Giant size CONAN THE BARBARIAN # 5 - Bob Layton

Everybody is familiar with Jack Kirby and John Romita's cover for GSCTB #5 right? Well check out comic book art legend Bob Layton's BAD ASS recreation. Begs the question..where is Bob now and why is he not doing a regular monthly series somewhere? Like maybe DARK HORSE COMICS!!!

Here is the actual printed comic cover. And then Jack's original pencils

I don't know how you feel...but I love it!!!

sanjulian: King Conan, The hour of the Dragon

sanjulian: King Conan, The hour of the Dragon

I can definitely say this needs to be a full sized poster print...It's a beautiful piece of art.  Like anything Master Sanjulian does.

Visit his blog...be astounded.

" An age undreamed of "

I am totally fascinated and would love to one day own one of these.  A few would be cool...being they are scarce I doubt I'll ever find one.
  Go to:
http://www.anageundreamedof.com/2013/05/la-reina-de-la-costa-negra-mystery-of.html

The blog " An age undreamed of " and read more about these fantastic predessesors to The CONAN the Barbarian comic books we all know and love today!!!
Props to Cromsblood for regularly sharing each and every time he comes across new UNDREAMED OF material and shares with us!!!

Groo vs Conan Coming in April!

Our greatly-missed contributor, Cromsblood, brought this up almost a year ago, and now it's finally coming to pass! Groo vs Conan (a comic that would have probably made my brain melt out of my ears had it come out when I was 12) is coming in April, 2012! I can't wait! This is what is best in life! To crush your enemies, see them driven before you and to taste the awesomeness of the cheese dip!

CONAN : " En Francais!"

If'n you head over to ebay you still might be able to score yourself a few of these French reprint editions. Who don't love foreign reprints of CONAN comics...It's always exciting to see some of the coolest Conan covers in a different language! Despite the fact that these ebay photo's are poor quality you still get a real good idea what the folks over there were reading practically at the same time we were. ( Back in the 70's and 80's ) I would love to have any one of these in my collection of Conan coolness.

Conan is a world wide household name and everyone from pole to pole knows who he is!

the THREE Deaths of CONAN

I was going to post an article I copied and pasted but instead chose to simply tell everyone and share one of my favorite Conan comics. The Savage Sword of CONAN number 176 , the Three Deaths of CONAN. The cover was painted by CONAN cover artist and mainstay Earl Norem...he aside from Joe Jusko probably produced more cover art for the series than any other artist. There are stories inside drawn by Flint Henry and Gary Kwapicz and the artist I want to talk about today , TIMOTHY TRUMAN.

Tim Truman has been working in the business for many , many years and has Created such ICONIC characters such as Grim Jack and SCOUT and has worked for just about every major comic book publisher who ever put out comics worth reading.

Something about his line and technique just draws me into the action on the page. I don't really want to give too much away with the story. I have included a plot synopsis and encourage everyone to go to E-bay or your local comic book store and find yourselves a copy of this magazine. Believe me you won't be sorry. Of course CONAN does not die three times but the art...in each tale is remarkable to say the least. Down below I have included some TIMOTHY TRUMAN Dark Horse CONAN art pages from I believe around issues 17 or 18. As you can see the guy is a talented Bastich! So tarry no longer those of you who do not already own this Mag! Go find one. STEAL it if you have to...it is mandatory.

the plot synopsis :

"Conan, searching for the Prism of Khorshemish, pushes his way through the Flaming Mountains and comes across a spooky castle. Inside, a very creepy and insane collector of human heads magically binds Conan and tells his fortune by drawing four cards, one of which will be Conan's true destiny. The first card shows Conan's life as a slave, betrayed by a witch-woman, and killed by monsters in a gladiatorial pit. The second card shows Conan at sea, surviving a shipwreck, but ultimately dying in the tentacles of a sea-demon, turned into a mindless zombie. A third card has Conan torn apart by a horde of undead. While the seer revels in telling the barbarian his fate, he doesn't notice Conan managing to flex his arm and gain the strength to hurl a dagger at the wizard, killing him. Conan can't resist looking at the final card,and chuckles when he sees himself as a king."

Enjoy and...happy hunting! - Mikeyboy

A Whole Rack of Conan!

I guess everyone is gearing up for the big motion picture release of the new Conan the Barbarian, as evidenced by my local comics shop's massive Conan display. I just had to take a pic of it and share it here. It's nice to know that the future King of Aquilonia is gaining some hype once again.

Click to view full sized.

NEBRES 14.5 in COLOR! ( One day later )

Wow that was fast! Dominic from over at AIM comics sent in his color art the Rudy Nebres " One minute later piece". Like overnight! Needless to say...we LOVES it!

Dom had mentioned that the Princess there has some mits on her. ( Did I say Mits? ) I bet she don't need them claw crackers when she goes to the Red Lobster! Sheesh what a pair of Man Hands! But seriously...we love Rudy's art it's great...and thank you Dominic for Hooking us up with this nifty color piece. For those of you who'd like to see More of Dom's work...check it out here... in these links sent to us by the man himself! Thanks Dominic.

My Portfolio: www.paladinfreelance.comMy Comics: www.aimcomics.comMy CafePress Store: http://www.cafepress.com/pfreelance

One minute later , Rudy Nebres

Wow...I'm on a roll this week with the posts. I love these one minute later commissions done mostly by real actual factual pro's. This Rudy Nebres piece is amazing. It shows us that after all these years he still has what it takes to knock us out. I'm really digging ELRIC'S sword there too. It's Brain Smasher VS Storm bringer in a real barn burning titanic tumultuous battle of the ages. One minute later. If only it were in full color. Maybe one of the faithful followers of CROM can look upon us with favor and show us their talents by coloring it in...just sayin'. :)

Conan Movie Comic Adaptation!

The folks over at Bleeding Cool News hip us to some interesting stuff revealed about the movie with the promotion of the upcoming movie adaptation comic book.

From the Dark Horse press release:

Adapted from the new film by writer Stuart Moore, penciller and cover artist Gabriel Guzman [cover art at head of post], and with inks by Jason Gorder
On sale July 20, FC, 64 pages, $6.99, One-shot

After witnessing his wife burned at the stake, warlord Khalar Zym sets out on a quest to find the mythical Mask of Acheron, an ancient artifact that will bring his beloved back to life. In his search across the lands, Zym destroys a village in northern Cimmeria, where a boy born of battle survives and is cast out into the world, alone.
Years later, Zym crosses paths again with the boy who survived – Conan. He must now contend with this barbarian nuisance who is now set on vengeance for the slaughter of his village. Zym and his daughter, Marique, eventually clash with Conan in an epic final battle, the outcome of which will decide the fate of the world.
Based on Conan the Barbarian, the new major motion picture starring Jason Momoa, Rose McGowan, and Ron Perlman.

Hmmm... more slaughtered village nonsense. What do you all think? Does this make you want to see the movie more, or whittle away more hope?

My Conan Collection!

Hail Fellow Conan Fans! Well, as some of you may know, I just recently moved into a new house with enough space to give me my very own room, which I have dubbed "The Nerdatorium". The best part of having my own space (it's actually a home office, since I'm starting to work from home in 2 weeks) is that I finally get to dig out all of my collectibles from their Rubbermaid prisons and get them out in the open on a shelf where they belong.

Foremost in my collection of toys, comics and books is, of course, my prized Conan collection! No longer is it sealed up in storage! Finally, my collection can see the light of day and take up its rightful place of honor!

And since I had it all out on some shelves, I thought I'd snap a few pics and share with you all.

On the lower shelf we see my collection of Conan novels and pastiches. And yes, I have read all of these (well, most of them). Standing guard over my beloved paperback collection are my various Conan figures. More on them in a bit.

The upper shelf contains my larger Conan books; a couple of retrospectives, hardback novels and trade paperbacks. Sadly, I know for a fact that some are missing, so there must be another bin somewhere. probably in the garage. Good grief.

By the way, you see the two big books on the left? I highly recommend both of them to any Conan fan!

The first of the figures is my NECA "I'm gonna kill all your slave bitches" Conan, as seen in the first movie. I love this figure despite its utter lack of articulation. Also, note the missing index finger. Again, must be rolling around at the bottom of a bin.

Here we have a small Conan statue originally released by Dark Horse comics. This is a repainted special promotions piece originally seen in the "Frost Giant's Daughter" PVC set. I got this bad boy at a discount bookstore for $2. They had a pile of them and I'm now kicking myself for not buying them all and having a give-away or something. Sorry, gang.

Ahhhh, yes... the Comic Book Legends Conan! He came with his Marvel Comics arch nemesis, Wharrl: the Devourer of Souls!

And, of course, my prized Mego Conan. A gift from my homie Greg and still one of my very most beloved toys in my entire collection. Thanks Greg!

While I was digging through another bin, I stumbled across a few Marvel Comics Treasury Editions. I've found these here and there over the years and actually forgot that I had a couple of these. The last one appeared on this very blog after I found it at the Emerald City Comic Con and had it signed by the great Ernie Chan himself! (Look in the center "N" in CONAN)

Well, that's the collection so far, minus a book or two. And I also have to track down an original piece of Conan trading card art from my good friend, Bubbashelby. It's around here somewhere.

And of course, this also does not take into account the hundreds of Conan comics I have, which are all sitting in a giant stack right now. I'm picking up some comic book long-boxes this weekend and plan on putting them all in order and then making a list of which ones I need. I'm sure I'll have a ton of doubles, so I think I smell a CROM! give-away on the horizon! ;)

Thanks for checking out the collection!

Conan "What If..." Cover on Covered Blog!

Our fearless Cimmerian has shown up once again on the brilliant Covered blog, which features new renditions of classic comic book covers. This time, arist Joy Kolitsky takes a hearty swing at the vintage Marvel "What If..." issue in which Conan goes toe-to-toe with Wolverine himself! Her take on the cover is surprisingly elegant and makes for a cool juxtaposition against the brutal imagery.

Check it out...

Here's the original...

Conan in Brazil! Part 4!

So, according to these killer comic book covers Marcos sent me, it seems like heroes of any theme are just published together willy-nilly, which gives rise to such gems as these issues featuring Conan alongside characters such as the Silver Surfer, Warlock and the Master of Kung Fu! Awesome stuff...

 

Full Color Marvel Super Special Conan Issue Over at Diversions of the Groovy Kind!

Mad props to Diversions of the Groovy Kind for posting this killer Marvel Super Special featuring Conan and Red Sonja!

Click HERE to read the whole issue!

Conan... He Likes a Good Joke...

Conan Cover Re-done on Covered Blog!

I love the blog Covered, and their massive collection of re-interpreted classic comic book covers, but I love it even more when the day's feature is a Conan cover! Artist, Dieter Van der Ougstraete, did a brilliantly odd and fascinating version of an international release of Conan de Barbaar with a stunning amount of vision. I tip my spikey, iron hat to him!

Here's the original cover...

Barry Windsor Smith Comic Splash Pages Spotlighted at Diversion of a Groovy Kind!

One of my all-time favorite comic blogs, Diversions of a Groovy Kind, had a blog post last week spotlighting the great, epic splash panels from Seminal Conan artist, Barry Windsor Smith, and I just thought that any Conan fan should take a look at such a glorious collection!

Having run my eyes over these classic Conan comics for so many years, I feel like these pages are like old friends and I'd know them like I'd know the back of my hand, but there was something about seeing them all in one place that made me take a moment and remember a little of what those old-school Conan comics used to mean to me.

You can see them all right HERE! Thanks to the Groovy Agent for such a great post!

The Official Handbook of the Conan Universe Download!

If you've been looking for the classic Official Handbook of the Conan Universe from Marvel Comics, you can now download it right HERE!

You'll need a comic book reader program to view it, and I strongly suggest this one. You're gonna want this anyway, when you realize that this site has TONS of Conan comics to download! Including the entire run of Conan the Barbarian and Conan the King!

Now, go get you some free comics!

John Buscema Interview and More!

Hail Fellow Conan Fans!

Check out this classic interview with the king of Conan artists, John Buscema, courtesy of our good friends of Diversions of a Groovy Kind! The Groovy Agent himself posted this along with some sweet black and white Conan art by Buscema from Savage Sword of Conan. Swing by there to see it in all its Hyborian glory!

Yet Another Re-Imagined Conan Cover on the "Covered" Blog!

I'm seriously loving the blog called Covered. Their posting of modern artistic renditions of classic comic books sparks my brain on several levels, and you know I'm double-stoked when I see a Conan cover. Here's the latest from artist Adam Cline.

The original (by the great Earl Norem, no less!)...

And the "covered" version by Cline...

Check out the original post HERE and post a thousand nice comments about it!