Who's illustrating the book?

[Anonymous]

Hi you guys!
Just thought whou'd illustrate the Conan RPG, you know there's a LOT of fans loving Buscema, Frazetta, BW Smith... So the illustrations have to be high level!!

 

[Anonymous]

I've been anxiously awaiting this RPG and although I've looked at the on-line samples before, I decided to use my vacation today to give them a bit of a closer look. And although the Scholar class has its appeal, it was the front cover that truly disappointed me.

The sword Conan carries is nearly identical to the one from the movie, as is the female companion beside him. I'm sure there will be far more fans of the movies buying this product than fans of the book, but that was a bit of a let down to me.

 

[Anonymous]

CROM!! The cover art looks naff to me.... sorry! I was expecting something more action-packed than a barbarian (is it supposed to be Conan - looks so generic) posing with a woman - so unimaginative and not very bloodthirsty! Are they going to have a picnic on that hill?

Why not use cover art from the novels, maybe something like Conan fighting a giant serpent? Please use comic strip art for your interiors - nobody can beat John Buscema! (before somebody chips in to tell me he's dead, I know. Use old Marvel Comics artwork - they adapted RH Howard story so you have lots of quality stock illustrations to use.

 

[Mythos]

I hate to say anything bad about the new game but, I have to agree that the cover is a little static. I understand that for many people the only understanding that they have of the character is from the two films. However, something a bit more dynamic would seem to be warrented for the cover of such a fantasy icon.

On a more positive note, all the material that I've seen for the interior has been fantastic, and I hope to see another preveiw the closer we get to the release date.

 

[blacksagelobo]

nobody can beat John Buscema! [quote]

Personally I liked Conan the Legend #0 (Cary Nord) better than Buscema[/quote]

 

[blacksagelobo]

That post sure looks odd.

 

[CJF]

Personally I couldn't care less if they had Conan performing the Macerana on the front cover, I'm only interested in the book's content. Don't get me wrong, I like good artwork, but as far as roleplaying texts are concerned, the art has never been more than page filler to me.

 

[Mythos]

Why not use cover art from the novels, maybe something like Conan fighting a giant serpent? Please use comic strip art for your interiors - nobody can beat John Buscema! (before somebody chips in to tell me he's dead, I know. Use old Marvel Comics artwork - they adapted RH Howard story so you have lots of quality stock illustrations to use.

The problem with trying to use previous art work for a new book is in getting the rights to use that material. With several past artists, all of whom have had their art published in one format or another, first you need to track down who currently owns the rights to that art. Then you need to see if the rights that they have allows them to give any permission for another company to use that artwork. Some copyrights allow a company to continue to publish the art only in their own in-house publications.
Also, since this is a new version of the Conan rpg, it seems only correct that it should include new art. Mongoose wants this game to standout from any prior "barbarian" based rpgs, to use the art from past material would make this game seem to be nothing more then a carry on from the old TSR or GURPS products.
As with any new development, there will be hits and misses. From everything that I've seen and read about this new game, there are alot more hits then misses.