Dagar The Invincible!

Now technically this series was titled Tales of Sword and Sorcery - Dagar the Invincible, but as the creator and writer Don Glut points out, almost no one calls it that. For most of us it's just Dagar the Invincible, one of the many comic imitators of the highly successful Conan the Barbarian from the House of Ideas. That this version comes from Gold Key is somewhat remarkable as generally sword and sorcery might be deemed a bit too bloody for the family-friendly line which still had some Disney comics on the stands at the time. But also it should be noted that some of the more successful Gold Key books were Twilight Zone and Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery. 

The first issue comes after much planning and revision. Glut and artist Jesse Santos had already created a barbarian hero named "Durok" who had appearance in Mystery Comics Digest. (To read those stories check out this link.) But for whatever reason he was deemed not worthy of his own series and so Dagar came about after many name adjustments. He's supposed to look somewhat like Kirk Douglas in Spartacus and that sure seems to be the case. Dagar is the last of his kind, a member of the "Tulgonian" society. If you happen to the name "Glut" in that word it's no accident as the writer pulled this trick several times in his Gold Key work which didn't necessarily have credits. Dagar's eventual love interest is named after one of Glut's girlfriends for instance. 

The sorcerer who destroyed Dagar's society was named "Scorpio" and the first four issues of the serires concern Dagar's search for this villain. 

After killing the fiend who killed his pa and ma the series is left with a conundrum. Dagar purports to be a "mercenary" who fights only for gold and says such more than once. But that hardcase attitude gives way more often than not and he is a proper hero who reluctantly does the right thing because as it often turns out he's the one who can. 

Dagar battles werewolves, vampires, zombies and such classic monsters, though these critters are often given a fantasy world gloss. Dagar even travels through time to battle dinosaurs alongside primitive cavemen. Glut had apparently wanted to co-star Tragg, his own caveman creation, but the editor Del Connell nixed that idea. 

Generally Dagar and his squeeze Graylin wander the landscape falling in and out of trouble and battling a host of magicians and monsters. This collection has the first nine issues and of that lot the ninth offers up the best story since the debut with a new black hero joining forces with Dagar. But most of the stories are a bit by-the-numbers sword and sorcery gags with Dagar trying to come across as a tough guy when really he's a sweetheart, albeit a sweetheart who might stab you in the chest if you cross him. 

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