The Unsung Sword of Conan - Savage Sword #69: "Eye of the Sorcerer"

With The Unsung Sword of Conan, I'm trying to highlight under-appreciated works in the Conan canon.

Los Angeles, California. Circa 1977.

Christy Marx is in her mid-20s. She's in L.A. trying to make it in comics. Originally thinking she'd have to draw comics to be a success, she's finally settled on the idea that she can just write, which is where her passion lies anyway.

​At a fan meetup, she attends a panel with Roy Thomas, who is the current writer of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian and The Savage Sword of Conan. Christy's an avid fantasy fan herself.

As the questions are lobbed at Roy one by one, Christy gets the sense that Roy's a little bit bored with this interaction. "Typical fan questions" is how she describes it. As the last question of the panel, she asks him what his future goals and plans are with his comics. He's delighted to be asked something out of the ordinary.

A bit later, Christy gets a chance to talk to Roy and he says that it would be interesting to get a Conan story told from the point of view of one of the women that encounters Conan; there are, after all, many such characters to come across him for a short time and maybe even have a whirlwind fling.

---

Christy goes home and, in a flurry of inspiration, types out a Conan story called "Child of Sorcery." She writes it in prose as a short story rather than a comic script, and submits it to Roy.

​He buys it.

"Child of Sorcery" becomes the lead story in Savage Sword #29, adapted into comic form by Roy with art by Ernie Chan. If I'm not mistaken, it's the very first non-REH or non-Roy Thomas original in the entire title.

But that story isn't what this is about.

---

Fast-forward four years. Christy's focus has changed from comic books to animation. She hasn't left the comic game entirely, but she's had quite a bit of success writing scripts for the TV shows Spider-Man and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. She'll very soon write some Red Sonja stories and her own series called Sisterhood of Steel. She will ultimately become a core architect of my childhood media consumption, writing for X-Men: Evolution, ReBoot, Beast Wars, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

In early 1981, Roy buys another story from her, this time called "Eye of the Sorcerer." Funnily enough, Christy doesn't remember a single thing about it. She knows in 2026 that she has the issue somewhere, but it's buried in a closet or storage room or something.

It ends up being an incredible send-off for Roy.

---

Christy Marx

SSOC #69 hit the newsrack in October of 1981, which means that Roy had fully quit Marvel at least eleven months prior. It's kind of strange to see the little signs that the book was cobbled together with the ghost of Roy Thomas at the center of it. The letters in the "Swords & Scrolls" page were being answered by editor Louise "Weezie" Simonson rather than Roy. The book had introduced Michael Fleisher as the new writer for issues #61-63, but then published four of Roy's remaining stories while Bruce Jones and Fleisher kind of flip-flopped writing for about five issues. The title was clearly in flux, and honestly, I love it.

Issue #69 was at the center of all this change, and it's a damn good issue.

I noticed a while back that Roy's last several issues on Savage Sword were not entirely original compositions. Issue #67 was based on a Fred Blosser plot. Issue #68 came from an Andrew J. Offutt story. And then #69 is Christy's "Eye of the Sorcerer."

I conducted a brief interview with Christy Marx over email while writing this retrospective. I got the sense the Roy knew his time was up and was buying plots from people to make his job a little easier- he seemed to kind of have one foot out the door. When I asked if Christy got the same sense about Roy, while she didn't say she agreed with me, she said she felt it was a reasonable assumption.

---

Since Christy says she doesn't really recall the issue, I'll have to help us all remember.

The full-page opening pits Conan in an arm-wrestling match in a tavern called the Inn of the Black Dragon. Down at the bottom of the page, it credits Ernie Chan and Alfredo Alcala for the "Art" (I'm assuming that means that Ernie penciled and Alcala inked, but I'm not sure. And weirdly enough, it just says "Story: ROY THOMAS;" no mention of Christy anywhere. It wouldn't be until issue #74 when the "Swords and Scrolls" letters page would open with a bold-faced apology reading: "DEPARTMENT OF RED-FACED HYBORIAN APOLOGIES: Well, we goofed again! Remember SSOC #69's titanic tale, "Eye of the Sorcerer?" Well, it was plotted by Christy Marx, whose credit was inadvertently left off both the story and the lettercol on the story. So, herewith, our apologies to Ms. Marx, and a promise never to do it again." Late is better than never, but seeing your name in the back pages of a comic book you didn't write is much less cool than seeing it in the credits on the first page of one you did.

The book immediately sets up an adversarial relationship between Conan and an older man named Udelas. Competing for who will captain a traveling caravan's guard, Udelas is chosen as the leader in a way that makes Conan chafe. They're not outright enemies, but it's clear the two don't like one another very much. 

Much to Udelas's chagrin, his son takes to Conan and we get a little easter egg around a campfire as Conan seems to be finishing telling Udelas's son Dern the story of "The Tower of the Elephant."

---

In the first of three big setpieces in this story, Conan and Udelas rescue Dern from an underground city populated by bat-winged cave-dwellers. The boy apparently wandered through a portal in a cave while the caravan was stopped and our heroes are temporarily enslaved before escaping. If it sounds like I'm glossing over a lot here, I promise it's not my fault: my only complaint about this story is that it would've been a badass three-parter since it shoves so much into a single issue.

In one of the quieter moments that follows their subterranean escape, Conan shares some time with his employer, the beautiful Valiana, in one of the most beautiful full-page illustrations I've seen in Savage Sword. I don't know why this issue is inked so differently than others, but Alcala's shading renders a gorgeous page.

---

Our second big story beat sends the caravan passing through a wood occupied by a bear god. When Conan attempts to make a small sacrifice to allow safe passage, he buts heads with Udelas again when the old man forbids such heathenistic acts. And wouldn't you know it, a single page later and we get beset by a bear that's apparently sponsored by Target. Though Udelas had initially spurned Conan at the entrance to the wood, he saves him from the bear. Seeing as Conan helped save Dern from the bat-people, the two men are now even, and coming to a bit more of an understanding.

In the final stretch of the issue, the caravan passes by the same mountain continually and the peak seems to move by itself each day. Eventually, they arrive. The creative team really ratchet up the sword and sorcery vibes here as the mystery and magic get more and more off-putting by the panel. I don't want to spoil anything for you since I'd love for you to check out the issue for yourself, but it gets weird (complimentary).

Christy Marx today

The whole thing sticks the landing well. This imaginative adventure makes for a really fun read. Unfortunately, Christy didn't contribute any more stories to Savage Sword after issue #69, but she did continue to add to the mythos. She worked with Roy Thomas again in the pages of Red Sonja, scripted a later issue of Conan the Barbarian, and ultimately was the head writer on the Conan the Adventurer cartoon in the 90s.

The term "strong female character" comes up a lot when people talk about Christy's work, and I asked her if that was intentional. She told me "Hell yeah." Christy's had a long and very successful career in comics, sword and sorcery media, and Conan specifically. She deserves her place in Conan history!

---