Haha! I love the newsprint, Dog brother. It feels so good. I totally get your grievances...but it's "a thang". 😂⚔️ This is exactly how they needed to release it ⚔️
LOL. I get it I really do, it just didn't work for me. But I liked the book enough that I will continue to buy it even if I throw a tantrum about the newsprint every two months hahaha.
Conan fan since back when Marvel re-acquired the rights, in 2018 or whenever it was. I don’t mind newsprint - it’s what comics and magazines were printed on when I was growing up, so it feels natural to me - but I agree that the product has to be specifically tailored accordingly. The map is cool but waaaay too dark, and I also felt the Belit pinup and main story were too dark for my preferences. (Not the Solomon Kane story, though.) But I enjoyed the contents and, like you, I hope it sells well enough to go much longer than six issues. Fingers crossed!
I don't mind newsprint either, I read manga, it's all newsprint. But manga, and older comics were made knowing it would be printed on that, and I don't think that consideration was given to half of the content in this magazine. I guess the upside to newsprint is that it will probably help keep the cost of the magazine down even if other comics and comic mags increase in price over the coming year. I just got a bad first impression and wasn't able to get over it even with the great content. It is what it is. I want to thank you for taking the time to watch my video and for leaving a comment, it means a lot! Hopefully I'll see you around in two months for the next issue!
Yeh, us old fans love the newsprint! Especially after nearly 30 years wait! My copys have just been posted out so i can't say that much about it, but what ive seen on reviews so far, i think ill be more than happy. My only gripe is the 2 month wait. At least we've got the Conan the barbarian comic book to get by with each month
Yeah, the two month wait isn't my favorite, but since its a huge amount of content I get it. I knew older fans would love it but it just feels like a lesser product to me, not enough to stop buying it but enough to complain about it. Thanks for watching and for taking the time to leave a comment, I really appreciate it!
The stand alone picture after the forward is exactly how the entire book should look. The remainder does look a little more 'washed out'. But overall brings back the nostalgia and wonder of those original Savage Swords ❤ As a fan of the original back in the day I have high hopes for this book moving forward ;)
I'm happy you seemed to enjoy it. I did too but I just had some issues. I am excited to see what comes from the magazine next though. I personally don't think that the first pin up is the way forth for the magazine, that won't really attract new more modern readers, but it will keep the older gens so I guess it depends on what Titan wants to do with it. It looks like they are looking for new readers. Either way, thanks for watching and commenting! I really appreciate it!
Yeah, it is still worth collecting, but imma bitch and moan about the newsprint every time it makes the art look worse than it should. lol thanks for commenting as always miles!
Thanks a lot man! I really appreciate it. I'll be going to the Howard Days event early next month, so I hope to meet lots of fellow Conan enthusiasts soon!
Your criticism is valid & fair. For the $? This is great entertainment value. Yes, the OG fans love the B&W artwork & honestly it’s way better than the color. Keeping the $ down is a smart way of getting newer fans like yourself to be more willing to drop a relatively cheap $7 on a action packed, manly piece of entertainment, yes? Now when the deluxe CONAN books do eventually come out, will you be more or less inclined to drop $20+ for a color, fancier book? Come & join us & the rest of these Stygian dogs! High adventure awaits us all!
*Long Comment Incoming, Sorry* $7 for 80 pages is great, I agree. But, this is a premier book, tied to the flag ship franchise for this publisher, the decision to use newsprint was only announced a week before the book was released(it probably was decided earlier but we don't really know that), and the artists of the first pin up and main story did not make their art friendly for B&W, that means that choices were deliberately made to give us a subpar product. That is not good. The newsprint probably does keep the price down, but Image released books of a similar size, in color, with nicer paper, and with an equivalent amount of art vs prose last year for the same price. I don't think the "let the bad things go because the price is good" concept applies to this situation. And I want to clarify I am not a brand new fan, I have been into Conan for about two years at this point, I'm not an old hand, but I'm not a newb either, I count as part of the established fanbase. What deluxe CONAN books? This is it, and its not up to par. I think it's better to give your established fanbase the best product possible than to make your product lesser so that it's more accessible to "potential" new fans. Excellence shines through and is eventually recognized, and sadly, this relaunch of Savage Sword was not excellent, it was merely good. But that's just my opinion, and I'm happy to discuss it some more. Either way, thank you very much for commenting, I really appreciate that you took the time to watch my video and to give your thoughts on my opinion.
Nice! I need to track some down for my own collection at some point. I want to see how the vintage editions compare to the new run. Thanks for commenting!
Although it looks good overall, something feels strange in those drawings. They don't look black and white in the '80s style. They look like colored images that are photoshoped to black and white. Like when we print a color image but at the b&w output..... Also I hope they really capture the gore and sexy of the Conan books. They better give it an adults rating because I am tired of making things more appropriate for the young audience. Conan stories deserve to be experienced at its full greatness.
First of all, thank you very much for watching the video and for leaving so many comments. I wanted to acknowledge the fact you engaged so much and thank you for it. I will be answering all your comments separately so sorry for the multiple notifications you might get. The drawings are fine, very much in line with modern comics, which is good, they should be up to par with the modern styles, but I think that you hit the nail on the head, the first story looks like it just had a greyscale filter, and that's bad because it lacked intentionality and it made it easy to mess up when printed on poor quality paper with a not that great printer. Both Conan titles are already for mature audiences, sex and gore are plentiful already. Check out the main series by Jim Zub, it's good!
Sure you can't but you can make the product have the highest quality possible. I think that's better than using subpar materials to please old fans personally, but I can see it being a bad business move. I also love the book, or at least the content of it, but I will obviously complain about the things I don't like. I don't really care about comparing the content here to the rest of the industry personally. I mostly pick up indie stuff that seems cool, and end up not loving much of it, so you might be on to something. Thanks for watching the video and leaving a comment. I really appreciate it.
I agree, the images are too dark because they were made for a full color book and not black and white. It's not the material. It's the wrong decision. They should decide b&w before the artists make the images. B&W back at the 80s was very good. Everything was made with that in mind so the drawings had full details and were optimised aesthetically with the black shadows. But when you make a full color image and grayscale it to get that "80s look" for nostalgia....you get a messy outcome. Details are going away and most of the artist's work is out of the picture.... Bad choice honesty. Maybe they decide to reprint at full color this issue at some point. It will be better. And let the artists know that the future issues will be black and white and work according to that.
The decision to go black and white was made from the start I think, the announcement for the relaunch that was made months ago told us it would be in black and white. I focused on the material because that decision was only given to us recently, and I really think that the artists were not told what material their art would be printed on, otherwise they would have adjusted for it better. I think the issue was bad direction from editors and Titan, I can't really say I blame the artists if they weren't given the necessary information ahead of time. I don't think they will reprint this in color, but who knows.
Rob de la Torre does an amazing job at getting close to that same vibe. Have you been reading the main line comics? You might get a kick out of them if you haven't
My biggest issue with this book is that it strayed so far from the source material. Having a woman save Conan 4 times in one story is ridiculous and completely out of character for the Hero that Howard created.
Oof, I don't know about that man. What exactly is bad about Conan being saved by a woman more than once? I don't see how that's out of character. I think he still ends up being the badass character he always is without any issue. Thanks for watching and commenting though, I really appreciate it.
What is bad about it is it is completely out of character as I mentioned. I have been a fan of Robert E Howards works for Decades, Conan is my favorite literary creation. I own and have read every story written by REH concerning this Character. In addition I own and have read literally every single Conan story published by all 4 companies who have owned the license over 5 decades. Yeah, I am old but I know this character AND the way he was written by his creator. Yes, CONAN is a badass, nearly every author to pen a story concerning this character have recognized this fact. Conan is a Badass he is the hero and as such HE, would never be written in as a guy who needs to be rescued by anyone, he makes his own way and HE is the rescuer not the rescued. You mentioned that Conan holds no nostalgia for you and you have limited reading and understanding of the character. You might want to read the original stories penned by REH, or perhaps early SSOC comics penned by Roy Thomas to get a better feel for the character. Thanks for listening, and I am glad you enjoyed the book, and glad to see a new fan of my favorite character. @@HobbiesofaMan
I saw this comment in the morning and didn't really know how to respond. Some of the stuff you said throws off red flags, some of the stuff you said is also understandable for both your age and as a life long fan of Conan. I'll try my best to answer without offending you because I think I might. Sorry in advance and thanks for commenting again! To clear up one thing. I have read the first Del Rey Collection volume of Conan. In it, he is saved by women more than once. The specific instance I can remember is when Belit returns for a moment to help him defeat the winged monkey. This immediately proves your point to be objectively wrong. Conan is badass, a manly man, and he can be saved by women, it doesn't make him lesser. Additionally, I checked the Dragon Horde again. Ineah stops Conan from killing people 1 time because she doesn't need it on her conscious since they are fighting over her, and saves him 2 times from a dragon, which he would not have been able to defeat on his own in the position he was in at the time of either battle, and she helps him kill his enemies 1 time as well. That is in line with how REH wrote him. Conan could have defeated the baby dragon on his own with some ingenuity, but if you have a second character there to help, it's dumb to not use them. Is the issue really that Conan doesn't need saving or that it was a female character that did it? If it's the first, then you need to reread the first book in the REH collection, Conan gets help pretty often. If it's because Ineah is a female character, I think you need to take a step back and think about it. Ineah is not the type of character that is better than the male character just by virtue of being a woman, she is a character that is good at their job and happens to be a woman. Those are different things. I can give you examples in another comment if needed. Next, I want to address your condescension at the end portion of your comment. I might not have nostalgia for Conan but that does not mean I can't understand the character, I could have made it clearer that I have read some of REH's work though, so I will give you that. I don't like when people come at me with that sort of attitude so I'm asking you kindly to please not do it again. Finally, I also want to thank you again for leaving a long comment and for giving me something interesting to ruminate about during the day. And apologize again if I offended you with what I responded.
Thank you for your comment! Firstly I must apologize for any clunky comments that came across as condescending that was not my intent. Certainly the chance of a misunderstanding in this regard was on my mind the entire time I was typing. Finally I just went with it hoping I would not be misunderstood. Easy to understand your reaction. The entire point being I come from a place ( I BELIEVE) of really knowing this character and understanding his motivations. Reading this character for 40 plus years in all his incarnations by all of his scribes you get a sense, as strong sense an unyielding sense of what this character is all about. Studying Howard himself by way of his volumes of letters to HP Lovecraft and other writers of the pulps you come to realize Howards worldview as expressed through his most famous literary character. Long story short I was attempting to express my long history with and deep love for the character, not attempting to belittle you. I do apologize. Now on to your point: In Queen of the Black Coast Howard wrote Conan as being aided by the SPIRIT of Belit. Her Ghost arises from the funeral Pyre and distracts the winged ape allowing Conan to run the beast through. Note Howard did not write Belits spirit in as Killing the beast For Conan, but as aiding the Hero of the book in this penultimate part of the story. Very much in Character you are correct, Howard wrote Conan in as being aided quite often in his battles, but the focus was always on Conan as being the Hero who ultimately vanquishes the foe. I obviously have zero problem with strong female characters, nor did Howard. He gave us Dark Agnes in her own story, as well as Valeria and Belit in the Conan universe. But these 2 strong female characters whilst capable and fierce in their own regard were never written in as the Hero who saved the day for Conan. They aided Conan of course but it was never in doubt in a Howard or Roy Thomas story that Conan was the protagonist and the Ultimate hero of the story. Going back to your Belit example, CONAN killed the beast. The true Hero of this SSOC story IS muddied and unclear much like the art by the Engineer stepping in and saving Conan multiple times. Maybe once would be ok, but certainly not more than once and absolutely never at the climax of the story. If you can find another Conan story where in the final battle the killing blow is delivered by a companion of Conan and not Conan himself please let me know. Almost never does a Hero's journey of any story ends with the Protagonist not giving the reader the satisfaction of a clear end to said journey ,by delivering the final blow. Anyway thanks for the respectful back and forth, and I am glad you enjoyed the book, and enjoy the character, we need more Conan fans! @@HobbiesofaMan
Something I neglected to expand on in my postings earlier. For any Hero's journey to work properly and satisfyingly for the reader, the protagonist must ultimately be the one to overcome the antagonist. This is the Hero's journey overcoming all obstacles in his quest. This is just basic storytelling, and the formula used for thousands of years in all cultures. The Hero IS the Hero, because HE overcomes and vanquishes the foe. If you have the chance to read Joseph Campbells book "the hero's journey" please do so its a fantastic scholarly work that documents the basic formula used worldwide in myths stories and legends of old, and in fact still being used today in books cinema and TV. My problem with this story is Conan is not truly the hero of his own book. Lets look at the main antagonists and the obstacles facing Conan in this story: The Dragon, the Dragons offspring, and the conniving evil prince. All killed by the engineer, not by the Hero who's name is on the title of the book. Even the 2 huge bodyguards who threatened Conan throughout this book, one of them was killed by the engineer, after it was inferred in the storytelling that Conan was at deaths door facing the 2 guards. Conan as written by Howard would have zero problems taking on 2 men no matter their size either armed or unarmed. He would never need the help of another in this situation. And the saves by the engineer just made no sense. Take another look at the times she used her engines of war and tell me how she was able to prime, manuever into place and aim in seconds in order to kill the dinosaur, a moving target no less in the eye. How was she able in seconds to sneak up on the brother manuever into place the equipment and hang the brother. Same with the Prince at the end. Every use of her machinery in saving Conan was nonsensical. As stated, Hero's are the Hero of their own book they can get help of course, but they are never relegated to damsel in distress status. At least they shouldn't be. THATS bad storytelling. Thanks again for listening!@@HobbiesofaMan
For which story? I'm hearing different things from different commenters, and I can't track down the post that shows the Dragon Hoard in color. If the art was conceived to be in black and white, then there was some failures here. If it's because they didn't know what material it was going to be printed on I would say its on the editors/Titan, if it wasn't because of that then its on the artists. I don't know what the reality of the situation is, I just know what it looks like to me and what I feel about it. Thanks for commenting and taking the time to watch the video. Sorry if my comment is unclear. Thanks again!
To be fair, the old SSoC probably had artists that were intimately aware of the limitations of black and white, modern artists don't really since even badly made black and white stuff is still visible on digital platforms. I think the editors and Titan messed up more than the artists in this case.
Since I goofed, it's a 8/10 for me, I can't give it a 10/10 for the obvious issues I've got but it is still a good release.
I'm with you on this. I enjoyed it but the grayscale bothered me.
I feel the same about the picture quality it was disappointing
Haha! I love the newsprint, Dog brother. It feels so good. I totally get your grievances...but it's "a thang". 😂⚔️ This is exactly how they needed to release it ⚔️
LOL. I get it I really do, it just didn't work for me. But I liked the book enough that I will continue to buy it even if I throw a tantrum about the newsprint every two months hahaha.
😊 S'all good! 😊 Honestly, if it'd been slicker, on better paper, it'd be a failure.
Conan fan since back when Marvel re-acquired the rights, in 2018 or whenever it was.
I don’t mind newsprint - it’s what comics and magazines were printed on when I was growing up, so it feels natural to me - but I agree that the product has to be specifically tailored accordingly. The map is cool but waaaay too dark, and I also felt the Belit pinup and main story were too dark for my preferences. (Not the Solomon Kane story, though.) But I enjoyed the contents and, like you, I hope it sells well enough to go much longer than six issues. Fingers crossed!
I don't mind newsprint either, I read manga, it's all newsprint. But manga, and older comics were made knowing it would be printed on that, and I don't think that consideration was given to half of the content in this magazine. I guess the upside to newsprint is that it will probably help keep the cost of the magazine down even if other comics and comic mags increase in price over the coming year.
I just got a bad first impression and wasn't able to get over it even with the great content. It is what it is.
I want to thank you for taking the time to watch my video and for leaving a comment, it means a lot! Hopefully I'll see you around in two months for the next issue!
Thanks for the kind words on my Solomon Kane essay! Hopefully they will make adjustments for the black and white for the next issue.
Thanks for leaving a comment. I just realized I didn't give out your name on the article so I'll correct that when I review issue two.
@@HobbiesofaMan It's cool man! I really appreciate your reviews. Your comments and critiques are always spot on.
Yeh, us old fans love the newsprint! Especially after nearly 30 years wait! My copys have just been posted out so i can't say that much about it, but what ive seen on reviews so far, i think ill be more than happy. My only gripe is the 2 month wait. At least we've got the Conan the barbarian comic book to get by with each month
Yeah, the two month wait isn't my favorite, but since its a huge amount of content I get it. I knew older fans would love it but it just feels like a lesser product to me, not enough to stop buying it but enough to complain about it. Thanks for watching and for taking the time to leave a comment, I really appreciate it!
I honestly loved the smell..
The stand alone picture after the forward is exactly how the entire book should look. The remainder does look a little more 'washed out'. But overall brings back the nostalgia and wonder of those original Savage Swords ❤
As a fan of the original back in the day I have high hopes for this book moving forward ;)
I'm happy you seemed to enjoy it. I did too but I just had some issues. I am excited to see what comes from the magazine next though. I personally don't think that the first pin up is the way forth for the magazine, that won't really attract new more modern readers, but it will keep the older gens so I guess it depends on what Titan wants to do with it. It looks like they are looking for new readers.
Either way, thanks for watching and commenting! I really appreciate it!
If the artwork was clearer in black and white, it might be better. But if the stories are great, it's worth collecting.
Yeah, it is still worth collecting, but imma bitch and moan about the newsprint every time it makes the art look worse than it should. lol thanks for commenting as always miles!
Welcome to the fandom. You reviews are very in depth and we like it.
Thanks a lot man! I really appreciate it. I'll be going to the Howard Days event early next month, so I hope to meet lots of fellow Conan enthusiasts soon!
@@HobbiesofaMan I'm jealous. I planned on going there this year, but Crom and my work schedule did not favor me this year. Enjoy.
Your criticism is valid & fair. For the $? This is great entertainment value. Yes, the OG fans love the B&W artwork & honestly it’s way better than the color. Keeping the $ down is a smart way of getting newer fans like yourself to be more willing to drop a relatively cheap $7 on a action packed, manly piece of entertainment, yes? Now when the deluxe CONAN books do eventually come out, will you be more or less inclined to drop $20+ for a color, fancier book? Come & join us & the rest of these Stygian dogs! High adventure awaits us all!
*Long Comment Incoming, Sorry*
$7 for 80 pages is great, I agree. But, this is a premier book, tied to the flag ship franchise for this publisher, the decision to use newsprint was only announced a week before the book was released(it probably was decided earlier but we don't really know that), and the artists of the first pin up and main story did not make their art friendly for B&W, that means that choices were deliberately made to give us a subpar product. That is not good. The newsprint probably does keep the price down, but Image released books of a similar size, in color, with nicer paper, and with an equivalent amount of art vs prose last year for the same price. I don't think the "let the bad things go because the price is good" concept applies to this situation. And I want to clarify I am not a brand new fan, I have been into Conan for about two years at this point, I'm not an old hand, but I'm not a newb either, I count as part of the established fanbase. What deluxe CONAN books? This is it, and its not up to par.
I think it's better to give your established fanbase the best product possible than to make your product lesser so that it's more accessible to "potential" new fans. Excellence shines through and is eventually recognized, and sadly, this relaunch of Savage Sword was not excellent, it was merely good. But that's just my opinion, and I'm happy to discuss it some more.
Either way, thank you very much for commenting, I really appreciate that you took the time to watch my video and to give your thoughts on my opinion.
Great overview and good points re: printing. I got my copy and was really disappointed.
Yeah, I'm hoping next month's issue is better. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I have a box of these from the late 70s and early 80s.
Nice! I need to track some down for my own collection at some point. I want to see how the vintage editions compare to the new run. Thanks for commenting!
Although it looks good overall, something feels strange in those drawings.
They don't look black and white in the '80s style.
They look like colored images that are photoshoped to black and white.
Like when we print a color image but at the b&w output.....
Also I hope they really capture the gore and sexy of the Conan books. They better give it an adults rating because I am tired of making things more appropriate for the young audience.
Conan stories deserve to be experienced at its full greatness.
First of all, thank you very much for watching the video and for leaving so many comments. I wanted to acknowledge the fact you engaged so much and thank you for it. I will be answering all your comments separately so sorry for the multiple notifications you might get.
The drawings are fine, very much in line with modern comics, which is good, they should be up to par with the modern styles, but I think that you hit the nail on the head, the first story looks like it just had a greyscale filter, and that's bad because it lacked intentionality and it made it easy to mess up when printed on poor quality paper with a not that great printer. Both Conan titles are already for mature audiences, sex and gore are plentiful already. Check out the main series by Jim Zub, it's good!
Yep they were in color. And looked great to.
Can’t please everyone. I love the book. It’s 10 times better than 90% of the other industry books out there now
Sure you can't but you can make the product have the highest quality possible. I think that's better than using subpar materials to please old fans personally, but I can see it being a bad business move. I also love the book, or at least the content of it, but I will obviously complain about the things I don't like.
I don't really care about comparing the content here to the rest of the industry personally. I mostly pick up indie stuff that seems cool, and end up not loving much of it, so you might be on to something.
Thanks for watching the video and leaving a comment. I really appreciate it.
@@HobbiesofaMan no problem
I agree, the images are too dark because they were made for a full color book and not black and white.
It's not the material.
It's the wrong decision.
They should decide b&w before the artists make the images.
B&W back at the 80s was very good.
Everything was made with that in mind so the drawings had full details and were optimised aesthetically with the black shadows.
But when you make a full color image and grayscale it to get that "80s look" for nostalgia....you get a messy outcome.
Details are going away and most of the artist's work is out of the picture....
Bad choice honesty.
Maybe they decide to reprint at full color this issue at some point.
It will be better.
And let the artists know that the future issues will be black and white and work according to that.
The decision to go black and white was made from the start I think, the announcement for the relaunch that was made months ago told us it would be in black and white. I focused on the material because that decision was only given to us recently, and I really think that the artists were not told what material their art would be printed on, otherwise they would have adjusted for it better. I think the issue was bad direction from editors and Titan, I can't really say I blame the artists if they weren't given the necessary information ahead of time. I don't think they will reprint this in color, but who knows.
If only John Buscema can give life to conan once again 😢😢😢😢
Rob de la Torre does an amazing job at getting close to that same vibe. Have you been reading the main line comics? You might get a kick out of them if you haven't
@@HobbiesofaMan my copies are on the way 🙌
Awesome! I hope you enjoy
My biggest issue with this book is that it strayed so far from the source material.
Having a woman save Conan 4 times in one story is ridiculous and completely out of character for the Hero that Howard created.
Oof, I don't know about that man. What exactly is bad about Conan being saved by a woman more than once? I don't see how that's out of character. I think he still ends up being the badass character he always is without any issue.
Thanks for watching and commenting though, I really appreciate it.
What is bad about it is it is completely out of character as I mentioned. I have been a fan of Robert E Howards works for Decades, Conan is my favorite literary creation. I own and have read every story written by REH concerning this Character. In addition I own and have read literally every single Conan story published by all 4 companies who have owned the license over 5 decades. Yeah, I am old but I know this character AND the way he was written by his creator. Yes, CONAN is a badass, nearly every author to pen a story concerning this character have recognized this fact. Conan is a Badass he is the hero and as such HE, would never be written in as a guy who needs to be rescued by anyone, he makes his own way and HE is the rescuer not the rescued. You mentioned that Conan holds no nostalgia for you and you have limited reading and understanding of the character. You might want to read the original stories penned by REH, or perhaps early SSOC comics penned by Roy Thomas to get a better feel for the character. Thanks for listening, and I am glad you enjoyed the book, and glad to see a new fan of my favorite character. @@HobbiesofaMan
I saw this comment in the morning and didn't really know how to respond. Some of the stuff you said throws off red flags, some of the stuff you said is also understandable for both your age and as a life long fan of Conan. I'll try my best to answer without offending you because I think I might. Sorry in advance and thanks for commenting again!
To clear up one thing. I have read the first Del Rey Collection volume of Conan. In it, he is saved by women more than once. The specific instance I can remember is when Belit returns for a moment to help him defeat the winged monkey. This immediately proves your point to be objectively wrong. Conan is badass, a manly man, and he can be saved by women, it doesn't make him lesser.
Additionally, I checked the Dragon Horde again. Ineah stops Conan from killing people 1 time because she doesn't need it on her conscious since they are fighting over her, and saves him 2 times from a dragon, which he would not have been able to defeat on his own in the position he was in at the time of either battle, and she helps him kill his enemies 1 time as well. That is in line with how REH wrote him. Conan could have defeated the baby dragon on his own with some ingenuity, but if you have a second character there to help, it's dumb to not use them. Is the issue really that Conan doesn't need saving or that it was a female character that did it? If it's the first, then you need to reread the first book in the REH collection, Conan gets help pretty often. If it's because Ineah is a female character, I think you need to take a step back and think about it. Ineah is not the type of character that is better than the male character just by virtue of being a woman, she is a character that is good at their job and happens to be a woman. Those are different things. I can give you examples in another comment if needed.
Next, I want to address your condescension at the end portion of your comment. I might not have nostalgia for Conan but that does not mean I can't understand the character, I could have made it clearer that I have read some of REH's work though, so I will give you that. I don't like when people come at me with that sort of attitude so I'm asking you kindly to please not do it again.
Finally, I also want to thank you again for leaving a long comment and for giving me something interesting to ruminate about during the day. And apologize again if I offended you with what I responded.
Thank you for your comment! Firstly I must apologize for any clunky comments that came across as condescending that was not my intent. Certainly the chance of a misunderstanding in this regard was on my mind the entire time I was typing. Finally I just went with it hoping I would not be misunderstood. Easy to understand your reaction. The entire point being I come from a place ( I BELIEVE) of really knowing this character and understanding his motivations. Reading this character for 40 plus years in all his incarnations by all of his scribes you get a sense, as strong sense an unyielding sense of what this character is all about. Studying Howard himself by way of his volumes of letters to HP Lovecraft and other writers of the pulps you come to realize Howards worldview as expressed through his most famous literary character. Long story short I was attempting to express my long history with and deep love for the character, not attempting to belittle you. I do apologize.
Now on to your point: In Queen of the Black Coast Howard wrote Conan as being aided by the SPIRIT of Belit. Her Ghost arises from the funeral Pyre and distracts the winged ape allowing Conan to run the beast through. Note Howard did not write Belits spirit in as Killing the beast For Conan, but as aiding the Hero of the book in this penultimate part of the story. Very much in Character you are correct, Howard wrote Conan in as being aided quite often in his battles, but the focus was always on Conan as being the Hero who ultimately vanquishes the foe. I obviously have zero problem with strong female characters, nor did Howard. He gave us Dark Agnes in her own story, as well as Valeria and Belit in the Conan universe. But these 2 strong female characters whilst capable and fierce in their own regard were never written in as the Hero who saved the day for Conan. They aided Conan of course but it was never in doubt in a Howard or Roy Thomas story that Conan was the protagonist and the Ultimate hero of the story. Going back to your Belit example, CONAN killed the beast.
The true Hero of this SSOC story IS muddied and unclear much like the art by the Engineer stepping in and saving Conan multiple times. Maybe once would be ok, but certainly not more than once and absolutely never at the climax of the story. If you can find another Conan story where in the final battle the killing blow is delivered by a companion of Conan and not Conan himself please let me know. Almost never does a Hero's journey of any story ends with the Protagonist not giving the reader the satisfaction of a clear end to said journey ,by delivering the final blow.
Anyway thanks for the respectful back and forth, and I am glad you enjoyed the book, and enjoy the character, we need more Conan fans! @@HobbiesofaMan
Something I neglected to expand on in my postings earlier. For any Hero's journey to work properly and satisfyingly for the reader, the protagonist must ultimately be the one to overcome the antagonist. This is the Hero's journey overcoming all obstacles in his quest. This is just basic storytelling, and the formula used for thousands of years in all cultures. The Hero IS the Hero, because HE overcomes and vanquishes the foe. If you have the chance to read Joseph Campbells book "the hero's journey" please do so its a fantastic scholarly work that documents the basic formula used worldwide in myths stories and legends of old, and in fact still being used today in books cinema and TV. My problem with this story is Conan is not truly the hero of his own book. Lets look at the main antagonists and the obstacles facing Conan in this story: The Dragon, the Dragons offspring, and the conniving evil prince. All killed by the engineer, not by the Hero who's name is on the title of the book. Even the 2 huge bodyguards who threatened Conan throughout this book, one of them was killed by the engineer, after it was inferred in the storytelling that Conan was at deaths door facing the 2 guards. Conan as written by Howard would have zero problems taking on 2 men no matter their size either armed or unarmed. He would never need the help of another in this situation. And the saves by the engineer just made no sense. Take another look at the times she used her engines of war and tell me how she was able to prime, manuever into place and aim in seconds in order to kill the dinosaur, a moving target no less in the eye. How was she able in seconds to sneak up on the brother manuever into place the equipment and hang the brother. Same with the Prince at the end. Every use of her machinery in saving Conan was nonsensical.
As stated, Hero's are the Hero of their own book they can get help of course, but they are never relegated to damsel in distress status. At least they shouldn't be. THATS bad storytelling. Thanks again for listening!@@HobbiesofaMan
The art was conceived to be black and white.
For which story? I'm hearing different things from different commenters, and I can't track down the post that shows the Dragon Hoard in color.
If the art was conceived to be in black and white, then there was some failures here. If it's because they didn't know what material it was going to be printed on I would say its on the editors/Titan, if it wasn't because of that then its on the artists. I don't know what the reality of the situation is, I just know what it looks like to me and what I feel about it.
Thanks for commenting and taking the time to watch the video. Sorry if my comment is unclear. Thanks again!
@@HobbiesofaMan The art was conceived to be b/w but not newsprint afaik.
The printing is atrocious. Worse than the Old SSOC.
Yeah I have couple of old savage sword of conan books from the 80s and they didn't look like this
To be fair, the old SSoC probably had artists that were intimately aware of the limitations of black and white, modern artists don't really since even badly made black and white stuff is still visible on digital platforms. I think the editors and Titan messed up more than the artists in this case.
@@HobbiesofaMan the story was originally done in color. And it looked glorious on the one page I saw