Comic strips were the only game in town in the 1930s, but these strips were eventually collected into omnibuses that lead to the standard comic book. Heroic Fantasy was slow to appear in the “four-color format”, but tales of the glorious past were not. In 1937, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant was a comic strip so influential it would have an effect on fantasy comics to the present day. Valiant itself was not a fantasy strip, per se, though, set in King Arthur’s time, it did feature the odd dinosaur or witch, coming close to the Sword & Sorcery genre. Valiant, obviously, inspired many imitators, including The Golden Knight, The Silver Knight, and, of course, The Black Knight. Also at this time were Slave Girl Comics and Robin Hood. All were found by fantasy-obsessed comic fans, but none was the actual article. None were a Sword & Sorcery comic. The first of these appeared in June 1950, in Avon’s Out of This World #1, in the form of “Crom the Barbarian” by Gardner F. Fox and John Giunta (who signed his name Jay Gee), the latter probably best known today as the mentor of a young Frank Frazetta. It is not hard to see what inspired Fox, such as the use of “Crom”, “Ophir”, and “Aesir” in stories with fairly obvious Robert E. Howardisms, including the wandering Aesir taken from Howard’s James Allison series. In Out of This World, Crom is a member of the Aesir (not to be confused with the gods of the same name from Norse Myth), a tribe of yellow-haired men who migrated into Europe from Asia. He lives in prehistoric times, but has a sword made of iron called Skull-cracker (which Crom often tells to “drink its fill”). He protects his people and his sister Lalla from all enemies, including monsters and magicians. The siblings end up on an island ruled by the wizard Dwelf, who sends Crom to Ophir to steal water from a fountain of youth inside the Black Tower. In the tower, Crom fights and slays a giant snake. He comes away with the water and a new companion, Queen Tanit of Ophir. When the treacherous Dwelf drinks the water he becomes younger, then a baby, before sinking into pre-birth non-existence. After rescuing Queen Tanit, Crom travels back with her to the kingdom of Ophir to rule.
Description Comic strips were the only game in town in the 1930s, but these strips were eventually collected into omnibuses that lead to the standard comic book. Heroic Fantasy was slow to appear in the “four-color format”, but tales of the glorious past were not. In 1937, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant was a comic strip so influential it would have an effect on fantasy comics to the present day. Valiant itself was not a fantasy strip, per se, though, set in King Arthur’s time, it did feature the odd dinosaur or witch, coming close to the Sword & Sorcery genre. Valiant, obviously, inspired many imitators, including The Golden Knight, The Silver Knight, and, of course, The Black Knight. Also at this time were Slave Girl Comics and Robin Hood. All were found by fantasy-obsessed comic fans, but none was the actual article. None were a Sword & Sorcery comic. The first of these appeared in June 1950, in Avon’s Out of This World #1, in the form of “Crom the Barbarian” by Gardner F. Fox and John Giunta (who signed his name Jay Gee), the latter probably best known today as the mentor of a young Frank Frazetta. It is not hard to see what inspired Fox, such as the use of “Crom”, “Ophir”, and “Aesir” in stories with fairly obvious Robert E. Howardisms, including the wandering Aesir taken from Howard’s James Allison series. In Out of This World, Crom is a member of the Aesir (not to be confused with the gods of the same name from Norse Myth), a tribe of yellow-haired men who migrated into Europe from Asia. He lives in prehistoric times, but has a sword made of iron called Skull-cracker (which Crom often tells to “drink its fill”). He protects his people and his sister Lalla from all enemies, including monsters and magicians. The siblings end up on an island ruled by the wizard Dwelf, who sends Crom to Ophir to steal water from a fountain of youth inside the Black Tower. In the tower, Crom fights and slays a giant snake. He comes away with the water and a new companion, Queen Tanit of Ophir. When the treacherous Dwelf drinks the water he becomes younger, then a baby, before sinking into pre-birth non-existence. After rescuing Queen Tanit, Crom travels back with her to the kingdom of Ophir to rule.
