Rob welcomes David “Ace” Gutierrez to the cabin to discuss SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #117!
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This issue definitely has a “I feel old” meme within its pages!
Nice episode, as usual.
Still listening, but before you are onslaughted with this response, Mirage was Eastman and Laird’s company that published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which you mentioned in the Heavy Metal Talk).
Some of those other names ringed a bell (Renegade, etc.), but I can’t recall anything they published! But I did have limited access to comic shops until the early 90s. Continuity Comics and NOW were on the racks at Eastside Pharmacy. And Savage Sword of Conan was racked behind the comic on the back rack of that lower tier.
I have had Big Red! We still have it here. I liked it as a kid, but haven’t had it in decades. I thought it tasted more like bubble gum than strawberry myself, but I liked it. A Big Red float over vanilla ice cream is a wonderful thing.
How perfect was that commercial at the end? Someone is doing a bad Ah-nuld impersonation!
What I know about Renegade is that they published a number of titles that started (and then often continued) elsewhere, like Ms. Tree, Flaming Carrot, or normalman; they also ran an odd series by Steve Ditko called Static.
Since you mentioned the Omnibus including material from Epic Illustrated, and your surprise at Conan appearing in Epic: I don’t believe that Epic ever ran an actual Conan story, but I remember that one issue included a story by Sandy Plunkett about the last day of Robert E. Howard’s life. This is probably the story that they included in the Omnibus, as a tribute to Howard and his creations.
I’m not sure I entirely agree with David that De La Torre’s art isn’t outright mimicry of John Buscema’s style. Like the work of another another current artist, Benito Gallego (who recently did a Tarzan series for Dynamite), if you see any sample of De La Torre’s work without knowing its provenance, you’d probably think it’s some lost art by Buscema himself. Not that I’m complaining, though – I got the digital FCBD comic that was released ahead of the actual series and found the art absolutely stunning.
“Someone makes Conan angry. He goes and he kills someone.” Isn’t this also the story of David Ace Gutierrez’s life?
It’s always so much fun to hear David’s take on things, especially since we hail from the same hometown. (Though his mention of Skaggs Alpha-Beta has triggered me like some sort of West Texas Manchurian Candidate.)
Like David, I went to see Conan the Barbarian when it came out in theaters, so I would’ve been 12. I’m older than DAG, though, so I’d argue I saw a lot at just the right age. It was my introduction to the character, and it’s been love ever since. I think I’ve mentioned it elsewhere, but I even went to see the Conan show at Universal Studios, and it’s still a fond memory. I used to have a big movie-style poster of the movie, but that’s long gone.
I know within the last few years Marvel tried putting Conan in the present age (maybe? I wasn’t paying that much attention) as part of the Savage Avengers. I passed, because Conan should be riding horses and lopping the heads off snake wizards, not trying to catch the subway.
I’m surprised Rob wasn’t a Heavy Metal guy! Of all the comics-related books on the newsstand, it was the only one that showed up consistently at my convenience store (a C&L, later a Good Time Store, which David should remember). It introduced me to a whole different kind of comics, though I probably was a little too young for that at first. Unfortunately, Heavy Metal stopped publishing in 2022, with plans to come back at some point. We’ll see.
One last thing: David is right about Big Red; it’s a singular taste experience that people either love or hate aka the right or wrong. It is a very Texas Thing.
One last-last thing: I was always more of a Chocolate Soldier guy and was sad when it was discontinued, but Yoo-Hoo will do in a pinch.
Fun episode! DAG is always a great guest. As someone who used to spend summers in El Paso with family, the mention of Skaggs Alpha Beta took me back!
I was never a Conan guy, but I’ve been getting more into the old books because it’s so easy to put together huge swaths of runs from the dollar bins. I’m really enjoying the ability to dip in and out of issues and not worry about continuity.
“Someone does something stupid so Conan gonna Conan!” should be the masthead for SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN going forward.
Ed Brubaker used that story of Conan being popular in prisons in an issue of Criminal. The main character, Teeg Lawless (I think) asks the librarian in Prison to start getting him the magazine!
Fun listen, as usual.
Andy