Please grade this tomato boxer: Conan #34

[divad]

 

 

 

 

[nik]

Very sharp looking, at least a 9.2 with a shot at a 9.4

[divad]

Very sharp looking, at least a 9.2 with a shot at a 9.4

Wow! Only one Conan fan out there?

[garthgantu]

I'm a huge Conan fan. I've got all of the first 100 issues except 2 and 3, which I plan to pick up at the next WonderCon if not before.

 

I've also read all the original R. E. Howard stories, as well as some of those that were completed by L. Sprague DeCamp. The books are truly fun reading.

 

I'd say that Conan 34 is a solid 9.4, unless that subtle white line near the middle of the spine is in fact a crease? Looks more like a scanner artifact.

[divad]

Thanks GG, I'm hard-pressed to find any defects with this book. . .

[DiceX]

Great looking book.

I love the cover.

Can't go wrong with a woman with a skull head.

 

9.4 or better.

[DiceX]

Who did the cover? It's certainly not BWS or Buscema.

Kane?

Sweet cover!

[divad]

Who did the cover? It's certainly not BWS or Buscema.

Kane?

Sweet cover!

 

I thought it was John Buscema, as he was doing most of the work after BWS (#25 on). I know Adams did #37. It's definitey not Kane - not "blocky" enough. Crusty Bumpers?

 

I checked Overstreet . . . I stand corrected - they have it credited to Kane.

[Sabertooth]

Who did the cover? It's certainly not BWS or Buscema.

Kane?

Sweet cover!

 

Definitely Kane. You can tell by the anatomic detail and the way the knuckle of the left index finger is positioned on Conan's fist. There are "Kane hands" just like there are Kirby and Ditko hands. Also notice the parallel hatching on Conan's shinbones just below his kneecaps. A total GK giveaway.

 

Conan's face has a Romita-ish look. JRSR was Marvel's art director at the time and was also collaborating with GK on ASM, so he may have inked it. The rest of the inks are harder to place but I'd guess Ernie Chua/Chan, who was inking John Buscema on the interiors at the time.

[DiceX]

[DiceX]

Conan's face has a Romita-ish look.

 

Very observant. And I agree.

[divad]

Splendid analysis Sabre!

 

Definitely Kane. You can tell by the anatomic detail and the way the knuckle of the left index finger is positioned on Conan's fist. There are "Kane hands" just like there are Kirby and Ditko hands. Also notice the parallel hatching on Conan's shinbones just below his kneecaps. A total GK giveaway.

 

Conan's face has a Romita-ish look. JRSR was Marvel's art director at the time and was also collaborating with GK on ASM, so he may have inked it. The rest of the inks are harder to place but I'd guess Ernie Chua/Chan, who was inking John Buscema on the interiors at the time.

 

[DiceX]

Can we talk more about the half naked chick with the skull head now?

[divad]

Can we talk more about the half naked chick with the skull head now?

 

Yeah - nice hips and ankle she's a demon!

[Aces]

9.6

[garthgantu]

Wanna stand corrected again? That's not a Kane cover, not by a long shot.

 

That's Ernie Chua, aka Ernie Chan, a Marvel bullpen stalwart of the '70s. Met him at a couple of shows, very nice guy.

 

If the OS guide attributes it to Kane, I think they're wrong. It's possible that Kane did some light pencilling and then Chua/Chan took over - but I'd bet $ that Kane had nothing to do with it.

[divad]

Wanna stand corrected again? That's not a Kane cover, not by a long shot.

 

That's Ernie Chua, aka Ernie Chan, a Marvel bullpen stalwart of the '70s. Met him at a couple of shows, very nice guy.

 

If the OS guide attributes it to Kane, I think they're wrong. It's possible that Kane did some light pencilling and then Chua/Chan took over - but I'd bet $ that Kane had nothing to do with it.

 

GG,

You mean my first impression was correct? You should hash it out with Sabretooth, I'm just an observer here. Overstreet is often wrong on their cover credits.

 

Chua did the inks on this issue - that's in black and white

[garthgantu]

Sorry, musta missed your earlier reference to Chua/Chan.

 

There's a hint of Kane to Conan's face, but it's pretty faint, IMHO. It's possible that Kane did light pencils and then Ernie took over, or Kane did a cover concept and Ernie worked from that.

 

But I'm very, very confident that Ernie was responsible for 85% of that cover, if not 100%. It really doesn't look much like Kane at all, with the exception of Conan's eyes and nose in profile, and even those look at least as much like Chua/Chan as Kane.

[Sabertooth]

Sorry, musta missed your earlier reference to Chua/Chan.

 

There's a hint of Kane to Conan's face, but it's pretty faint, IMHO. It's possible that Kane did light pencils and then Ernie took over, or Kane did a cover concept and Ernie worked from that.

 

But I'm very, very confident that Ernie was responsible for 85% of that cover, if not 100%. It really doesn't look much like Kane at all, with the exception of Conan's eyes and nose in profile, and even those look at least as much like Chua/Chan as Kane.

 

I'm quite confident that's a Kane cover under Chan inks. Conan's face is the least Kane-like aspect of the cover, especially his nose. BTW, I didn't look at Oversreet when I posted my analysis because Gil Kane is fairly easy to recognize and there are many GK cues on the cover of Conan #34, some of which I posted earlier.

 

Conan #34 shows a January 1974 date. Check out the musculature on Conan's lower ribs right around his six pack.

 

 

Here's a Chua/Chan cover (pencils and inks) from June 1975, with a Conan knock off in a similar pose to Conan on #34:

 

 

See the difference in the musculature? Gil Kane had one of the best understandings of anatomy of any comic artist not named Burne Hogarth. Look at how much less circular the biceps are on Claw than on Conan.

 

Chan's Claw is a ringer for Buscema's Conan. Also, notice how Buscema-like the face of the woman is at Claw's feet. I've got a copy of Claw #1 out next to me and Chan's interiors (pencils and inks) are even more Buscema-like.

 

Here's another GK Conan cover from September of 1974:

 

 

See the same musculature around the six pack as on Conan #34? See the more circular biceps than Chan's Claw? See the hatching in the shin under the knee-cap? Wouldn't surprise me if Chan inked this cover too, though Tom Sutton inked the interior. Sutton's inks are truer to Kane's pencils and if you want to see real Kane noses look inside GS Conan #1.

[burntboy]

ok, back to the babe on the cover. was there ever a better example of the need for a headbag, then this??

 

oh, and interesting discussion boys. both sabre and garth sound convincing, but since sabre went last, he's got my vote..........