Marvel Comics Index

série: Etude Comics
dessinateur / scénariste: Collectif
éditeur: Marvel EO 1976
genre: Etude
classement: biblio619
date: 1976
format: broché
état: TBE
valeur: 10 €
critère: **
remarques: Marvel Comics Index No. 2, black and white,
cover: Conan and the Barbarians, Cover artwork by Tim Conrad

a brief guide:
inventory starting as from 1961, 14 titles haven been published:
1/ the amazing Spider-Man
2/ Conan and the Barbarians
3/ the Avengers, the Defenders and Captain Marvel
4/ the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer
5/ the mighty Thor
6/ heroes from "strange tales" (dr. Strange, Nick Fury)
7/ heroes from "tales to astonish" (Hulk, Sub-Mariner)
8/ heroes from "tales of suspense" (Captain America, Iron-Man)
9/ Daredevil and the X-Men
10/ Showcase and Team-Up Comics
11/ short-run heroes (Doc Savage, Ghost Rider, Howard the Duck)
12/ combat heroes (Captain Savage, Master of Kung-Fu)
13/ supernatural heroes (Frankenstein, Dracula, tales of the Zombie,
Man-Thing, Vampire tales)
14/ Marvel Comics
each magazine described in the index contains:
date, cover, title, writer, artist and some comments


this Comics Index covers the heroes who fit into the category
of primarily fantastic in nature such as Conan the Barbarian,
coming from the Hyborean Age living in Cimmeria
(probably nowadays Northern Germany)
Conan is probably the most intensively researched
and studied heroic-fantasy character

2/ publications of Conan
a) Conan the Barbarian, No. 1 (1970) to No. 61 (1976)
a Marvel color comic, written by Stan Lee + Roy Thomas,
designed by Barry Smith and occasionnally by John Buscema,
Gil Kane, Ernie Chua and Dick Giardino

b) giant-size magazines of Conan
the Barbarian King-Size Special No.1 (1973)
+ Giant-Size Conan The Barbarian Nos. 1 (1974) to 5 (1975)

c) Savage Sword of Conan
Nr. 1 (August 1974) to No. 10 (February 1976)
(n.b. continuing up to No. 234 (December 1995)
covers by Boris Vallejo, Neal Adams, Mike Kaluta and Frank Brunner
written mostly by Roy Thomas,
designed by Barry Smith, John Buscema, Gil Kane, Neal Adams,
Ernie Chua (one of the best artists) and Tony De Zuniga

d) Savage Sword of Conan super annual issue (summer 1975)

3/ Ka-Zar, lord of the hidden jungle
Ka-Zar = brother to Zar being a lion
Ka-Zar is also accompanied by Zabu, the sabretooth cat,
he is a typical pulp-hero from a Tarzan imitation by Bob Byrd
No. 1 (August 1970) to No. 3 (March 1971)
under the title Ka-Zar and Daredevil + X-Men + Spider-Man
with its own title as from
No. 1 (January 1974) to No. 15 (April 1976)
covers by Marie Severin and Bill Everett,
written by Stan Lee, Jerry Siegel and Roy Thomas
designed by John Buscema, George Tuska, Frank Springer and Don Heck

4/ King Kull of Atlantis
- king of Valusia hailing from a period of time before the sinking of the Atlantis,
i.e. 8000 years before Conan,
accompanied by Brule, the spear-slayer Pict being Kull's right hand
- curiously Kull's stories did not capture the imagination of the reading public
in the same way as did those of Conan
a) Kull the Conqueror, No. 1 (June 1971) to No. 15 (August 1974),
becoming Kull the Destroyer as from No. 11
covers: Ross Andru and John Severin
written by Stan Lee and Roy Thomas
designed by Ross Andru, Marie Severin and Michael Ploog (as from No. 11)

b) Kull and the Barbarians super annual issues
No. 1 (May 1975) to No.3 (September 1975)
cover by Mike Whelan, writing by Roy Thomas and design Neal Adams

5/ Savage Tales
- created to the demande for more adult comic magazines,
Marvel published "Savage Tales" with miscellaneous heroic-fantasy strips,
this magazine was unrestricted by the Comics Code Authority
(but rated M for the mature reader)
- all other heroic-fantasy characters other than Conan, Kull and Ka-Zar
had only a short-time existence except three:
- Red Sonja, the Barbarian warrior-woman
(often also appearing in Conan's adventures)
- Lt. Gulliver Jones (in the style of John Carter of Mars)
- Thongor of Lemuria (in some way similar to King Kull
these strips most appeared in Savage Tales
as well as Creatures on the Loose and Monsters Unleashed
- some other short-run characters were:
Solomon Kane, Sinbad the Sailor, Man-Thing, Man-Wolf,
Shann the She-Devil and the Black Knight

-publications of Savage Tales
No. 1 (May 1971) cover by John Buscema
= a very famous and expensive collector's item with:
- the frost giant's daughter (Conan)
- the fury of the Femizons (world ruled by women)
- Man-Thing and Black Brother
No. 2 (October 1973) to No. 5 (July 1974)
becoming Savage Tales of Ka-Zar as per No. 6 (September 1974)
up to No. 11 (July 1975) incl. one super annual issue (summer 1975)

covers by John Buscema, Neal Adams and Mike Kaluta
writing: Stan Lee and Roy Thomas
design: Barry Smith, Gil Kane and Neal Adams

6/ other miscellaneous heroic fantasy strips (cover gallery)
(mostly Marvel color comic)
a) Chamber of Chills
No. 1 (November 1972) to No.l 21 (March 1976)
Nos. 1 and 2 containing heroic-fantasy stories
(Dragon Slayer and Brak the Barbarian)

b) Chamber of Darkness
No. 1 (October 1969) to No. 8 (December 1970)
becoming "Monsters on the Prowl" with issue No. 9
Nos. 4 and 8 + special annual issue January 1972
containing heroic-fantasy stories
(Sword and Sorcerers + Starr the slayer)

c) Monsters on the Prowl
No 9 (February 1971) up to No. 30 (October 1974)
Nos. 11,14,16 (Kull), 17,24 and 25
containing heroic-fantasy stories such as
King Kull and the Titan + the living Colossus

d) Tower of Shadows
No. 1 (September 1969) to Nr. 9 (January 1971)
with special issue December 1971
becoming "Creatures on the Loose" with issue No. 10
containing stories such as the Ghost-Beast and Sanctuary

e) Creatures on the Loose
No. 10 (March 1974) to No. 37 (September 1975)
all issues containing heroic-fantasy stories except
No. 10 King Kull by Berni Wrightson, cover Marie Severin,
Nos. 16 to 21 = Gulliver Jones by Gil Kane, cover E. Everett + J. Steranko
Nos. 22 to 29 = Thongo by Vicente Alcazar, cover by John Romita
Nos. 30 to 37 = Man-Wolf by George Tusky, cover Gil Kane

f) worlds unknown
No. 1 (May 1973) to No. 8 (August 1974)
with issues Nos. 7 + 8 containing Sinbad the Sailor


7) cross-index by artists and by characters of the original strips

>> quite an interesting Comic Book index,
well presented with some admirable pictures
unfortunately only in Black and White
couvertures:
Copyright 2008 - 2024 G. Rudolf