Most Sword & Sorcery fans consider “Crom the Barbarian” by Gardener F. Fox and John Giunta (Out of This World #1, June 1950) the first true S&S comic. One can make the case that even earlier was the Prince Valiant comic strip back in 1937. This strip by Hal Foster influenced everything that came after. Prince Valiant follows the adventures of a knight in Arthurian times, has an encounter with a dinosaur and a witch. Does that make it S&S? Not really since the bulk of the strip isn’t supernatural but a costume drama. Fox’s Crom is truly a Howardian pastiche like no other.
But was Crom the only contender? There was another who came a little later that is worth looking at too. This is “The Viking Prince” by Bob Kanigher and Joe Kubert. This comic that appeared in the first twenty-four issue of The Brave and the Bold went through three phases before being driven out by costumed superheroes.
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