MEN SHALL DIE FOR THIS -- SOLOMON KANE !!!

"Men shall die for this," he said coldly.

Born into a 16^th Century Puritan family in Devonshire, England, Solomon Kane had a sense of wanderlust which lead him to the sea and foreign lands. Described as a somber and gloomy man of pale face and cold eyes, all of it shadowed by a slouch hat, he set out into the world to fulfill his quest to destroy all evil.

 
Marvel Premiere #33 & #34 presented our favorite Robert E. Howard's Puritan adventurer Solomon Kane, in comic book form adapted by the legendary Roy Thomas with stunning artwork by Howard Chaykin. Of course I had to have them with these creators I admire so much.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Solomon Kane movie starring James Purefoy (after waiting what seemed like forever to hit the U.S.) and tie-in novel by esteemed author Ramsey Campbell. You simply need to read this amazing book!

Kane finds himself on the trail of the deliciously amoral French scoundrel Le Loup. He has incurred Kane's red wrath for ravaging an innocent, young English maid and leaving her behind for dead in a darkened glade, where he chances upon her and witnesses her dying breaths. In that darkened glen, Kane makes a solemn, simple vow: Men shall die for this!

Can't pass up showing off Barry Windsor-Smith's interpretation of Solomon Kane, from his incredible Gorblimey Press.

It's a rousing tale of adventure and vengeance, highly satisfying! The villain gets his just desserts and justice is served and unlike vengeance, it is not a dish best served cold, but with white hot fury.

Marvel Premiere #33   Night of the Man-Beasts!
Cover art by Howard Chaykin & Klaus Janson. 
"The Mark of Kane"

Solomon Kane fights man-beasts hell-bent on killing an innocent girl.Written by Roy Thomas (Conan the Barbarian) with art by Howard Chaykin (Ironwolf).
Adapted from Robert E. Howard's story "Red Shadows."
Introductory note on Solomon Kane by Thomas and The Trail of Solomon Kane by Blosser.

Marvel Premiere #34   Night of the Gorilla Gods!
Cover art by Howard Chaykin & Klaus Janson, heavily reworked by John Romita. 
"Fangs of the Gorilla God"
Kane travels to Africa where he battles Le Loup and the Gorilla God, Gulka.
Written by Roy Thomas with art by Howard Chaykin.
Adapted from Robert E. Howard's story "Red Shadows."

The original Robert E. Howard "Red Shadows" was published in these fine paperbacks. The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane is by far the most impressive collection of  the Kane stories by the legendary author. Highly Recommended!

Roy Thomas does a great job of adapting the story. The pacing is nigh flawless and his captions and dialogue are appropriately florid but terse, never descending into purple.

Howard Chaykin also does a fantastic job, still early in his comic book career. His indebtedness to Toth is obvious but he is already showing his own mastery of the medium. It's incredible watching how he developed into the fine artist he has become, in such a short amount of time.

The cover of a German comic book, reprinting these issues. Features an great Art Adams (Longshot) cover.

Dark Horse Comics finally reprinted these comics in The Chronicles of Solomon. This handsome trade paperback also included the Marvel Comics The Sword of Solomon Kane six issue mini-series by Ralph Macchio, Steve Carr, Bret Blevins, Mike Mignola & Al Williamson. 

Bret Blevins provided a painted cover for the first issue with other dazzling covers by Bill Sienkievicz (used for the trade paperback cover), Mike Mignola, Kevin Nowlan, Dan Green & Frank Cirocco. The mini-series was another retelling of Robert E. Howard's  "Red Shadows."

Live Large My Friends!

Thank You!

Dark Horse's Saga of Solomon Kane is a massive black & white trade paperback reprinting works by Roy Thomas, Don Glut, Al Williamson, Neal Adams, Howard Chaykin and many others. Rousing adventure!

More recently, Bruce Jones brought us another retelling of "Red Shadows" published by Dark Horse. They've also published three trade paperbacks collections of Solomon Kane adventures.

Came upon this recently, Solomon Kane by Iron Mike Grell.

Here's Big John Buscema's view on Kane.

The always amazing Jeffrey Jones on Kane.