“Moanin’ the Bavarian” was a Conan parody published in What the–?! #12 (May 1991). Conan parodies were not new in the early ’90s but this one gathers humor from the comics and movies. (“Testicles the Tautologist” in Skull Comics #3 (November 1971) might have been the first.) This comic was written and drawn by Bill Wray of Ren & Stimpy fame (inked by Hilary Barta) but the first treat is the John Byrne cover that parodies Frank Frazetta’s cover for Conan the Adventurer. We all know that classic pose with the beautiful gal hanging on to his leg. It has been parodied before and since…
Wray does an awful lot in only ten pages. He starts with his own cover for Moanin’ that features Thor, Wolverine and Colossus. No Marvel hero is a match for the Bavarian.
Wray begins with the epic chase, Moanin’ trying to shake off a weird pursuer. Of course, Moanin’ hates wizardy.
I was glad to see Wray involved a wizard-sends-a-barbarian-on-a-quest storyline too. Marvel did this one so many times (though Crom the Barbarian did it in 1950) it had to be the chosen plot. T. A. Wizard (who looks like George Jetson’s boss wearing Hannibal Lector’s mask) could have had a more clever name. At least he is bald.
But Wray doesn’t stick to just one scenario. He does the barbarian’s homecoming as well.
The ending seems misogynistic but I suppose Conan doesn’t settle down until he wins his kingdom. That Hairylipyia is something out of a Robert Crumb comic. So misogynistic might be right.
I’ve seen a lot of Conan novels from the 1990s but never Conan the Domestic. Maybe Leonard Carpenter missed that one.
“Cronan the Beerbarian” is a one-pager that finishes the Conan portion of the comic. Written by Barry Dutter, it has art by Keith Wilson. Here we get a good parody of a beer commercial and a pun about “putting a head on that beer”.
Conclusion
How much of all this is funny depends on if you get the jokes or not. Parodying Howard’s suicide certainly was in poor taste. It does show Wray is up on his material beyond just the Schwarzenegger film though. My favorite is the page where he takes on Yogi Bear, Frosty the Snowman, Hot Stuff and a Disney dwarf. The wizard’s charm of “Hannah Barbarian!” says it all. These are older references than the appearance of Pee-Wee Herman (Pee-Vee Vermin), who was big in 1991. The final bit I liked was having Moanin’ take on Goo (Groo). The originals would meet in 2014 in Conan Versus Groo. I think I like Wray’s version better. It’s funnier.
