Prince Valiant

One of Big John Buscema's influences was Hal Foster and I'd heard him say with my own ears in an in store QnA back in 1986 that he'd always wanted to draw Prince Valiant...so recentlly I got to work searching out images of Val on the web by Big John... alas I could not find any. However I did come across a few images of Val by familar artists who have worked on CONAN...We all know Ernie Chan...Frank Brunner and Rafael Kayanan right? You should. ;) Well as a bit of an Homage to Big John here are a few pieces of art I wanted to share with the readers of CROM...enjoy.

"Savage Sword of Conan 200"

SSOC 200 : A special story written by Roy Thomas and art by John Buscema and Ernie Chan the dynamic duo of the Hyborian age!!!

" Barbarians of the Border " Is a cleverly interwoven tale of Conan on an amazing adventure with all the trappings and fixings you’d expect , Giant bats , Sorcery , Wizards of course , action , swordplay , battle scenes and damsels in distress paired with the fictional account of how REH was inspired to create Conan…
On one of his day trips to San Antonio Texas REH happens across an antique store and decides to go in and peruse the shop. While he is checking out the guns,swords and knives a Mysterious stranger begins a conversation with him.
A little history lesson ensues about the ALAMO and TWO GUN BOB informs Mr. Topi ( The stranger ) that he is a writer having a dry spell and looking for inspiration by taking a little time off from writing to clear his head.
Then the two continue their conversation on the bus to the other side of the border where they part ways. I liked this exchange because TWO GUN talks about the magazines his YARNS appear in and mentions characters he’s created and you feel like this could actually have been part of REH’s life as it is quite possible he did sit down with a stranger one day and fill them in on who he is and what he does to put bread on the table. I felt like for a brief moment I had a glimpse into Howard’s life and it made me adhere to the character of REH playing out on paper and reeled me in. Clever writing at it’s finest. You see it is tricks and deliberate plot contrivances like that which writer’s use as a common tool to get the readers enraptured and enmeshed in the story. Something we are aware of going in.
Now back to the story : Later on we see Bob wearing a sombrero and Poncho about to walk into a Cantina where it clearly states on the wall outside Gringo’s are not welcome.
He goes inside anyway and sits down to sample some of the local cuisine. Not long after that he overhears some of the locals speaking English and talking about making an exchange and a tradeoff and he has been privy to some privileged information. The Waitress blows his cover to the bad men and they escort him forcefully outside and pull a knife on him to ask him just exactly how much he heard. One of the crooked dudes is Mr. Topi , Bob’s new friend from the antique shop. A scuffle , a knife and Bob winds up in the drink!!!
The bad guys take off and head off to their rendezvous. Bob drags himself from the water and heads out to figuratively cut them off at the pass. It’s a story you should all read and an issue of Savage sword of Conan you should all own.
All wrapped up in a fantastic Joe Jusko cover with righteous pin ups by Dave Simons and Mike Docherty!!! The articles within , the Story behind the story and a History of Savage sword as well as a write up titled “ The Father of Conan” by Glenn Lord of all people make the issue priceless. The entire package is worth your time and energies and I highly recommend everyone going out and getting hold of their very own copy of “Savage sword of Conan 200” It’s guaranteed to be a great yarn!!!

I am extremely saddened to announce the passing of Ernie Chan

I am at a complete loss for words...Ernie Chan passed away....He was a fantastic artist and a wonderful guy...I met him at several conventions over the years. He was a sweetheart and had the most charming and captivating smile,Rest in peace Ernie. ( Ernie Chan July 27, 1940-May 16, 2012)

Conan Swag and Ernie Chan at the Emerald City Comic Con!

This past weekend was the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, WA. and I had a friggin BLAST! I picked up a fat stack of new Conan comics to fill in some gaps...





I finally found the final issue of Conan the King. I'd been looking for that one for ages! I even managed to find some of the old comic reprint paperbacks from 1979...



And there was one Conan item I managed to stop myself from buying, although I'm kicking myself now, I'm still glad I saved the $80...



But the highlight of the day had to be meeting Ernie Chan, one of the greatest Conan artist ever and longtime collaborator of John Buscema. I always thought they were a formidable team and their Conan issues are still the best.



I got to take a look at some original artwork, which was unbelievably beautiful...



And then I got into a conversation with Mr. Chan about the good ol' days of comics, working with John Buscema and how much Conan was a part of his life. Seriously, he was the nicest guy in the world.



I saw his booth empty when we first got to the con (I originally didn't know he was going to be there), and made a note to come back to meet him. Later that day, I remembered that I wanted to go see him, but didn't have anything for him to sign. I always remembered Conan the Barbarian #163 because it had one of the most beautiful covers by Ernie Chan, and I kicked myself for not bringing it. But then I realize that I was at a comic book convention! Duh!

I literally picked a comic dealer by random, went to the "C's", rifled through a few comics and BAM! There it was! I asked the guy how much he wanted and he goes, "A buck." DONE! So I pay the dude and head on over to Ernie Chan. After we talked a bit, he signed it for me.



Then later that day, I had picked up one of those giant treasury edition Conan comics and since it was too big to put in my backpack, I was just carrying it under my arm. As we were leaving, we walked past Ernie Chan's booth and I waved and he said, "Hey! Let me sign that one too! That's a good issue!"





So, all in all, one hell of a day for a Conan fan!

Conan the Comic Strip Character!

So I did a little digging aorund and came across a few examples of the classic Conan newspaper comic strip which ran from September 4, 1978 through April 12, 1981, and thought I’d share what I could find with you all.



I recently downloaded the entire collection in .cbr format from a peer to peer site. The collection is great but I can’t figure out how to post them here due to the format they’re in. One day I will and may just have to post a weekly batch of comics or something!

The comics were truly cool, with art by John Buscema, Ernie Chan and Alfredo Alcala among several others who at one time or another worked on the Conan comic book from Marvel.

Here’s a few examples...











The Sunday strips, of course, were in full color...



...and every now and then, you can run acroos a well-preserved comic strip that some one has saved and put up on ebay, like this example below...



Thanks for reading and I’ll be back soon with more barbaric geekery!