The cover blurb reads: “First Issue Collectors’ Item!” Hah! I say again, hah! This “first issue collectors’ item” was a bunch of reprints! I would have been perfectly content to read a full-length saga of Kull fighting the insect man on the cover.
Not the most auspicious start for Marvel’s newest magazine-sized title, and by newest I mean back in the 1970s. The only new material was what exactly—a couple of Neal Adams illustrations to accompany a text feature? At least there is a cool Michael Whelan cover. There is also a Severin frontispiece and an article about King Kull with illustrations by Roy Krenkel. Beyond that, all the stories are repackaged from elsewhere. If you are searching for new or obscure material this isn’t the place.
This isn’t to say Kull and the Barbarians is awful. The art and stories are strong. Possibly also the material reprinted was harder to find at the time of publication. Some info can be gleaned from the intro to this short-lived magazine: Kull and the Barbarians came out after five years and fifty issues of the Conan the Barbarian comic, five issues of the black and white Savage Sword of Conan magazine, and five issues of Savage Tales. The Savage Tales referred to here is the first series by that name, not the second run edited by Larry Hama (which we will eventually review as well). So, Kull and the Barbarians was from the early days of Marvel’s foray into non-code, magazine-sized comics but counts as something of a misfire.
R.I.P. Crypto Comics
Misfire or not, it is always fun to stumble across a sword and sorcery magazine you haven't seen before. A strange connection is formed between time, place, and comic when that happens. I picked up Kull and the Barbarians #1 at the now defunct Crypto Comics in Brunswick, GA. Adjacent to a tattoo parlor in a slightly rougher part of town, Crypto Comics was already winding down toward closing its doors when I started shopping there.
It's a shame really. Crypto Comics had a lot of cool stuff and great people working there. Others have said location was the problem, but one of Crypto's overpriced replacements in the local mall didn't last much longer. I liked the nervous looks on the yoga moms' faces as they locked their SUVs and escorted their sullen little nerdlings down the cracked sidewalks to the store by the tattoo shop.
In my experience comic shops have traditionally always had problems making a go of it in southeast Georgia, no matter where they are located. That's another article for another day.