From time to time, I hope to do full reviews of Bronze Age stories presented in the black & white format. Today we're going to trip back in time not only to the Hyborian Age, but back a couple of years to the final months of the Bronze Age Babies blog. The post below was written right around six months before we ceased publication. By then, in an effort to streamline my reviews (read: make it a little easier on myself, as opposed to doing a full plot synopsis on a 30-page yarn), I developed a concise format of recapping the plot in 100 words, followed by a Good/Bad/Ugly commentary style. One note: I've since reread this rendition of "Shadows in Zamboula", and I'll stand by other commenters who feel that Tony DeZuniga deserves the lion's share of the credit for the art chores here. See how you feel about it.
The post is presented here in its original form, so please don't feel like you're coming into the middle of a conversation. Here is
a link to the original publication; there were 19 comments on the review - a pretty healthy conversation!
I hope if you're seeing this for the first time, you enjoy the experience -- you can leave a comment below with any praises and pans!
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 4 APRIL 2016 AT BRONZE AGE BABIES.
Savage Sword of Conan #14 (September 1976)(cover by Earl Norem)
"Shadows in Zamboula"
Roy Thomas-Neal Adams/"the Tribe" (although databases credit Tony DeZuniga on the inks)
Doug:
A little over a month ago I mentioned in a comments section that
today's review would be coming your way. I said then that I'd originally
intended to do a
Thor issue from the first few post-Kirby
offerings. Noticing that Neal Adams was the first artist on the
post-Jack scene, I was drawn to that 2-parter. However, upon leafing
through those two books and seeing the odd combination of Adams with Joe
Sinnott's inks I was pushed away. Eyeballing the shelves in my comics
room, I was reminded that it has been years since we ran a
Savage Sword of Conan review (we've
only done two
in our long history here), so I zeroed in on the spines of the four
collected volumes I own. I decided just to grab the second compilation
and see what lurked within. Of all the stories inside, only two were not
penciled by John Buscema. Since he's sort of the Conan go-to artist, I
wondered about finding something different so I checked out first the
Gil Kane story and then the Neal Adams tale. If you ever ask me to pick
between those two artists I'm going to choose Adams 100% of the time --
no question. So here we are.
Doug:
I've said it before, but some of the things I'd snatch up had I a time
machine and a fair amount of cash are Marvel's various Bronze Age
B&W magazines. The art is so spectacular -- from the limited
amount of material I've seen, there weren't many misses in terms of
quality. The inks are lush, and the use of wash, zipatone, etc. really
give some great textures that the coloring of the day simply could not
provide. If you've never laid eyes on these "essential" Savage Sword
books (I lower-cased that, as these are published by Dark Horse, not
Marvel), I'd encourage you to seek them out. They are thick, and a sight
to behold.
Doug: So let's get this moving with a
100-Word Review of the plot, as I'm guessing few among our throngs of readers have read this particular tale.
Conan finds himself in Zamboula, warned against staying at the tavern
of Aram Baksh. Allegedly men who sleep there disappear, their goods sold at the
bazaar. Conan’s investigation soon leads him into conflict with cannibals from
Darfar, and a bare-breasted damsel in distress. Further, a drugged Turanian
soldier and an idol for human sacrifice add to the suspense. Conan is tested against
a Black giant, reality-warping drugs, and the peddler of flesh, Totrasmek. A
magical ring is the center of attention, for it enslaves the hearts of the
opposite sex. Lies, peril, swordplay, and thievery dominate this fast-paced
tale.
The Good: I sometimes feel like I need to take a deep breath when I'm reading these
Savage Sword
stories. It's pretty well known that John Buscema felt most at home
with Conan the Barbarian. I think we could make that same argument of
Roy Thomas. Sure, we all know of Thomas's affinity for the WWII-era
heroes and the opportunity to retcon their histories. But he seemed to
really put out with the Cimmerian. You could also add to the argument by
stating how easy it must have been to work with the likes of Buscema,
Kane, Adams, and the wonderful lot of Filipino artists that dot the
Marvel B&W titles, as compared to lesser (and that's not really a
dig) talents that might have been his partners in the four-color books.
I just think there's a true comfort in the pacing, dialogue, and
eventual payoff in a Roy Thomas Conan story. That being said, I know he
has his detractors in the regular Conan mag, and it's been stated on
this blog that post-#50 the drop-off in quality is marked. So what do I
know?
Neal Adams's art is Neal Adams's art. It's
beautiful. I read somewhere (maybe it was even Sean that suggested it in
earlier comments here on the BAB) that Tony DeZuniga had tremendous
influence on this issue. I suppose I see it in some places, but I mainly
see Adams. The faces, angles of the body when walking, the motion of a
turn -- some of those are specific traits that I see in Adams's pencils
whether here or in a Batman or X-Men story. I also liked the attention
to detail on Conan's hair. I know, sounds sort of metrosexual for a
barbarian yarn. But if you've read some of the Robert E. Howard stories,
Conan's hair is jet black and trimmed straight across his forehead.
Adams honors that in nearly every panel. Small detail, but it adds
authenticity to the portrayal of the character.
The
plot, as I mentioned, was solid. It was extremely well-paced, slowing
only when the tension of an action scene was required. There are some
movements in the story, but I never felt that getting from here to there
required me to suspend my disbelief (beyond "normal" in a sword/sorcery
story) or accept any deus ex machina developments. Adams's panel
layouts stayed mostly to the grid, but he just often enough mixed in a
no-panel layout to keep me enthralled. There are three splash pages in
the story, all appropriately placed and effective. Often the figures
and/or accessories spill outside the panel's constraints, and I find
that effective as well. The end panel is suitably "Conan", and left me
with an "of course" smile.
An element of Conan stories
is a sort of continuity-without-continuity. For example, on the first
page Thomas pens that Conan is accosted in the bazaar by "one of his
former Zuagir comrades". I don't necessarily need to know of that
episode, but it places the thought into my mind that this Conan fellow
is well traveled and well-adventured. Also, the use of city and national
names gives Conan stories a "universe" feel. A Tarzan story, to draw on
another major mythical adventurer, doesn't give me the same sense of
geographic wonder; perhaps that's because Edgar Rice Burroughs anchored
his ape-man in our own world.
My favorite part of this
story was the 8-page mano-a-mano battle to the death between Conan and
the Darfarian giant Baal-Pteor. The creators crafted a vignette with a
great deal of tension and an outcome of which I assumed but could not be
fully convinced.
The Bad:
There's really not much to say here, other than I wondered about this
rough-and-tumble world where barbarians stride through town shirtless
and later meet and have an adventure with a beautiful woman, also
shirtless. Makes me wonder why I'm sitting here wearing clothes... (no,
not really). Cover up! Sheesh.
The Ugly: The
only ugly thing about this story, or any Conan story for that matter,
are the baddies. Whether here with Adams or in a Big John-penciled tale
(or shoot -- in my imagination as I read a Howard short story), the
denizens of these mythical cities never disappoint in terms of menace.
But as to any story element? I got nuthin'.
As I said
at the top, do yourself a favor and check out some of these stories. You
know, we often bat around "what's so great about the Bronze Age?", and
we always tend to focus on Treasury Editions, Megos, the Giant-Size and
Dollar Comics, etc. But these magazines are a vital component of 1970s
comics history and should not be neglected as part of the larger
experience.
