Conan the Barbarian – art by Yanagi Shuhji

This is a look at 1970s sword and sorcery illustrations from the second line of Conan books published in Japan (art: top by Renato Casaro, bottom by Yanagi).

In 1971 the Japanese publisher Sōgen Mystery Bunko, an imprint of Sōgen Suiri Bunko, began to distribute seven Conan paperback issues (photo by Miiko-yan).

The series includes many stories by later authors but in this post I focus on art I spotted of the original short stories written by Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan.

All seven issues in this line had covers and interior art by the Japanese artist Yanagi Shuhji, an established illustrator of sci fi and fantasy. Above is his cover to the 1970 Japanese translation of Dwellers in the Mirage (1932) by A. Merritt.

Conan (1970, Sōgen Mystery Bunko F514-1) is the first issue, It contains among others The Tower of the Elephant (1933) and while I don't know the woman on the cover I am confident that the beast seen is from that short story (TotE; chapter II):

“Springing back, sword high, he saw the horror strike the floor, wheel and scuttle toward him with appalling speed—a gigantic black spider, such as men see only in nightmare dreams.”

The cover of Conan of Cimmeria (1971, SMB F514-2) I believe depicts Queen of the Black Coast (1934), even though horse and mantle have different colours; I note I do not know to what degree Yanagi coloured the art or if he had acceess to read the tales when getting the commissions (QotBC; I):

“The folk that yelled and scattered had only a fleeting glimpse of a mailed figure on a black stallion, a wide scarlet cloak flowing out on the wind.... Under the horned helmet a square-cut black mane contrasted with smoldering blue eyes.”

Later a galley that Conan travelled with was attacked by pirates. The text under the illustration seems to refer to the quote below, however the renowned buccaneers he fought, and which he would soon sail with, were black men in the book (ibid):

“In an instant he was the center of a hurricane of stabbing spears and lashing clubs. But he moved in a blinding blur of steel. Spears bent on his armor or swished empty air, and his sword sang its death-song.”

A second illustration of the same tale depicts a winged, ape-like horror (QotBC; IV):

“They who had been winged gods became pinioned demons, with all that remained of their ancestors’ vast knowledge distorted and perverted and twisted into ghastly paths.... And at last among the lichen-grown ruins of their city only a single shape lurked, a stunted abhorrent perversion of nature.”

A Witch Shall Be Born (1934) is in Conan the Freebooter (1971, SMB F514-3). At a time Conan was crucified on a cross that is called a Tree of Death while vultures hungered. Above the scavengers look like eagles though on the cover, that can be spotted in #2, there is a bird that looks more like a vulture (AWSBB; III):

“A keen beak, stabbing at his eyes, cut his cheek, and he jerked his head aside, shutting his eyes involuntarily. He shouted, a croaking, desperate shout of menace, and the vultures swerved away and retreated, frightened by the sound.”

Above illustrations seems to be of the army of an ancient sorcerer in Black Colossus (1933), that appeared in front of the host of Conan when a magic mist was lifted:

“At first glance the amazed watchers seemed to be looking down upon a glittering sparkling sea of bronze and gold, where steel points twinkled like a myriad stars. With the lifting of the fog the invaders had halted as if frozen, in long serried lines, flaming in the sun. First was a long line of chariots...”

The Slithering Shadow (1933) is published in Conan the Adventurer (1973, SMB F514-5). The woman Natala was tied up as a sacrifice to a horrible monster (SS; III):

“The sight of that awful shape alone might have frozen the Cimmerian with fear. In juxtaposition to his girl, the sight sent a red wave of murderous fury through Conan's brain. In a crimson mist he smote the monster.”

Conan the Warrior (1974, F514-7) includes Red Nails (1936) and Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, a deadly pirate and ally of Conan seems to be on the cover.

She had a straight double-edged sword, a long dirk, and unruly golden hair in a crimson band. She wore “wide-legged silk breeches, which ceased a hand's breadth short of her knees, and were upheld by a wide silken sash worn as a girdle. Flaring-topped boots of soft leather came almost to her knees, and a low-necked, wide-collared, wide-sleeved silk shirt completed her costume.” (RS; I onwards).

Deep in a jungle Valeria and Conan were hunted up upon a cliff by a dragon:

“Through the thicket was thrust a head of nightmare and lunacy. Grinning jaws bared rows of dripping yellow tusks; above the yawning mouth wrinkled a saurian-like snout.... The head, bigger than that of a crocodile, was further extended on a long scaled neck on which stood up rows of serrated spikes, and after it, crushing down the briars and saplings, waddled the body of a titan, a gigantic, barrel-bellied torso on absurdly short legs....”

“As he reared, the beast seemed more gigantic than ever; his snouted head towered among the trees... the monster fell forward with his front feet on the crag with an impact that made the rock vibrate.... Peering down through broken branches that scraped the rock, they saw it squatting on its haunches at the foot of the crag, staring unblinkingly up at them.”

Unlike other illustrators Yanagi imagined the beast in the manner of a sauropod, its head above the trees rather than among them, still I fancy the fresh concept and Conan can still stab at the foe with his makeshift spear.

A post on the art in the first line of Conan publications in Japan is available here: https://imgur.com/gallery/CV9XJhV

A post on dragons: https://imgur.com/gallery/I3uK8Xt

On the winged horror: https://imgur.com/gallery/dCl9Ag6

On Valeria: https://imgur.com/gallery/GvV48OO

Credits: information about names and content in the books, as well as their illustrations, I got from the essay Conan in the Land of the Rising Sun by Doug Ellis: https://www.blackgate.com/2021/05/18/conan-in-the-land-of-the-rising-sun/ and https://dmrbooks.com/test-blog/2022/1/20/merritt-in-japan

Thanks to @BorkasonBork for help with a quick translation of #6.

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