What the Hell is Going on with this Conan the Barbarian Cover?

Cafe Society
41

FWIW. I see the “right shoulder” as a hip as well. The ape is either prone or leaning far forward in an attempt to pull away from the little man cutting off his limbs, so that from the viewers perspective the hip is behind the arm-stub. Conan has his foot on the right side of his neck.

I think the reason it looks weird is that the neck is at a weird angle, which is kind what it actually would look like if you were trying to swivel your head around to look at someone standing on your right shoulder, but because you can’t see much of the rest of the body of the ape it looks weird. I suspect when the artist sketched it out, more of the ape was visible and it looked better. Indeed, in Minces’s link, just adding an inch makes it look a little clearer since you can see the real left shoulder.

I’ve never read the Conan books, are they any good (excepting the poor cover art)?

42

Highly recommended. There’s a reason the writings of a guy who never got beyond thirty and wrote over 70 years ago are still in print and the basis of a considerable bit of business. His writing is damned good, and the Conan stories, which are among the last things he wrote, show him at his creative peak. The Tower of the Elephant, Rogues in the House, Red Nails, The Hour of the Dragon, The Frost Giant’s Daughter, and others are well worth the reading. Much imtated, but never really duplicated. Read The Tower of the Elephant to see what Jim Theis was attemopting to do with The Eye of Argon.
And, in Howard’s writing, it’s always clear what part of the ape is being lopped off.

43

Outstanding.