Howard Larsen is best remembered for EC Comics’ Crime Patrol though he drew for Wild Bill Hickock, Jungle Comics and others. For two short issues in February and April 1949 he drew one of the first proto-Sword & Sorcery comics, even predating the now-famous Crom the Barbarian by Gardner F. Fox. Unfortunately, the author of the comic is not known.
Slave Girl Comics #1-2 featured as its main draw, Malu the Slave Girl. She and her manly sidekick, Garth, appeared in eight stories in those issues plus one appearance in Avon’s Strange Worlds #3 (June 1951). All the stories were penciled by Larsen and only one was inked by another artist. Because of this the strip has a nice consistency. Larsen’s artwork is dynamic though he couldn’t drawn monsters particularly well.
As to the Sword & Sorcery aspects of the stories, these are not always strong. Most stories are more concerned with the fighting of royals over thrones than sorcery. An obvious influence was Prince Valiant by Hal Foster, which influenced any and all comics that featured knights, warriors or any kind of medieval setting. Still, we do get some magic in time travel and the occasional monster. The influence of Edgar Rice Burroughs is particularly noticeable while the stories of Robert E. Howard (unlike Crom the Barbarian) are absent.
“Malu the Slave Girl” begins in our time when Jeff meets Sandra Worth and her signet ring of Ormuz. When Jeff reads an incantation, Sandra sees the ancient past, where Jeff is now Garth, a spy for the King of Ormuz. He enters Tarko only to be captured. Here he meets the beautiful red-headed slave girl. She sneaks into his cell to reveal she has the signet ring. She is actually Malu, daughter of the king of Ormuz.
Malu begs the king of Tarko to release them. Instead he has both of them thrown into the arena with lions. Fortunately, Malu knows of a secret door that allows the lions to get free and kill the king of Tarko. They escape in the ensuing chaos. They are free but in her heart Malu says: “I am ever your slave!”
“The Banquet of Thuz” has Malu and Garth escaping the Tarconians in the Mountains of the Moon. The duo cause a rockslide to wipe out the pursuers, unveiling a tunnel. It takes them to the city of Thuz, an evil despot. Thuz wants Malu for himself and plots to kill Garth. The pair are warned by another slave girl, Selda. She explains that Thuz is not the true king. That is a twelve year-old boy. Thuz overhears Selda and the visitors talking.
Malu and Garth try to flee but are captured and taken to a special banquet. Selda warns Malu that the left goblet is poisoned so malu plays a trick, claiming an Ormuz custom of switching goblets. Thuz slaps down her cup and tells his men to seize Garth. Garth smacks Thuz back for hitting Malu then leads all the slaves in a revolt. Thuz grabs Malu but Garth rescues her, killing the tyrant. The boy king is returned to the throne and rewards the couple with a caravan of equipment for their journey.
“Malu the Slave Girl and the Bandits of Tal Azmut” has Malu and Garth only three days away from Ormuz. Their caravan stops in the desert. Malu talks of love and Garth puts her off because of duty. She is angry and walks away, allowing kidnappers to grab her. Garth follows their tracks in pursuit.
Malu is taken to a desert temple with giant god statues. Tal Azmut plans to sacrifice her to the gods. Garth shows up, fights the guards and free her. They sneak out but a rat frightens Malu and gives them away. Garth has to fight his way out, eventually tipping over one of the god statues on Tal Azmut. The couple ride away, making up over their argument.
“The Slave Market of Manoch” has Malu and Garth hours from Ormuz. But one of Tal Azmut’s crew has survived and reports to Malu’s uncle, Phao. He wants the signet ring and to seize the throne. He has men meet the couple, pretending to be a greeting party. They knock Garth out and take Malu to the slave market.
Garth wakes up in Phao’s dungeon. He knocks out his jailer then goes to a friend. Later a masked man appears at the auction and buys Malu for three hundred talents. It is Garth, of course. The couple go to Malu’s father and spill the beans on Phao. Since Malu no longer has the ring, her father is suspicious, listening to Phao’s lies. Before the duo can be seized by guards, they return to our time as Jeff and Sandra. Jeff promises tomorrow night they can use the ring again to find out more about Malu’s past.
So ends Issue 1, with a promise for more adventures, which did follow two months later with “The Pirates of Abmur”. The story continues from where it ended last time. Malu’s father believes Phao’s lies and Malu and Garth are both sent to Phao’s galley as slaves. Here Garth begins to plot a revolt but pirates show up. Using the attack as cover, Garth gets free and has a sword fight in the rigging with Phao. The uncle falls to his death.
But things aren’t good yet. The leader of the pirates of Abmur wants Malu now. Garth and the pirate duel with Garth winning. The ship is now on fire so Garth and Malu jump for it and end up in the sea hanging onto wreckage. The episode ends there.
“The Tower of Indecision” continues in the water. The pair make it to land but are captured shortly after. They are in Zankhara. They are accused of being spies of Tirza. They are taken to the tyrant of Zarkhana, the beautiful queen Shala. She makes slaves of both of them. Shala finds Garth attractive and kisses him. Malu sees this and berates the queen. Malu is sent to the Tower of Indecision.
Garth meanwhile plays Shala along until he can go the tower to free Malu. Garth gets caught so both of them are put in the tower. Like the Seven Doors of Death in Lost on Venus (1935) by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the tower has several doorways but all but one lead to death. The tower spins to confuse those placed inside. Malu tries a door. A wild boar from the Isles Beyond the Northern Seas comes out, attacking them. Another door produces a dragon. The two beasts fight, but the dragon kills the boar.
The dragon is now going to eat them but Garth begins climbing the walls. The two climb beyond the dragon’s reach and get to a window at the top. They see men of Tirza below, wishing to overthrow Queen Shala. Meanwhile the jailers notice the prisoners have escaped and plan their re-capture. The story ends there until next time.
“Malu and The Fall of Zankhare” picks up where the last segment ended, with the guards finding Garth and Malu. With some good swordplay, Garth defeats them and then saves Malu from falling to her death. Now free, the duo join the men from Tirza and flee to that country. There they meet Queen Tirza who plans to lay siege to Zankhara. Garth is to go with the army.
The army attacks, takes the city and captures Shala. Later Shala gets her revenge by dropping the balanced rock of Munda on the unaware Garth and Malu. The story ends here and we never get the third and final portion of the story. (From the context of the last story, we can surmise, Garth and Malu survived, defeated and supposedly killed Shala.)
Planned for Slave Girl Comics #3, “Princess of the Past” appeared in Strange Worlds #3, June 1951. Drawn by Howard Larsen, this segment was inked by Sid Greene. (Not as good as Larsen by himself.) This is not the end of the Zankhara story but a separate, later adventure. Garth (now a red-head?) and Malu (now a blonde?) get news that Shala did not die but escaped with Gathrid to the Isles of the West, home of the druids.
Garth sails in pursuit, only to find Malu has stowed away on the ship. Once on the isle of the druids, the invaders are frightened away by magic lights. Garth and Malu are captured and preserved for the games. A game of living chess is played, the reward for winning the slave girls, including both Shala and Malu. Garth fights valiantly, winning the match. Shala is angered and tries to kill him. She dies with an arrow in the back. Garth is supposed to get his freedom but the high priest says he will get a month of high living then be sacrificed. Garth grabs him as a hostage and Garth and Malu sail away. They throw the high priest overboard when they don’t need him anymore.
Once again the shadow of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his The Chessmen of Mars (1922) is obvious here. ERB’s attitude toward organized religion also seems evident.
So ends the brief run of Slave Girl Comics and the tale of Malu the Slave Girl. Not quite Sword & Sorcery as Robert E. Howard invented it but a good proto-series of heroic fantasy. All these comics are in the public domain and available free at the Digital Comic Museum.
