Awesome Belit Art on Comic Twart!

Flashback...2008...Reis polled CROM! readers to determine who would be the best Conan love interest.  It ended up being a tie between Belit and Valeria, with Sonja ending up a distant third.  I can only interpret those results one way - threesome! (with Sonja watching from afar)...

Seriously though, with Belit being so popular, you may just want to check out the kick-ass Belit artwork on display over at Comic Twart!  Here's are a couple of samples to get you going! 

Belit by Francesco Francavilla

Belit by Andy Kuhn

Here's direct links to the artwork, in case you have trouble finding it.  Incredibly cool blog they've got going over there btw!

Belit by Dan Panosian  Belit by Ron Salas  Belit by Andy Kuhn  Belit by Declan Shalvey  Belit by Chris Samnee  Belit by Evan Shaner  Belit by Francesco Francavilla

A Big thanks to Terry Allen (UK) over at the The Robert E. Howard Comics Group for pointing us towards the goods!

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Petri Hiltunen!

Finland's Petri Hiltunen has a lot of credits to his name, and at one time recreated a number of REH stories in comics...I've read some reviews and apparently they were VERY well received...unfortunately, they were rarely translated from Finnish....so....here's "The Grey God Passes" (a.k.a. "The Twilight of the Grey Gods"), a re-creation of Howard's short story featuring Turlogh Dubh O'Brien, translated into English, courtesy of "Boozeman" and others:

 

Download via Rapidshare

Below are a number of (somewhat NSFW, hence the thumbnails) excerpts from Petri's version of "Queen of the Black Coast"! Apparently a really good story, but too short (ha, ha, isn't that always the case). It was translated into Spanish for the Sword Conan comics, so maybe, just maybe, Carlos Yáñez still has a copy kicking around...hmmm...Carlos?

(click images to enlarge)

Whoa! Check out THAT Belit...wild woman!

And finally, some other samples of Petri's artistic talent...that is, Conan and Conan-like (i.e. Praedor) characters!

This post originally aired on the soon to be defunct REH Illustrated.

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Belit Action Figure...No Panties Variant!

With so many Belit fans around here, maybe it's about time you got your hands on the "R" rated Belit Action Figure from McFarlane Toys!

UP FOR SALE IS CONAN SERIES 1 BELIT NO PANTIES VARIANT!!

Apparently a number of these that were produced ended up missing paint in "key" areas...they aren't all that difficult to find on eBay (if you're interested), but I wouldn't expect to see anything other than Barbie crotch!

Oh c'mon, don't pretend you don't know what Barbie crotch looks like!

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La Reina de la Costa Negra…Reprints, Updated!

(That is, updated based on my original post over on REH ILLUSTRATED.)

So, you love Conan comics, and you’re wanting to get your hands on a copy of La Reina de la Costa Negra…but how? Well, if you want the real thing, your best bet is probably to head down to Mexico (although the only things you might return with are an STD and a bad hangover...damn you, tequila!). If you want to play it safe (like I should have done), keep a close eye on eBay, where this comic pops up from time to time. If you’re not fussy, reprints are likely a little easier to come by…first, go and visit Jim Van Hise at his eBay store Sword and Planet Books and Comics, where hopefully you can still pick up one of these issues:

You'll also find Jim's Sword & Fantasy #8 fanzine there, which includes "a 32 page reprint of a 1960’s Mexican Conan comic book" (translated into English):

If that doesn’t pan out for you, I’ve read that one issue of "La Reina" was reproduced in the Spanish fanzine Sword (Issue #3, 3rd Era, Sept. 1999), but good luck finding it:

ISSUE #3: “THE ORIGINS OF CONAN”, Sept. 1999

That's a JAFAR (José Antonio Fernández Agüera Rojo) cover, btw...

And if you're really (REALLY) lucky, you just might be able to find issues #22 and #23 of the fanzine REHUPA (from 1976), where apparently ten (count 'em, TEN!) glorious issues of “La Reina…” have been published (and already translated into English by one “B. Tyger”). Happy hunting!

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La Reina de la Costa Negra…Reloaded!

In 1958, the Mexican comic book La Reina de la Costa Negra (“The Queen of the Black Coast”) emerged. It’s unclear as to how many issues of this first run were published, and no proof of the existence of the first issue of this series. One can assume that Cuentos de Abuelito presents: La Reina de la Costa Negra (Jan. 1953) could be the leading issue…also check that post for links to source material.

La Reina #2, "The Cup of Odin" - Oct 8, 1958

La Reina #3, "The Fire Worshippers" - Oct 15, 1958 (from SSOC#44)

La Reina #4, "The Phantom Gallery" - Oct 22, 1958 (from SSOC#44)

La Reina, Unknown

Based on the price and cover design of the last (unknown) issue, I would have to assume that it fits somewhere between #4 above and the final run of "La Reina..." below.

Again (and from here on out), Belit is the leading lady in these comics, with Conan and Yanga (as in N'Yaga) as her sidekicks…and once again, I believe that virtually all of the artwork above and below is the work of Salvador Hermoso Lavalle.

In 1965 came the final run of the "La Reina...”. It is believed that some 60 issues were published. There’s also some new material below, that I came across after my original post over on (the soon to be defunct) REH ILLUSTRATED.

First, let me get my "thumbs only" and related pics out of the way:

#3 - Sept 8/65, #5 - Sept 22/65, #12 - Nov 10/65

#3 - Interior (from SSOC #44)

 

#21 - Jan 12/66, #25 - Feb 9/66, #30 - Mar 16/66

Now the rest, in chronological order:

#2 - Sept 1, 1965

#2 - Sept 1, 1965 pg 1

#4 - Sep 15, 1965

#7 - Oct 6, 1965

#8 - Oct 13, 1965

#10 - Oct 27, 1965

#11 - Nov 3, 1965

#13 - Nov 17, 1965

#14 - Nov 24, 1965

#15 - Dec 1, 1965

#15 - Interiors (from SSOC #26 and SSOC #44)

#16 - Dec 8, 1965

#16 - Interiors (from SSOC #44)

#17 - Dec 15, 1965

#20 - Jan 5, 1966

#26 - Feb 16, 1966

#27 - Feb 23, 1966

#28 - Mar 2, 1966

#33 - Apr 6, 1966

#35 - Apr 20, 1966

#36 - Apr 27, 1966

#36 - Interiors

#37 - May 4, 1966

#39 - May 18, 1966

#40 - May 25, 1966

#42 - Jun 8, 1966

#44 - Jun 22, 1966

#46 - Jul 6, 1966

#47 - Jul 13, 1966

#49 - Jul 27, 1966

#50 - Aug 3, 1966

#51 - Aug 10, 1966

#52 - Aug 17, 1966

#53 - Aug 24, 1966

As I did with the "Cuentos..." covers, I’ve also touched up (i.e. photoshopped) a lot of these covers to remove the tears, scratches, mystery stains (it is Belit after all, and even as a cartoon, she’s pretty damn hot!), etc., in order to improve your viewing experience.



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