Rating: 
Summary: Thomas and Windsor-Smith begin their epic run on "Conan"
Review: Barry Windsor-Smith is my favorite comic book artist. Even though I have been selling off a lot of my old Marvel comic books, if Windsor-Smith drew the issue or just the cover, then that comic is a keeper. The irony is that when he drew his first comic book for Marvel comics, literally drawing his pages on park benches in Central Park, we all though he was the worst artist in the history of the world. But as you can see in "Tower of the Elephant and Other Stories," the first volume in "The Chronicles of Conan," in which Dark Horse reprints the first eight issues of Marvel's "Conan the Barbarian," Barry Windsor-Smith was quickly developing one of the most distinctive drawing styles in the history of comic books. The key in these first eight issues of "Conan the Barbarian" are when Thomas and Windsor-Smith work from some of Robert E. Howard's original stories. Issue #4, "Tower of the Elephant" is prominent in the title of this collection because it is the first classic "Conan" comic book, but the adaptations of "The Grey God Passes" (#3), the poem "Zuakal's Hour" (#5), "The God in the Bowl" (#7), and a synopsis by Howard that Thomas uncovered (#8), were all crucial in helping the team find their voice and look in these comics. Just as the writing by Thomas becomes more than standard comic book fare, so does the artwork by Windsor-Smith because more stylized. Sal Buscema's inking of Windsor-Smith's pencils clearly defines this period, but I like the pages done by Dan Atkins a little better. Frank Giacoia's inks were just too different, but the final story, inked by Tom Sutton and Tom Palmer, hints at what we would see when Windsor-Smith would ink himself (did I mention I have the splash page of issue #8 as a black light poster?). I have been happy to pick up the Marvel black and white reprint collections in the Essential series, but Conan is the exception to the rule. I do not want to take my comic books out of their bags, but with the remastered color of these comic books these reprints look a whole lot better than the originals. With its exotic locales, strange creatures, and gaudily dressed characters, "Conan" is a comic that especially benefits from remastered color. The results are extremely impressive. Both Thomas and Windsor-Smith continue to make great improvements over the next dozen issues of "Conan the Barbarian," so I look forward to Volume 2 of "the Chronicles of Conan." Hopefully Dark Horse can reprint Thomas and Windsor-Smith's black and white Conan stories that they did in "The Savage Sword of Conan," especially "Red Nails," the splash page of which I had blown up on a giant poster board and colored in myself. I treasure that almost as much as the Windsor-Smith print we have in our bedroom that is signed and enscribed with our names and the date we got married.
Rating:
Summary: Thomas and Windsor-Smith begin their epic run on "Conan"
Review: Barry Windsor-Smith is my favorite comic book artist. Even though I have been selling off a lot of my old Marvel comic books, if Windsor-Smith drew the issue or just the cover, then that comic is a keeper. The irony is that when he drew his first comic book for Marvel comics, literally drawing his pages on park benches in Central Park, we all though he was the worst artist in the history of the world. But as you can see in "Tower of the Elephant and Other Stories," the first volume in "The Chronicles of Conan," in which Dark Horse reprints the first eight issues of Marvel's "Conan the Barbarian," Barry Windsor-Smith was quickly developing one of the most distinctive drawing styles in the history of comic books. The key in these first eight issues of "Conan the Barbarian" are when Thomas and Windsor-Smith work from some of Robert E. Howard's original stories. Issue #4, "Tower of the Elephant" is prominent in the title of this collection because it is the first classic "Conan" comic book, but the adaptations of "The Grey God Passes" (#3), the poem "Zuakal's Hour" (#5), "The God in the Bowl" (#7), and a synopsis by Howard that Thomas uncovered (#8), were all crucial in helping the team find their voice and look in these comics. Just as the writing by Thomas becomes more than standard comic book fare, so does the artwork by Windsor-Smith because more stylized. Sal Buscema's inking of Windsor-Smith's pencils clearly defines this period, but I like the pages done by Dan Atkins a little better. Frank Giacoia's inks were just too different, but the final story, inked by Tom Sutton and Tom Palmer, hints at what we would see when Windsor-Smith would ink himself (did I mention I have the splash page of issue #8 as a black light poster?). I have been happy to pick up the Marvel black and white reprint collections in the Essential series, but Conan is the exception to the rule. I do not want to take my comic books out of their bags, but with the remastered color of these comic books these reprints look a whole lot better than the originals. With its exotic locales, strange creatures, and gaudily dressed characters, "Conan" is a comic that especially benefits from remastered color. The results are extremely impressive. Both Thomas and Windsor-Smith continue to make great improvements over the next dozen issues of "Conan the Barbarian," so I look forward to Volume 2 of "the Chronicles of Conan." Hopefully Dark Horse can reprint Thomas and Windsor-Smith's black and white Conan stories that they did in "The Savage Sword of Conan," especially "Red Nails," the splash page of which I had blown up on a giant poster board and colored in myself. I treasure that almost as much as the Windsor-Smith print we have in our bedroom that is signed and enscribed with our names and the date we got married.
Rating: 
Summary: Good way to embrace your inner 13 year old!
Review: Dark Horse Books had done comic book readers a fine, if flawed, service by reprinting the Roy Thomas/Barry Smith issues of Marvel's CONAN THE BARBARIAN comics from the early 1970's. This volume collects issues 1 through 8. The afterword by Thomas, who scripted the comic for many issues, chronicalling its genesis is not only informative but provides a nice behind-the-scenes peek of Marvel's inner workings. But, for me, the real pleasure found here is the joy of watching Barry Smith teach himself to draw.Lessons learned from Jack Kirby served Smith well as he progressed through the series. Even in these early issues Smith showed a strong graphic storytelling ability and visually the comics still hold up today.I've deducted a star from this book because the original covers weren't included here and I dislike the digitally applied color. I compared it to the comics themselves and while in many instances the digital colors are an improvement, the background coloring is wonderfully atomspheric and subtle; in others it detracts from the drawings. Particularly, the shadow modeling on the figures could have benefitted from a lighter touch. There is an attempt to make the figures more volumetric by slapping on a light to dark value range. This obscures the pen work and reminded me of second rate anime. And did ALL the skin tones have to be limited from beige to brown? I hope when Dark Horse reprints later issues that they will follow the "less is more" philosophy when applying the color to Smith's work.Still, this is only a minor irritation and won't dampen the enjoyment to be found here.
Rating:
Summary: Good way to embrace your inner 13 year old!
Review: Dark Horse Books had done comic book readers a fine, if flawed, service by reprinting the Roy Thomas/Barry Smith issues of Marvel's CONAN THE BARBARIAN comics from the early 1970's. This volume collects issues 1 through 8. The afterword by Thomas, who scripted the comic for many issues, chronicalling its genesis is not only informative but provides a nice behind-the-scenes peek of Marvel's inner workings. But, for me, the real pleasure found here is the joy of watching Barry Smith teach himself to draw.Lessons learned from Jack Kirby served Smith well as he progressed through the series. Even in these early issues Smith showed a strong graphic storytelling ability and visually the comics still hold up today.I've deducted a star from this book because the original covers weren't included here and I dislike the digitally applied color. I compared it to the comics themselves and while in many instances the digital colors are an improvement, the background coloring is wonderfully atomspheric and subtle; in others it detracts from the drawings. Particularly, the shadow modeling on the figures could have benefitted from a lighter touch. There is an attempt to make the figures more volumetric by slapping on a light to dark value range. This obscures the pen work and reminded me of second rate anime. And did ALL the skin tones have to be limited from beige to brown? I hope when Dark Horse reprints later issues that they will follow the "less is more" philosophy when applying the color to Smith's work.Still, this is only a minor irritation and won't dampen the enjoyment to be found here.
Rating: 
Summary: The early comic classics get the treatment they deserve!
Review: Finally, someone has seen fit to give these sword-and-sorcery comic classics the treatment they deserve! Dark Horse has restored the classic artwork of Barry Smith and utilized modern digital colorization to render the definitive published versions. While Smith's early work is a bit derivative or evocative of Jack Kirby, it's fascinating to see his stylistic development nevertheless. Roy Thomas did the fantasy world a great service adapting Conan onto the comics page, with his crisp writing that shows he has a keen ear for the spirit of Robert E. Howard's work. Pour yourself a flagon of wine and savor these Conan classics, by crom!
Rating:
Summary: The early comic classics get the treatment they deserve!
Review: Finally, someone has seen fit to give these sword-and-sorcery comic classics the treatment they deserve! Dark Horse has restored the classic artwork of Barry Smith and utilized modern digital colorization to render the definitive published versions. While Smith's early work is a bit derivative or evocative of Jack Kirby, it's fascinating to see his stylistic development nevertheless. Roy Thomas did the fantasy world a great service adapting Conan onto the comics page, with his crisp writing that shows he has a keen ear for the spirit of Robert E. Howard's work. Pour yourself a flagon of wine and savor these Conan classics, by crom!
Rating:
Summary: THESE stories will not be ignored
Review: For many years, there has been a push to return Robert E. Howard's Conan to his roots; meaning, get rid of all the modified tales from L. Sprague deCamp and others that were incorporated into the Lancer and Ace paperback Conan series, leaving us only with the original REH Conan. By doing this, however, we are left with only a handful of stories and fragments of questionable quality. Let's be honest: while REH was innovative and had an extremely active imagination, he was not the literary talent that many would have us believe. Plus, as there have been countless characters to imitate Conan, I feel that the involvement of other creators to flesh out this archetypal barbarian can only help Howard's legacy and should not be ignored. I grew up on the modified Conan stories, and I feel that they certainly help to present Conan as a more complete and accessible character. Others must have felt this way as well, for as a result, Conan and other REH characters were propelled into paperbacks and other media, including comics. What I'm getting at is, by pretending that the modifications never happened, everything inspired by them stands a good chance of never being reprinted. I was quite suprised and happy, therefore, upon hearing that Dark Horse Comics received the rights to reprint Roy Thomas' & Barry Smith's Conan tales, originally done for Marvel in the '70s. This is some beautiful work from both creators. Be warned, however, that the artwork contained within is faux-Kirby from plain old "Barry Smith", not the pre-raphaelite renderings of "Barry WINDSOR Smith". You won't see BWS' artistic transition until the last couple of issues, to be reprinted in the third Dark Horse volume. There are a few REH tales here, plus some pastiches, but all serve to present Conan as an individual instead of just another brute with a sword. This first volume reprints #1-8 in full color on bright glossy paper, with restored and recolored art. It is unfortunate that more issues couldn't be included in this volume, but for Smith's art, I would prefer to spend more money for less stories in color than a black-and-white reprint ala Marvel's Essentials.
Rating:
Summary: THESE stories will not be ignored
Review: For many years, there has been a push to return Robert E. Howard's Conan to his roots; meaning, get rid of all the modified tales from L. Sprague deCamp and others that were incorporated into the Lancer and Ace paperback Conan series, leaving us only with the original REH Conan. By doing this, however, we are left with only a handful of stories and fragments of questionable quality. Let's be honest: while REH was innovative and had an extremely active imagination, he was not the literary talent that many would have us believe. Plus, as there have been countless characters to imitate Conan, I feel that the involvement of other creators to flesh out this archetypal barbarian can only help Howard's legacy and should not be ignored. I grew up on the modified Conan stories, and I feel that they certainly help to present Conan as a more complete and accessible character. Others must have felt this way as well, for as a result, Conan and other REH characters were propelled into paperbacks and other media, including comics. What I'm getting at is, by pretending that the modifications never happened, everything inspired by them stands a good chance of never being reprinted. I was quite suprised and happy, therefore, upon hearing that Dark Horse Comics received the rights to reprint Roy Thomas' & Barry Smith's Conan tales, originally done for Marvel in the '70s. This is some beautiful work from both creators. Be warned, however, that the artwork contained within is faux-Kirby from plain old "Barry Smith", not the pre-raphaelite renderings of "Barry WINDSOR Smith". You won't see BWS' artistic transition until the last couple of issues, to be reprinted in the third Dark Horse volume. There are a few REH tales here, plus some pastiches, but all serve to present Conan as an individual instead of just another brute with a sword. This first volume reprints #1-8 in full color on bright glossy paper, with restored and recolored art. It is unfortunate that more issues couldn't be included in this volume, but for Smith's art, I would prefer to spend more money for less stories in color than a black-and-white reprint ala Marvel's Essentials.
Rating:
Summary: What? No covers? Shame on you, Dark Horse!
Review: My rating would have been 5 stars if Dark Horse included the original covers to the stories. I'm sure Dark Horse has a good reason for their omission. How about it Dark Horse; why'd you drop the ball? Whose brilliant idea was it to omit the covers?
Rating:
Summary: What? No covers? Shame on you, Dark Horse!
Review: My rating would have been 5 stars if Dark Horse included the original covers to the stories. I'm sure Dark Horse has a good reason for their omission. How about it Dark Horse; why'd you drop the ball? Whose brilliant idea was it to omit the covers?
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