Break Your Chains!
“Alpha the Slave Pirate” isn’t exactly a Sword & Sorcery comic. It’s a historical piece set in Roman times. It appeared in Pirates Comics #1-4 from Hillman (February/March -September/October 1950). That makes it twenty years before Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian. All the same it appeals to fans of Sword & Sorcery and Conan in particular. Robert E. Howard re-modeled his unsellable historical fiction as Fantasy, giving rise to the Sword & Sorcery brand of heroic fantasy. The tales of Alpha against his Roman masters are drawn with the same fire as Howard’s own fiction. Based on the real life Spartacus, Alpha is a man against an empire.
The series was written by Jack Oleck (1914-1981). Jack would later write individual Sword & Sorcery tales for DC’s horror titles like “Valley of the Giants” in Secrets of the Haunted House #6 (June-July 1977). The horror comics were the mainstay of his writing career. Jack also wrote two books about Roman women, Messalina (1959) and Theodora (1971). He obviously was a writer with a love of history.
All four segments were drawn by the same artist, Mike Suchorsky. This gives the run of four adventures a nice continuity that many strips don’t get. Suchorsky is a Golden Age artist who worked on Hillman’s Western Rangers, DC’s World’s Finest and Marvel’s USA Comics. He also did work for Ace, Pines, Ziff-Davis and other publishers. His artwork for “Alpha the Slave Pirate” is action-filled and believable as the best of John Buscema would be in the decades to come.
Issue One
Tribune Cincanus attacks the shore of Gaul with his ship. Unfortunately the currents work against him and the ship wrecks. Alpha and another slaves are free. They kill the slave master and take his keys. Freeing all the others, the slaves vanquish the few soldiers and sailors. Now free, Alpha calls all the survivors to his banner, to attack Rome. Some of the pirates want to attack a Roman fort but Alpha has another plan. They will become the terror of the sea. Using a fire as bait, a second Roman galley comes. Alpha and his men take the boat and now have a way to challenge the sea.
Issue Two
The Golden Eagle is in need of repair. Alpha pulls onto the beach in Gaul. Celtic warriors attack them, thinking they are Romans. Alpha defeats the warrior Caractacus but does not kill him. The pirates make a pact with the Gauls. Alpha waits in the Gaulish village for the Romans to come. He learns that the Gauls worship a forest being called the Heron King. When the Romans seem to be about to overhelm the Gauls, a shining heron appears to inspire their fighting. The Romans are defeated. The heron is, of course, Alpha in a costume and stilts. (This is the only time a little magic finds its way into the series. Sigh.)
Issue Three
Quadratus, Centurion of the Third Cohort sets a trap for Alpha and his crew. Three ships fall on the pirates, capturing Alpha and Demos and many others. They are taken to Rome to fight in the Colosseum as gladiators. They escape, start a big fire and get to their ship. Once more they head out to sea to wage their war.
Issue Four
When Alpha captures a Roman ship meant for a gold haul from Laurium. Using the ship they go to the mines and take a fortune in gold. Unfortunately the Romans capture them. Graccus gives his life, pretending to be Alpha. The pirates are put to work in a mill. Alpha gets a plan when he sees what kind of soil is around their grindstone. Using water from their daily ration, the men create cement which they apply to a ship. With a stone ship, the Roman galleys can’t ram them and they escape.
There were many more adventures in Alpha’s career but we never go to see them. Pirate Comics was cancelled and Jack and Mike moved onto other projects.
Conclusion
The first real Sword & Sorcery comic appeared in the same year as “Alpha the Slave Pirate”. That was Gardner F. Fox‘s “Crom the Barbarian”. Crom only got a few adventures as well so I can see comic fans of 1950 treasuring both of these series. Hillman canceled Pirate Comics after the four issue run. They had better success with Airboy and Real Clue Crime Comics. Still, Pirate Comics was a bright spot at the beginning of the 1950s. Fans would have to wait another five years for Joe Kubert to create “The Viking Prince” in The Brave and the Bold at DC.
Pirate Comics are available for free at DCM.
