Showcasing The Nightmaster!

Somehow as a youth I came across the middle chapter of the Nightmaster saga from its tiny three-issue run in Showcase. Over the decades I've had a lingering interest in the hero, fueled by my appreciation of Berni Wrightson's artwork on that one story I read so very long ago. Also, Joe Kubert's covers for all three issues are incredibly dynamic and arguably are a good part of the reason I've lusted for these books so long. But when I went to find the back issues, I found them priced much more highly than I wanted to pay or I found them not at all. Recently I chanced across the final two issues with the Wrightson artwork for a decent price, but sadly I couldn't locate the initial installment with work by Jerry Grandenetti. 

For the record Denny O'Neil wrote all three issues. But I did find one a Mile High and it came yesterday along with some other treasures. This morning for the first time ever, I was able to read the Nightmaster saga all the way through. It held up pretty well. This is sometimes called the first Sword and Sorcery comic book. That's not true, but it does preceded the wave of S&S prompted by success of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian. With Conan, Kull, Thongor, Gullivar, Dagar, Ironjaw, Wulf, and a wave of others hitting the stands in the Bronze Age and beyond, the Nightmaster was forgotten. 

 The story is a bit more whimsical than I recollect, with a sense of irony clearly inspired by Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser, who would soon enough get their own DC title. But it was neat heady blend of Tolkien and Burroughs and Leiber with a smidge of Howard tossed into the brew. Good stuff, not as full-bodied as most barbarian heroes, but neatly modern still after all these decades. I'd love to see these reprinted, but now that I have the originals at last, I don't really need that. 

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