Manos!

How cool is Manos? Well, he's so similar to Conan that they were probably joined at the hip at birth, so it's no wonder he gets all the ladies...



...and he's got his own sticker (my kids get unhinged when you give them stickers, so I suppose that's pretty cool)...



...in addition, the Manos comics have really cool wraparound covers, some of which can be seen over on Mundo Bocato (which is an awesome blog btw, but some of it, well, nsfw).



I keep reading that Manos was originally published in Germany by Bastei-Verlag R.F.A. in 1984 under the title Wulkan, but I have never come across such a comic...I do though see THIS Wulkan comic often, which was published in 1982 by Ediciones Dalmau, and looks a lot like Manos, so I'm a little confused...

In any case, Manos was published in Spain by Editorial Bruguera, S.A., between 1984-85, and consisted of some 23 issues. If you take a close look, it's pretty easy to see just how similar Manos and Conan really are.

Whether it's while drinking a cup of ale...

The Savage Sword of Conan #50 vs Manos #01

Hangin' with their homies...

The Savage Sword of Conan #49 vs Manos #01

OK, one more example, but I think you're getting it by now...

The Savage Sword of Conan #5 vs Manos #3

The artwork in Manos was pretty much ripped off from the likes of John Buscema, and apparently when not from him, then from Victor de la Fuente...and not along the lines of paying homage, but in many cases, blatant plagiarism. Not cool!!!

That said, I still really wanted to know what Manos was all about, so I went ahead and translated the first issue, and now I'm in the know. The writer probably should have just gone ahead and plagiarized the stories too, and then they should have called it Conan instead of Manos, and it would have been a damn fine read!

But don't take my word for it, you decide! Here's Manos #01 – Hell’s Counterstrike (in English, of course)...

Download via Rapidshare or Megaupload!

Hordes of Chaos! Epic Barbarian Metal!

CROM! reader known only as Ryan sent me the link to this wicked video of the thundering metal band, Kreator, ripping it up on their song Hordes of Chaos, while footage of Conan-esque barbarians beat the living tar out of each other and drag hot chicks around by their wrists. This is the kind of music I grew up on in high school, so I found it especially rocking. >:)

Anyway, thanks to Ryan and everyone enjoy!

Frank the German Barbarian!

Hail Fellow Conan Fans!

I received a great e-mail from a nice guy from Germany who is all about dressing up like Conan and hitting the comic/sci fi/fantasy conventions. Anyone who's got the stones to walk around a European convention center wearing little more than a fur loincloth is okay in my book. So swing by Frank's Myspace page and say hello!

And as Frank says, Strength and Honor!

Conan, Made In Japan!

Conan doesn't appear to be all that popular in Japan (well, ONE Conan is, but I'm not going there). A number of Robert E. Howard stories, though, have been translated into Japanese over the years, with covers courtesy of local artists...

There's the Gnome Press reprints, published in Japan between 1970 and 1973, with cover art by Motoichiro Takebe...



The Lancer reprints, published between 1971 and 1976, with cover art by Shuuji Yanagi...



And the new, revised edition (Complete Works) which are currently being published, 2006-present, but I'm unsure of the artist(s) involved...



Here's a slideshow of all the Japanese Conan book covers I've come across, less a few from artist Jun Suemi (which are by far my personal favorites, but other than thumbnails, I can't seem to find decent size images anymore)...

Although I'm not overly impressed with a lot of these particular covers, the artists involved are all extremely talented...just click on their names above to see what I mean! And for a bit more info on these covers, check out the website Jack in Japan!

Conan, The Senior!

What's Conan up to during the final years of his life? Lawn bowling and checkers in the park? Volunteering as an usher down at the local theater? Blowing his social security check on frequent visits to Starbucks? Nope.



This short story "Final Days...The Ashes", written by Joan Josep Mussarra and drawn by Carlos Jose Arroyo Saavedra, helps answer this very question.

From Editorial Planeta's La Espada Salvaje de Conan (The Savage Sword of Conan) #10 (3rd era), and now in English...Enjoy!

(click images to enlarge)

Benito Gallego Update!

I see that Benito has moved into 2nd place over at Zuda! This calls for another sample of his most excellent Conan artwork....go Benito! The rest of you, go vote for Benito!

70's Marvel Magazine Advertisement!

The 70's (well maybe early 80's, I'm not really sure of the actual date of this ad) were a much more innocent time...



And look who's leading the pack...

OK CROM! readers, if you're going to comment on this, please keep it clean, or at the very least, legal!

The White Death!

Yep, it's another Conan comic from Spain (freshly translated into English), again the fantástico work of Chuck Dixon and Argentinian Rubén Meriggi, who brought us The Mammoth Hunters. Once again, the story and the artwork...kick ass! Love it!



Rubén was kind enough to comment on that previous post, explaining (if I understand him correctly) that he had drawn four Conan comics...three of these were published in Europe, but none were ever published in the USA, because the the new editor of Conan the Barbarian (at that time) considered them extremely violent.



This story, La Meurte Blanca ("The White Death") originally appeared in Editorial Planeta's La Espada Salvaje de Conan (The Savage Sword of Conan) #7 (3rd era).

Download it now (The White Death, 31 pages) via Rapidshare or Megaupload, before your computer ends up at its final resting place, the IT department of Crom!

Or-Grund!

What do I know about Or-Grund? Well, not that much. In many ways, I suppose he could pass for Conan's blond twin brother, being a fearless barbarian from the north, wandering the world in search of adventure, waging war against freakish monsters and corrupt men. Unlike Conan, and in true barbaric fashion, Or-Grund refers to himself in the third person.

I can also say with some certainty that Or-Grund made some 95 appearances in Editorial Columba's D'artagnan and Nippur in Argentina during the 70's and 80's.

(look ma, my very first slideshow!)

The first 49 Or-Grund comics featured stories by South American writer Robin Wood from Paraguay, and the remainder by Argentinian Armando Fernández, both truly prolific comic book writers. All the interior artwork is that of Argentinian Ricardo Villagrán, who has had a long illustrious career, and has even inked many a Conan comic for Marvel. A bit of Ricardo's Conan artwork can be seen HERE.



For a real taste of the coolness that is Or-Grund, I've translated Episode #7, La Esencia Del Agua ("The Essence of Water") into English...Download via Rapidshare or Megaupload now!

Vote for Benito Gallego!

How can you not love Benito Gallego's artwork...if you've been around here for a while you've already seen a bunch of it in the Sword Studio Conan comics...



You may have also seen a post I made over on the REH Illustrated blog, which linked to his "REH like" comic, Escape to Madness!, over at ComicArtFans...

OK, here's the thing. Benito's been selected as one of the ten contenders in this months competition over at ZUDA Comics (DC's webcomic site). Benito's entry, Children Of The Sewer is spectacular! Sure it's not Conan, but if you're a fan of John Buscema, then you won't be dissapointed!

Let's support Benito! I see that he's currently in 3rd place, so he needs your help to win this competition, and get a full contract with DC Comics to publish the rest of this comic (60 pages) on zudacomics.com!

So click HERE, enjoy his comic, and most importantly VOTE for Benito! It's really easy to vote (you do need to register, but the registration is simple, and the entire process took me but a couple of minutes...time well spent!).

And While We're at it...

Let's all show some respect to one of my all time favorite artists, Earl Norem. Just look at how awesome this piece is!

(Click to see the full size image)

Conan Art by Jack Kirby!

Growing up on comic books taught me a lot of things, but lesson #1 was pretty much that the legendary Jack Kirby is the friggin man, and don't you forget it! Hell, I learned to draw from ripping off his comic panels and his influence can be seen in my personal artwork to this day. So, naturally, when I came across this Kirby piece of our favorite barbarian, I just had to post it (Kirby did the cover for Giant Size Conan #5).

This piece was actually penciled by Kirby and inked by contemporary artist Alec Fritz. Damn fine job, too!