If you missed the last one...
Some Odd Bronze Age Sword & Sorcery Comics returns with a very eclectic sampling of Sword & Sorcery tales. Last time I focused mostly on the big publishers. This time we see the rise of the independent comic for better or worse. The explosion of comic shops selling product outside the usual grocery or convention stores was a game-changer in the 1980s. Cerebus the Aardvark, Elfquest, The First Kingdom were all successes that sprang from this new place to buy comics. It was now possible to produce a comic that sold less than 100,000 copies without being cancelled. (The big guys put down any title that couldn’t stay above that mark.) A comic creator could write, drawn, print a comic and sell it to comic shops. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began this way, then became a cultural icon. What artist wouldn’t want to try and get some of that success?
The results were variable. Some comics exploded and were picked up by the big publishers. Others were not up to the standards of Marvel and DC, and often disappeared after an issue or two. Some of the other pieces included here appeared in the comics of the big publishers but hid inside Horror comics where you might have missed them…
“Warrior’s Burden” (Zombie #3, January 1974) was written by Tony Isabella. A samurai is called back from the dead to fight a dragon. Alcazar’s artwork is a fine example of the Spanish school that was big in the early 1970s.
“Two Illos” (Promethean Enterprises #5, 1974) was drawn by Frank Brunner. This one is a trifle but I always liked Brunner’s S&S so what the heck…
“The Gnark is Coming!” (The Amazing World of DC Comics #13, October 1976) was written by Steve Skeates and was originally intended for Plop! It was done in a similar vein as “The King of the Ring”. Barnyard Bruce is at the tavern to stop the Gnark’s coming. Things don’t go as planned. Around this time Ditko and Wood drew Stalker for DC.
“The Shadow in the Starstone” (Fantasy Book, 1976) was written by Steven G. Mitchell using character from Robert W. Chambers. Follow Hastur on his quest for Aresura, the black mountain where a stranger waits for aid…
“A Vision of the Black Stars” (Fantasy Book, 1976) was written by Steven G. Mitchell using character from Robert W. Chambers. More Carcosian weirdness.
“Bones of the Ancients” (Haunted #32, October 1977) was written by Wayne Howard. This story is set during the time of the Cliff-Dwellers, not one you usually associate with Sword & Sorcery but the story is certainly a dragon-slaying tale. Ti-Kan-Yut goes on a vision quest for rain and finds the great snake god. After he kills the dragon, the weather changes.
“Sword of Mankind” (Comico Primer #1, October 1982) was written by Phil Lasorda. Az helps Danen take the Sword of Mankind on a quest to rescue Danen’s sister, Lena. They battle monsters and defeat evil but Az ends up alone. Az looks a little like the Michelin Man.
“The Atlantis Scrolls” (Heroic Fantasy #1, February 1984) was written by Chris Pepo. Lord Altair, the Sky Charioteer, meets flying enemies before going on a quest to destroy the evil scientist who has plagued the land. He faces off against dinosaurs, animal mutant warriors and finally the wizard himself, Balphagor. Things end with a nuke so the Atlanteans had super science.
“Yalan’s Revenge” (Heroic Fantasy #1, February 1984) was written by Marcus Boas. Valon, son of Bullgannon, goes on a quest to find Vendicon the Vicious. He gets sacrificed to a giant snake but kills it. To be continued…. The art for this one looks like it was done from movie stills from a Steve Reeves Hercules picture.
“Immortal City” (Heroic Fantasy #2, February 1985) was written by Marcus Boas. One page of this comic was used as a cover for Heavy Metal, November 1978. This was not the continuation of the last story but a new one about Randas, who visits Troy. He fights the beast-men then meets Helen. She takes him to her new city, a fantastic space castle.
“In the Dark” (Shadowlord #1, Winter 1986) was written by Brian Thompson. This one is a portal fantasy, beginning in our world then moving to the heroic fantasy setting of Kendra. The Shadowlord faces off against demons and the March Queen. This one was followed by Triune, a sequel that is more of a space opera comic.
“…Of Gods and Bondage” (The Cosmic Book, 1986) was written by Pat Boyette. This twisted tale begins with the last of the king’s subjects wanting for everything. The kingdom has fallen because the monarch killed a wizard in the mystic mountains. The land is cursed. The king’s last friend deserts him but returns. Well, at least his head does. Reminded me a little of “The Return of the Sorcerer” by Clark Ashton Smith.
“The Woman’s Scream…” (Corban the Bearbarian#1, April 1987) was written by Phil Greene. Corban is in the mountains looking for the Frost Stone. He comes across Ailea, who wants him to defeat the giant snow spider. She turns out to be deceiving him but he still has to fight that spider.
“Welcome to Narok!” (Thorr-sverd, The Sword of Thor #3, 1987) was written by Jeff and John Vincent. This is the third and last of the run. The comic follows a group of warriors in a fantastical version of Scandanavia. They ride around in capsules carried by giant eagles. According to the inner back cover, “the action picks up” in the fourth unpublished issue. Too bad. It could have used some earlier.
Conclusion
Now a stickler could say that these last two are technically not Bronze Age comics because they appeared in 1987. If they reflected the coming years of the 1990s I would agree, but they are really Bronze Age hold-overs. They embody the trend we saw in the 1980s of the independent product sold exclusively in comic shops. Their quality may not have been that high but they were labors of love by artists who wanted to produce their own Sword & Sorcery comics. The 1990s would see most of this activity fall away, as even the big publishers found it hard to produce S&S. The flame that began in the 1960s that saw the rise of Conan the Barbarian was on the wane by the 1990s. Soon only the big winners, Conan, Xena, Elfquest and Elric would be left to fight over the crumbs…
