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The Savage Sword of Conan #1 Published: Published by: Magazine Management Company, Inc. Office of Publication 575 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022

Excerpted from...
Swords and Scrolls (Savage Sword No. 03)
by, Roy Thomas

Well, here it is - the first letters section to deal with our brand new Savage Sword of Conan magazine, as opposed to the Conan tales which appeared of late in our companion title, Savage Tales.

Frankly, we had our problems with Savage Sowrd #1. The major story therein, Curse of the Undead-Man, had originally been scheduled for our color Conan comic-book, and the page-dimensions of the art had to be altered slightly to allow it to be printed magazine-size. Then, due to a misunderstanding over priorities, Pablo Marcos was left with only three days to ink an 18-page story - plus an overnight assignment to put in the grey tones which would add weight and depth to the work. We think Pablo came thru for us (and you) on all counts, but still we could have wished for more time with which to polish the art. Then, a mediocre printing job on both the first story and on the Red Sonja solo tale gave what we considered a relatively washed-out effect, though this was perhaps noticable only to the particularly critical eye. Even the third-time around printing of The Frost Giant's Daughter, though defensible because so few readers had ever seen the original, uncensored, black-and-white version done for Savage Tales #1, left us a bit uneasy, as did the precise layouts on the first chapter of Gil Kane's Blackmark saga.

It seems, though, that we needn't have worried. Only one or two readers complained about The Frost Giant's Daughter (mainly because they, unlike most others, already had read the story in b&w form), and virtually not one letter of real complaint was recieved on Savage Sword of Conan #1.



Reader's Poll

... here's how the hordes of Hyboridom rated the fantasy and features in our premier issue of Savage Sword of Conan:

1. The Curse of the Undead-Man, by Thomas, Buscema, and Marcos. Perhaps this was inevitable since it was the only new Conan tale in the mag. Still, it was almost knocked into second place by -
   
   
2. Red Sonja, by Maroto, Adams, and Chua, which thus virtually guarantees our shapely stalwart a return engagement at an early date. Next in line was -
   
   
3. Blackmark, Chapter One, by Gil Kane. And you'll be reading more about this unique sword-and-science hero for at least the next couple of years.
   
   
4. The Frost Giant's Daughter by Thomas and Smith. Agood showing, for the third time around. (And the last, at least until we put together some of Conan's greatest adventures in honest-to-Crom book format!)
   
   
5. An Atlantean in Aquilonia, by Glenn Lord. It's hardly a disgrace for an article to come in last in distinguished company like the above, though - and not only Glenn, but also the art by John Severin and Ross Andru, rated unanimous raves from almost everyone who read the piece.