Twenty years before Conan was first adapted to the comics page, an utterly charming Conan "knock-off" named Crom appeared in three early Avon science fiction comics. The first story is in Out Of this World #l, a one-shot from June 1950. In Robert E. Howard's Conan stories "By Crom!" is a phrase Conan shouts when excited, the implication being that Crom is a god or hero from Hyborian mythology or history. This reference to the source material is a "tip-of-the-hat" touch that helps the imitation acquire its own style and character. The story is titled "Crom, the Barbarian", and really does read like something out of the old Weird Tales pulp where Howard and others, like Clark Ashton Smith, Edmond Hamilton, and Robert Bloch, created their classic worlds of fantasy and horror.

     Crom's sister is kidnapped by an old sorcerer, who demands as ransom, that Crom go on a quest to steal a flask of water from the fountain of youth in Ophir. Crom sets off, armed with his sword "Skull Cracker", and arriving in Ophir, learns that the fountain is inside the palace of Queen Tanit. He sneaks into the palace, but is spied by the Queen, who sends her pet panthers after him. Crom conquers the cats, and proceeds to the fountain, that is guarded by a monstrous serpent. The snake also falls against Crom's assaults, and as he is filling the flask Tanit comes from behind, ready to put a knife in his back. But Crom sees her reflection in the glass, and overcomes her, holding her hostage for his safe passage out of Ophir.

     Needless to say the Queen is quite beautiful and ends up enamored of the brawny barbarian, accompanying him back to the sorcerer's island. There are some nice surprises in the showdown with the sorcerer that I won't reveal... but hope I've said enough to show that this is sword and sorcery of a most entertaining kind. The art is by John Giunta, and it strikes a nice balance, simple enough to let the story lead the way, yet detailed enough to be interesting on its own.

     Also in this issue is "Lunar Station", a convincing drama about a battle on the moon with the fate of Earth at stake! This swift sci-fi yarn is aided and abetted by masterful illustration by the great Joe Kubert. The third story also has Kubert art, but in a much more primitive style as it is a reprint from Avon's ground-breaking pre-trend 1947 Eerie comic. And the cool robot cover by Fawcette (sic) wraps up the package in an appealing way.

     The next Crom story is in Strange Worlds #1 (November 1950). I consider Out Of this World to be sort of a "Strange Worlds #0" for two reasons. First, of course - there is the continuation of Crom. But secondly, these two comics, sans covers, were also published as inserts in the two issues of an Avon S-F pulp called Out Of this World Adventures. The second Crom story, "The Spider God of Akka", also has Giunta art (signed Jay Gee), again in a ten-page story. Crom, sister Lalla, and Tanit, get lost on the way back to Ophir, and are captured by a band of apemen. When the apemen go to Ophir demanding ransom, the second-in-command turns them down, because if Tanit dies, he becomes King. So the apemen decide to sacrifice the two women to their spider god. But Crom goes to work with Skull Cracker, and the giant spider's reign of terror is ended. Then the three head back to Ophir to deal with the usurper King. This second Crom story is not as inventive as the first one was, but it's enjoyable, and Giunta does a good job on it.

     This issue also has a Kubert drawn sci-fi story, "The Corsairs from the Coalsack" (Pirates from the Dark Nebula), a rip-snorting tale of space pirates that is the first in the Kenton of the Star Patrol series. The third yarn is a pretty straightforward ghost story. And the violence on Venus cover by Fawcette illustrates the text story, "War of the Marsh-Men".

     Strange Worlds #2 (April 1951) has another spectacular sci-fi cover, again for the text story, titled with pulp grandeur, "Octopus Kings of the Lost Planet". And this time Crom is the lead feature. "The Giant From Beyond" is not drawn by Giunta, but the art is adequate. Crom, growing tired of his life as ruler of Ophir, gets a chance for some adventure when he hears of a giant that attacked Ophir's returning trade caravans. Crom eagerly pursues the massive marauder, getting into a fight with a sea monster while tracking his quarry. The confrontation with Balthar the giant is reminiscent of Ulysses' battle with the Cyclops. The story satisfies, but still can't quite match the promise of the opening Crom yarn, where the borrowed elements were juggled in such a fresh fashion. If this series had continued, it could have fulfilled that promise, with more tales that took the derivative details of the genre and mixed them in intriguing ways.

     This issue also boasts an elaborate time travel tale, rendered by sci-fi genius Wally Wood. Rounding things out is "Dara of the Vikings", a goofy series entry where two Yanks in a raft off the coast of Greenland drift into a cove populated by two warring bands of old-style Norsemen. And Norse women too, both of the guys develop a quick admiration for their discoverer, the shapely Oara. They use some modern know-how to help fight against Oara's enemies in a simple story that's unabashedly cornball and amusing enough.

     Strange Worlds ran for nine issues, then (in numbering continued from Eerie), published five more issues as #18-#22, a long run by Avon standards. Although there were no more Crom stories in the later issues, there was a lot more Wood and Kubert art. Strangely enough, the last three issues contain "fighting war stories" rather than S-F.

     Avon, a division of the Hearst Corporation, published comics from 1945-1956. They were also the second company to produce a long-running series of paperback books, starting in 1941, after Pocket Books had achieved success with the format in 1939.

Pat Calhoun has been collecting, researching and appreciating comic books since the early 1960s, and is a nationally recognized comic book historian. Pat resides in Santa Rosa, California.