Val Mayerik is no stranger to Sword & Sorcery. He drew Marvel’s Thongor back in 1973. He pencilled original Brak in 
“Spell of the Dragon!” (Chamber of Chills #2, January 1973). And he knows Conan too, including covers for Savage Sword of Conan #22 (September 1977), #32 (August 1978), #94 (November 1984) plus several stories as well. His work has its own style and it is good, better than most Buscema clones.
But his usual work doesn’t warrant a post in this series. Until you get to two experiments he did in the 1990s. Stepping away from the usual, Val pulled out the stops for two very spectacular, very different Conans in black & white.
The first is “Blood and Honor”, written by Don Kraar, a tale involving the Picts. What make this black & white work so different is you wouldn’t even know it was Val. The look reminds me of Walt Simonson’s run on Thor. The sabertooth also reminds me of the pen & ink work Frank Frazetta did for Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Pellucidar books. I suppose Mayerik would rather not be compared to other artists but this piece is so different from his own style.
The second was “Ivory” in Conan the Savage #8 (March 1996). The plot is a cavemen and frozen mammoth story, right out of a Strange Northern. Mike Barron wrote this homage to 1940-50s comics. Mayerik’s work on “Ivory” is more reminiscent of his own style but with a full pencil treatment that makes it something special.
Val did the cover for this issue as well, but to be honest, it is not his best work. His earlier covers for SSOC strike me as better. The black & white work inside is much more impressive.
Val Mayerik may be remembered for many things including a run on Howard the Duck, good stuff for Magic the Gathering comics, as well as material for Heavy Metal and Warren publications. I hope that these two pieces won’t be forgotten along with the classic Conan and Thongor he did in the 1970s.
