Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, your local spinner rack is finally sporting another fantastic new issue of SSOC!
64 pulsating pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint!
Inside this magical magazine you will find the following treasures:
A behind-the-scenes look at Conan’s upcoming appearance in NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns Expansion
Incredible art pin-ups:
Conan the Barbarian by Stuart Sayger
Breckinridge Elkins the Hillbilly from Bear Creek by Patch Zircher
CONAN: MARK OF THE BEAST by Roy Thomas (inspired by The Mark of the Beast by Rudyard Kipling) and Roberto de la Torre
Yota-Pong, the capital city of Kosala next to the much larger Vendhya.
A twenty-year-old Conan has been with the lovely blonde Helgi (from Conan the Barbarian (1970) #28, a slave of Thutmekri, a Stygian from south of the Vilayet sea) for fourteen days.
He is attacked by four thieves. Conan kills three, but the fourth is killed by the arrow of Raja of Vezek, a Turanian.
The Living Tarim, The Turanian Army, Prince Yezdigerd and Makkalet from Conan the Barbarian (1970) #26 are mentioned and Conan working for the Turanian (Conan the Barbarian (1970) #19) is brought up.
Raja was sure that saving a Lion (Conan) besieged by vultures would reap him a reward, but the Cimmerian is sadly penniless.
Helgi reveals that her father is none other than Punjar Chun, the Satrap/Governor of Yota-Pong.
Helgi mentions Jenna from Rogues in the House, who was dropped with great accuracy into a cesspool (Conan the Barbarian (1970) #11).
Our heroes arrive at the Governor's mansion, they are greeted by Captain Kumaon and his place guards.
Bassa, a much older guard, recognizes Helgi, daughter of Hellina, who was to be wed to a prince of Drujistan.
Punjar Chun finally recognizes his daughter and sends her to the women's quarters.
Conan demands a reward for his efforts. Raja and Conan get a minuscule purse full of coins and get thrown out by the guards.
Raja and Conan reach the closest tavern. Conan elbows a pickpocket and a strumpet reminds him of Jenna from Conan the Barbarian (1970) #6. Conan cannot recall Jenna's name because Robert E. Howard never gave her a name in Rogues in the House.
Conan wants to go west to Argos and the sea.
Raja gets his purse stolen by another pickpocket. The thief runs into The Temple of the Tiger God. Raja follows the thief, Conan reluctantly follows Raja.
A naked leper (sounds like leopard) as white as snow, a servant of Taunaa the Tiger-God puts a curse on Raja the trespasser. Raja and Conan run out of the Temple.
Conan buys two horses, Raja and Conan reach the Himelian mountains. Afghulistan is north of Kosala and west of Vendhya.
Raja is getting sicker... and hungrier by the minute. Conan kills a deer for dinner.
Raja has somehow somewhere to go. Conan follows, but quickly loses sight of Raja, who mysteriously went eastward.
Conan's horse is drawn to a cave, Conan ventures inside and finds the Sign of Jhebbal Sag carved in the rock (The cave no human had visited for a million years mentioned in Beyond the Black River). Not finding Raja inside Conan exists the cave.
Conan arrives at a dilapidated suspension footbridge. Being too heavy for the bridge it collapses, Conan survives, but not his horse.
A High Priestess of Jhebbal-Sag, Dharhini, appears. Her beast companions attack Conan, he kills one, Dharhini tells her wild things to back off.
Dharhini worshiped the god Asura, fled her home, found the cave of "Jhebbal-Sag: Master of Beasts" and became his High Priestess.
Dharhini is looking for a mate/king. Dharhini and Conan make love.
The next morning Conan wakes swordless.
Dharhini thinks that she is destined to lead an army of beasts against the world of man.
Kosala, Vendhya, Turan, Khitai, the Kingdoms of the West, and then the rest of humankind will be subjugated by her animals.
Conan is not interested in joining Dharhini in her crazy crusade.
Dharhini calls her were-tiger servitor, a transformed Raja to kill Conan.
Conan uses stones to keep Raja away, they fall down a slope where Conan finds his blade (that was hidden by Dharhini).
Conan knocks some sense into Raja, Raja starts to revert back into a man.
Raja and Conan team-up to fight Dharhini. Raja jumps on Dharhini, they both die falling from a summit.
Conan is cornered by Dharhini's slavering horde. He starts hacking at the possessed beasts. Suddenly the creatures forget the barbarian and start fighting each other.
Conan jumps over the feral free-for-all and flees, conceding that Raja may have saved his life twice.
THE TWELFTH LABOR OF BRECKINRIDGE ELKINS by Patrick Zircher and Juan Alberto Hernández
The Humbolt (Humboldt) Mountains of Nevada, the weasel-like Horace Strick is courting comely Maggie Mcneil. Horace gives Maggie some Primroses. A displeased Breckinridge sends Horace flying down Buckshot Canyon. Horace breaks his legs.
To prevent a feud with the Strick family, Breckinridge’s Uncle, Jeppard Grimes, proposes that to make up for his wrongdoing, Breck should mimic the Twelve Labors of Hercules as self-punishment.
Breck chops wood, broadens a trail for his romantic rival and captures wild horses (including Cap'n Kidd, his powerful pinto stallion).
Breck goes Sockeye Salmon fishing in Lake Tahoe/Grasshopper Soup (sacred to the Washoe Tribe) but gets cursed for overfishing by Nesting Eagle.
Now jinxed, the mountain man has problems cleaning the Strick stables, clearing woods, beaver trapping, wolf trapping, building a mill, digging wells and delivering goods from Chawed Ear.
It is Breck's twelfth and final labor, he enters Cerberus's cave ready to grab the beast's hide. A big trash talking grizzly bear materializes, it is actually Nesting Eagle metamorphosed.
Breck shoots the bear with his cap and ball revolver, he uses his bowie knife to stab it in the eye, he even fires his single-shot Sharps rifle to no avail.
While "rough-and-tumble" wrestling the grizzly, Breck remembers fighting professional boxer Bat O’Tool in Tomahawk, ranch hands in Gunstock and two mountain lions.
The cave collapses on the duo; only Breck crawls out of Cerebus' den.
After two long years of incessant labouring, Maggie has already married Horace. Breck sends Horace flying down Buckshot Canyon once again.
What I did like:
The Dungeon Comics (in Oakville, Ontario) exclusive variant cover by Canadian freelance artist Mike Rooth!
Yajur, god of Kosala mentioned.
Mitra and Erlik mentioned.
Ayodhya (capital city of Vendhya) mentioned.
For the very first time, legendary writer Roy Thomas teams up with artist Roberto de la Torre!
A new Breckinridge Elkins story!
Cerebus (not Cerberus) was a Canadian comic book that parodied Conan the Barbarian.
The cover by Alex Horley is clearly an homage to Frank Frazetta's Cat Girl.
Women appear in both stories!
Women appear on TWO of the three covers. Bravo!
An advert for the upcoming Solomon Kane: The Serpent Ring mini-series by Patch Zircher. The iconic hero returns with a furious vengeance in his first solo series in 15 years!
What I did not like:
Where's the Thulsa Doom Tribute issue of The Savage Sword of Conan to honour the memory of James Earl Jones?
Believe it or not, Sean Joyce's awful cover is also offered as a virgin cover, but Alex Horley's amazing cover is not!
The Silver Man should have turned Raj into a Leopard instead of a Tiger, it would have made so much more sense.
Roberto draws two different pickpockets instead of just one.
This magazine would be so much better if it had a competent editor.
The cover by Alex Horley is not offered as a poster or a 1500 piece jigsaw puzzle.
No removable poster in the middle of the magazine!
No variant cover by Laurent Melki.
No variant cover by Ignacio Noé.
No variant cover by Michele Frigo.
No variant cover by Steve Firchow.
No variant cover by KyuYong Eom!
It needed more art pin-ups! More!
No pin-up by Sergio Aragonés.
No pin-up by Babs Tarr.
No pin-up by Kyle Hotz.
No pin-up by David Nakayama.
No pin-up by Lionel Marty.
Still NO essay by Fred Blosser!
Still NO letters page!
I give it a 9/10. The second year of The Savage Sword of Conan kicks off with the best issue yet! Nostalgia overload and coonskin caps are on the menu! Hall of Famer Roy Thomas shows us why he is still the undisputed King when it comes to chronicling days of high adventure and Patrick Zircher's tall tale is the succulent cherry on the savage cake! Again, I encourage all of you to support your favourite Cimmerian by purchasing this mind-blowing mag! Go buy it!
