A Conan tale: Red Nails
For me, Conan comics, especially those from 70-80′s, are the epitemy of Conan tales. Savage primordial tales, scary black and white stories of ancient gods, abominable curses, forgotten cities and bloody battles. Some of them may be a little naive, some may have outdated artwork, but reading them give me the thrills that i never get when I read the actual Conan from Dark Horse. The artists and writers of 70’s and 80’s managed to bring out the best of the character and of the world that surrounded him. And in the amazing world of the Hyborian Age there are plenty of great things to see. Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala, Tony De Zuniga… so many legendary names that contributed to the legend of Conan in his black and white adventures.
For the following months, A Conan Tale will try to introduce you, story by story, in the amazing black and white world of Savage Sword of Conan. I will try to tell these tales through my eyes, the eyes of a Conan reader, as they appear in the omnibus volume “The Savage Sword of Conan”, that Dark Horse started to publish, and which collect early stories published over thirty years ago by Marvel Comics. And the first tale to be told is Red Nails. And I’m still searching for a proper “formula” to tell these stories, so this first one is a bit of an experiment.
Red Nails
Written by Roy Thomas
Art by Barry Windsor-Smith
Originally printed in Savage Tales of Conan The Barbarian #2, October 1973
Barry Windsor-Smith is an amazing artist and Roy Thomas is THE Conan writer of all time. Red Nails is adapted from an original short story by Robert E. Howard, first published in Weird Tales Magazine, in July 1936. The adapted comic book story first appeared in the 2nd and 3rd issue of Savage Tales, later being reprinted in the magazine Conan Saga. It is considered one of the best Conan stories ever. In this Savage Sword of Conan volume one published by Dark Horse, Red Nails is split in three parts, consisting in 62 pages. The covers included in this volume are those of the magazine in which the story appeared first, Savage Tales, and they are drawn by John Buscema and Pablo Marcos. The story also features a splash page drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith.
The story is one of grim and desperation, revenge, murder and madness. Conan and Valeria meet in the front of a forgotten city called Xuchotl. This city is surrounded by high walls and it seems deserted. The panel where the two of them enter the city to find themselves in a huge jade hall, is amazing. It inspires so much emptiness, you can imagine the winds blowing across that deserted hall.
But entering its empty halls uncovers a desperate tale of two opposite factions, trapped in the same castle, forced in a desperate war to annihilate each other. By their own will, Conan and Valeria offer their services to the faction that they meet first, ruled by a man named Olmec and by a woman named Tascela.
Our two adventurers find out the cruel story of their endless battle who plagues this citadel. The city, inhabited by a few men, falls in the hands to a conquering army because a slave named Tolkemec opened the city gates for them. The two rulers of the invading army, Tecuhltli and Xotalanc, ended up mortal enemies because one stole the bride of the other. Their war still rages on, until one side or another will be totally annihilated, as their numbers grow shorter with each passing year.
Tascela, Olmec’s wife, soon becomes jealous on Valeria but the attempt to drug her fails. One events after another, the Xotalancas attack soon after, but they are all killed after a furious desperate battle. The same battle leaves Olmec with only a couple of men left.
Conan and two soldiers go to see if there are any enemies left on the other side, leaving a wounded Valeria behind. This gives us an opportunity to see who Tascela really is. The stolen bride, the reason for the whole war, and a sorceress, one of the worst kind, as she plans to restore her youth by stealing the live essence of Valeria. Her husband, Olmec, has his own dark plans. He wants Valeria for himself, so the two warriors that accompany Conan soon try to kill him. But the Cimmerian cannot be slain by two mere soldiers. He returns in a hurry, and he finds Olmec being tortured. Well, Tascela sure knows what to do with an infidel husband. He releases Olmec, only to be forced to kill him later, in self defense.
Soon, Conan finds out the place where Tascela is performing her evil ritual. He tries to put and end to all but a hidden metal trap catches his leg. It all seems without hope for Valeria, bound on the sacrifice altar. But more surprises are waiting.
From all of a sudden, Tolkemec appears. The slave that betrayed the city and survived so many years, returning now from the unknown depths of the citadel. He is a powerful sorcerer, and Tascela cant do nothing against him. Desperate, she releases Conan, and the Cimmerian manages to kill Tolkemec. Valeria kills Tascela, stabbing her in the back. Then, they leave the citadel, eager to escape from there.
Xuchotl stays behind, a dark empty place, with no living soul left in it, a scenery of so much killing and desperation.
Barry Windsor-Smith is my favorite Conan artist. He has such a special art style, full of details and a great white and black ratio. You eyes will never make effort to distinguish the characters from the backgrounds and such. His art is perfectly adapted to fantasy comics and his inking technique is great as well. The ink strokes are wonderful laid out on paper. I also noticed that after first part of Red Nails, he changed his inking style, to a more powerful approach. He is a true master of drawing and illustration. Too bad he never had long runs in the Conan comics.
What do you think about this first recount of a Conan tale? Good or a failed experiment?
Leave your response!