Here are some one-shot Marvel Sword & Sorcery adventures that get over-looked because they were single outings. The anthology comics like Monsters Unleashed were good for trying out a story-line or a short series. Some like the Klarn series by Doug Moench became longer tales over many issues. (I will get to Klarn yet!) Others like Gil Kane’s Chane or John Buscema’s Bront ran for three issues but never really went anywhere after that. One was even pinched from an independent comic, “Dragonus” by Frank Brunner. (All of these deserve their own post.)
The comics here appeared once then disappeared, a mere blip on the S&S screen, so I will look at them together.
Barry Smith Try-Out
“The Sword & the Sorcerers” in Chambers of Darkness #4 (April 1970) was written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Barry Smith. This was a warm-up for Conan the Barbarian. The comic begins in the middle of a battle between Starr the Slayer and the wizard, Trull. The episode stops mid-way to allow us to see Len Carson, writer of the popular Sword & Sorcery character, Starr the Slayer. Len calls up his editor at the magazine that publishes Starr and tells him this story will be his last. The author has become fed-up with his meal-ticket (Arthur Conan Doyle would understand even if Robert E. Howard would not). Len goes out on the dark streets and encounters his own creation. Starr stabs him with a sword calling him a murderer. Len dies but Starr goes back into his fantasy realm to be found by Morro, his faithful minstrel sidekick. The two wander off to fulfill Starr’s destiny and win a kingdom.
This self-referential joke has so many great points in it in hindsight. First off, not too long from then would Roy Thomas feel like the slave-writer, Len Carson, as he is about to embark on a career of writing Sword & Sorcery that will produce millions of words. Roy has never made any secret about the fact that he prefers to write superhero comics. Barry’s design for Starr is Conan with his short-horned helmet. Comics that share a connection with this one include “Delusion For a Dragon-Slayer” (Chamber of Chills #1, November 1972) based on Harlan Ellison’s 1967 anti-S&S tale. The idea of a barbarian traveling to our world would show up again when Roy wrote What If #13 (February 1979) – What If Conan the Barbarian Walked the Earth Today?
Sword & Planet Fox
“World of Warlocks” in Monsters Unleashed #1 (1973) was written by veteran Gardner F. Fox along with Roy Thomas and drawn by Gene Colan. This Sword & Planet tale borrows a little from Leigh Brackett and Ray Bradbury’s “Lorelei of the Red Mist” (Planet Stories, Summer 1946) with a man taken from our time to fight a battle on a planet filled with magic. Brian Morgan is pulled from the rice patties of Viet Nam to fight for Makkador the magician. Brian saves the beautiful Myrilla and gets to ride on giant hawks. Makkador sends Brian to destroy the overseers in a living gem. The overseers show Brian the wizard wants complete power and wishes to reign over the planet supreme. When Brian fails to destroy the overseers, Makkador sends a horde of demons at him. Brian gladly chops them up. The wizard flees and Brian and Myrilla walk away hand-in-hand.
Gardner F. Fox is no stranger to Sword & Planet. He wrote two classic novels, The Warrior of Llarn (1964) and Thief of Llarn (1966) for ACE Books. The covers were done by Frank Frazetta and Gray Morrow, two S&S masters.
Valley of the Worm Redux
“Birthright” in Monsters Unleashed #3 (November 1973) was written by Roy Thomas. The comic was penciled by Gil Kane with inks by Neal Adams, Ralph Reese and Dick Giordano. The story has Galt and Ayn wandering in an Eden of sorts, encountering terrors like giant snakes and weird caterpillar monsters, which Galt has to slay. The story ends with a robot showing up and herding the two lost humans into massive pens. The robots scold them for playing in Lost Valley again. Good thing the robots were around to pick up the pieces after the last war…
This odd little story feels like a dry-run like “The Sword and the Sorcerer”, this time for Supernatural Thrillers #3 (April 1973). That comic adapted Robert E. Howard’s “The Valley of the Worm” (Weird Tales, February 1934). Roy Thomas and Gil Kane worked together on that too. If “Birthright” is not the older of the two (it did appear later but that isn’t conclusive) then Gil Kane still had some “Valley of the Worm” to get out of his system.
Superior Steve Gan
“Dragonseed” in Savage Tales #6 (September 1974) was written by Len Wein and drawn by Steve Gan. Marok the Merciless suffers a set-back when his entire army is wiped out. He goes to a wizard to gain a new one. The old man shows him a bag filled with dragon’s teeth. Marok takes the bag despite the wizard’s warning. Planting the dragon’s teeth a new army arises. There is only one problem: they don’t obey and attack Marok. He is forced to kill everyone of them. Marok has lost another army. He blames the wizard and goes to exact revenge on him. Before he can do this, the dragon returns for its teeth and Marok ends.
I really liked that Steve Gan got to draw this one by himself. He did plenty of inking for Conan but never really got to do a lead story or two. He was part of the Filipino squad that made Marvel and DC so good in the 1970s. Along with Alfred Alcala, Jess Jodloman, Ernie Chan, Nestor Redondo and many others.
Klarnian Side Story
“The Jewel That Snarled at Slight Greed” in Monsters Unleashed #9 (December 1974) was written by Doug Moench and character concepts and art by Don Perlin. The dwarfish thief, Titan, breaks into the queen’s bedroom to steal the blood jewel. He knocks over an ornament and wakes her. Her guards try to catch him but he jumps out the window, down a rope and into the forest. In his haste he jumps on to a horse standing near by. Only it isn’t a horse but the centaur, Equinus. The queen sets her wizard, Grithstane, to retrieve her jewel. Grithstane has deceit in mind and wants the jewel for himself. He sends a magic shadow to strangle the queen. He also sends a monster through the blood jewel to kill the dwarf. Only the centaur’s bravery saves him. Titan decides to return the stone. He throws it into a castle window, dropping it at Grithstane’s feet. The stone becomes a monster again and gets the wizard. Titan and Equinus ride off arguing, ready for more adventures. (Which don’t get written.)
This is the same Grithstane and his pet vulture, Nironus, who will appear in “The Lord of Tyndall’s Quest” in Marvel Premiere #38 (October 1977) By virtue of this fact, this comic is part of the Klarn series. At the end of “The Jewel That Snarled at Slight Greed” it looks like Grithstane is killed but he obviously survives to strike again three years later.
Conclusion
Marvel in the Bronze Age focused on series characters like Conan, Kull, Solomon Kane and Red Sonja. After 1977 and the premiere of Heavy Metal, Marvel under the Epic flag would try its hand at a full-color anthology comic. This would bring in the next wave of single stories. But before Epic Illustrated, there were these occasional experiments that were one-shot Marvel Sword & Sorcery adventures.
