Creatures on the Loose Featuring Thongor #29 (Marvel, 1974)

Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria is a fantasy novel featuring the adventures of a barbarian warrior that was adapted by Marvel in 1973. Written by Lin Carter and originally published in 1965, the book featured Thongor's adventures in Lemuria and his quest to thwart the onslaught of a serpent race called the Dragon Kings, who are battling to take over the world. The books were an homage to Robert E. Howard's Conan series.

The Conan craze was in full effect by this point, and barbarian comics littered the spinner racks. Only one problem: most of the second or third rate Conan clones looked exactly like Conan! Although the costumes may have been different, there was no mistaking the dark-bluish hair of everyone's favorite Cimmerian. Such was the case for Thongor's debut in Creatures on the Loose #22.

Thongor's hair color seemed to change issue by issue, fluctuating between dark blue to brown and back again. Writer Steve Gerber and artist Vicente Alcazar filled in for the last two issues of this short-lived series, and settled on a hair color for issues #28 and #29: reddish-orange. Don't expect much Gerber greatness here (no smoking ducks to be found), as he committed to this adaption justly. Gil Kane supplied a very cool cover for #29, depicting Thongor battling against an army of Serpent Kings while precariously holding onto a frightened Princess Sumia.

The issue begins with Thongor waking up and realizing he is in the claws of a giant lizard-hawk called a Grakk!:

To his surprise, the creature drops him into a nest on a rocky perch 500 feet above ground. The Grakk intends to feed it's baby Grakklets!

The Nemedis, a flying ship carrying Thongor's allies, continues with it's plight to save the world with the powerful Starsword. Princess Sumia pleads with the wizard Sharajsha to try and find Thongor, but there is no time.

The Nemedis flies on until it reaches it's destination...the Castle of the Dragon Kings! But as the adventurers attempt to enter, they are ambushed by (who else) the Dragon Kings, who plan to sacrifice them to the Lord of Chaos!

Meanwhile Thongor escapes the Grakklets only to find a giant armored dinosaur to contend with!

Thongor survives, and somehow arrives at the Castle of the Dragon Lords...all in the same day!

As the hour of Equinox arrives, Thongor's captured friends are led to the altar of the Monoliths, while an evil hissing chant echoes into the darkness of night.

But as the dragon priest raises his sword to kill Sumia, I'll bet you can guess what happens next. Thongor arrives just in time to kill the priest with the Starsword. Yep, that's right folks. Thongor found the sword laying on the shore near where his friends were ambushed, and saves the day!

The wizard Sharajsha is freed and summons the Lord of Light, and it's all over for the Dragon Kings as they are annihilated by the fires of heaven!

And that was it for the Thongor series as well, as the comic would begin it's Man-Wolf run beginning in issue #30. This is kind of unfortunate, because the second book, titled "Thongor and the Dragon City" is a fantastic read and would have translated well into comic book form. In that story, Thongor must rescue Princess Sumia from a Vampire King called Xothun, ruler of the lost city of Omm.

Lin Carter wrote three more Thongor books before diving into the science fiction genre, creating the Callisto series as well as the Green Star series, but is probably best known by his work in the Ballatine Adult Fantasy books.