Who is Crom the barbarian?
1st Crom the Barbarian story by Gardner Fox and John Giunta, published in Out of This World #1, June 1950 and Out of This World Adventures #1, July 1950
Since Crom is in the public domain, this website has links to all the known stories about Crom the Barbarian by others who are contributing to his canon. All links leave this website.
KNOW, oh prince, that between the years when the comic book industry drank up the Pulp magazines and their gleaming stories, and the years of the rise of the sons of Marvel and DC, there was an Age very much dreamed of, when shining characters lay spread across the newsstands with shimmering glossy covers—Golden Knight, Silver Knight, Black Knight and Prince Valiant with his black-haired bowl cut; fancy speak and Arthurian charms. None of these gallant characters would lay claim to being the first Sword and Sorcery story to appear in Comic Books. Hither came Crom, the Æsir, blonde-haired, cunning in wit, Skull-Biter in hand, a spider slayer, a womanizer, a Usurper, with gigantic attitude and gigantic-er swagger, to tread on the jeweled throne of Ophir under booted heel.
—Keeper of the Sword and Sorcery tradition
2nd Crom the Barbarian story by Gardner Fox and John Guinta, published in Strange Worlds #1, November 1950 and Out of This World Adventures #2, December 1950
Who is Crom the Barbarian?
Crom the Barbarian was created in 1950 by Gardner F Fox and John Giunta.
The Barbarian, Crom, is a small speed bump in comic book history. Gardner F. Fox and John Giunta take direct inspiration from the Robert E. Howard, Conan pulps. They pen out their version of Conan and call him, Crom!
I believe that Robert E. Howard created the genre of Sword and Sorcery, at least as we know it today. After Howard died by his own hand in 1936, Henry Kuttner, Fritz Leiber, Jr., and others took the mantle of Sword and Sorcery. Unlike other pulp genres, Sword and Sorcery did not easily make the transition to comic books. The debut of Crom the Barbarian in the first issue of Out of This World, in June 1950, premiered the fantasy, sword and sorcery theme in comic books. Gardner F. Fox, an old hand at comic books and pulp fiction, wrote the script. John Giunta was an artist with one foot in the pulps and one in comic books. They also contributed to Weird Tales, the birthplace of Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian. They were the perfect duo to revive Conan under the name of Conan’s god, Crom. Many other similarities, or “Swipes,” are revealed between Crom and Conan. I’m unsure that Crom’s yellow hair would have thrown anybody off.
3rd Crom the Barbarian story by Gardner Fox and John Giunta, published in Strange Worlds #2, April 1951
Gardner F. Fox (1911-1986) wrote comics for decades. He invented Batman’s utility belt and created such long-lasting characters as The Flash and Hawkman. He also introduced the concept of “multiverse” to DC storytelling. He would leave comics in 1968 to try his hand at actual Sword and Sorcery books, penning the Kothar Barbarian Swordsman series (1969-1970), the Kyrik Warlock Warrior series (1975-1976), and finally the Niall of the Far Travels for Dragon Magazine (1976-1981).
John Giunta (1920-1970), Aka Jay Gee was multidimensional as an Illustrator, Comic Book Artist, Science Fiction Fan, Author, Editor, Publisher, Art Director, and Reviewer. John Giunta is celebrated today, mostly for his collaboration with Frank Frazetta, on Frazetta’s first published comic book story, “Snowman,” from Tally Ho #1 (Dec. 1944).
Hal Foster explored Fantasy in comic books with his newspaper comic strip called; Prince Valiant (1937). Prince Valiant was not a Sword and Sorcery-themed story. The story was set in the times of old King Arthur. The prince would face the odd dinosaur and witch, coming close to the Sword and Sorcery genre, but really only inspiring others to do comic book stories like; The Golden Knight, The Silver Knight, and of course, The Black Knight.
Crom’s publisher, Avon Comics, released a pulp magazine called Out of this World Adventures with a comic insert in the center. In the July 1950 issue, Avon Comics reprinted the stories from the Out of this World comic book, including “Crom the Barbarian.” Avon Comics released the second issue of the Out of This World Adventures pulp, a month later. This issue contained a comic section, with reprinted material from Strange Worlds #1, including “The Spider God of Akka.” After this second issue, Out of This World Adventures was discontinued. Unfortunately, the pulp/comic combination idea was also abandoned. The Strange Worlds comic series continued, however, and Crom made his third and final appearance in the second issue with “The Giant from Beyond”. Fox may have intended to continue the adventures of Crom. For whatever reason, it was not to be, and “The Giant from Beyond” would remain the last story of Crom the Barbarian by Fox and Giunta.
4th (Lost) Crom teh Barbarian story by Gardner Fox and Jack Katz, published in The Complete Crom Comic Books Collection 2018
Crom the Barbarian is simple in design. The story features the “heroic adventure,” a model of some strapping young man who will journey across a fantastic landscape and be guided by a wise wizard, confront dangerous creatures, and seek to rescue a lusty damsel.
Being fearless is a great way to depict a hero’s story, but to have him so ignorant of an evil that will devour him is barbaric. This is my true attraction to Crom the Barbarian. He is not meant to be a modern hero. He’s meant to be a simple barbarian who has elaborate adventures.
My intention with this website is to collect all the stories of Crom the Barbarian that have been created after “The Giant from Beyond”.
Contact Me/Kurt Brugel if you are working on or have already created a new Crom the Barbarian Comic or Short story and I’ll post it to this website.
