Savage Sword of Conan reprints!

There's been talk in comics circles for a couple of years now concerning Dark Horse Comics and their possible reprints of the classic Marvel magazine Savage Sword of Conan. It wasn't a secret, but the chatter was all about how it would be done -- straight reprints of the original black-and-white artwork or newly-added color.

Much of this was because of the "remastered" coloring on Dark Horse's Chronicles of Conan, the reprints of the Marvel Conan comic book. Like most things, some fans loved it and some hated it.

Now that the advance solicitation information is out there, it's clear that these will be black-and-white art. No word yet if any of the covers will be reproduced and if so, in color or black-and-white. I don't care so much about the Boris covers, but reprints of the Earl Norem and Neal Adams covers would be appreciated (and the very pulp Tarzan-esque cover for issue 3 by Michael Kaluta). It seems that these volumes will be much like the Marvel Essentials line of reprint trade paperbacks. And since the blurb mentions "Savage Sword Conan stories", I guess we can assume that they do not have the rights to reproduce stories of the other characters that appeared in those pages, most notably Kull and Solomon Kane.

Here is what's known so far. It should appear in the August issue of Previews:

The Savage Sword of Conan

Written by Roy Thomas, art by Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala, Pablo Marcos and others.

In the mid 1970s following the colossal success of Conan the Barbarian, Roy Thomas helped expand the universe of Conan to showcase further stories and the talents of some of the comics industry's best with the equally popular Savage Sword of Conan magazine. Now, for the first time in over thirty years, these primal tales, featuring Robert E. Howard's most popular character, are available in this, the first in a series of massive trade paperbacks, collecting all Savage Sword Conan stories beginning with issue one.

Included in this volume are tales by Roy Thomas, featuring the breathtaking art of such legends as Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala, Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Pablo Marcos, Walter Simonson, and more.

Also included in this tome are Conan's few appearances in the title Savage Tales -- for the complete Conan collection!

* Reprinting Savage Sword of Conan for the first time since its original publication. This is the first volume in the series.

* Launching Dark Horse's black-and-white Dark Horse Presents omnibus format. 500+ pages for the value price of $17.95!!!

542 pages, black and white, $17.95, in stores on Dec. 19.