Barbarian Comics
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1972-1975 / California Comics
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Bob Sidebottom operated one of the first comic book shops in the country in San Jose, California, in the midst of head shops and panhandlers on San Fernando Street near the state college. He also owned California Comics, a small publisher of undergrounds, which launched its first comic series with Barbarian Comics in 1972. One of the first comics I got into as a kid was Conan the Barbarian, and one of my favorite funny books was Groo the Wanderer, so naturally I had high hopes for an underground comic book with a title like Barbarian Comics.
I guess I was expecting something with a little more underground comic flavor than what Barbarian Comics delivers. The first two issues are dominated by the epic adventure "Sun and Steel" by Han Hale, which is about war between two groups of heavy-handed, sword-toting, filthy barbarians. The story plods along with many wordless panels and the plot is almost non-existent. However, the four-issue series does improve rapidly, as the second issue includes a sweet John Williams story and the third issue, without the Han Hale yarn, is a very good read overall.
Barbarian Women Comics
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1975-1995 / California Comics
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Immediately after publishing the final issue in the Barbarian Comics series, Bob Sidebottom and California Comics launched the Barbarian Women Comics series (the title was never exactly the same on any of the three issues). The first two issues came out about a year and a half apart, while the third issue came 18 years after the second, in 1995.
Barbarian Women is, thankfully, less about barbarians than it was about women. Underground comic pioneer Trina Robbins contributes a full story to the inaugural issue, though the series was certainly never a feminist publication, as most of the content was produced by male artists and writers. Barbarian Women #2 features a lively cover by S. Clay Wilson, but my favorite cover of the three issues is actually the first, by Nestor Rondo and my old barbarian-bore nemesis, Han Hale.
This wasn't a classic underground title by any means, but there are plenty of golden nuggets to be mined from its pages.
Barbarian Killer Funnies
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Only Printing / July, 1974 / 36 Pages / Bud Plant
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Barbarian Killer Funnies is really rather amusing comic.
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HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES:
Bud Plant printed approximately 10,000 copies of this comic book. It has not been reprinted. Beyond The First Kingdom and Anomaly, Bud Plant rarely published comic books (he devoted most of his time to being extraordinary comic-book dealer and distributor), but he may have backed this particular book because he was the first to publish Tom Bird in Promethean Enterprises #4, a terrific fanzine that Plant coedited with Al Davoren and Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. in the early '70s.
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Barack the Barbarian 2009
Barack the Barbarian is a comic book series published by Devil's Due Publishing beginning in June 2009. It was written by Larry Hama, with art by Christopher Schons.
Barack the Barbarian originally appeared in a four-issue mini-series. The story features the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama as a Conan the Barbarian-style figure. It also features politicians like Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, and Dick Cheney in fictional roles.
In November 2008, one of Obama's advisers gave an interview to journalist Jon Swaine of The Daily Telegraph titled, “Barack Obama: The 50 facts you might not know.” In the interview, it emerged that Obama collects “Conan the Barbarian.”
The idea for the series originated with Devil's Due publisher Josh Blaylock who explained that "We didn't want to be completely slapsticky. It is definitely partly a gimmick, but we wanted to do something clever with [the Obama comics trend]." He contacted Larry Hama with his idea for a series called Obama the Barbarian, and Hama describes how the idea developed during the course of the phonecall:
“ First off, you should change it to Barack the Barbarian, and second, I'm not interested in writing a Mad Magazine style parody and that it would have to be more in line with the more polemical stuff of Swift, Twain and Voltaire (not that I can pull off anything like they could,) and third, that my own leanings are towards Barack and that would be reflected in what I write-- and Josh said 'fine.' ”
The writer has described how it is more than just a political satire: "I just think of it as sword and sorcery, only the characters look really familiar."
The series was followed by a one-shot, The Fall of Red Sarah. I do not have "The Fall of Red Sarah" and am actively looking for it. If you have it please post below. I had it once but lost it and countless other Gems in a hard drive crash last year abd have been looking for it ever since then.
The Fall of Red Sarah (Barack The Barbarian "Special") 2009
Written by Larry Hama. Art by John Christmas. Cover by Tim Seeley. With Merika now safe from the likes of Harry the Viser and Boosh the Dim, Barack the Barbarian must now face Red Sarah as she threatens to destroy the icy villages that she has taken control of. Will Barack even find the need to lift his blade or will the Red Warrior defeat herself? As seen on SNL, featured in Chicago Tribune, NY Post and the Drudge Report! 48 pages, black and white (except for the red in Red Sarah's hair throughout the issue!)
Sorry Folks, No Conan on this Thread. Conan is a mainstream Comic.
All Barbarian Comics Listed LINK
Replies
I know I am bit late to this but the links downloads not working? Martin x
Ricklaa: Thanx 4 all the lovely things you post. I found a link to "The Fall of Red Sarah" that works.
http://www.ulozto.net/xLxPwyh/barack-the-barbarian-the-fall-of-red-...
Gracias, adam256
Thank You Adam very much. I used to have them all until the Hard Drive they were on went up in a puff of smoke. Now we both have the whole set. muchos gracias! -------------------------------------- R