Supplement Four
Mongoose
I don't read comics. I haven't since I was in junior high school. Two of the players in my group do read them, though. From time to time, they'll give me something that they think is GREAT, and I'll give it a look.
Well, that just started this year. I used to just politely say, "No, no thanks." But, for whatever reason, I decided to give 'em a go earlier in the year.
I read a series called Criminal, about hard case crime. No super heroes--just crime stories. I thought it was: OK. Not great. It didn't suck. I just don't get out of comics what I do from novels and short stories.
Then, the new Star Trek movie was coming around. I was interested in it. And, one of my players gave me the four issue prequel series.
I liked it. I'm glad I read it before watching the film, because I do feel that the backstory presented in the comics did enhance my viewing of the film.
But, again, just reading the comic did little for me. I'm just not that kind of reader. I like a good book--not a comic book or graphic novel.
But, that was before....
As I've stated (and like most of you here), I absolutely LOVE Conan and the universe he lives in. I love it's dark grittiness. I love it's "pulp" feel.
And, for whatever reason, that led me to the reprints of the Savage Sword of Conan.
http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Sword-Conan-Vol-v/dp/1593078382/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242087199&sr=1-1
I've gotta tell ya...
I'm hooked.
I read the comic's version of The Tower of the Elephant recently, and I could imagine the rope made of dead women's hair in my hands. I could hear the scrape of my sandals as I scaled that long, cylindrical building. I could see torchlight off in the distance among the hovels and twisty-turny streets of Arenjun.
When Conan and I got to the top, I heaved myself up over the waistwall and sat there for a second because I was tired.
I could feel the wind blow at that altitude. And, Taurus' voice broke me out of my reverie.
There's something about the black & white art--the presentation--that_just_feels_"right" about the books.
And, they're such a value. I just got vols. 4 and 5 in the mail today. Each of these is about the twice the size of any of the first three. At over 500 pages, with a cost under $14 bucks (and free shipping if you spend $25 or more...so buy more than one vol.!), there's a lot of value there.
One of the things that gripes me about comics is there cost. They're expensive, if you count how long it takes you to read them. These Conan vols. make the books economical.
For someone that doesn't have a large Conan story collection, I'd recommend them. About 70-80% of the stories are Howard's works. There's all the Conan stories, of course, but the authors also take other Howard stories and convert them to Conan stories.
I like that. It give me new Conan stuff to read.
And, they write a few originals, too. Some are sequels to the Howard Conan stories.
As I flipped through vols. 4 and 5 today, I see that they've expanded into non-Howard Conan stories. For example, I am right now reading Andrew Offutt's excellent Conan novel, Conan The Sword of Skelos. To my surprise, I see that vol. 5 devotes 264 pages to the entire Offutt trilogy.
That's cool, man. That's cool.
If you are like me and consider yourself not a comic reader, you may want to try these out. If you don't like them, I'm sure you can subsidize your purchase by selling them on eBay. Or, you can take a look "inside this book" on the Amazon page.
They're good stuff, though. I like seeing the interpretations of the Hyborian world: what the monsters look like; what characters look like; what the cities look like; the different flavor of clothing and archetecture in different parts of the world.
It really adds to my minds-eye view of the Hyborian Age.
From a gaming stand-point, I bet it would not be hard at all to take one of these less-well known stories (maybe one of the non-Howard's, or the non-Conan Howard stories) and make an adventure out of it. The plot is there. You, as GM, just have to stat it out, add the maps if needed, and create the NPCs. The pictures will prolly help you make an addicting description of the events as they unfold, too.
The stories aren't told in any type of order. Like Howard's original telling of Conan, they skip around all over the place. I find myself skipping around the books, reading that story, but not reading that one because I want to read the short story first...or skipping it because it's an original story sequel to a Conan story I haven't yet read.
All-in-all, though, Savage Sword of Conan is damn good stuff.
So, I guess...that makes me a comic book reader, now (even though this is the only comic book I'm reading).
Well, that just started this year. I used to just politely say, "No, no thanks." But, for whatever reason, I decided to give 'em a go earlier in the year.
I read a series called Criminal, about hard case crime. No super heroes--just crime stories. I thought it was: OK. Not great. It didn't suck. I just don't get out of comics what I do from novels and short stories.
Then, the new Star Trek movie was coming around. I was interested in it. And, one of my players gave me the four issue prequel series.
I liked it. I'm glad I read it before watching the film, because I do feel that the backstory presented in the comics did enhance my viewing of the film.
But, again, just reading the comic did little for me. I'm just not that kind of reader. I like a good book--not a comic book or graphic novel.
But, that was before....
As I've stated (and like most of you here), I absolutely LOVE Conan and the universe he lives in. I love it's dark grittiness. I love it's "pulp" feel.
And, for whatever reason, that led me to the reprints of the Savage Sword of Conan.
http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Sword-Conan-Vol-v/dp/1593078382/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242087199&sr=1-1
I've gotta tell ya...
I'm hooked.
I read the comic's version of The Tower of the Elephant recently, and I could imagine the rope made of dead women's hair in my hands. I could hear the scrape of my sandals as I scaled that long, cylindrical building. I could see torchlight off in the distance among the hovels and twisty-turny streets of Arenjun.
When Conan and I got to the top, I heaved myself up over the waistwall and sat there for a second because I was tired.
I could feel the wind blow at that altitude. And, Taurus' voice broke me out of my reverie.
There's something about the black & white art--the presentation--that_just_feels_"right" about the books.
And, they're such a value. I just got vols. 4 and 5 in the mail today. Each of these is about the twice the size of any of the first three. At over 500 pages, with a cost under $14 bucks (and free shipping if you spend $25 or more...so buy more than one vol.!), there's a lot of value there.
One of the things that gripes me about comics is there cost. They're expensive, if you count how long it takes you to read them. These Conan vols. make the books economical.
For someone that doesn't have a large Conan story collection, I'd recommend them. About 70-80% of the stories are Howard's works. There's all the Conan stories, of course, but the authors also take other Howard stories and convert them to Conan stories.
I like that. It give me new Conan stuff to read.
And, they write a few originals, too. Some are sequels to the Howard Conan stories.
As I flipped through vols. 4 and 5 today, I see that they've expanded into non-Howard Conan stories. For example, I am right now reading Andrew Offutt's excellent Conan novel, Conan The Sword of Skelos. To my surprise, I see that vol. 5 devotes 264 pages to the entire Offutt trilogy.
That's cool, man. That's cool.
If you are like me and consider yourself not a comic reader, you may want to try these out. If you don't like them, I'm sure you can subsidize your purchase by selling them on eBay. Or, you can take a look "inside this book" on the Amazon page.
They're good stuff, though. I like seeing the interpretations of the Hyborian world: what the monsters look like; what characters look like; what the cities look like; the different flavor of clothing and archetecture in different parts of the world.
It really adds to my minds-eye view of the Hyborian Age.
From a gaming stand-point, I bet it would not be hard at all to take one of these less-well known stories (maybe one of the non-Howard's, or the non-Conan Howard stories) and make an adventure out of it. The plot is there. You, as GM, just have to stat it out, add the maps if needed, and create the NPCs. The pictures will prolly help you make an addicting description of the events as they unfold, too.
The stories aren't told in any type of order. Like Howard's original telling of Conan, they skip around all over the place. I find myself skipping around the books, reading that story, but not reading that one because I want to read the short story first...or skipping it because it's an original story sequel to a Conan story I haven't yet read.
All-in-all, though, Savage Sword of Conan is damn good stuff.
So, I guess...that makes me a comic book reader, now (even though this is the only comic book I'm reading).