The Savage Sword of Conan volume 3 TPB
And here I am, back with the third Conan omnibus from Dark Horse, The Savage Sword of Conan volume three. Wait, where is volume two? Well, I didn’t bought that yet, due to… unavailability. But I checked tfaw.com, and its available now, so I guess ill order it with the next shipment. So, I bought my copy from tfaw, it is a nick & dent book (I only buy nick & dents when the book is very thick, I don’t dare do this with thinner books or regular comics) which I purchased with $7.98.
This third volume has a beautifully painted cover by Earl Norem, one of the great Conan cover artists ever. I like this cover much more than the one from the first volume, by Boris Vallejo. You can find Earl Norem on Facebook and also he has a site at www.earlnorem.com. Is a good idea to take a look.
Volume three includes the issues 25-31 of Savage Sword of Conan (in thirteen chapters), that were originally published between December 1977 and December 1978 by Marvel Comics. Huge names on the artist list, as usual. John Buscema, Barry Windsor Smith, Gene Colan, Dick Giordano, Tony De Zuniga, Ernie Chan, Alfredo Alcala, Pablo Marcos and Carmine Infantino. If you don’t know who they are, is pointless to read ahead. Or go find out who they are and come back.
At 528 pages, this third volume is close to the thickness of the first one, but only as page numbers. In terms of real thickness, is thinner, because the pages are thinner. This was the only thing that it bothered me a bit. Not too much though. But again, some may find this really charming, as it fits with the black and white drawings and it gives a pulp-like feeling.
I read more than half og it to this point, and I have to say that the story that impressed me the most was ‘’Beyond the Black River’’, art by John Buscema & Tony De Zuniga, script by Roy Thomas and cover by Jim Starlin. The art is exquisite, John Buscema drawings are so realistic, and the use of shadows and discrete tones is sublime. I read it in a single breath, unable to stop. This volume is worth every penny of it.
Buy this book from tfaw.com or Amazon:
 Savage Sword of Conan Volume 3 (Conan (Graphic Novels)) (v. 3) (9781593079604): Roy Thomas, Various: Books
ISBN: 1593079605 |
PS: The Amazon link shows another cover, I have no idea why.
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