Sword-bros, sword-sisters, your local spinner rack is once again displaying another brand new issue of SSOC!
64 extraordinary pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint paper!
Inside this magazine you will find the following:
Art pin-ups:
The Nemedian Chronicles by Gerardo Zaffino
Conan the Barbarian versus two Frost Giants by James Harren (Conan: The Argos Deception)
Conan the Barbarian by Aaron Lopresti (Conan: The Swamp King, Wonder Woman / Conan)
CONARA: CHILD OF CIMMERIA by Christy Marx (Story Editor of the animated television series: Conan the Adventurer) and Geof Isherwood (King Conan: The Ensorcelled)
The long awaited sequel to CHILD OF SORCERY (an homage to Rapunzel (folk tale) from way back in 1978 in the pages of The Savage Sword of Conan (1974) #29)!
Twenty years later. RÂ MORGANA (daughter of CONAN OF CIMMERIA and all-mother/high priestess ZONALEA (an homage to Christy Marx's mother)) returns to her mom's monastery. Priestess Té Kortinëa informs Râ that Zonalea was expelled.
Râ finds and tells her dethroned mother that she changed her name to CONARA and that she mastered swordsmanship and archery.
That when her man (Maris) was killed, she became the Hellion/The Scourge of Turan, that she was trained by the pirate Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, that she raided the Vilayet Sea (a Turanian lake) with Valeria and that she (like Zonalea) can magically manipulate the wind.
That she visited Cimmeria, learned of the god Crom and picked up the Cimmerian language.
That she ventured to the ruins of the Wizard's castle (last seen in Savage Sword of Conan #29), slew a sorcerer who was summoning (utilizing the spell books and the cranium of the late Wizard (killed by Conan in SSOC #29)) a creature from beyond and destroyed the late Wizard's skeleton and his possessions.
That she discovered that Conan was now the king of Aquilonia. That in Tarantia (capital of Aquilonia) the king acknowledged her as his daughter, that they shared a drink, stories and a brawl at the Inn of the Ragged Rooster and that Queen Zenobia (The Hour of the Dragon) gave her jewels and her father some gold coins.
Conara's mother dies. Atop the mountain where Zonalea had spent time with Conan (in SSOC #29), Conara uses her woman-magick to scatter her mother's ashes. The Draga-Body spirit of Zonalea floats away. Conara commences her search for a kingdom of her own.
48 YEARS LATER by Christy Marx
Christy Marx reminisces about her mother, Hasbro, Jem and the Holograms, The Sisterhood of Steel, Roy Thomas, Conan, Conan's daughter and more.
CONAN: THE CAT WITCH OF KHITAI by Zack Davisson (Cormac Fitzgeoffrey: Live by the Sword) and Ben Dewey (Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword (2010) #1)
The kindan/forbidden Kirisaki mountain of "The Cat Witch".
Akmet of Stygia has kidnapped Princess Miyuki (from a vassal state of Shu-chen (city-state of Khitai)).
A young Conan (fresh from his "The Tower of the Elephant" adventure) has joined Akmet and his band of brigands.
Unseen Cat gestalts kill some of the men of Akmet, Akmet kills Taka (an homage to Toshiro Mifune) for being superstitious, unseen Cat gestalts kill more men, Akmet orders Conan to bleed and leave the princess as bait, Conan decides to kill Akmet instead.
Conan and co. reach the witch (who wishes to drain the princess of life).
The witch creates a giant Cat gestalt to kill Khannon and the rest of Akmet's marauders, the princess stabs the witch, the Cat gestalt breaks apart, Conan cuts the witch in half to prevent the gestalt from recombining.
CONAN: THE JEWEL by Frank Tieri (Conan: Wolves of the Tundra, Conan the Searcher) and Adam Gorham (Savage Avengers (2019) #12)
A desperate father hires Conan and some mercenaries, he wants a precious Jewel returned. Will the poppa be able to compensate Conan?
What I did like:
A letters page!
Heroic Signatures will celebrate the 45th anniversary of Conan the Barbarian (1982 film) next year!
Omnibuses of the Dark Horse Conan comics are now confirmed.
Covers by Alex Horley (an homage to the SSOC #29 cover by Ernie Chan) and Nick Marinkovich (an homage to Panthor (Skeletor's panther)?)!
The City of Xuchotl from Red Nails mentioned.
Kambuja, Shem, Hyrkania, Belverus (capital city of Nemedia) and Shadizar (city in Zamora) mentioned.
Mitra, Erlik and Bel mentioned.
Just the right amount of humour.
What I did not like:
Still no announcement that Pat Mills' time travel tale in which Conan must avenge not only the murder of a fair maiden - but his own (from the never published Conan the Savage (1995) #11) will finally appear in a future issue of The Savage Sword!
CONARA doesn't get her own logo!
Lord Akmet renounced his Stygian heritage, yet he thanks the snake god Set.
Zonalea does not appear on Alex Horley's cover! Clueless and sexist!
No removable poster in the middle of the magazine! When are we getting a pull-out poster of the Robert E. Howard Group Shot by Rafael Kayanan?
I give it a 9.5/10. Christy Marx is back! An almost purrfect issue that celebrates the importance of women in the Hyborian age!
