ON FINDING CONAN

& Standing on the Shoulders of Giants!

Here's the crazy thing: I get to draw Conan after all these years - nay, decades! - and honestly, I'm STILL finding him. There are moments in the first two stories I've drawn where I feel close (included in the few images included here) but even then there's this tug between the Buscema, BWS and Frazetta versions. Sometimes I feel like I've struck the perfect balance, and in those moments he starts to feel like MY Conan. But for the most part it feels like it's not just Howard over my shoulder, but three giants of fantasy art/comics whispering in my ear, and tugging me in different directions.

It is understood that comparison is generally meant as a compliment, but we do alway hope to find our own voice, our own identity. We all acknowledge there's no Wrightson's 'Frankenstein' without Franklin Booth, but it is STILL wholly Wrightson's 'Frankenstein' for instance. Every great takes influence from somewhere. We can see it in literally all of them.

I feel like I'm still a way off the Doc Sharpy Conan, but I draw some comfort from knowing 'Red Nails' or 'Song of Red Sonja' did not arrive within the first couple of issues - while also candidly noting my own age. It has taken me a long long time and a lot of effort to get to where I am!

None of the above is to say I'm not proud of the work I've done. There are pages in this Conan work that outshine anything I've ever done previously. But I'm still shooting for better!

What I DO know is that the latest Conan script I just submitted is the best yet, so I will have to rise to the challenge when it comes to drawing it!

Onwards!