Worms of The Earth
Published by Wandering Star and Cross Plains Comics
64 pages (8.5 x 11 format)
$9.95.

In the glory days of the Roman Empire, Titus Sulla, Roman governor over Pictland, rules with a cruel, hard fist, crucifying those enemies of the state who are unfortunate enough to be captured. For Pict king Bran Mak Morn, however, vengeance is about to be served upon Sulla, with the aid of a most fearful, and unlikely ally. Will his revenge be as "sweet" as he expects?

Robert E. Howard's Worms of The Earth was originally adapted to comic form in 1976 in Marvel's Savage Sword of Conan. The story follows the Pictish king as he seeks to enlist the aid of a race of beings who were once "almost human." This race, having separated themselves from the race of men, are now changed, and feared throughout the land. Adapting the story to comic form was the task of writer Roy Thomas and artists Barry Windsor-Smith and Tim Conrad.

Thomas does an admirable and non-enviable job of fitting such a tale into a 39-page comic story.

While Smith provides the first seven pages of the story's artwork, Conrad produces the overwhelming majority, and for the better. Conrad's Bran appears far more foreboding, formidable, even savage, than Smith's. He is more "in character" with how Robert E. Howard himself described him; a man with "a certain fierce innate vitality, comparable only to that of a wolf or a panther." Conrad's art style also fits the tone of the story very well.

Though highly entertaining, Worms is a dark tale, with dark characters, and not one ray of hope or brightness.

Worms of The Earth is recommended for those who enjoy sword and sorcery tales, Conan, or any work of Robert E. Howard. Due to some adult situations, and the general dark nature of the story, it is not suggested for younger readers.

Find it at comic shops, comic conventions, and online auctions and catalogs.

Review by Mark Allen

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