“The Unspeakable Shrine” was a two-parter in the B&W magazine, Savage Tales. The Brak the Barbarian adventure appeared in issues #7-8 (November 1974-January 1975). Though John Jakes wrote some material for Marvel, including the Brak adventure “Spell of the Dragon” (Chamber of Chills #2, January 1973) and a Conan and Kull script , “The Unspeakable Shrine” was adapted by Doug Moench and drawn by Steve Gan. Savage Tales had transitioned away from Sword & Sorcery for Jungle adventure, but this Brak story was a final kiss to the sub-genre dominated by Conan. Only Jakes’s fiction piece, “The Running of Ladyhound” would follow. Ka-Zar and his giant cat now owned the magazine.
The original story was the opener for Brak the Barbarian (1968) the first of five paperbacks. The story was new, not a reprint from Fantastic like some of the other stories in that book. The novella length makes it good for a two part comic adaptation. It is the only Brak story to be adapted since “Spell of the Dragon” was written especially as a comic story.
Brak, a Northern barbarian, ventures into the Southlands on a journey to see the legendary Khurisan. On his way he comes to the city of Kanda Kai, a place where evil reigns. He sees the worshippers of their terrible god, Yab-Haggoth. Brak avoids them but he can’t avoid everyone.
The Darter Boys corner him in an alley. These strange youths worship Yob-Haggoth with their arcane surgeries. The Darter Boys have lens for eyes and fingers that produce shocking sparks.
Brak refuses to bow to them or their god…
… and fights them.
A fight he loses when they zap him with their mystical energy.
Knowing the better part of valor, Brak flees when a door opens to him. It takes him into a courtyard where he meets a very beautiful woman.
She is Ariane, Septegundus’ daughter. Septegundus is the high priest of Yob-Haggoth and a very powerful wizard. His daughter is also a sorceress. The Darter Boys are under her control. They surround Brak. Ariane does what the Darters can not, blasts Brak into unconsciousness.
Brak wakes up in a prison cell. He is visited by a mystic beam of light.
It is Ariane come to admire the barbarian. She is smitten with his brawniness and spirit. Two unseen watchers comment on the situation, but we will have to wait for next time to see who Brak’s cellmates are. And what Ariane plans to do with him!
“The Unspeakable Shrine” allowed John Jakes to tie all his Brak stories into a frame. He begins with Yob-Haggoth and Septegundus and reportedly ends that way too. (Though that final Brak story has yet to see light. According to JJ, it has been written and never published!) All his wanderings after this tale are the filling of the epic sandwich that is the tale of Brak.
Kanda Kai is possibly the most evil city in all of Sword & Sorcery (if you ignore the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.) There is evil lurking in the streets of the Hyborian kingdoms but there is also laughter and beer and humanity. Perhaps the second most evil place is Xuthal from “The Slithering Shadow” or Xuchotl from “Red Nails”, both places I would not want to visit. Unlike those two lost cities, Kanda Kai is openly evil and corrupt. Wandering barbarians show up in all three.
I think the best part of this tale is the Darter Boys. Yob-Haggoth is pretty usual Lovecraftian fare and his daughter is the typical spoiled evil woman who falls for the hero. Only the Darter Boys are unique to S&S. They are creepy and dangerous and not really like anything from Howard, Jakes’ biggest influence. John was a Science Fiction writer from his first Pulp stories and I have to wonder if he wasn’t drawing more from there?
A quick acknowledgement of Steve Gan’s art, which is pretty damn good. Steve is one of the Filipino artist that came to Marvel in the 1970s along with Tony deZuniga. This comic was one of the first he did in the US. Steve did several black & white magazines pieces in Dracula Lives, Savage Sword of Conan and Marvel Preview. He worked also on the initial issues of Skull the Slayer with Marv Wolfman.
Next time… Brak faces off against the dark priest himself, Septegundus!
