A READER'S GUIDE TO SWORD & SORCERY ICONS

It's not surprising that Frank Frazetta did so many classic characters in cover paintings. He invented modern fantasy art. It's that simple. If you don't believe me look at old 1950s covers for magazines (and the few boks there were). Frazetta brought fire and imagination to an art form that was stuck in the Pulp era. He acted as an inspiration to many, including Ken Kelly, Michael Whelan and Boris Vallejo. You couldn't operate in this line of work and not be up against Frank. Fortunately there was room for many others including Jeff Jones and Don Maitz and Rodney Matthews. For a lengthy list of artists click below:

ARTISTS OF SWORD & SORCERY

This page is dedicated to a few very special images that changed or defined Sword & Sorcery in some way.

WEIRD TALES (1930s)

Margaret Brundage's S&M keitch was our first image of S&S and may not have been known to more than fans and collector's but this is where we started.

How many times have you seen these classic Frazetta's on the side of someone's van? In a tattoo? The last one inspired an aftershave commercial.

BARRY WINDSOR SMITH'S CONAN (October 1970)

Barry Smith's roccocco-styled Conan made quite a splash for the 24 issues he drew Conan the Barbarian. Most of the parodies of S&S borrow Smith's style, as with Cerebus the Aardvark.

BARRY SMITH'S ELRIC (March 1972)

Michael Moorcock despised Smith's pointed-hatted Elric and made sure that future renditions did not follow this outfit. It took time but eventually, after many Bob Gould drawings, P. Craig Russell and Michael Whelan's paintings, we have left the dorky Elric to the past. Dave Sim revived the look for his Elric parody Elron.

JOHN BUSCEMA'S CONAN (April 1973)

John Buscema drew Conan the Barbarian as well as Savage Sword of Conan for years, making his image of the Cimmerian the most commonly held, supplanting Smith's, until Arnie S. came along in the movies. The new Conan, Jason Momoa, look much more like John's Conan.

RED SONJA'S CHAIN BIKINI (August 1974)

A pin-up throw-away image (ie: filler) in the first issue of Savage Sword of Conan by Esteban Maroto. This picture inspired changes to Red's costume which gave us the steel bikini, one of the most impratical suits of armor ever conceived. Still, it sells comics.

THE DEATH DEALER (1974)

Originally painted for the cover of Flashing Swords #1 (1974) as a generic cover image, Frank turned the painting into the character of the Death Dealer, with a series of novels, comics and more paintings.

HEAVY METAL (April 1977)

Love it or hate it, Heavy Metal/Metal Hurlant, the magazine and the movie, set as many attitudes to S&S as did the Schwarzenegger films. Richard Corben, Chris Achilleos, Moebius, Phillipe Druillet and a host of others brought in your face Fantasy to the screen.

DAVE SIM'S CEREBUS (December 1977-January 1978)

Dave Sim wasn't the first or the last cartoonist to do funny animal S&S, but he certainly is the best. Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo comes pretty close too.

GROO (1982)

Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier have made us laugh kindly at S&S with this fun and funny parody.

JAGUAR GOD (March 1995)

Frank's over-the-top style has spawned a new breed of S&S, typified by artists like Simon Bisley, Ariel Olivetti, Jorge Lucas, Mauro Cascioli and Claudio Ramirez, in which violent action, raunchy sex and all things 14-year-old prevail.