Barbarian Life: Volume Three: A Literary Biography of Conan the Barbarian: 3

BARBARIAN LIFE: A LiteraryThomas states, in his introduction, that this is the final volume of his issue-by-issue reminiscences of his time on Marvel's Conan The Barbarian comic. I sincerely hope he is persuaded to change his mind, because I'm left just wanting more.This one covers CtB #101-115, when Thomas left the book for a decade after a decade of writing (and being its defacto Editor). It also examines King Conan #1-#8, and a number of the stories Thomas wrote for the black and white Savage Sword of Conan title. Further we have a series of articles and interviews by and with Thomas, covering various aspects of production, from an appreciation of artist Esteban Maroto, to the comic's battles with the Comics Code Authority.As per the previous two volumes, Thomas is lucid and amusing. Where his memory fails him (he is remembering events forty years past) he makes educated guesses about events that shine fascinating light on the working environment at Marvel in the late seventies and early eighties, and his long lasting love for the character is obvious.There is more to tell: thirty-five issues of Conan The Barbarian that rounded off the series, fourteen issues of its reboot/ sequel series Conan The Adventurer, four three-issue limited series, not to mention his twelve issue Conan: Road of Kings series for Dark Horse Comics and the many Robert E Howard properties he spun off into comics both at Marvel and Dark Horse, and of course his recent return to Marvel's Conan. It would be a great shame if we didn't get at least one more volume to get his thoughts on all these. Thomas is eighty now, and seems as enthusiastic as ever about the adventures of the surely Cimmerian. I'd love to see at least another ten years of Roy Thomas Conan, and at least a further book of this type.

Once again Roy Thomas gives us great background on his last CtB issues as well as King Conan and some SSOC stories. The book is filled out with interviews giving more insight on the characters time at Marvel , first time round. Ideal book for comic fans to find out about the Robert E. Howard stories Roy adapted or turned into Conan tales.