Theagenes's Golden Age Conan Comics

[Theagenes]

I just post a groupshot in the cigar thread of a collection of rare Mexican Conan comics, the earliest of which date to 1952. The story behind these curious books and their discovery by American fandom is an interesting one. Many of these had never been seen in the states until just a few years ago. I thought I'd use this thread to post some of these books. But for those who are interested, here's an essay I wrote last year for REHupa and just revised for my blog.

 

http://www.anageundreamedof.com/2013/05/la-reina-de-la-costa-negra-mystery-of.html

[Theagenes]

Conan first appeared in 1952 in a series called "La Reina de la Costa Negra" (Queen of the Black Coast) loosely based on the Robert E. Howard story of the same name. The series first ran in a 1952 weekly Mexican anthology comic called Cuentos de Abuelito (Grandfather's Stories). It debuted in number 8 and ran until number 61 in 1953. The main protagonist is Conan's pirate lover Belit, not Conan himself. Also Conan was depicted depicted as a blond viking.

 

The earliest issue I have is 18.

 

 

[Theagenes]

Number 21. That's Conan about to get his head chopped off.

 

 

[Theagenes]

La Reina didn't run in 20 or 22. Here's 23, with a very Conan-like cover.

 

 

[Theagenes]

Number 24 with Belit striking the GGA pose. I'll post some more later.

 

 

[143ksk]

Those are really cool

[Reno McCoy]

Absolutely fantastic blog post. I love these discovery stories, and this one is all the better because it's Conan. I especially like the idea that there's a Conan comic that predates the Marvel series.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[thehumantorch]

Wow, those are so cool. So many years before the Marvel version.

[Theagenes]

Thanks guys. What's really amazing is that some of these were not known to exist until a couple of years ago. And some of the issues I'm posting here have never been shown before until now. There are still some issues which are not even known to have any surviving copies. I'll get some more scanned soon.

 

Next week is Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains, TX and the theme is REH in the Comics. I'll be taking this new collection there to display and I'm going to be on a panel with Tim Truman discussing the history of REH comics. Should be a lot of fun.

[Theagenes]

Number 25 shows the feature that appeared in some the non-Conan issues: "La Monje Loco" (The Mad Monk) who was Cryptkeeper-like narrator of horror stories.

 

 

[Theagenes]

Number 26. Blond Conan sure does seem to get tied up a lot.

 

 

[Theagenes]

NUmber 28

 

[Theagenes]

Number 33 is a cool swashbuckling action cover.

 

 

[Theagenes]

I'll add some more later. You can see these were cheaply-made books with poor production values. Newsprint covers, miscuts, miswraps, poor registration, etc. It's amazing any of these survive honestly.

[nwpassage]

I'll add some more later. You can see these were cheaply-made books with poor production values. Newsprint covers, miscuts, miswraps, poor registration, etc. It's amazing any of these survive honestly.

 

They need to produce more comics like this now. I'd collect like crazy to encourage a return to affordable and entertaining "cheap reads". Lord knows there are enough genres and storylines under-represented in the marketplace today.

[Comics-n-ERB]

Jeff, wonderful find! You really dig up some neat items!

[Yellow Kid]

These are really wild! Can't wait to see them in person.

[Theagenes]

Thanks guys!

 

Here's number 35. Conan in the land of the Cyclops (and giant magic muchrooms!)

 

 

[Theagenes]

Number 36. "Muerte Lenta" translates as "Slow Death."

 

 

[G.A.tor]

Fun stuff