Conan the Barbarian and me

I first discovered Conan the barbarian when the 1982 film came out on VHS. My father was a huge fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger. So he rented it. My mother didn't want to let me watch it cause it was rated R. But Dad talked her into letting me see it. I loved it and ended up renting it at least 3 or 4 times a year for a long time. Well I knew that there was the Conan comic book from Marvel Comics. And had seen issues of the magazine sized comic "Savage Sword of Conan". But never bother reading either one. Not really sure why. Then in 1984 when "Conan the Destroyer" came out Dad,my Uncle and I went to see it opening night. Even as a younger kid I could tell the film wasn't nearly as good as the first one. But I still enjoyed it. And from then till sometime in 2008 I re-watched the films a few time. Then I was going through a magazine and saw an ad for the Science Fiction book club. Discovered that now they carried comic book trades and hardcovers. So I ended up joining and as two of my "free" books I got the first trade of the Dark Horse Conan comic and the first volume of the "Savage Sword of Conan Archives". When they came in I sat down and devoured both of them. While the Dark Horse Conan stuff is great. I really really liked the Savage Sword reprints. I am partially color blind so black and white comics have always appealed to me more than color comics. And since Savage Sword was a magazine it didn't have to follow the comics code authority rules. So the stories were more violent and sometimes there was even some nudity.

Not too long after reading those two trades I was at the local used bookstore. And found one of the older books reprinting Robert E. Howards Conan short stories. These stories had originally been published in pulp magazines back in the 30s. At work one night soon I started reading it and loved it. It was through this paperback that I discovered how very different the R.E. Howard Conan was compared to the Conan from the 2 films. The Howard Conan wasn't just some dumb muscle bound barbarian. He was a smart man who wasn't this huge mass of muscle. He also had a strict code of honor. I did some research and found out that some of the stories in the paperback I had were re-written from the original versions that had been published in the pulps.So I wanted to track down the original versions. Thanks to a wrestling forum of all places I found out that most of the Howard Conan stories are in the public domain in Australia. And on the Australian Project Gutenberg website you could download them. So I downloaded all the ones they had. Then not too long after that I saw that the Science Fiction book club had a nice 3 volume hardcover collection that reprinted in their original form all the R.E. Howard Conan stories. I ordered them and over the past few years have really enjoyed reading them.

Well since I liked the two Conan comic book trades I figured I should try out the Marvel Conan the Barbarian comics. It was free comic book day and the shop I goto for FCBD had a sale on all their back issues. I got a nice stack of Conan the Barbarian and King Conan for 50 cents an issue. While these comics are fun reads they really don't capture the feel of Howard's version that well. But since then anytime  I find any Conan comics for a buck or less I pick them up.

Well I found out that there had been two Conan cartoons. And The Hub kids channel was airing the second one every morning at like 5am. So I set my DVD recorder to record them. Watching them they are not that bad. Sure they are toned down cause it is a cartoon for kids. But they are a fun addition to the Conan mythos. Also found out there was a syndicated live action Conan TV show. It only lasted one season. Well I discovered that Netflix had it streaming. So I watched the first episode and it really sucked. Conan was a brainless muscle head. And the acting was pretty bad. But the scenery is nice to look at.

Then in 2011 a new Conan film came out.Jason Momoa plays Conan and looks more like how Howard describe Conan than either Arnold or the guy that played Conan in the live action TV show. Now it seems lots of people I have talked to hate this film. But the ones I have asked only know Conan from the two Arnold films. And this film is much closer to Howard's version of Conan. Sadly it seems this film didn't do that well so I doubt we will get a sequel. Which is a shame cause it is a well done sword and sorcery film.

Also in 2011 for X-mas my amazing Aunts got me 6 volumes of Dark Horse's "Savage Sword of Conan Archives". And as of right now I still have 4 of them to read. I love how some of the stories in these volumes are really good adaptations of the Howard stories. Some of the stories are adapted from the later Conan stories that other authors wrote. Overall so far there hasn't been a bad story in the first 6 volumes of this series. Plus the artwork is gorgeous. Some of the best comic artist contribute the artwork to the stories. I have also found a few issues of the "Savage Sword of Conan" magazine.Most of the time I manage to get them for a buck or less. And they are great. I love the covers and all the added stuff that isn't reprinted in the archive trades.

It is thanks to my love of Conan that I have also gotten into some of the other great pulp characters. So far I have read some of Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane stories. And just recently got a Solomon Kane comic trade. One thing I should point out is most people that know me know that I am not a fan of Lord of the Rings and all the other fantasy novels inspired by that classic trilogy. So it always surprises them when they learn I love Conan. But to me Conan is a very different type of fantasy. I have been told that LotR is "High Fantasy" and that Conan is "Sword and Sorcery". Which I guess means I am a fan of the "Sword and Sorcery" genre.

Sword and Sorcery collection 4 film DVD

Deathstalker,Deathstalker II,Barbarian Queen and The Warrior and the Sorceress
Shout Factory DVD
1983,1987,1985,1984

When I was a teen my uncle had come down to visit my family. And he took me to the video store to rent some movies. Well he saw they had Deathstalker II and was telling me how great the first one was. "Newt this is even better than Beastmaster!" Well I had seen Beastmaster and loved it so I talked him into renting Deathstalker II. We got back to my house and ended up watching it with my Dad. I was enjoying the film cause of the comedy and all the boobs. Well I kind of forgotten about Deathstalker for years. Then the third film in the series got shown on MST3K. Which promoted me to go track down the films. Well I could only find the original Deathstalker. It was at this tiny Mom and Pop video store and I tried to copy the VHS. But it seemed to have some kind of copy protection on it. So when I brought it back I asked the owner of the store if they were willing to sell it. But they wouldn't. Well about a year later I got on the Internet for the first time and tried to track down the Deathstalker films. Never could find them for a price I was willing to pay.

Fast forward to 2011 and I hear that Shout Factory,who is quickly becoming my favorite DVD company,is releasing lots of the Roger Corman films onto DVD. So I wrote an email to SF and asked if the Deathstalker films might be coming out. I got a reply saying that the first two were coming out soon. So as soon as I saw a pre-order for the Sword and Sorcery collection I ordered it. The day it came in I sat down and watched both Deathstalker films.

The original Deathstalker was obviously made to cash in on how huge a hit "Conan the Barbarian" was.While it's low budget is obvious it is still a fun enjoyable film. With the right mixture of action and comedy it brings back memories of sitting around with my buddies and watching all the various 80s action films we would rent almost every weekend. What I really liked is we get a fun commentary with John Shardellati,John Carl Buechler and Richard Booker. Lots of interesting behind the scenes stories are told and it seems like they all had a blast making this film.

Deathstalker II is even more of a comedy than the first one. But I find this one even more enjoyable than the original. We get Monique Gabrielle playing a double role. And John Terlesky is great as Deathstalker. Plus there is a fun scene where Deathstalker has to wrestle the Queen of the Amazons. Who is played by Queen Kong of Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling fame. Now it is obvious this film has an even lower budget than the original. Cause some scenes from the original are replayed in this film. But what I really enjoyed about Deathstalker II is we get an amazing commentary with Jim Wynorski,John Terlesky and Toni Naples. They all seem to be having a blast watching the film and there is some interesting stories told about the making of the film.

Barbarian Queen is a film I had heard about for a long time. But never saw it in any video store. And never saw it playing on cable.The late Lana Clarkson is the lead. And the night before her wedding her world gets turned into shit. Her groom is put in jail,her village is destroyed,and her friends are killed. Now Ms Clarkson isn't the best actress but she does a fine job as the lead. From doing some research it seems there is some stuff that is cut out of this version of the film. Some of the scenes where Lana is tortured are cut down. But they are included as extras on the DVD.

The Warrior and the Sorceress is the final film on the DVD set. And my least favorite of the four. David Carradine is the lead. He is wandering around the world as a mercenary. So really he is a barbarian version of his character from the old "Kung Fu" TV show. David ends up involved in a war between two clans. I have only watched this movie one time and I doubt I will watch it again anytime soon.

To me at least this set is worth the price for the two Deathstalker films. With Barbarian Queen being a nice addition to the set. All the films look great. And as always Shout Factory has done a great job with the packaging. I like how the DVD case is see thru. The backside of the cover has the various films posters. I have seen this DVD set selling for as cheap as 10 bucks online and if you are a fan of films like "Conan the Barbarian" or "Beastmaster" track down a copy. Sword and Sorcery collection gets a B.

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