review, man!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks! It’s great to connect with a Conan fan! I have a video coming up about Frezetta!

[@culturefan]

I dig Marvel's Conan. I came to them late, but a gal in my art class turned me onto them, and she liked John Buscema, as I do now. Barry Windsor is good, and for young Conan stories they work well. Enjoyed your take on the comic.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

John Buscema is my favorite Conan artist!

[@revenantreads]

I always look forward to these comic book history lessons, and that you’re talking Conan makes it that much better.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks! Conan is the best!

[@callmeishmael3031]

When I think of Conan, I think of Frazetta's Conan. Barry Smith was probably the most important artist in my life because of his work's effect on me in my teens. I've been a professional artist all my life. Yes, I bought that first Marvel Conan when I was thirteen, and bought every Smith Conan after that, including some jumbo sized "Red Nails" b&w's with all their black dots all over the place--his style got overly wild by then. His main influence was the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of the 19th Century. You can see this most especially in his paintings in a paperback art book called "The Studio" published in 1979 which also had artworks of Jeffrey Jones, Michael Kaluta, and Berni Wrightson. When I was 20, I had to sell them all my Conan comics to pay the rent one day. Ugh. But I still have a set of b&w prints in a portfolio that Smith made of Conan for Gorblimey Press that I paid $20 for brand new when I was 16(?) at a comic convention. I see someone has the same set up on eBay right now asking $1200. I didn't like Gil Kane's Conan. His drawing is not organic. Buscema made a different Conan, brutish, less magical, very much like the Weird Tales' covers Conan, and leading the way to Shwarzenegger's Conan. I lost interest in the Conan comic book after Smith's departure, but by then I had grown out of comics, generally. Smith and Howard had such a profound effect on my teens, and if you want to know Conan, you have to see and read those two.

[@quintahab1004]

WOW....really brings me back. You mentioned something about crossovers. There were some pretty good What If? comics with Conan. What if Conan were alive today. Another was Stuck in the 20th Century and Conan vs. Wolverine. That also had Red Sonya. There was also a Conan vs. Rune comic that came out in the 90s. Good stuff.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I think they will be reprinting all those What Ifs in the Omnibus volumes. I hope so anyway.

[@jamesl4857]

TwoMorrows Publishing's magazine BACK ISSUE has done two CONAN themed issues.- #11 and 121. I pitched for all the articles in the latter, and was assigned the DC ARAK, SON OF THUNDER piece. I initially pitched as an excuse to discuss Roy Thomas' comics. Roy gave me my first professional writing gig ten years ago, and I always consider writing about his work a thank you for giving me that job. All The Best, James Heath Lantz Freelance Writer Staff Writer for Back Issue magazine 2021 Eisner Award nominee, 2019 winner, "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism"

[@jeremyfee]

I was watching this late night comedy show and this guy pronounced it "Conin" and I was like what? It's "CONAN," sheesh. I have an old Red Sonja comic sitting around somewhere, but I haven't read enough of the Conan comics. Great video, as always.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks! Well, at least they are available again if you ever want to read them!

[@DDB168]

Looking very Robert E Howard (again) today ! Since discovering this channel I have become a Howard tragic (well so far I've only purchased/read Conan the Cimmerian🤣 ). I will try one of these epic collections at some point. Thanks for the history tour.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

You are very welcome! Thanks for the continued support!

[@DDB168]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 No worries but you do realise you OWE ME several weeks of Doc Savage videos now ? 🤣

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

@@DDB168 I was going through the shelves in the back of the Manor yesterday and I saw a bunch of Doc Savage books looking at me accusingly! I thought, damn, I really need to do that video!

[@FrankGrauJr]

The B&W Savage Sword comics by Roy Thomas and John Buscema is still my favorite iteration of Conan in comics.

[@alexnejako777]

BWS is the comic book Dante Gabriel Rosetti. just beautiful art across the board

[@benriley6716]

Just a heads up, Titan Comics is reprinting the Conan and Savage Sword Omnibuses. Great opportunity to pick them up at a reasonable price. Oh, and a brand new Conan comic starting in June.

[@benriley6716]

Great video, really enjoying the channel. BWS did the perfect Conan as an adolescent. With Big John Buscema pulling off the classic adult Conan. Some of my favorite comics of all time.

[@Wabin22]

Thank you my good Sir! I've been trying to research the Conan comics in order for me to get more into it and start reading them, and your videos has been great part in it :) I wasn't sure I liked this old school style of comic art but it's something that keeps getting me back. I do like the new and still ongoing Conan stories, those artwork are amazing in my opinion. But I will pay my respect and get these classic stories and give them the chance they deserve :)

[@sgriffin9960]

Oh man, I want those two Epics! That artwork is fabulous!

[@Dems-fk8sh]

Both of these books, it turned out, are essential readings. Issue #1 is fantastic !

[@OANNAAS]

Great review! Thank you.

[@BookBlather]

Nice historical recap, as usual. Don’t believe I’ve ever read a single Conan comic. I wonder if I own any…

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

It’s never too late to read Conan!

[@ThisJustInBookTube]

Another great comic book Wednesday video! Are the prices of these Epic collections comparable to their smaller size? If not, it might be worth just picking up the Omnibus, no?

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Well, you pretty much have to jump on those Omnibuses as soon as they come out. I think I saw the first volume running around $250. These Epics you can get under $30 each, so that’s not bad.

[@ThisJustInBookTube]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Good point. I’m still waiting for the reprint of the third Amazing Spider-Man omnibus because I refuse to spend the three to four hundred bucks they’ve been going for on eBay.

[@mediumjohnsilver]

Epic!

[@zuffin1864]

I am glad they reprinted these, but do you know if they have made any reprints that are similar to the original matte prints? The colors are more saturated in this gloss and new printing tech it wasn't made for so i want to see the art in that original context

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Titan Books just reprinted these stories in a new omnibus volume that I haven’t seen. I suspect it looks just like the Marvel reprint though.

[@comicbookninja5268]

Great review!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks!

[@garylovisi357]

Michael, great video. I loved Barry Smith before he became Barry Windsor Smith. We used to haunt to candy store comic racks for the new Conan comics when Smith did the art. The stories and art were mind blasting good! Buscema was good but no Smith. I think Marvel put a lot of pressure on Smith. His Red Nails In Savage Tales, I believe, was just incredible, even stronger because of the black and white. These are still monumental comic book heroic fantasy art! Thanks for such a great presentation.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

His Red Nails is a masterpiece! I have the two original Savage Tales issues with that story.

[@jamesfetcho6315]

I have very little Dark Horse Conan. Most of mine are(Outside of Robert E. Howard) are the Marvel black & white Conan Magazines. Like the Savage Sword , The Savage, and the Adventurer .Which are my favorites. 👍😁👍 I'm going 2 have 2 dig mine out. Thoth- Amon I believe was twice in the Mags , and Comics. Also mentioned other times. I believe Conan was tricked into killing one of Thoth- Amons enemies once also and Stealing a Gem for him, or from him. I can't remember. LoL 🤣 That was a great Review, and Video. 👍😁👍 I enjoyed it.👍😁👍

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks! Dark Horse did a good job for most of its run. The Queen of the Black Coast stuff wasn’t great though. They did a fantastic King Conan series. The Marvel Black & White stuff was the best.

[@jamesfetcho6315]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 I will have 2 check out the King Conan series by Dark Horse since You said it was good. 👍

[@Miki-xq3hr]

Eres un manta tío gracias por enseñar las portadas

[@vuzkoth]

The coloring bothers me on these. The white paper makes it all so bright and garish.

[@JoshuaHornbaker]

You can see the updated version of the comics