Set Description:
I have to give my little brother all the credit for getting me hooked in comics as a kid--
I also have to give many thanks, in memory of Big John Buscema. He will always be my favorite Marvel artist. And long live Ernie Chan!
And to Marvel--
Marvel had the only comic, as a teen, that I can remember, that added up to much. It was the Eighties, and there was a lot of crap out there. I wanted solid, beleivable art, and decent stories.
Conan the Barbarian, featuring John Buscema, Roy Thomas, and Ernie Chan, was a perfect fit.
I started in with issue 171, thanks to my brother. He had a couple copies of Conan and I really liked them. After a few more issues in, I remember buying his copies from him, and continuing from there.
To this day I think the story behind issues 172-190 is as good as it gets. The creators had me hooked.
I started reading older books, until I had wandered down as far as I could afford, into the Belit era, and the Red Sonja books, some Savage Sword. And then I discovered Barry Windsor Smith.
Over the next couple of years, I had every issue from 86 through to 225, and several early copies, but I stopped there. The art, not to mention the new printing technology, was killing what was left of the Bronze Age. I got older, and I stopped buying comics.
I didn't give comics much thought again, until I was in my late thirties. I had an old box of Conans still, but had long ridden myself of most of the later issues. I had just a scant few copies left, most of them very old, and some, I had actually spent some money on. They were my first actual comics I bought for investment purposes. I had tried really hard to take care of them; they were issues 2, 3, and 6.
I had them graded. They didn't fair too well, but I'm glad they didn't. They are now the fitting monarchs of my collection. Had they graded well, I would have sold them for a few hundred dollars each at best, and forgotten them. Their value is trivial on the market, but to me, they say it all. These are the last icons of my comic book childhood, encapsulated. I still have them.
Conan the Barbarian #3, titled 'Grim Grey God', seemed a fitting title for this collection. It is the dark and brooding hero we were meant to worship.
Photos and comments will appear as I see fit, feel free to read on.
Torbjorn
* [And will someone please do a Conan movie that doesn't suck.]
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