Valeria

The third image in my Women of Conan series...Valeria!

Next up is Conan's queen, Zenobia.

Belit

The second illustration in my Women of Conan series.

Next up, my favorite, Valeria!

Red Sonja

Inspired by Rather Gamey's post last Thursday I worked up a Sonja illo myself. I think I'm going to work on one each week.  Current theme, Women of Conan!

Next up...Belit!

Conan The Barbarian: It's All In The Details

The more clips I see from the upcoming Conan movie the more interesting it appears, at least as a swords and sorcery flick. Whether it's Howard's Conan remains to be seen.

The one thing that's been really bugging me this whole time (besides the contemporary 'metal' music played during the preview, which, at least in one version has been removed) is Conan's eye color.

Jason Mamoa, playing the northern-born Cimmerian, has a naturally shaggy mane and brown eyes. I'm sure he'll be great in the role he's been asked to play but the devil is in the details, son. Our Cimmerian needs those steely blue eyes, no?

A very, very subtle thing but very important, IMHO, to solidify the actor in the role.

Now, contacts? Why not? Simple fix.

Color Mamoa's eyes blue in post? Totally possible.

All of this has been done before....

Brown eyed Jessica Alba and Blue eyed Susan Storm

Giving Sue Storm blue eyes didn't make or break these mediocre films of the worlds greatest comic but it was a nice minor detail.

So what about Howard's barbarian?

I've lifted a couple of stills and altered the eyes (I know, how obsessive is that?).

Click to embig

Again, hardly a noticeable change but it's those minor details that can nail the film character more into the vision of Howards warrior. I may be grasping at straws here, after-all the post-production CGI animator may have more important things to do like making the monsters more dramatic, or tweaking that walled city in the background a bit. Come on, Nispel, toss a few more dollars his/her way.

Will this happen? We'll only know once we pay the ticket price and sit down in our seats with our pop-corn and sodas waiting for that first scene.

But.....

It's all in the details.....

PS, I'm not the only one pondering this....

Origin Stories And Do We Need Them?

When I was a young kiddie I never knew how the Fantastic Four became the Fantastic Four. I new some of the basic super-hero origins, Superman, Spider-man, Captain America, something about Bat-man and his parents, but there were plenty I didn't know about. Did that stop me from enjoying their exploits? Not in the least. Did I need to know that the FF received their powers by being blasted by cosmic rays before I read their battles with Doc Doom? Not really. They were good, Doom was bad. Simple.

I bring this up because of the Solomon Kane movie and the upcoming Conan flick and their need to tell the origin of both characters.

Does knowing if full detail a character's 'origin' enhance the character's story?

At times, yes and at times no.

Sometimes it's better not knowing, leaving it a bit of a mystery.

Superheroes almost beg for an origin story, it's part of the genres mythos. We've seen it in most hero movies. So I can let that go most of the time. But remember Tim Burton's first Bat-man movie? Bat-man good, Joker bad, Bat-man kicks Joker's ass. Bat-man's origin (thus motivation) was woven into the story with flash-backs and character connections. Sure, it was part of the story but it wasn't the centerpiece of the move. I think that worked great.

Now, why can't something like that be done with Howard's characters? Where the origin takes a back seat to the story. I'm not saying eliminate the 'origin' and motivation altogether, but weave it into the story. Let these characters be a bit ambiguous to the audience. Let the audience decide on their own if these 'heroes' are good or evil or something in-between.

Take for example Sergio Leone's 'Man with No Name' spaghetti western trilogy staring Clint Eastwood (For A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly). Now what side of the 'law' is he on? Who knows and who cares. He's a bad-ass with his own moral code. Now who does that sound like? Maybe a couple of Howard's characters perhaps?

Did we need to know that Eastwood's Man with no Name had a troubled childhood or that his parent's were killed by bandits and since then he's had a mad-on? No, and we don't care. He's just a guy in the world living by his own code and us as the audience either has to travel with him or not.

I think a take on Howard's characters can lift a thing or two from these films mentioned above.

The 60's and 70's were a much different time. The anti-hero was all the rage. The law was just as crooked as the 'bad-guys'. These days, the lines between good and bad are more 'clearly defined', at least in most media but that is just an illusion. George Bush's "you're either with us or against us" philosophy defined the beginning of this century but on either side of that line is both good and bad. And who's to judge? This thin line is where our heroes lie, Solomon Kane, Conan, The Man With No Name.

I know Hollywood is scared chicken-shit to take any chances and to leave the audience with any ambiguity of where a 'hero' stands these days; case in point, Han Solo from the 70's as opposed to the 90's Han Solo. But these ambiguous anti-heroes are iconic as who they are.

The Man With No Name, 1970's Han Solo; these are our heroes and these are very Howardesque characters.
I don't need their origins, leave that a bit of a mystery. I just need them to kick some ass on both sides of the law and take what they can get because we know that who ever they kill most likely deserved it.

Sometimes it's better not knowing everything.

Really? Conan Rocks Out?

I don't know why they insist on filling the Conan the Barbarian movie previews with heavy guitar licks. Are guitar licks the cue for awesome bloody action (check out the Red-bar trailer at Crom)? Perhaps you can say this is the Danzig influence? Say what you will about the '82 John Milius version but his choice of composer Basil Poledouris was spot on for any Conan/Kull soundtrack.

But I think I know why the film-makers are leaning in the direction of cliched 'heavy metal' muscle-bound barbarian tunes. It's because Conan once fronted a band...
Yes, that's right, we can blame Stan Lee and John Romita for this ha-ha funny that has directly influenced the music choice for the new Conan movie.

But Conan and the Barbarians were just part of a larger recording project, there were many famous folks that have kept their musical talents 'hidden' for these many years. Don't be shy, come on out and let the world dance to your music!
Hulk on drums? Sure. Power-man on Bass? I can see that. But Captain America on tambourine? What the hell, he's not Davy Jones he's an American legend!

And what is the product of all this 'untapped' talent? Why it's Spider-man: Rock Reflections of a Super-hero!

Listen at your own risk!

And just for a bonus for listening to the entire track, get yourself a vintage Conan 7-11 cup by none other than Barry Winsor Smith, no less!

Full Length Conan Trailer

Does it look like a decent action movie? yes
Does it look like a decent fantasy movie? yes
Is it R. E. Howards Conan? No way to tell, we'll just have to see.

Either way it's much better than that crappy teaser trailer they put out.

Some Thoughts On The Upcoming Conan Movie

Now that the first teaser trailer is out for the new Conan the Barbarian (2011) I feel it's time to say a few words.



I don't like to say anything if I don't have anything positive to say, but....

Since there has been a trickle of photo stills from the sets of the film I can't say that I've been much impressed with what I've seen. I'll admit that these are pre post production shots meaning that lighting and tinting can be altered after the fact. I can't help but think Si-Fi original TV movie (that's Si-Fi and not Sci-Fi). I think that even more-so with the teaser trailer.

This time 'round, Conan is played by Jason Momoa (from Stargate Atlantis). Mamoa may be a decent actor and he's not as 'bulky' as Arnold, a plus in my book (like my friend Mike says, "he's a warrior not a body builder"), but every time I see Mamoma's Conan I just don't quite see the character of the Cimmarian. Don't get me wrong, he's no-name enough (for me anyways) to play the part (no typecasting here) but that may be less Momoa's fault and more of the director Marcus Nispel (and through him, the art direction, set design and costumes).

Now maybe the film-makers will tint his eyes a steely blue in post, I'm crossing my fingers.

Say what you will about the 1st flick from the 80's but one thing you have to (hopefully) agree upon is that the art direction by Ron Cobb did set a certain Hyborian mood with it's Frazetta influenced sets. Sure, the movie itself may have been more Kull than Conan but the bulky Arnold did work to some extent in the role of the character (in a more Buscema kinda way). And John Milius' took the Howard vision (as a whole feeling and mood) to heart (IMHO) to a great extent. Was that the perfect Conan movie? I'd have to say not but it did get some things right.

Now Hollywood has to break away from the burly barbarian heavy metal over-sized sword concept of the character and redefine it more closer to Howard's powerful yet cat-like thief-warrior-king. I hope they try to do that in the new movie but from the teaser trailer I don't get that impression. Do we have to leave this up to fan films to do right? Has Hollywood failed again? We'll know in a few months.

All Conan fans have a different impression of the character and that may be hard for any one actor or director to satisfy. But get it in the ballpark at least or let it be.

It's a great character, with fantastic gritty stories. Only time will tell if the new movie even gets close to that.

Can't say that I'm overly excited for this one at the moment.

Oh and speaking of everyone's individual impression of Howard's barbarian, my first exposure to the Conan character was when I was about 5 years old when I had the Marvel Treasury Edition of Rogues in the House and Red Nails so I have a very Barry Windsor Smith vision of the one day king.

Odds And Sods

Just some odd bits and pieces that I'd thought I'd share.

Golden Age Comic Book Stories has been showcasing some incredibly fantastic Frazetta comic art and illustrations. A Must See for everyone!
http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/

In Conan news, here's some stills from the upcoming Conan movie courtisy of CROM! The ultimate Conan fan blog. I'm skeptical about this new movie but I'll withhold judgmental for now. Also take a peek at the new CROM! banner image designed by yours truly.

Conan: http://ultimateconanfan.blogspot.com/2010/05/first-sneak-peeks-of-jason-momoa-as.html
Header: http://ultimateconanfan.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-headerup-close-and-personal.html

Your all time favorite robots in cutout: Botropolis
http://botropolis.com/2010/05/50-awesome-papercraft-robots/

...And for your Saturday morning enjoyment.....

Fantasy Friday

UPDATED
With the shambles that Hollywood is making of Howard's brooding barbarian I thought I'd go this route today for our Fantasy Friday feature.

What is pulp fantasy?



Hollywood doesn't seem to have a clue.

The images are cover paintings by Jeff Jones whom I'll be talking about a bit more next week.

Read Me A Story, Please...

This week has proven to be quite busy for me. In fact, posting might be a little lite the next couple of weeks. I'll get back to my map making tutorial and other Warlock posts soon.

But in the meantime....Why not enjoy a little story.


Crawler of the Mists Audio

Don't forget the pictures too!

Friday's Fantasy Art

Every Friday I'll be posting a piece of, what I consider, fantasy art that inspires old school play. Since I'm finishing up the Lancer publication of Conan the Warrior I thought I'd open this up with Barry Windsor Smith's Red Nails splash page from Marvel's Savage Tales issue #2.