John Buscema - Art

I found these beauties at the -

https://buscemalostdrawings.wordpress

com/2015/06/06/few-more-for-june-click-2-enlarge/

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"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!!!

John Buscema " The lost drawings "...part 2

I was enjoying some art recently posted at John Buscema , the lost drawings site

http://buscemalostdrawings.wordpress.com/ ....I wanted to share them with the Murderous minions of CROM....I love the idea that Big John would draw on the backs of the art to be used for the comic books....so he can work out little details before he goes ahead and slaps it on the page...OR perhaps he had an idea in mind and needed to work it up as fast as possible...there is also the thought that he had a new brush he wanted broken in and he would go ahead and do little ink studies on the backs of the pages...who knows...but , he gave us some great stuff eh?

The Coming of Conan....

In 1968 John Buscema and his brother Sal drew one of the greatest comic books in the history of comicdom. In that comic book there was an unknown supporting character who is very familiar looking. Many people know that John Buscema was tagged to draw the new title CONAN the barbarian due out in 1970 but Stan Lee chose not to put him on the book and thus another worthy superstar was off to a running start. A few years later John Buscema would take over the book anyway...but many people wondered...Just what would CONAN have looked like?
If you take a gander at these select panels from SILVER SURFER 4 published in 1968 you can see for yourself. CONAN would have looked exactly like we know and love him. Seen in these panels an anonymous gladiator resembles our stalwart cimmerian. See the second image of him drawing his sword and then hurling it. How many times have we seen that scenario?
John Buscema actually had a chance at drawing the COMING OF CONAN in a later issue of SAVAGE SWORD following the same script as CTB # 1 that Barry Smith followed and folks...that is perhaps 97% spot on what the actual factual comic book released in 1970 would have looked like. A picture is worth a thousand words....right? You be the Judge.

Two days ago January 22nd was the Birthday of Robert E. Howard the Father of Conan and the man who created the genre known as Sword and Sorcery. Sure...We can argue point for point if he is indeed the father of the Genre but in my eyes...he simply is. It is to him that I dedicate this post. Happy Birthday Mr. Howard.

10 years have passed...

It was on this date 10 years ago that John Buscema passed away. His work is his legacy and we will never forget.
Family man , dedicated Husband , legendary artist and Teddy bear. He inspired many and continues to do so. We'll never forget you rest in peace Big John.

CONAN Movie special cover by Earl Norem

I wanted to break the streak of parody posts ( Not that it's just not funny but after the Cuomo thing I had to change the pace. ) But I wanted to share this awesome Earl Norem cover on the paperback version of the Marvel comics Conan the barbarian movie adaptation with interiors of course by John Buscema. The Marvel super special contains the same art. The back cover is also just as awesome as the montage piece by Buscema makes a nifty back cover. Norem's version of Arnold's likeness is also pretty damned cool too. I read this book more often than I do the magazine and I almost never touch the 2 part comic book. Norem's interpretation of the famous Movie poster is in my opinion just as good if not better. I am certainly glad they issued the book with a different cover. Seeing Earl's painting brings a certain thrill and chill...it brings me right back to the day when Conan the Barbarian hit the screens for the first time. Probably the coolest movie ever...EVER!!!

Have you ever...

...wanted to see those little corner boxes in the corners of the covers of the early 70's and 80's comics a little closer?

Well here they are...CONAN the Barbarian by John Buscema....from the CTB comic book ( both 70's and 80's versions ) and KING CONAN and from the Movie adaptation...Marvel at the amazing art of the Barbarian by John Buscema...Illustrations provided by follower of CROM and John Buscema fan...the one and only Michael Maikowsky from his posts on the Facebook. Thanks Michael.

Free John Buscema Conan Portfolio Download!

Hail fellow Conan fans! Out of all the artists that have rendered the future king of Aquilonia, I have to say that I love John Buscema the best. So imagine my excitement when one of my all-time favorite blogs, Beware There's a Crosseyed Cyclops in My Basement, posted a cbr. version of the John Buscema Conan portfolio!

10 brilliant plates of crisp black and white Buscema goodness. I've already downloaded it and it's beautiful! You'll need the program Comical to view it, which I strongly suggest you have anyway.

Be sure to click on the Conan label on the Cyclops blog as well to get every single issue of Conan the Barbarian as well as many other Conan goodies!

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!

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!