VincentDarlage
Mongoose
I'm curious about how people came to read Conan. The first Conan story I read was "The People of the Black Circle" by Howard when I was 13.
What was your introduction to Conan?
- Thread starter VincentDarlage
- Start date
My first Conan was an issue of Savage Sword of Conan (B&W mag) in 1978. Cover story was "Curse of the Monolith" by L. Sprague de Camp. I instantly fell in love with Conan's graphic gore and scantily-clad women! Then there was the movie, and I started reading the Robert Jordan pastiches in 1983, and then the Ace 12 volume set, several issues of Conan The Barbarian and Conan The King, and the second film (ugh!). Never saw the TSR Conan game, but saw the adventures CB 1-2 (Conan Unchained and Against Darkness) and thought they sucked. Then bought the GURPS CONAN book in the late 80s but thought it was boring and pawned it. Bought the Conan movie soundtracks and played them endlessly during D&D (still do!). Delighted to finaly be gaming Conan with the new Mongoose book.
I was digging through my Dad's old books in the basement, when I picked up some Tarzan books. I started reading them, and while the first few were pretty good, I quickly became bored. So, I went back to the pile, and found several of Dad's old Ace paperbacks. I was engrossed, from the cover artwork to the wordsmithing, and couldn't put them down. I dug through the entire basement looking for the whole set, but ended up two books short (Missing "Conan the Buccaneer" and had a misprinted volume of "Conan the Avenger" that contained "Conan the Conquerer" instead). I eventually found copies of those two books, and was captivated. When I finally watched the movies, I was rather confused, as they didn't follow the books at all. This disappointed me, but the sheer cinematography and musical score of the first movie compensated, as did the rank silliness of the second. I still have those paperbacks (or at least as many as I could sneak out of my parents' house; once Dad found out that I was taking them, he suddenly developed an interest in them again after 20 years), and I use them for inspiration for my Hyborian game, sending the PC's through Conan's adventures in his stead. I tried the pastiches, and while Jordan's were the best of the bunch, that's not saying much. They just didn't have the raw power of Howard's prose, even when that prose was watered down by DeCamp. In fact, for years, I had no idea that deCamp had such an effect on Howard's work, though I knew that I didn't care for the novel-length deCamp books nearly as much as I did the older, short-story Howard works.
VincentDarlage
Mongoose
Infidel-X said:
You're right!
I didn't think about poster or cover art as an introduction. The first story I read ("The People of the Black Circle") was in Conan the Adventurer, and the cover art of that one is still, to this day, the definitive vision of Conan that I have. Conan, all ugly and gruesome, standing on a pile of corpses with a girl at his feet and a sword in his hand, with skulls in the background. That is SUCH an impressive image to me, not only when I was 13, but still today.VincentDarlage
Mongoose
Iron_Chef said:
I do that too!
I haven't played with all that many groups; is it common for gamers to play music in the background? I have played movie soundtracks in the background since I started playing 22 years ago.
I checked out a copy of "Conan the Conqueror" at my high school library. I was hooked ever since. It had a beat to hell cover. I loved it so much I never returned the book. I think I still have it somewhere. It was the early 80's, so I was able to get the rest of the Conan books at the bookstore while they were still in print.
I realize now that I must have had the most permissive high school library ever; it also had at least three Gor novels which I read.
I realize now that I must have had the most permissive high school library ever; it also had at least three Gor novels which I read.
sanseveria
Mongoose
A friend of mine was a huge Conan comic fan, so I guess you could say he introduced me. I read my share of comics and savage sword mags in my youth. This RPG was my first deep dive into the world of Conan, and I feel like I'm being sucked into a whirlpool. I even just yesterday recieved my Coming of Conan book from Amazon and I'm looking forward to start reading it.
Hour of the Dragon the Berkley (sp?) Edition from the mid Seventies. The one with the Fold out Full Painting of the Cover. There were two or three other Berkley editions if I recall, Rednails and People of the Black Circle come to Mind from there I collected the Ace Paperbacks and the original pastiches by Offut, Wagner, couple of otheres and the comics of course. Later in Whn I was overseas they stated selling the second generation of Pastices, by Jorden, Green, Parry, and others I read about a dozen of theose until they got to bad.
Wish I still had the Berkley's.
David B.
Wish I still had the Berkley's.
David B.
terryallenuk
Mongoose
Conan , and his creator Robert E Howard , was the reason for my return to
comics in the early 70's through the Thomas and Smith run on Marvel's Conan
the Barbarian - a friend brought a copy of CtB 13 to work and I was hooked .
But what became of special interest , as well as the stories , were the
articles by Roy , Glenn Lord , Fred Blosser , Robert Yaple , Jim Neal etc.
that appeared in Savage Tales and Savage Sword of Conan . Without the
benefit of the internet , and being over in the UK , these articles helped
put me in touch with the man behind the stories and his life.
comics in the early 70's through the Thomas and Smith run on Marvel's Conan
the Barbarian - a friend brought a copy of CtB 13 to work and I was hooked .
But what became of special interest , as well as the stories , were the
articles by Roy , Glenn Lord , Fred Blosser , Robert Yaple , Jim Neal etc.
that appeared in Savage Tales and Savage Sword of Conan . Without the
benefit of the internet , and being over in the UK , these articles helped
put me in touch with the man behind the stories and his life.
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Mongoose
Hey Vincent, I use music too, but only at key times in the adventure like big battles, great escapes, and haunted forest and the like. I find that if it's over used, the impact is diminished a bit.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Hi all,
I honestly can't remember which was the fiirst story I read but it was probably an early Howard/DeCamp. From there I made sure I read them in order and then looked around for more. I devoured the several comics and the Savage Sword for years...I think I have the entire King Conan/Conan the King series.
As Jordan et all began writing, I began reading other things and lost touch with Conan. (Not all touches...my login name here is a name I've been using as a character for years and the last name is in honor of Conan and his son.) I actually liked the second movie better for Conan Canon (Wheel of Pain? Thulsa Doom??) simply because it didn't butcher anything outright.
The RPG has rekindled my interest and I'm happy to find a new comic on the market. (A preview issue and Issue 1 are starting early in conan's career...Pre Vanarium) I also have discovered that there seems to be about 20 additional books I haven't read and one of the lastest is by Harry Turtledove. (Conan of Vanarium) So far, I'm enjoying it although knowing Conan's mother and fathers name seems strange.
I used to use Conan quotes alot...
"I offer you Life Conan"..."And I give you Death Wizard"
"I'm here to kill you Conan"..."You're here to try"
"I look forward to our Confrontation Conan"..."And I...will look back upon it"
Looking forward to Sons of Cimmeria stuff, the 2nd edition, ADVENTURES (PLEASE - Very busy father here), and the new source books....
Arkobla Conn
I honestly can't remember which was the fiirst story I read but it was probably an early Howard/DeCamp. From there I made sure I read them in order and then looked around for more. I devoured the several comics and the Savage Sword for years...I think I have the entire King Conan/Conan the King series.
As Jordan et all began writing, I began reading other things and lost touch with Conan. (Not all touches...my login name here is a name I've been using as a character for years and the last name is in honor of Conan and his son.) I actually liked the second movie better for Conan Canon (Wheel of Pain? Thulsa Doom??) simply because it didn't butcher anything outright.
The RPG has rekindled my interest and I'm happy to find a new comic on the market. (A preview issue and Issue 1 are starting early in conan's career...Pre Vanarium) I also have discovered that there seems to be about 20 additional books I haven't read and one of the lastest is by Harry Turtledove. (Conan of Vanarium) So far, I'm enjoying it although knowing Conan's mother and fathers name seems strange.
I used to use Conan quotes alot...
"I offer you Life Conan"..."And I give you Death Wizard"
"I'm here to kill you Conan"..."You're here to try"
"I look forward to our Confrontation Conan"..."And I...will look back upon it"
Looking forward to Sons of Cimmeria stuff, the 2nd edition, ADVENTURES (PLEASE - Very busy father here), and the new source books....
Arkobla Conn
I forgot about the old comic! The first Conan comic I read was an old issue of "Conan the Barbarian" where Conan is ambushed and takes a shot to the head, rendering him blind. The bad guys trail him through the wilderness, but with the help of a minstrel he sets up a trap in an abandoned mine. When the bad guys come in, he kills the lights, and they're as blind as he is. Then they die screaming, and the old hag's potion slowly brings his sight back.
That comic rocked.
That comic rocked.
VincentDarlage
Mongoose
Johannixx said:
That would be Conan the Barbarian #160, from July 1984. That was the seventh Conan comic I had bought at that time. It was a fun issue. It was written by Michael Fleisher and was titled "Veil of Darkness!"
I read that comic until the cover started to crumble with age. Then, years after I had put it in the attic with the rest of the panoply of youth, I found another copy at a friend's house and realized that my old copy was actually missing several pages! I just assumed it was a story break for all those years...
