Kull the Savage omnibus

Kull the Savage omnibus
Marvel, November 2021

I've been saving my dollars for this volume, and recently it arrived in the mail well-cushioned and devoid of damage - not always a sure thing with some online vendors.

Kull the Savage (952 pp., Marvel Comics, November 2021) is a compilation of all the King Kull comics that appeared in the pages of Marvel’s black and white comic magazines in the interval from Savage Tales No. 2 in October 1973, to The Savage Sword of Conan No. 233, May, 1995. Other magazines represented here include Kull and the Barbarians, Bizarre Adventures, and Marvel Preview.

Prior to this omnibus, if you wanted those black and white Kull stories you were either obliged to try and find the original magazines, or pay a rather steep price for the 2010 Dark Horse Books anthologies The Savage Sword of Kull Volume 1, and The Savage Sword of Kull Volume 2 (above).

Along with the comics, this omnibus contains pin-ups, advertisements, and selected articles dealing with the Kull franchise. Roy Thomas, Doug Moench, and Chuck Dixon provide introductory assays about their roles in bringing Kull to the Marvel portfolio. 

I should note that this omnibus does NOT contain any of the stories from the Kull the Conqueror and Kull the Destroyer color comic books that Marvel issued in 1973 – 1974. To get those stories, you have to purchase the two-volume Kull the Destroyer: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus, also published by Marvel in November 2021.

As for Kull the Savage, like the other Marvel omnibuses reprinting the content from the black and white magazines, it’s a well-made book, printed on quality paper stock with the best possible reproductions of the original artwork (or, more likely, scans of pages from printed copies of the magazines). 

The standout piece in this omnibus is ‘Demon in a Silvered Glass’ from Bizarre Adventures No. 26, May 1981. ‘Demon’ was illustrated by the UK artist John Bolton in one of his first assignments for U.S. publishers, and forty years later his artwork remains among of the best ever to appear in comics.

There’s lots of other fine pencil and pen work in the pages of Kull the Savage, from Barry Windsor-Smith, Ross Andru, Wally Wood, Marie and John Severin, and the gifted Filipino artists Sonny Trinidad, Vincente Alcazar, Ernie Chan, and Alfredo Alcazar. It looks all the better for being reproduced on a nice grade of paper, as opposed to the cheaper paper and printing processes used in the original magazines.   

Is Kull the Savage a worthy investment for comic book and graphic art fans ? In my opinion, yes. It provides a fine presentation of comic art from an era when black and white draftsmanship was in its prime in the pages of Marvel magazines. And it’s a great present for Christmas 2021 in the bargain !