250 replies to this topic

[Warduke]

I saw The Conan movies as a kid back in the 80's. I still like the first one, 2nd one is too family friendly, ok enough for kids I guess but I would rather watch Arnold as Hercules in New York then then Conan the Destroyer. And then I read some of the Savage Sword of Conan comics which I really liked but didnt seriously collect (which is something I regret) I was more into The Punisher back then. And then I made a few attempts to read some of Robert Jordans Conan books, never couls finish one book though, Jordans writing style just bores me. But not until just a year ago after hearing so man praises of Howards original unedited stories did I go out and buy his books and I was just blown away. I can now see why so many original Howard fans hated the movies which I cant blame them It's has almost nothing in common with Howards Conan. I'm now hunting down the King Kull stories and also the Solomon Kane stories as well!

[Skarthi]

Marvel comics for me. I was round at my cousins house one day and i had a rummage through a pile of old comics and came across 'Conan the Barbarian'. I think it was the 'Flame winds of Khitai' story. Anyway i nicked the comic and and started getting it myself while chasing down the seventies paperbacks. I never liked the film(i cant stand Arnie) but i have since got back into REH since the Dark Horse series started.


Why do i feel like i've joined 'Alcoholics Anonymous' or something

[PainBrush]

Why do i feel like i've joined 'Alcoholics Anonymous' or something

Wait , WHAT ?!? This isn't ?...................- Damn !! I've been posting messages on the wrong website for a year now..............I was wondering why nobodies been offering me a hug !.......'hiccup'...........

[slideyfoot]

I'm another one voting for movies, born a year before Conan the Barbarian hit the theatres. I loved, and still love, the first film - its an integral part of my childhood, along with a bunch of other fantasy related films/animation, like The Flight of Dragons, Starvengers: Force Five and various 80s cartoons (esp Dungeons & Dragons, Thundercats and Mysterious Cities of Gold). The next thing I encountered was the comics, though only a small portion at first, and much more recently (2000 and something), I finally got round to the original Weird Tales stories.

[Carlos]

Ace books, Laplace,La Public Library summer of '78. Read Conan of Cimmeria 3 times in 2 weeks before I had to return it to the library. I got a job and whenever my family drove into New Orleans to go shopping, I would spend my minumum wages on Conan books and gasoline. Still have every Conan book I ever bought. I'm always on the prowl at used books stores for hardbound copies of what I got. REH was born in the county which bears my family name so it was the hand of Crom which pushed me to pick up that book in 1978.

[Sturmrabe]

Its was the edited Frazetta covered novels and Savage Sword of Conan at the same time, but I voted novels...

[Thunderblade]

The movies when I was very young. Then eventually the comics.. the only comics I've ever owned. Then the Age of Conan MMORPG is bringing me back into the fold. =)

[CromCares]

The Marvel comics, then the REH books, then the first movie. Later got back into it when I started reading the Jordan Conan stuff. Really enjoying the DHC stuff being put out now.

[Melkorus]

I've never been into comics and books...well, I read few every now and again but I wasn't into books really. Of course, I was/am big TV (and now PC) nerd, so that's how I first learned of Conan, Arnold's movies.

I must say tho, those two movies really did great injustice to Conan character and Hyboria. Up until I read REH's stories, I always imagined Conan as a dumb barbarian for which I really didn't care much, that's how two of the movies projected Conan onto me. I'm glad that Age Of Conan came along and motivated me to read REH's original stories and discover my favorite fantasy character: Conan.

Edited by Melkorus, 11 November 2006 - 09:56 PM.

[gunman42782]

I started with the Conan Marvel Comics. Did not take long before I was reading the real deal. Howard is/was a genuis!!!

[Hyborian Frog]

Savage Sword of Conan!

[Senta]

books, in my mother's language: Polish.

plus Frank Frazetta art - covers on those editions.

[Khan the Commander]

I was born in 1988, and I remember watching the Conan the Adventurer everyday before school when I was a child, so that's where my vote went. Just this summer I got the Conan the Barbarian/Conan the Destroyer 2 on 1 DVD by recommendation and started collecting Conan the Barbarian, Conan the King, and Kull the Conqueror/Destroyer (same series) comics. I just read Conan the Magnificent by Robert Jordan and really liked it, I'm getting The Coming of Conan and Kull Exile of Atlantis for Christmas and reeeeally looking forward to them. So yeah I guess I'm a noob hehe.

[Olgkert]

I already knew Conan by the comics of Marvel but i worship him from the time i saw the first movie.Best movie of all times,by the way.

[Gothallica]

Wow...almost evryone knew Conan in such an early age...
I on the other hand just knew or Actually had an interest in Conan when I bought my first Darkhorse Conan comic, issue 17..I was stuck to the charcter ever since.

[Lee]

My brother had all the sphere books. I used to read them. Robert E Howards work started my fascination with reading.

Edited by Lee, 08 February 2007 - 01:23 PM.

[Axerules]

I saw the first movie at the age of 12 (1985), then one year later I found in a public library four Conan books and three Howard modern day books with detective and lovecraftian stories. They were written in my mother tongue and so were translations.Here in Aquilonia (France), unfortunately, if you're not an english reader you can't still now have acces to Conan books without having to suffer from Sprague rewrites and butchering of stories: so I discovered the altered versions of some tales when I was young. Thanks to school and my interest in RPG books not translated in french, my english improved during the years and I'm now able to read REH in english. I've GM'd Conan with three different rulesets (including my homebrew one) and bought most of the pastiche books.My interest in Conan and REH has not faded since...oops! I realize it now... more than 20 years!

[timeless]

I'm glad that I read the Bob Howard stories as my introduction to Conan. His words (and Frank Frazetta paintings) gave me enough to allow my imagination to fill in the rest. (Marvel's comic versions were enjoyable, but it's amazing how Conan went almost his entire life in that one outfit.) I wouldn't have wanted to see Milius's version of Conan first. I went into that movie armed with enough knowledge of Howard's vision to recognize how wholly inaccurate was Milius's character.

Ditto with 'Lord of the Rings.' I got what this pedantic little English philology professor created. I didn't get the 're-interpretation' at all, the story and character changes.

I'm glad I was exposed to the original material first and was allowed time for my imagination to have fun with it.

[yimsha]

My auntie Sheila, a *** smoking beer drinking wench from a pit village just outside Newcastle gave me a copy of Savage Sword Of Conan adapting 'A Witch Shall Be Born' (which I found again a couple of months ago in a charity shop in Coventry where I now live - no longer do I live in the grim northern climes, although forever a barbarian at heart) . It was a classic - crucifixion, breaking Olgerd Vladislav's arm, half naked fillies and a big battle - perfect introduciton to Howard. I was completely hooked instantly. Sheila, god bless her heart then gave me a couple of paperbacks with Frazetta covers - Adventurer and Avenger (didn't realise that Nyberg was commiting an heinous crime at the time) and the covers blew my mind. It all grew out of that, and eventually I wrote my dissertation about Howard, his influence by Lovecraft etc and his use of the Celtic Superman in a similar vein to the aryan superman as used by some less charming people over the years. I gave her a mention in the acknowledgements and I aint sure she knows what an influence she had on my life.
I also got into comic collecting as a result, and I realised when I bought the Savage Sword edition mentioned above what a god awful example of comic art it really is, despite it's huge nostalgic value to me. I dabbled with the marvel series and (this is probabl;y another faux pas I was increasingly horrified by both Buscema's art and the murder of the character). I was ecstatic with the new Dark Horse adaptation, however, and I love the way they've managed to recreate the Frazzetta visuals in a narrative. I have always resisted writing into a comic, but I did in this case, and actually got printed.

The presentation of Conan in A Witch set the template for me - cunnning, capable of appauling violence, smart and political when necessary, but with a core of virtue which he isn't aware of. This was reinforced by the stories in Adventurer - People of the Black Circle, Pool of the Black One, The Slithering Shadow (Another one adapted by marvel) which is why I think I became increasingly irritated by the Marvel/Buscema interpretation.

[Lugh]

This poll is based on an idea from grim_cimmerian. It will remain active until interest wanes. Please feel free to comment.

My introduction to Conan was by my 6th/7th/8th Grade reading teacher Miss Kulak (she was so pretty). I had challenged the notion that reading could ever be FUN.

She handed me Conan with the frazetta cover with him strangling the ape with his thighs...

Try that on for size. I want a report on what you found fun about it and how it compares to say someone you didn't think was fun like Edgar Allen Poe.

--I have LOVED reading ever since.