| Slot: |
Savage Sword of Conan 1 |
| Item: |
Savage Sword of Conan 1 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2038722005
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Owner Comments
Boris! And the first appearance of the famous maille bikini. Although in truth this one is more scales than rings. I'm going to go out on a limb here and just be honest. I'm just not a big Boris fan. I don't know, it just never clicked with me as a viewer. Like, why do the undead hordes have blood? Right? There's blood spraying from the neck of the dead-guy Conan just hit, as well as blood on both Conan & Sonja's blades. I can attest to it not being old blood, blood turns steel black really fast. Conan's whipping about a single edged blade, but the swing is all wrong for where his arm & his victim are located, and he's got a shield (an improvement really) but his hand extends beyond the edge of the shield - you know what that's called? Not having a hand to wipe with next week. Just a dumb way to expose yourself. I don't know what the hell is going on with Sonja's pose - but if both feet are pointing forward and her knees are both bent in that weird twisty position, she's going down hard. One good yank from axe boy and her top-heavy a$$ is in the dirt and probably dead. Really the two of them look incompetent, where they are supposed to be the badassess of all barbarian time.
Overall - you want a dollar based on this image? How about no.
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| Slot: |
Savage Sword of Conan 23 |
| Item: |
Savage Sword of Conan 23 Modern |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4218799013
|
Owner Comments
Hot Take - Earl Norem's covers are better than Boris' - period. They just are. And this book, this cover, is easily among the five best Red Sonja covers done by Marvel. The absolute chaos of the two of them fighting against the thing from the deep, is glorious. The use of pink! Look at that grossly fleshy beast with its green eyeball - it is something else, and I love it. The tension in both bodies is excellent - Conan has just severed a big old hentai tentacle with a massive two-handed blow and Sonja, while grappled, isn't helpless - no, gods no, she's obviously connected on more than one two-handed stabs near the eye of the beast. Her single edged blade isn't ideal for thrusting, but if you've ever used one, you'll know they often have a thick spine along the back edge, making them more than strong enough to thrust like that. Looking at this, I feel like Earl has actually handled a sword, and maybe even used some live models or photo references for people with swords. My only complaint with the swordwork is that Conan's weight is a little bit too far back in his upper body - but even that is minor, as we can see we are on the shore and waves are crashing in. Making that pink fleshy monster jump off the cover at the viewer is a wonderful combination of blue skies and greenish blue waters. The use of color doesn't leave the background undefined, we know exactly where this fight is taking place, and yet it is just soft shapes and color - with the cool background colors pushing the warmly colored fighters right in your face. In comparing the two prints of this awesome art - the reprint benefits from a lack of cover text, as "Now on sale monthly!" and "Three all new epics...blah, blah, blah" and "Featuring Red Sonja King Kull!" have been deleted. And damn, what a difference that makes - all those distracting colors - particularly the green of Red Sonja King Kull are gone and you can see the image free of clutter. Also the reprint has stronger colors. I don't know if that was an editing decision to crank up the color density or if it was just an improvement in paper and ink or even just a better color strike - but I'm not sure that is an improvement. I think loosing the really fleshy color of the antagonist brings the image down a little bit. But, then again, it still works and it is still an awesome cover.
Overall? For one whole dollar? Take my money - just based on the cover image.
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