MY FAVORITE COMICS - Kull the Conqueror

   

To some, Kull the Conqueror might be remembered as a second rate version of Conan the Barbarian. Fair enough, I can understand that point of view, even if I disagree. You see, I had the privilege of being introduced to Kull through the art and craft of Ross Andru teamed up with Wallace Wood, followed by subsequent stories drawn by Marie and John Severin. To a nine year old kid, that artwork was transcendent and seemed like something retrieved from an ancient time and place, very much in tune with the story contents. John Severin's inking gave weight to the figures and a degree of ruggedness and texture to the backgrounds that echoed Hal Foster's work on Prince Valiant, creating a unique world, as beautiful and frightening as our own, at least to a child's sensibility. 

Unlike the cimmerian barbarian, which I found stupid and brutal, there was a tragic nobility to King Kull's character, a sort of romantic dimension, that I found incredibly captivating as a kid and which I could not find on Conan. Still, that might not have charmed me if it were not for the artwork. Sure, John Buscema was "the artist" on post-Kirby marvel comics and as far as I'm concerned his Conan is the ultimate version of the character, but Andru/Wood and the Severin sister/brother team brought an eye to detail and setting which grounded the artwork and made Kull and, most importantly, his world, every bit as visually appealing as the cimmerian's (if not more imho).

Personal favorite after the "origin" tale : The King And The Oak, which, ironically, wasn't published on Kull's own mag but on Conan the Barbarian #10. Check it out! 

MY FAVORITE COMICS - "The Sword and the Sorceress" in The Avengers #84

 Yet another one filled with memorable moments. John Buscema and Tom Palmer create some incredibily moody artwork and unforgettable sequences starting with the splash of the Black Knight riding Aragorn, his winged stallion. Again, Arkon returns, this time around teaming-up with gorgeous but evil Enchantress. The incredible blending of genres and the visual glamour on this one still leave me breathless.

MY FAVORITE COMICS - The Avengers #75-76

Another John Buscema beauty, this time with the great Tom Palmer on inks and a fine Roy Thomas tale too. So many memorable sequences and characters on this one - Jarvis panick as he tries to deal with the breaking and entrance of Quicksilver in the Avengers Mansion, the farewell to Janet and Hank Pym as they leave for their honeymoon, the beautiful Scarlet Witch kidnapped by the magnificent Arkon , the doomed world of Polemachus and the final showdown between the Avengers and Arkon atop the Empire State Building! No wonder, I ended up having a lifelong love affair with comics, being exposed to these incredible fantasies as a child.

MY FAVORITE COMICS - "Godhood's End!" in The Avengers #97

 I loved this comic to death when I came across it and I still do now. This was the first Avengers comic I ever read and I honestly didn't have a clue as to what was going on - it was the end of a saga known as the Kree/Skrull war - but that didn't matter because the artwork and the imagination depicted were so overwhelming that their overload totally compensanted for my disorientation... in fact, I suspect it might have contributed even more to its overall effect on me. This comic was like an explosion, literally and figuratively! There were so many superheros running around and fighting evil aliens - this was like comic book heaven for a kid looking for some fun entertainment. And the ending, for one still discovering the marvel universe and wasn't consciously aware about the superhero genre many clichés,  it was like a punch in the guts.

MY FAVORITE COMICS - "What if Conan the barbarian walked the Earth today?" from What if #13

Conan the barbarian was BIG when I was a kid. There was the Schwarzenegger movie, naturally, but also tons of comics. The Barbarian seemed ubiquitous and the artwork on those comics, oh my! John Buscema could do no wrong in my book. Still, the stories seemed kind of repetitious to me... then one day, I hit upon this brazilian reprint including the story from What if? #13 - What if Conan the barbarian walked the earth today? - and all of a sudden I'm captivated by this tale unlike any other featuring this character before or after. Maybe it was my love of time travel stories, maybe it was the juxtaposition of the rude brute with the modern world, maybe it was the lovely female character of Danette, perhaps it could have been the fact that this story was different enough from the trappings of the sword and sorcery genre to break the clichés I was already used to or at least disguise them enough to captivate me... whatever it was, I loved this comic then and still do now.