Lair of the Ice Worm

-

THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN — Issue no. 34, August 1978

Book: The Savage Sword of Conan

Issue No.: 34

Published: August 1, 1978

Title: “Lair of the Ice Worm”

Cover Price: $1

Format: Original paper copy

Since I’ve started collecting Marvel books from 1978, I’ve picked up a few of Marvel’s magazines. As you might recall, these “magazines” differ from “comic books” (which, yes, are also technically magazines) as they are slightly larger, contain more pages, and are printed in black-and-white instead of color. I have picked up several Savage Sword of Conan issues, along with a couple issues of Marvel Premiere and an issue of Hulk! (which was printed in color — I am pretty sure it got the color treatment because of the popular-at-the-time Incredible Hulk TV show).

These magazines are really fun to read. They’re not treasury-size, but just being a little bigger than the standard comics of the day really lets the art (and lettering!) shine. And, bonus, looks like I only paid four bucks for this issue of Savage Sword. That’s basically the book’s one-dollar cover price adjusted for 2024 inflation.

The main story here, “Lair of the Ice Worm,” really takes full advantage of that extra page real estate, with pencils by the great Carmine Infantino. I’ve been seeing some of his other work from this era in the Spider-Woman book. But the inker here, Alfredo Alcala, really makes the most of Infantino’s layouts. I’d be curious to see what Alcala would have done with one of Infantino’s Spider-Woman stories.

A panel from this issue showing Conan on horseback attacking several beast-men. Caption reads, “By then, however, he is among them — like the thunderbolt that rivens the tree — and leaves it a rotting, blackened stump!”

Plot-wise, the tale is classic Conan. The barbarian rescues a woman from a group of vicious beast-men, only to have her lured to her demise by the titular ice worm. Conan, of course, vows revenge and sets off in search of the huge, furry serpent. The actual battle with the ice worm is brief, but Conan’s trek through the ice and snow to find the creature, with Conan’s dread growing each step of the way, is compelling.

The art for all three stories (this issue of Savage Sword also features a Solomon Kane story and a Kull story — both of those characters, like Conan, were created by Robert E. Howard) is good, and each showcases a different black-and-white art technique. Inker Alcala employs cross-hatching for the Conan story, and inker Bill Wray uses screentone for the Kane story. I’m no expert, but to my eye it looks like Mike Ploog rendered the Kull story using charcoals. Or maybe Ploog used some inking method I am unfamiliar with. Either way, Ploog’s approach is moody and strange, which perfectly suits the story about Kull (who is a warrior whose exploits are set in a pre-Conan era) and his encounters with a wizard and the wizard’s hall of magic mirrors.

Like I always say, these Marvel magazines provide a lot of bang for the one-buck cover price. This issue of Savage Sword of Conan is no exception. On top of the three adventure stories, Savage Sword no. 34 also includes an article about the then-new Conan the Barbarian syndicated newspaper strip and a couple of pages of fan-mail.

Next time — Dracula versus his daughter, Lilith!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Jack of Hearts!

-
Image
MARVEL PREMIERE — Issue no. 44, July 1978 / As I understand it, MARVEL PREMIERE served, at least sometimes, as a try-out book. It was an anthology title, and it generally featured a different character each issue. Marvel’s editors could spotlight a superhero in MARVEL PREMIERE and, based on sales and reader mail, decide whether that hero might warrant their own title. Writer and Jack of Hearts creator Bill Mantlo states this all pretty directly on this issue’s fan-mail page (which, in this case, is more of an editorial and doesn’t feature any letters from fans), encouraging fans of Jack to write in with their thoughts. And to also maybe buy an extra copy of the book and gift it to a friend. Early in the book’s run, Doctor Strange and Iron Fist were both featured in multiple issues of MARVEL PREMIERE before getting their own titles. Book: Marvel Premiere Issue No.: 44 Published: July 25, 1978 Title: “The Jack of Hearts!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Original pap...
Read more

Stairway to Rage!

-
Image
MASTER OF KUNG FU — Issue no. 69, July 1978 / This issue of MASTER OF KUNG FU ends on a confusing note. It’s a literal note, at the bottom of the story’s last page — “See our letters page for news about next issue!” But there’s no letters page in this issue. So I guess I’ll have to wait till I read the next issue to see what it’s about. I was kind of confused for a lot of this issue, because it features several flashbacks, but I couldn’t remember if they were from MASTER OF KUNG FU no. 68 or if they were filling in some backstory. I finally figured out it was the latter. I think. After the multi-issue epic that wrapped up in the previous issue, this book features a one-and-done story. It’s a fairly straightforward (other than all the flashbacks) gauntlet type of story, with kung fu master Shang-Chi defeating a series of opponents to get to Skullcrusher. (This book really delivers on the kung fu, with the fights dynamically illustrated by the great Mike Zeck.) Skullcrusher (his...
Read more

Betrayal!

-
Image
THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN — Issue no. 115, July 1978 / The penciler of this issue of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN gets the biggest credit on the opening splash page — “And introducing the pulse-pounding penciling of… John Romita Jr.! Marvel marches on!” I’m familiar with Romita Jr. from his work on the early 1980s UNCANNY X-MEN book — Romita took over penciling duties on that series after Paul Smith left, around issue no. 175. As I’ve mentioned before, that X-MEN run is probably my favorite comic book run ever, so I’ll always have a soft spot for anybody who worked on it. I’m assuming that, based on the “introducing” credit, IRON MAN is the first book that John Romita Jr. was the regular penciler on (an assumption backed up by Wikipedia). Book: The Invincible Iron Man Issue No.: 115 Published: July 25, 1978 Title: “Betrayal!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Digital scan The penciler of this issue of Invincible Iron Man gets the biggest credit on the opening splash page — “And in...
Read more