The Swords Of May!

Welcome back. 

This merry month of May is dedicated to one of my most cherished passions, tales of swords and sorcery. Some label this kind of tale fantasy and make fine distinctions between say a Prince Valiant, a Conan the Barbarian, a King Kull, a Solomon Kane, a Lord of the Rings, a Prince Caspian of Narnia, an Eternal Champion or two, or even a Princess on Mars. But me, I like to think of them as all part of a wonderous timeless store of tales of stalwart men and beautiful women, and magic both white and black which is not of this world, and the steel it takes both inside those men and women and that which is gripped tightly in their hands to make sure that some modicum of justice prevails in the end. 

Conan the Barbarian will be the centerpiece this month with reviews of new (mostly) Conan comic anthologies on each Saturday. Robert E. Howard's unruly thief who became king might also show at other times as well. I have plans to look both of the recent Epic volumes showcasing Conan's earliest adventures under the helm of "Rascally" Roy Thomas and Barry "Becoming Windsor" Smith, with a dash of Gil "Sugar Lips" Kane "Big" John Buscma thrown in. 

The long awaited adaptation of REH's The Hour of the Dragon is also in the offing. 

"The Sunday Funnies" will showcase that champion of King Arthur's court -- Hal Foster's Prince Valiant. The Val of the 1950's will be the focus. 

In a new feature I'm dubbing the "Showcase Corner" expect to see a review of a series I've had in hand for a few years and feel a burning need to at long last read -- Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. 

Also it turns out that many a sword and sorcery movie has been made over the decades. Some of them are fantastic and some of the are utterly terrible. I'll be taking a glimpse at some of the latter this month.

There will also be a special run of better movies starring the gang at Camelot. 

And showing up also in some capacity expect to see Michael Moorcock's Elric Melnibone, Doug Moench's and John Buscema's "Weirdworld" work Warriors of the Shadow Realm, Gemstone's offbeat World of the Dragonlords (starring Huey, Dewey and Louie no less) and if time permits Richard and Wendy Pinis' ElfQuest stories, Jeff Smith's delightful Bone and Rose misadventures, along with Gil Kane's BlackMark. Many of these I've read before, but it's great to revisist them. I haven't read Camelot 3000 in ages and that's always a hoot. I might even get around to Gold Key's Dagar the Invincible. 

It's a heavy lift, but the burden is a most enjoyable one indeed. 

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