Comics Scene #4

Power Pal Rockwell J. Pugglesworth found this interesting curio in an old (are there any other kind?) issue of Comics Scene. Apparently Peter Pan was gearing up to release a whole slew of new(?) Conan the Barbarian records in conjunction with the 1980 movie.

This brief mention seems to suggest they would be all new, but my bet is they were planning to do what they did for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Namely, simply reissue the old ones with movie-centric covers--but you never know! I wonder what happened?

Nice catch Rockwell!

Conan The Barbarian

Track:

Conan The Barbarian

By Crom, will wonders never cease?

Power Pal Mike Bridges found another amazing "new" Peter Pan record--a full cast audio adaptation of 1982's Conan The Barbarian movie! Produced by PP mainstay Arthur Korb and featuring many recognizable voices (I'm pretty sure whoever is playing Conan also played Superman and Batman at least a couple of times), I had never seen this baby before Mike pointed out to me.

Audio-wise, Conan The Barbarian is a blast, despite the fact that this is, after all, an R-rated film being adapted for children. And you can't do better than the sleeve art, taken right from the movie's poster.

It's stuff like this that gives me hope there are more Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, et al. stuff out there that we just haven't seen yet. A great find, thanks again Mike! 

Conan The Barbarian - 4 Exciting New Stories

 

Tracks:
The Jewel of the Ages
Shadow of the Stolen City
The Thunder Dust
The Crawler in the Mists

Produced by Cornel Tanassy, even though I believe the 45" of "Crawler in the Mists" was produced by Arthur Korb. Huh?

Whoever produced it, this is another one of Power Records' best efforts. All four stories are pretty true to the Conan character, and feature solid voice acting and sound effects. And the kick-ass Neal Adams sleeve art doesn't hurt!

Conan The Barbarian - The Crawler In The Mists!

Track:
The Crawler in the Mists

Uncredited producers, still Herb Davidson and Charlotte Saunders, who did all the other Marvel ones?

This is the same story from Conan The Barbarian #116, yet this recording was done in 1976, and the comic in 1980. I thought the Marvel records were always adaptations of pre-existing comics...? Written by Len Wein and J.M.De Matteis, with art by the sensational team of Big John Buscema and Neal Adams, with a new cover by Adams(the cover to the comic is this book's opening splash page).

I think this is one of the best Book and Records Marvel ever did--the sound effects are superb, the guy playing Conan is spot-on perfect, and when he enters the haunted city of Kamalla the aural mood set is genuinely spooky.

Nice job, by Crom!