Conan Saga #31: "Red Sonja"

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A line on a piece of paper. Anyone can do it, but only a select few can conjure whole worlds with a few strokes of a pen. Alex Toth, certainly. Joe Kubert, for sure. The list of true illustrative geniuses however is a short one, and only those born with a silver pen in their hand are destined to rise above the rest. For over four decades now, there has been one who can be called an illustrator's illustrator. The gentleman's name is Esteban Maroto.

Born in Madrid, Spain in 1942, Esteban's career began in earnest as he apprenticed in the early 1960s under Manuel López Blanco. There, the "Adventures of the F.B.I." served as a springboard, enabling the young Maroto to create his own studio, and get involved in the burgeoning British comic market. Within a few short years, Esteban was both writing and illustrating stories that took full advantage of his outstanding abilities. Like the similar revolution that was taking place at Marvel Comics in the late sixties, the artist was becoming a bigger star than the character he was illustrating, and Maroto was on the fast track to stardom.

This story picks up where Conan Saga #8 left off in the previous post, which can be read by clicking here. With Esteban Maroto on pencils and Neal Adams on inks, it doesn't get any better than this!



Credits

Cover painting: Earl Norem
Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Esteban Maroto
Inks: Neal Adams & Ernie Chan (as Ernie Chua)

Reprinted:

• from Savage Sword of Conan, The (Marvel, 1974 series) #1 (August 1974).

• in Marvel Feature (Marvel 1975 series) #1 (November 1975).
• in Savage Sword of Conan (Marvel, 1974 series) #83 (December 1982).
• in Adventures of Red Sonja, The (Dynamite Entertainment, 2005 series) #1.
• in Conan Saga (Marvel, 1987 series) #31 (November 1989).
  

Conan Saga #8: "The Song of Red Sonja"

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Conan the Barbarian hit the newsstands in the fall of 1970. Scripts were by Roy Thomas, and the art was by transplanted British artist Barry Windsor-Smith. Although he initially worked in a variation of the Marvel house style, Smith soon developed his own approach. His work became more personal, more intricate, and demonstrated distinct pre-Raphaelite touches.

Thomas's adaptations drew much praise at the time. Smith, too, attracted attention and was soon winning awards from both his peers and his fans. He left the character in 1973 and was followed by several other artists, among them John Buscema, Ernie Chan, and Gil Kane. The shaggy hero continued for decades. The original Conan the Barbarian title ended with the 275th issue (July 1995). The black-and-white Conan Saga ended with the 97th issue (April 1995). These were followed through the late nineties by a series of Conan miniseries. While Conan seems to go on leave from time to time, there is little doubt of his eventual return.


Credits

Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Barry Windsor-Smith
Inks: Barry Windsor-Smith

Reprinted:

• from Conan the Barbarian (Marvel, 1970 series) #24 (March 1973)

• In Marvel Treasury Edition (Marvel, 1974 series) #15
• in Savage Sword of Conan (Marvel, 1974 series) #82
• in Conan Saga (Marvel, 1987 series) #8
• in Essential Conan (Marvel, 2000 series) #1

Red Sonja story continues in Conan Saga #31.

Epic Illustrated #34: "Death of a Legend" (Tribute to Robert E. Howard)

In 1936 Robert E. Howard, depressed over the imminent death of his mother, killed himself. He was just 30 years old. His stories of Conan, epics of adolescent fantasies and fears, were forgotten for nearly two decades. Then gradually they began coming back into print, first as hardcovers and then, with striking covers by Frank Frazetta, as paperbacks.

Conan found his widest and most enthusiastic audience in the 1970s, thanks to Roy Thomas and Marvel Comics. Thomas began as a fan and by 1970 he was an editor and writer at Marvel, concentrating on superheroes. Although he is often given sole credit for deciding to adapt Howard's barbarian to the comic-book format, artist Gil Kane maintained that he was the one who originally got Thomas and Marvel interested in experimenting with the character. At any rate, Conan the Barbarian hit the newsstands in the fall of 1970.

Credits:

Cover: Arthur Suydam
Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils and inks: Sandy Plunkett

Conan the Barbarian #71: "The Secret of Ashtoreth!"

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In the fictional universe of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian, Bêlit is a pirate queen who has a romantic relationship with Conan. She is Conan's first serious lover. She appears in Howard's Conan novelette "Queen of the Black Coast," first published in Weird Tales 23 5 (May 1934). She was selected as the fourth greatest pirate by Wired magazine's Geekdad blog.

As a native of the Hyborian nation of Shem, Bêlit is Semitic. Her name may have been taken from Bel, god of thieves in her native land. Apart from jewellery, she wears only sandals and a red silk girdle. Despite her race and her lack of clothing in the tropical sun, her skin is "ivory white."

She is described in her first appearance:

“	She turned toward Conan, her bosom heaving, her eyes flashing. Fierce fingers of wonder caught at his heart. She was slender, yet formed like a goddess: at once lithe and voluptuous. Her only garment was a broad silken girdle. Her white ivory limbs and the ivory globes of her breasts drove a beat of fierce passion through the Cimmerian's pulse, even in the panting fury of battle. Her rich black hair, black as a Stygian night, fell in rippling burnished clusters down her supple back. Her dark eyes burned on the Cimmerian.	”
	— Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast

As a pirate Bêlit ranges across the coast of Kush (Hyborian Africa) and as far north as Zingara (Hyborian Spain) aboard her ship, the Tigress. She calls herself the "Queen of the Black Coast" and her crew appear to regard her with awe.

She is described as passionate and elemental woman. She and Conan fall in love at first sight. Bêlit is, however, strongly avaricious which is described as a racial trait: "The Shemite soul finds a bright drunkenness in riches and material splendor, and the sight of this treasure might have shaken the soul of a sated emperor of Shushan." It is this that leads to her death, killed by an ancient winged ape-like creature - hanged from the yard arm of her own ship by a ruby necklace stolen from a city of the "old ones".

She temporarily returns from death, as she had vowed, to protect her lover from the same creature's attack later in the story.

"The Secret of Ashtoreth!" freely adapted from the story "The Marchers of Valhalla" by Robert E. Howard. Click here to read part I in Conan the Barbarian v1 #70.
Credits:

Cover: Gil Kane and Ernie Chan
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Ernie Chan

Reprinted:

• in Conan le Barbare (Artima, 1979 series) #11 (February 1982).
• in Conan Saga (Marvel, 1987 series) #87.