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The Savage Sword of Conan Volume 1: v. 1 (Conan (Graphic Novels)): 1 (Conan (Graphic Novels))Snagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here! The Savage Sword of Conan Volume 1: v. 1 (Conan (Graphic Novels)): 1 (Conan (Graphic Novels)) by: Roy Thomas  List Price: £11.99 Amazon.co.uk's Price: £7.91 You Save: £4.08 (34%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 741.5973 EAN: 9781593078386 Edition: Reprint ISBN: 1593078382 Label: Dark Horse Comics,U.S. Manufacturer: Dark Horse Comics,U.S. Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 542 Publication Date: December 12, 2007 Publisher: Dark Horse Comics,U.S. Studio: Dark Horse Comics,U.S. Related Items:
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Excellent valueI've been an avid Conan fan and collector of the Savage Sword of Conan magazines for years. Even though I have all the magazines that I want, I have bought this books so that I can read the stories without further damaging my originals. I was surprised to see 5 Savage Tales reprinted in this first edition as I was expecting only Savage Sword reprints, but I suppose Barry Windsor-Smith fans will appreciate the addition. At 544 pages, this book gives great value for money. The paper has a slightly budget feel, and the orginal artwork has been reduce to fit a slightly smaller format. For me these aren't great issues, and were expected. This book contains the main Conan story from 15 issues, so it's a cheap way of getting your hands on stacks of classic 1970's Conan artwork from legends like John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala & Barry Windsor-Smith. Rating: - Fantastic stories and ArtThe quality of the art in these stories is something else, if you compare it to the Marvel comics of the same period they are not even in the same baalpark. Great stories, remind me of Moorcock-esque tales in the Elric comics in some ways. All in all a very enjoyable collection and a great new edition of this collected series, with nice cover art from Boris. Rating:  - 'Just what it says on the tin'.To be fair, this is a reprint series and it does indeed reprint selected stories from this ancient magazine. However, it it something of a missed opportunity. I had forgotten that for various reasons the SSOC was itself often full of reprints from the colour 'Conan the Barbarian' - but the thing is, I felt a bit cheated then, and doubly so now. You might as well just buy the collections of these old colour comics - currently readily available from Amazon - the paper quality is superior, and has some fun and illuminating commentaries from Roy Thomas which puts the whole series into context. It would have been so much more meaningful to confine this and future volumes to the stories which were unique to itself. It was actually the covers which sold these magazines (not comics please note - different size page - another element lost in this volume) and it would have been marvellous to reproduce more of the best of them - Boris Vallejo was as big a name as Frazetta back then. It's not all bad though - some of the old classics are there - 'Black Colossus', 'Iron Shadows..' 'A witch shall be born' etc But there is one inexcusable crime - Tim Conrad was the hot artist of that period and genre - vying with Barry Smith for acclaim and you can see some of his first work on the 'Forever Phial' Now....the very last panel in the original telling, was coloured red - not black - a courageous move in a Black and White medium - both artistically and commercially, but I remember the editorial clearly, where it was argued that - damn it all - it was just the right thing to do. Dreadful decision to break faith with the original premise - shame on Dark Horse - I know it's only a small matter, but it's when no-one is looking that your integrity matters most. I guess they thought that nobody would remember - that they would get away with it - and that itself is simply disappointing.  Try searching the Internet for "The Savage Sword of Conan Volume 1: v. 1 (Conan (Graphic Novels)): 1 (Conan (Graphic Novels))" or Ebay for "The Savage Sword of Conan Volume 1: v. 1 (Conan (Graphic Novels)): 1 (Conan (Graphic Novels))". You might also be interested in the following great products:
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