Quote from: Tantavalist on May 05, 2023, 06:25:23 AM
For classic Barbarians? Even Conan didn't have as big a place in my imagination back pre-Millennium as Slaine mac Roth did. His not being mentioned here could mean he's more a British thing, as he comes from the 2000AD comic strip of the same name.

He's been around since the 80s. Sadly, as the years went by the quality of the artwork increased in direct proportion to the quality of the writing. The original black-and-white comics were pure Sword & Sorcery gold. The most recent comics have every panel being amazing fantasy art but the story is distinctly Meh.

In inverse proportion. But I loved the early B&W Slaine artwork. The stories definitely took a nosedive in quality, I think from around when Slaine became king, maybe a bit earlier. There's a fetishistic or 'author's Magic World' element & they often feel a bit like Pat Mills' SJW version of John Norman's Gor.

If we're going to include cartoons, my favorite barbarian is Cerebus the Earthpig-Born!

Quote from: grodog on May 11, 2023, 12:29:56 AM

Quote from: Persimmon on April 30, 2023, 11:57:20 PM
Still, some of these knock-offs, like Thongor and Brak, have their own charms.  So give me your recommendations for summer brain candy S&S fiction. 

I've enjoyed Gardner Fox's stories---Kothar (5 slim 70s novellas) and Kyrick (4 novellas), as well as Karl Edward Wagner's Kane novels and stories (5 books in total as I recall). 

I also recently read Zelazny's Dilvish the Damned tales, and while they're not partiularly barbarian-focused (a bit more of a Vancian vibe than I'm used to from RZ), they were quite fun. 

Allan.

Yeah, I enjoy Gardner Fox's stuff too.  Just got one of Wagner's horror anthologies in the mail yesterday, but haven't found a cheap enough copy of any of the Kane stories yet.

I did suffer through Jirel of Joiry last week.  Ugh....I guess it's groundbreaking if you see it as a precursor to cringy CW-style girlpower fantasy.  Awful in every way.  Turgid writing, insufferable characters, whiny angst.  I kept hoping Red Sonja would magically appear and decapitate her to put her out of my misery....

Quote from: Baron on May 11, 2023, 03:04:33 AM
If we're going to include cartoons, my favorite barbarian is Cerebus the Earthpig-Born!

those comics got super bazaar towards the end lol.

Yeah, I would recommend quitting once the reader begins to get bored. In my re-reads, I quit after the moon sequence. The books I bought after that were wasted money. At least I never made it to the end.

The next six books are good (Including the "Half a..." trilogy which is technically YA), though personally I found the latest trilogy (Age of Madness) to have moved too far away from what I enjoyed in the original books.

teatv apk

download apk

No one's mentioned the Imaro series by Charles Saunders.  It takes place in a fantasy Africa setting.

Quote from: crkrueger on May 13, 2023, 04:32:14 AM
No one's mentioned the Imaro series by Charles Saunders.  It takes place in a fantasy Africa setting.

I've read it.  Serviceable, not great.  But I definitely think it's funny that instead of turning the Imaro stories into movies or TV series SJWs decide to insert all these "diverse" characters into Tolkien etc.  Shows both their ignorance and greed since the Imaro IP obviously has far less cache (and monetary potential) than LOTR.  But if they truly believed in their DEI message, they'd be adapting Imaro.

Quote from: crkrueger on May 13, 2023, 04:32:14 AM
No one's mentioned the Imaro series by Charles Saunders.  It takes place in a fantasy Africa setting.

I got two chapters in and it was all stealing cattle from neighboring tribes. Hopefully they get better? I was really curious how an African sword & sorcery would go but it was just dull. It was dull when Cormac Mac Art was stealing cattle and doing this same thing in Africa didn't add much.

Quote from: Persimmon on May 13, 2023, 11:28:48 AM

Quote from: crkrueger on May 13, 2023, 04:32:14 AM
No one's mentioned the Imaro series by Charles Saunders.  It takes place in a fantasy Africa setting.

I've read it.  Serviceable, not great.  But I definitely think it's funny that instead of turning the Imaro stories into movies or TV series SJWs decide to insert all these "diverse" characters into Tolkien etc.  Shows both their ignorance and greed since the Imaro IP obviously has far less cache (and monetary potential) than LOTR.  But if they truly believed in their DEI message, they'd be adapting Imaro.

Greetings!

Great commentary, my friend!

That got me thinking, not for the first time, either--but if these movie people are so concerned about BLACK REPRESENTATION, BLACK VISIBILITY, BLACK, BLACK, BLACK!--why don't they actually make a historical action drama movie about some Black African figure? Juba, a Numidian King during Roman times; Mansa Mousa, a powerful African King, and a devout Muslim, famous for being the wealthiest man in the word at the time. He gave away gold by the wagon-full all along his pilgrimage to Mecca one year, and single-handedly wrecked the economy of Egypt for several years by his generosity. I can't remember their names right now, but there were valiant, Black Ethiopian CHRISTIAN Kings that resisted Islam and defeated Muslim armies for centuries; there are several Black African Kings and QUEENS that fought hard to build their kingdoms, and resisted Muslim dominion. Some also fought fierce civil wars against other Black African Pagan nobles that sought to rebel against the throne--the typical noble rivalries that everyone gets into everywhere.

Point being, lots of interesting leaders, champions, and folk heroes, both men and women, in various African countries. Trying to resist invaders, fight civil wars, seek vengeance against traitors, assassins, or rebels, fighting against jealous siblings, others were enlightened philosopher-kings that struggled to build libraries and universities, all kinds of interesting, fantastic stories going on.

And all could be done--and should be done--without even ONE WHITE PERSON PRESENT. How's that for "diversity"? I always feel like all of these people are absolute morons. They are ignorant, illiterate, uneducated, racist, hateful morons. They don't give a damn about true BLACK AFRICANS, or REAL AFRICAN HISTORY, and COURAGE. These morons just hate white people. They hate white history, and white culture.

It just gets so frustrating. Lots of inspiring AFRICAN stories we never get to see or hear about, because these hate-filled morons are more concerned about making Aragorn Black, or making Norse Vikings Black. All the while they snivel like scum-filled toads, crying about "representation" and how racist everyone is for refusing to bow down and celebrate the Monstrosity of BS that they have created as a movie or series.

So disgusting, you know?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: SHARK on May 13, 2023, 11:11:40 PM

Quote from: Persimmon on May 13, 2023, 11:28:48 AM

Quote from: crkrueger on May 13, 2023, 04:32:14 AM
No one's mentioned the Imaro series by Charles Saunders.  It takes place in a fantasy Africa setting.

I've read it.  Serviceable, not great.  But I definitely think it's funny that instead of turning the Imaro stories into movies or TV series SJWs decide to insert all these "diverse" characters into Tolkien etc.  Shows both their ignorance and greed since the Imaro IP obviously has far less cache (and monetary potential) than LOTR.  But if they truly believed in their DEI message, they'd be adapting Imaro.

Greetings!

Great commentary, my friend!

That got me thinking, not for the first time, either--but if these movie people are so concerned about BLACK REPRESENTATION, BLACK VISIBILITY, BLACK, BLACK, BLACK!--why don't they actually make a historical action drama movie about some Black African figure? Juba, a Numidian King during Roman times; Mansa Mousa, a powerful African King, and a devout Muslim, famous for being the wealthiest man in the word at the time. He gave away gold by the wagon-full all along his pilgrimage to Mecca one year, and single-handedly wrecked the economy of Egypt for several years by his generosity. I can't remember their names right now, but there were valiant, Black Ethiopian CHRISTIAN Kings that resisted Islam and defeated Muslim armies for centuries; there are several Black African Kings and QUEENS that fought hard to build their kingdoms, and resisted Muslim dominion. Some also fought fierce civil wars against other Black African Pagan nobles that sought to rebel against the throne--the typical noble rivalries that everyone gets into everywhere.

Point being, lots of interesting leaders, champions, and folk heroes, both men and women, in various African countries. Trying to resist invaders, fight civil wars, seek vengeance against traitors, assassins, or rebels, fighting against jealous siblings, others were enlightened philosopher-kings that struggled to build libraries and universities, all kinds of interesting, fantastic stories going on.

And all could be done--and should be done--without even ONE WHITE PERSON PRESENT. How's that for "diversity"? I always feel like all of these people are absolute morons. They are ignorant, illiterate, uneducated, racist, hateful morons. They don't give a damn about true BLACK AFRICANS, or REAL AFRICAN HISTORY, and COURAGE. These morons just hate white people. They hate white history, and white culture.

It just gets so frustrating. Lots of inspiring AFRICAN stories we never get to see or hear about, because these hate-filled morons are more concerned about making Aragorn Black, or making Norse Vikings Black. All the while they snivel like scum-filled toads, crying about "representation" and how racist everyone is for refusing to bow down and celebrate the Monstrosity of BS that they have created as a movie or series.

So disgusting, you know?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

As someone who teaches world history in college and does in fact cover these figures, I obviously agree 100% here.  But hey, why not double down and race swap a bunch of the characters in these African stories with Asians, whites, Latinos, etc.?  Isn't that what the left claims they want?  Why not make Mansa Musa white?  Isn't turnabout fair play?  Ahhh, such is the depressing clown world we live in.

Quote from: Mishihari on May 01, 2023, 02:32:42 AM
Thundar!  I'm afraid you won't find too many books about him though.

I mentioned this years ago. But I actually have a book called Thundarr about a guy who somehow travels into a post apoc future, saves a woman and befriends mutated apes.
 
Its not the cartoon in any way. But the title and post apoc element are oddly close.

Quote from: Omega on May 14, 2023, 02:22:21 AM

Quote from: Mishihari on May 01, 2023, 02:32:42 AM
Thundar!  I'm afraid you won't find too many books about him though.

I mentioned this years ago. But I actually have a book called Thundarr about a guy who somehow travels into a post apoc future, saves a woman and befriends mutated apes.
 
Its not the cartoon in any way. But the title and post apoc element are oddly close.

This one?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6793282-thundar

Some I like.
 
Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser books by Leiber. I have only read a scant few, but its been interesting so far.
 
John Carter of Mars. Not really a barbarian in the normal sense but the world of barsoom is very sword oriented.

One I did not like was Thongor. But I have not liked anything of Carters so far. But Darth Vader playing Thongor in the never produced movie before Conan would have been fun. Did make it to a comic and freakishly enough Captain Kangaroo read part of it??? Weird.

And one I have lost the name of was a series about a warrior who visits Atlantis and gets into various trouble. The one I read had him encountering followers of Baal and nearly getting sacrificed.

Quote from: Baron on May 14, 2023, 02:24:11 AM

Quote from: Omega on May 14, 2023, 02:22:21 AM

Quote from: Mishihari on May 01, 2023, 02:32:42 AM
Thundar!  I'm afraid you won't find too many books about him though.

I mentioned this years ago. But I actually have a book called Thundarr about a guy who somehow travels into a post apoc future, saves a woman and befriends mutated apes.
 
Its not the cartoon in any way. But the title and post apoc element are oddly close.

This one?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6793282-thundar

Yep. Was in Kat's old collection along with some other books like the folk Lovecraftian Silver John stories by Manly Wade Wellman (yes that is is actual name)

Personally I found Thundar to be a bit too random. But that was par for the course with some pulps.