Conan the Reaver – A Marvel Graphic Novel


By Don Kraar & John Severin (Marvel)
ISBN: 0- 87135-289-3

During the 1970’s the American comic book industry opened up after more than fifteen years of cautious and calcified publishing practices that had come about as a reaction to the scrupulously-censorious oversight of the self-inflicted Comics Code Authority: A body created by the publishers to police their product and keep it palatable and wholesome after the industry suffered their very own McCarthy-style Witch-hunt during the 1950s.

One of the first genres to be revisited was Horror/Mystery comics, and from that came the pulp masterpiece Conan the Cimmerian.

Sword & Sorcery stories had been undergoing a prose revival in the paperback marketplace since the release of soft-cover editions of Lord of the Rings (first published in 1954), and the 1960s saw the revival of the two-fisted fantasies of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Otis Adelbert Kline, Fritz Lieber, whilst many modern writers such as Michael Moorcock and Lin Carter kick-started their careers with contemporary versions of man against mage. Undoubtedly the grand master of the genre was Robert E. Howard.

Marvel Comics tested the waters in early 1970 with a little tale called ‘The Sword and the Sorcerers’ (from the horror anthology Chamber of Darkness #4) whose hero Starr the Slayer bore no small resemblance to the Barbarian. It was written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Barry Smith, a recent Marvel find, and one who was just breaking out of the company’s Kirby house-style.

Despite some early teething problems, including being cancelled and reinstated in the same month, the comic-strip adventures of Robert E. Howard’s were as big a success as the prose yarns that led the global boom in fantasy and latterly, the supernatural.

Conan became a huge success, a giant brand that saw new prose tales, movies, a TV series and cartoon show, a newspaper strip and all the other paraphernalia of success. And it all largely stemmed from the vast range of comics initiated by Thomas and Smith.

From the days when he was a Marvel property – period – comes this utterly captivating tale of the Cimmerian wanderer’s days as a thief in the Kingdom of Turan. Striking a deal with a palace guard the young Barbarian infiltrates the Palace, intending to empty the treasure vault of aged King Yildiz, despite the supernatural horror that defends it. However the rudely gallant hero is hampered by his growing affection for the ruler’s child-bride, and increasingly caught up in vicious intrigues that plague the court. Then the King himself offers Conan a devil’s bargain if he will perform one task for him…

Conan the Reaver is rip-roaring pulp fare, brimming with monsters, worldly cynicism, scantily-clad damsels in distress and spectacular action, cannily recounted by veteran scripter Don Kraar (probably best known as the writer of the Tarzan newspaper strip for thirteen years) and magically illustrated by a master of our art-form, whose meticulous style adds gravity and humour as well as solid authenticity to the visuals. Severin is aided in the picture-making magic by his equally talented sister Marie, who coloured this mini-epic.

Still readily available this is a classy tale that will delight any fan of the genre and could easily convert a few die-hards too.
© 1987, 1990 Marvel Comics Group. Conan the Barbarian and all prominent characters are TM Conan Properties Inc. All Rights Reserved