TreasuryCast #22 – Conan The Barbarian

TREASURYCAST #22 - MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #4 - CONAN THE BARBARIAN

Crom! Rob welcomes podcaster extraordinaire Andy Leyland to discuss Marvel's first treasury-sized collection of classic Conan the Barbarian adventures, Marvel Treasury Edition #4!

Check out images from this comic by clicking here!

Subscribe to TREASURYCAST on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/treasurycast/id1166726594

Opening theme by Luke Daab: http://daabcreative.com

This podcast is a proud member of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK:

Thanks for listening! Go big or go home!

 

6 responses to “TreasuryCast #22 – Conan The Barbarian

  1. Great episode and breakdown.

    I rarely read Conan books as a kid. They were always ‘guest books’, what I called comics brought over when my parents’ guests, knowing I liked comics, brought me one. I am sure they just grabbed one off the rack. So the odd Conan, Howard the Duck, Defenders, and Wonder Woman were guest books.

    I was a sword and sorcery fan but I sensed that if Mom saw the art in Conan (or Red Sonja) suddenly comics would be scrutinized. Better to avoid.

    I will say I got the more recent Brian Wood Conan (with Becky Cloonan art early on) and loved it.

    Thanks again!

  2. All right, this was a *particularly* great episode, because you’ve actually covered a book that I had at one point (which is – in fact – a first for this show). Really enjoyed your rundown, and share your high opinion of this book and the stories contained therein. The “Red Nails” adaptation in particular is quite good – Smith was really firing on all cylinders at that point (currently I have the story reprinted in its original black and white in one of the Savage Sword phonebooks published by Dark Horse, and in the color Marvel Special Edition from the early 1980s).
    As to the front cover, i.e., why the image is cropped and framed, I think it’s just so that wonderful piece of art doesn’t have any logos or other text obscuring any part of it. The image is truly awesome. In my opinion it’s probably one of the absolute best, if not the best, Conan illustration ever.
    I liked Andy’s suggestion about a Conan television series that tracks his life, but to be honest, I’d actually just prefer a series of TV movies that adapt the original stories by Howard (the producers already have the storyboards via the comics adaptations done by Thomas et al.). I think that was the biggest mistake of the Conan movies, none of which I really liked: they should have just used the actual source material instead of doing (inferior) original stories.

  3. Great episode! As I’ve stated elsewhere, Conan was always on the periphery for me. I didn’t really read much until my then brother-in-law let me read some of his Savage Sword magazines. I was in my early teens then, so I could really appreciate them at that point.

    Is it wrong for me to say I prefer BWS in this middle period with Red Nails? I can appreciate his later work, but he seemed to get into drawing a lot of the same faces over and over, kind of like Byrne. I tend to think this stuff is him at his best. That cover image is fantastic, and I have to wonder if the rain isn’t there to kind of cover up what would otherwise be obvious as blood.

    Always great to hear Andy drop by, as I am a fan of the man and his many shows. Great stuff guys!

    Oh, and not to derail the Conan talk, but Rob, here is the Batman 75th Anniversary Short in reference to the previous episode:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFwOS2R9o_8

    Chris

  4. I’ve never been a Conan fan, I never forgave him for nicking half Marvel UK’s Avengers Weekly back in the Seventies. The only time I really liked the book was when JM Dematteis was writing it. But you made me want to take a look at this issue, so well done!

  5. By Crom, anither great episode! I’ve been looking forward to you getting to a Conan Treasury. Conan was one of the first comics I picked up as a kid because I recognized him from the films, and it worked as Roy Thomas promised the licensor it would because I started picking up the novels too. I dropped it at some point as a teenager and went about fifteen years or so without reading anything Conan related. When I finally revisited it, I loved it just as much as I did originally, especially when I found out for the first time there were Treasury editions! Treasuries make everything better. Andy’s perspective as a fan from another country was particularly interesting, and I hope you have him back for the next Conan episode. His enthusiasm for comics is a joy to listen to.

Leave a Reply to Chris Franklin Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *