Saturday 17 September 2016

The Coming of King Kull! (Creatures on the Loose #10/Marvel/1970)



Creatures on the Loose #10 (Marvel Comics)

Kull: Roy Thomas (w) Berni Wrightson (a)

Having just launched Conan the Barbarian, Marvel decided to "try out" another of Robert E Howard's creations King Kull. This short story featured in one of their (mainly) monster/horror reprint titles Creatures on the Loose.

Set in an earlier era than Conan, Atlantis still exists and Kull is a former barbarian/bandit who has come to the throne of neighbouring Valusia. This short tale The Skull of Silence (it's only seven pages) see's Kull on his way back to his capital but in need of shelter for the night. On spying a castle he decides to seek shelter there despite the warings of his "wise slave" Kuthulus, Kull leads his party to the gates and upon seeing it sealed with a wizards warning decides to go in regardless.

A rash decision as we could all guess as Kull unleashes an ancient evil of silence.

Kull went on to star in a short lived comic of his own. The first ten issues were titled Kull the Conqueror which for some reason became Kull the Destroyer for the remainder of the 29 issue run. Other than attempt to give Kull a black & white magazine (which only lasted three issues), Kull appears mainly as a back up strip in The Savage Sword of Conan, the long running magazine.

Kull never captured the imagination of the comics buying public and remains a very secondary to Conan.

Oh and the back up strip which fills the rest of the pages of the comic is a really corny reprint of monster story involving an alien trying to take over the world after inhabiting s giant steam shovel. The day is saved by an elephant. No really.... read Trull the Inhuman ...and weep!



 

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