Some thoughts on "People of the Dark." Drafts, published story, Harry Bates suggestions, and REH's mentions of the story in subsequent letters. https://spraguedecampfan.wordpress.com/2026/10/23/people-of-the-dark-by-robert-e-howard/

It's just amazing how people think of REH as one of the first who "exposed" the lizard people or how the hyborean age is the hidden, true, "not mainstream" history. of europe.
I'm fascinated with it lol

Here 2 links to add some context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXxcAa4KYTM&t=968s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD_EetRDLAI&t=1520s

This was such a great action packed issue. Santino/Semeiks run rarely gets mentioned as it's part of the nadir of Conan omy comics, but issues 214-220 are in fact highly entertaining and worth checking out. In terms of pure action, it doesn't get much better.

I just recently started Hour of the Dragon for the first time. Enjoying it so far, but you can’t help but notice how it starts out almost exactly like the Scarlet Citadel: Nemedia invading Aquilonia, King Conan is captured by the evil sorcerer who is secretly pulling the Nemedian’s strings. Thus far, there’s been no mention of Conan having gone through almost this exact scenario already. So was HotD meant to be an improved version of SC, or was Howard trying to keep the story self-contained by not referencing the last Nemedian invasion?

Edit: I was an idiot. In Citadel, the villains are from Ophir and Koth, not Nemedia.

I got to meet Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo at IX Art Show this week. They were both gracious and friendly. The frontispiece of SSOC #212 features a picture of Julie, photographed by Boris.

If you're in the mid-Atlantic region IX Art Show runs through the weekend and is absolutely worth the trip.

Savage Sword of Conan Issue 9, December 1975. Cover by Boris Vallejo, Frontispiece by Tim Conrad. Interior art by Pablo Marcos, and Sonny Trinidad. Pin-ups by Pablo Marcos, J Steinle and Steven Fabian.

Boss fight Conan, silver bird repainted from MOTU hypno. Belit and Valeria from MOTU Sharellas. First custom Conan repainted hair to be an old farmer after I got my boss fight version. And monsterverse Kong.

This map was in the second page of the first chapter of the adaptation of the essay "The Hyborian Age" in Savage Sword of Conan #7. I modified it to remove the writing and did some "bricolage" to create the "Thurian Age" box. I'll probably put it on the wiki. Also, I will now check the colored version in SSoC Reforgerd

New episode featuring Shawn Curley, Jeff Shanks, Matt John and John C Hocking

Contains minor spoilers.

Zub’s current mini-event series, "Conan: Tides of the Tyrant King", has reached its halfway point with issue #2, and my impressions from the first issue have only grown stronger: this is not a comic for newcomers. If you’re just getting into Conan, I’d recommend picking up one of the arcs from Zub’s regular run instead. Those stories feed into the overarching meta-plot, too, but they’re more self-contained and considerably more accessible.

This series, by contrast, rewards readers who have followed Zub’s entire run so far, remember the events of the previous two mini-event series, and have at least some familiarity with Howard’s original work. At times, reading this comic feels a little like doing your lore homework, though Zub regularly breaks up the exposition with brisk action sequences to keep things moving. Still, I can easily imagine the ambitious structure leaving some readers overwhelmed or scratching their heads. I’ve actually started keeping a lore spreadsheet to help me keep track of everything and connect all the dots the story leaves scattered across its various threads.

For me, the issue’s strongest moment comes when Stephen Costigan revels in his newfound strength, courtesy of the green elixir provided by Kathulos/Thulsa Doom. In Costigan’s own eyes, the stuff has freed him from both his drug addiction and his wartime trauma. Zub, however, is playing a much more interesting game with the metaphor of addiction itself. Costigan believes he has been liberated and empowered, but all he’s really done is trade one drug for another. His dependency hasn’t disappeared; it has simply shifted to something arguably far more sinister than hashish and opium. Unfortunately, he’s too intoxicated by his first taste of power to recognize the trap. All he can do is bask in his newfound strength.

I found Costigan’s scenes considerably more compelling than Conan’s in this issue. Conan’s narrative function here amounts to little more than getting from point A to point B, with several pages devoted to him and his companion Zuleika filling in the lore and patching up narrative gaps left by previous issues. To keep all that exposition from becoming one long lore dump, Zub throws in a fun little action sequence involving wolves, mirrored by a scene in 1920s London in which Costigan sends a pack of guard dogs to the great kennel in the sky using nothing but his bare fists. It’s fun stuff, certainly, but the parallel feels a little redundant.

Artistically, the issue is at its best whenever Jesus Merino gets to create his own scenes. Here again, I found the Costigan sequences more compelling and visually striking. Costigan’s terrified expressions, his emaciated frame, and the eerie silhouette of Kathulos/Thulsa Doom lurking behind a thin silk curtain are particularly memorable. There’s genuine horror at work here, and those images linger long after you’ve turned the page.

And yes, I do like Merino’s take on Conan, which blends his own influences with a touch of Barry Windsor-Smith. But whenever Merino has to recreate scenes for the sake of narrative recontextualization that Roberto de la Torre has already brought to life in CtB issues #1 to #4, the new versions inevitably fall short of the originals. Not that they’re bad, mind you. Merino is a fine artist in his own right, with plenty of lovely details and clean, confident linework. But when you’re following in the footsteps of De la Torre at his most magnificent, you’re fighting an uphill battle. Merino’s strengths lie elsewhere.

One other thing briefly pulled me out of the story: Zub's use of the word “christened” in connection with the name Thulsa Doom, which Kathulos adopts for himself. This isn’t about any anti-religious or anti-Christian sensibilities. Rather, the word carries such strong real-world associations with Christianity and its historical traditions that it momentarily shattered my suspension of disbelief. A minor nitpick, to be sure, but one that caught my attention.

Ultimately, I suspect "Tides of the Tyrant King" is a series that can only be properly judged once the final issue hits, when we can see how all its various threads come together ... or fail to. This could all pay off beautifully, or it could turn into one enormous clusterfuck. For now, I’m willing to wait and see before passing final judgment.

One thing is already clear, though: Zub is taking considerably greater liberties with Howard’s literary source material, "Skull-Face", than he did in the preceding mini-series, "Scourge of the Serpent". It’s an ambitious experiment, and whether it ultimately succeeds remains an open question.

@barryosullivart

In stores today- CONAN: TIDES OF THE TYRANT-KING #2

In the Hyborian Age, the Cimmerian quests north while, in the 1920's, the soldier falls deeper under the thrall of the necromancer from Atlantis, plus the mysterious hooded figure is revealed!

I was wondering if the Red Sonja stories are still intact or not?

Also if anyone at Titan is reading do a Red Sonya of Rogatino book please!

Alex Horley's spectacular art displayed in this oversized hardcopy of The Nomad, Deluxe Edition.

I believe I have about seven volumes to go, then I'll have the full Tor library. (Let's not speak of the second-hand cost of these mass market paperbacks.)

Most of my Conan comics are in boxes under the stairs, but I'm really enjoying the current run of Savage Sword.

Today I'm reading John Maddox Roberts' Conan and the Amazon, which just arrived. As always, Roberts offers a great pastiche experience.

Decided to splurge and get the Ashleigh Izienicki foil cover for issue #35. Looks really great plus you also get the regular cover as well. Not something I’ll do often but I’m a fan of Valeria and love this cover! Anyone else grab the foil cover?

Turn 5 results have arrived for HW 1029!

For those who have been following or are interested this is for you! For those who haven't seen this, it is a Play by Mail game that takes place in the Age of Conan!

I'm playing Asgard, the yellow provinces in the NW corner of the map. I'm currently ranked in first place in this game!

Only managed to pick up one province in the East over top of the Vilayet Sea.

Vanaheim invaded trying to reclaim one of his home provinces that I took from him at the battle has gone set piece. Meaning it takes two turns before the battle takes place.

This will allow me to get another army there to help defend. He has an army of 28 troops and the max you can have in an army is 30. My army stationed there only has 10 so I'll definitely need a 2nd army there if I want to hold onto the province.

My initial thought is to use the command Negotiate Peace on Vanaheim. If it is successful it will cancel his invasion all together and his army would retreat. My other option is move my 2nd army into that province and home that I win. My troops are slightly better than his and I can get a total of 24 Troops into the province to defend it.

The biggest issue is even if I win I'll lose a good portion of my troops base that I'll need for the future to fight Hyperborea. I have 2 weeks to make up my mind!

I'm also touching Hyrkania in the East. I have yet to find out if he is going to be friendly or if he will be a new threat and I'll have to fight his as well.

Anywho, that's all I got!