Sword-brothers, sword-sisters, the venerable spinner rack is sporting another brand new issue of SSOC!
61 mind-altering pages of barbaric savagery in black-and-white printed on newsprint!
Inside this succulent magazine you will find the following treasures:
Pin-Ups:
Conan by Tim Sale (from Tim Sale: Black and White - Revised and Expanded. RIP, Tim.)
Conan by Sedat Oezgen
Conan by Marco Rudy
KING CONAN: THE ENSORCELLED, PART I: The Beast in Brythunia by Jason Aaron and Geof Isherwood
The Graaskal Mountains splitting Hyperborea and Brythunia. The Brythunian border.
Conan II aka Prince Conn, Conan's firstborn son, sits on the throne of Aquilonia while his father is away.
The King of Aquilonia, Conan, is fifty-eight years old, he's on a diplomatic mission and a hunt. He enters the cave of the Witch of Graaskal.
The Witch and King Fabiano (of Brythunia)'s freshly hypnotized mercenaries (from Nemedia) attack! The Witch burns Conan's chest with her hand. The now marked barbarian King also becomes bewitched and... enjoys the feeling of being unleashed.
Conan viciously murders the mercs and captures the Witch of the mountains and exits her cave.
Conan's Black Dragon bodyguards including Tarquin were forbidden to enter the cave to help out their King.
Fabiano cannot believe that the Witch is still alive.
Massive polar bears attack to protect the Witch from the vindictive Brythunians. The Witch mutters something and the beasts retreat.
Conan stops Captain Rafe from icing the Witch. Conan wants her to stand trial for her assumed crimes. Could the Witch be innocent?
King Fabiano wants Aquilonia to support his claim to the throne of Brythunia.
Conan wonders why the Witch prevented the bears from attacking. She was afraid her bears would get hurt and mentions a mysterious nemesis.
They arrive at the village of South Mudborne for the Witch's trial. Fabiano is glad that the trial is a farce, it is a great way to pass the buck. Blaming witches for his failures as a lord. Better a Witch blamed than him.
Disgusted by Fabiano's deplorable actions, Conan and his Black Dragons depart for home.
The Witch puts a spell of Blood Magic on Conan. Conan and Co. find villagers decapitating a polar bear. Conan turns his steed around.
KING CONAN: THE ENSORCELLED, PART II: The Last of the Graaskal Witches by Jason Aaron and Geof Isherwood
The Witch tries to convince the crowd that she is not the enemy they think she is.
Conan is now back at the village and commands that the Witch be spared.
Conan tells the throng to blame Kings instead of Witches. Conan is ready to hear complaints. The Witch frees herself from the fire.
The remaining polar bears attack the villagers, Conan's cursed chest begins burning, a miffed Captain Rafe tries to feed Conan to the flames.
The Witch burns Rafe's chest with her hand, this makes him see the blaze as a kissable woman. Rafe expires carbonized.
We see the Brethren of the Briar exterminating and mass burning witches at the secret sanctuary of the Graaskal Sistren. The leader of these Witchfinders/Holy Men/Monks also has a burning/consuming touch, he is looking to reclaim the "Power of Hell" and to "End all Witchcraft".
Back to the pyre, the Witch kidnaps Conan, the now unconscious King is dying from her spell, they arrive at her sanctuary/village, the Witchkillers have departed, she cures Conan as thanks for trying to save her.
The Witch shows her murdered sisters to Conan and she reveals her name to him: Xyleena.
King Fabiano tells the local Witch Hunters that Conan has been abducted by Xyleena. The leader of the Witchfinders, the Red Right Hand of Mitra, affirms that Xyleena is the last of her kind.
One of Conan's Black Dragons is curious as to why Fabiano and his men are not searching for his liege. The leader of the Witchfinders, the Witchbreaker, kills the Dragon while assuring him that they will track down the enchanted Conan and his paramour.
À suivre!
CONAN: DAMN THING IN THE WATER by Jim Zub and Rob De La Torre
A terrible title and only two measly pages! CONAN is grabbed by a cephalopod while sipping from a stream. His horse does bupkis.
CONAN: FORGED by Michael Kogge and Dan Parsons
Conan is trying to forge a nail. Conan fails and apologizes to his father. His dad tells him to never apologize and to accept his responsibilities.
Conan wants to forge a blade, his father demands a bracelet.
Three visiting Zingarans are offering drugged wine to Conan's tribe. Conan's father approaches the woman from Zingara. Conan flings his quickly forged bracelet to his father. The Zingaran woman thinks that the bracelet is for her.
Later during the night Conan cannot find anyone responsive. He finds his father in the darkness asleep with "a woman" that is wearing his bracelet. Disappointed in his father, Conan tries once again to forge a nail.
Conan spots the treacherous Zingarans stealing sheep. The Zingaran woman is NOT wearing his bracelet, this confuses young Conan. Conan uses his new nail to murder the two men and Conan's mother appears out of nowhere to spear the woman.
Conan's mother was the one wearing Conan's bracelet all along.
Conan's father thinks that Conan is now ready to forge his own blade.
What I did like:
Rob De La Torre in black and white! As it should always be.
Conan's mother is alive!
"To crush your enemies" mentioned.
Reminds me of the good old days of Conan The Savage #7.
Someone is a fan of David A. Prior's Deadly Prey (1987).
Briar... "Thorn" in my side. Get it?
Geof Isherwood is at the top of his game.
The covers by Joe Jusko and Alex Horley look amazing!
Women appear on both covers!
Women appear in 2 of the 3 stories!
No Black Stone anywhere!
The Savage Sword of Conan will continue for another year. We are getting SIX more issues!
An advert promoting the excellent Heroic Legends Short Fiction Program.
What I did not like:
Zub is hogging the Cimmerian spotlight once again. Let other creators appear in the magazine.
Cephalopods cannot live in fresh water and horses run away from danger.
Only Two pages from Rob De La Torre! We needed Twenty-two.
Conan struggles to capture one witch but the Witchfinders kill over twenty without any effort.
Earthworms can talk?
Conan can forge a bracelet within seconds, but has trouble making nails.
Where's the short story to accompany the Jusko cover? Disappointing and lazy.
No removable poster in the middle of the magazine!
Still No variant cover by KyuYong Eom!
Needed more art pin-ups!
No pin-up by Matteo Scalera.
Still No pin-up by Benjamin Marra!
Still No essay by Fred Blosser!
NO advert for the Conan the Barbarian Hyborian Age Map 1,500 Piece Color Puzzle!
Still NO letters page! Shame on you, Heroic Signatures.
No mention that the adaptation of La Torre del Elefante (The Tower of the Elephant) by Enrique Alcatena and Claudio Alvarez will be serialized in upcoming issues of The Savage Sword of Conan!
I give it an 8/10. Where's the Thulsa Doom Tribute issue of The Savage Sword of Conan to honour the memory of James Earl Jones? Again, I encourage all of you to support Your Friendly Neighbourhood Barbarian by purchasing this exceptional mag! Go buy it!
