Who could ask for more?

[colonel_green.insanejournal.com]

Conan the Barbarian reminds us all what's important in life.

Right on, Conan!

From The Savage Sword of Conan #23.

Comments

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

Too bad for the hard-working honest merchants just trying to provide for their families, of course. They'll get their throats cut and their bodies tossed to the fishies while Conan and his pirates laugh and divide the loot.

[colonel_green.insanejournal.com]

Thomas is pretty careful to always depict the people Conan's men rob as being jerks or unsympathetic. Even in this particular issue, which contains one of his more outright villainous actions (murdering the ship's captain to take his place; though, again, the ship's captain was an evil-looking dude).

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

Come to think of it, I think Robert E Howard used the same technique. Conan always seemed to be robbing a fat greasy merchant who was shown beforehand to be unscrupulous.. making Conan look better in comparison. When Conan was leading a band of pirates or hill bandits or whatever (he took over quite a few outlaw gangs in his day), there was mention of towns being pillaged and burned. But we never saw the innocent people begging for their lives, the girls being raped, the jewelry being yanked off still-warm bodies. It does make Conan seem romantic and dashing and devil-may-care. I suppose the glamorization of gangsters is nothing new.

You could make a case that the big Cimmerian is just acting according to the morals of his times, but that doesn't wash. All the farmers and blacksmiths and carpenters and innkeepers aren't doing these things.

[colonel_green.insanejournal.com]

All the farmers and blacksmiths and carpenters and innkeepers aren't doing these things.

Only because they aren't as badass as Conan.

One of my favourite moments in SSoC is when Conan arrives in a city while a pillaging is in progress; he happens upon a thief killing some helpless merchant and stealing his jewels, then kills the thief, and keeps the jewels for himself, figuring he might as well.

In another instance, after saving a town from some monster (which destroys quite a bit of it), he purposefully vows to leave them alone to rebuild and head elsewhere.

[proteus_lives.insanejournal.com]

Another one is when he kills some assassins that were attacking priests on the road. He then robs the priests. Hey, he needed a horse and some clothes!

[proteus_lives.insanejournal.com]

You're right about the glamorization of outlaws. It makes much more sense if you read about REH's life.
Conan didn't rape or kill women/children but did he condone it? I remember several scenes where stopped such activity when he saw it but would he overly concern himself about the behavior of his men outside his view? I don't think so. Conan, (mostly under REH) is a mixture of rough morals and a view of "if they're strong they'll survive. If they aren't, they won't."
The character of Conan is complex, he can be viewed a lot of different ways.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Yeah, I got that vibe quite a lot in "Pirates of the Caribbean" too. Sorry, but being "pirates" does not automatically make you dashing or heroic, it makes you a PIRATE!

[retro_nouveau.insanejournal.com]

What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!

I would ask for a Shemite pirate captain. Conan/Bêlit OTP!

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

When I was a kid I thought it was "lamination" of the women. I never could figure out what he meant, LOL.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

It's a great image, though, all these laminated women walking around.

I'm surprised this community hasn't done as retrospective on Belit, come to think of it. A fierce pirate queen who was Conan's one true love, and she was Jewish, too (or a "Shemite," the Hyborian Age's equivalent). You'd think Belit would have some fans here.

[kitty_tc_69.insanejournal.com]

Weren't there some laminated women in the Logan's Run film? I seem to remember a bunch of them dancing around in what looked like clear plastic outfits.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

exactly.

[foxhack.insanejournal.com]

Shit. I KNEW I should've picked up that VHS tape when I had the chance!

[gwalla.livejournal.com (from insanejournal.com)]

WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG, YOUR ASS WILL BE LAMINATED

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Win! :)

[dorksidefiker.insanejournal.com]

No no no. It's soft toilet paper.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

Hear, hear. Also a comfortable pair of sensible shoes.

[ulf_boehnke.insanejournal.com]

False teeth. Don't forget false teeth.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Damn, you beat me to it!

[kamino_neko.insanejournal.com]

What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!

I was hoping this would be what was posted! Now I'm sad. A sad, sad barbarian. (Was that invented for the movie, or did it appear in any of the novels or comics first?)

[retro_nouveau.insanejournal.com]

I heard a long time ago that it was taken from a quote attributed to Genghis Kahn and cleaned up for the movie. Google shows a lot of hits, so I think it's probably true.

[proteus_lives.insanejournal.com]

Before I forget, your icon rules!
;)

[retro_nouveau.insanejournal.com]

Thanks! Bruce Timm rules my art world...

[kitty_tc_69.insanejournal.com]

I'm kinda partial to Conan/Sonja myself, especially as it's so clear who'd end up wearing the pants in that relationship. It'd be worth it just to hear Conan say "Yes, dear, by Crom!". :D

[retro_nouveau.insanejournal.com]

Crom, Mitra and Set! Your senses must have been overtaken by the Black Lotus! Conan shall never have known one better than the raven-haired warrior princess... :)

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

It would be like a Hollywood marriage between two egomaniacs (that is, like most Hollywood marriages). Short, tempramental and steamy. (The Red Sonja character never seemed as "real" as Belit to me, to be honest.)

[proteus_lives.insanejournal.com]

By the Fangs of Set! Belit was first love but Red Sonja is the perfect match for Cimmeria's favorite son!

[colonel_green.insanejournal.com]

Among the chicks in SSoC, I always liked the Devi; she had more initiative than most, and got way more time since her story ran through several issues.

[dr_hermes.insanejournal.com]

Was she in "The People of the Black Circle?" One of Howard's most creative and energetic Conan stories.

[colonel_green.insanejournal.com]

That's the one (adapted in SSoC #16-19).

[proteus_lives.insanejournal.com]

Devi was a bad-ass. I liked how she returned Conan's boast and challenge at the end.

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

To be honest, I have never understood the appeal of Conan, except the art(and even then, I've been shocked by the difference in quality of art between "Red Nails"--which looks great--and Smith's art on Conan prior to that, which, er, doesn't---it always seemed just the adventures of the kind of jock guy I've always loathed in real life. But then, I was always more of an Elric guy. Well, Elric as interpreted by P. Craig Russell & Michael T. Gilbert.

I do understand that part of his success had to do with being an alternative to superheroes in 70s mainstream comics, as TOD and HTD were. Except those are more my speed than this.

Great Panel!

[proteus_lives.insanejournal.com]

CG you have inspired me to do my own Conan posts after work tonight! I love SSoC!

Crom on his Throne!