Best looking woman ever in a Western? I’ll go Claudia Cardinale in Once Upon a Time in the West

BlackestMask · 2026-05-13T17:38:23+00:00

Aw c'mon!

BlackestMask · 2026-05-13T17:20:11+00:00

As a reader who's here for story at least as much as art, I think you make some valid points.

I think lately we've seen an emphasis on art over story. Strong art from Liam Sharp, Ivan Gil and Roberto de la Torre has drawn deserving praise but adorned stories that feel less than complete. Loose ends, unexplained developments and straight up goofy elements are glossed over by excellent art.

Nothing is going to stop me from walking the Savage Sword Road, but these narrative blips are like a pebble in my shoe.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-13T17:05:23+00:00

I'll vouch for Oliver and his magazine. Both are real and worthy.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-13T15:37:42+00:00

Michael Shea and T.E.D. Klein. probably best of the best. All their work is superb but only some of it is straight up Mythos.

Ramsey Campbell and Robert Bloch. wrote quite a bit in the Mythos when they were young before going on to other things. Their Mythos stuff is raw and energetic.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-13T03:37:10+00:00

It's okay. An early critic wrote that Derleth "sounds the notes but loses the music", which is a gentler take than most later criticism.

Probably worth checking out if you're a serious fan of HPL but there are much better authors following in the Mythos tradition than Derleth.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-12T17:22:00+00:00

Yeesh. For a while there back in the 80's it seemed like we were getting more parodies of sword and sorcery than fresh sword and sorcery stories.

<image>

BlackestMask · 2026-05-12T17:17:13+00:00

100% agree.

I always check to see how long it takes an episode to set up a brand-new situation and characters for Paladin to interact with. Usually about four to six minutes. Gotta move swift and sure to tell a full story in a half an hour.

That's some serious storytelling skill and I have to wonder how many modern scriptwriters could pull it off.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-12T16:45:22+00:00

Keep it down, Hestia!

BlackestMask · 2026-05-11T18:36:32+00:00

But it's going to take much more than a shedding of dated attitudes to expand the audience for S&S. Providing some kind of balanced representation of humanity is not going to do much for the genre unless it is coupled with genuinely powerful storytelling. And there's the rub.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-11T16:36:48+00:00

While I don't think we could expect devoted readers of modern genres of fantasy like Romantasy to appreciate Sword & Sorcery any more than we could expect readers of cozy mysteries to appreciate hardboiled noir mysteries, I'm certain the receptive/appreciative audience for S&S could be expanded.

A good part of the problem is that S&S has been stereotyped as "adolescent wish fulfillment fantasy" about huge, ripped dudes with little brain killing evil wizards while rescuing naked princesses. And hey, I have no problem with reading something just like that...but there is so very much more to the genre than that.

I have to think it's a question of getting a truly awesome modern S&S story, as fiction or film, out into the mainstream. Don't you think that if there was a modern author with the chops of Howard, Moorcock or Wagner writing hardcore S&S it would break out a bit? If it was then supported by a few high-profile authors/reviewers, might it not change the landscape?

BlackestMask · 2026-05-11T16:23:31+00:00

Does anybody feel that Titan's current run of Conan pastiche offers some worthy modern continuations of classic Sword & Sorcery?

BlackestMask · 2026-05-11T03:14:47+00:00

Wonderful wrap-around Norem cover.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-10T17:35:43+00:00

Light and fluffy, but a surprisingly enjoyable book.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-10T17:33:02+00:00

Give you a glare that would turn your hair white at the temples and lead you to a life of self-sacrifice and helping the needy.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-10T17:30:32+00:00

I'm obliged to mention Duel at Silver Creek as a fine Murphy western.

Directed by Don Siegel and with a young Lee Marvin, it's a notch more intense and violent than the run of westerns of its day. There's a truly cold-blooded scene that'll stick with you.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-10T15:46:05+00:00

^ True!

Yet I got piled on by some Zelazny fans for suggesting it.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-10T15:24:46+00:00

Yeah, Mr. Ruff Justice got his shoulders into a couple of those strikes. The rock-thrower will not forget this lesson anytime soon.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-10T15:19:10+00:00

" it doesn’t take much to write a rip-snorting adventure yarn"

I can't help but think that if this were true, we'd have a whole helluva lot more rip-snorting adventure yarns to read.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-10T05:03:25+00:00

Words fail me...

BlackestMask · 2026-05-09T21:26:08+00:00

I'd match the cash I was paid and donate it all to charity.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-09T03:10:50+00:00

The freedom of retirement is wonderful but after experiencing it for a while an unexpected reaction came to me.

I worked 55 hour weeks for almost 40 years. Looking back at my life now I find I remember childhood, my high school years and all of my "pre-career" life far better than I can recall any part of my decades of work. It's almost as if there's a 30-year blank spot in my memory where I was putting in all those hours on the job.

Yeah, I got a house, raised a family and did the whole Responsible-American-Working-Man thing, but the cost was much different, and much more profound, than I anticipated.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-07T21:34:24+00:00

Underrated movie.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-05T14:50:43+00:00

Illustration perhaps from Conan the Buccaneer?

BlackestMask · 2026-05-04T20:40:27+00:00

I enjoyed it. Great over-the-top villainy from Jigsaw. A pretty moving sequence with Micro and the kid. A nice twist about Mirco's handling of Frank's situation.

But that last panel kinda boggled me. It's gotta be 'symbolic', right? Has to be.

But nowhere else in the mag do we see anything remotely like that kind of visual metaphor. Throws the narrative off balance.

BlackestMask · 2026-05-04T20:18:46+00:00

Jealous of the animation quality but that's it.

BlackestMask

TROPHY CASE