WOLFF - Conan's Spanish cousin

Rider of Doom Number of posts : 132 Registration date : 2009-02-07

"Dracula" comic was a very unusual publication - launched in the UK and Spain in 1971, it featured weird stories by Spanish writers and artists. Concentrating on the scary, disturbing and macabre, each issue featured an adventure with Wolff, a Conan-style warrior.

Wolff's world is a blighted place - rotting forests lead to crumbling castles where skulls and human bones litter the floors. As the story starts, Wolff arrives home to a village in ruins: "Through days of hardship he had searched far for food. His people relied on his skill to bring them meat in a land ravaged by famine. Why was there no-one to greet him? No sound broke the silence of death. One man was left alive - one old, old man with his tale of tragedy..." Wolff is told that his village has been devastated by the un-dead Witches of Ginza. The villagers had hidden in caves, but all the women were taken, including Wolff's wife, Bruma.

Wolff sets off to find her, battling all sorts of dark sorcery as he goes. Fighting against magicians, flying devil-creatures, lizard people and a huge goddess named the Mother Of Waters, Wolff struggles on through this hellish, soul-destroying world. His eventual defeat of the Witches brings the news that his wife Bruma is already dead - his quest has taken years, and only one captive is still alive: a beautiful girl who may be Wolff's only future.

Esteban Maroto, creator of Wolff, is an internationally famous illustrator, best known for his muscular heroes, fabulously beautiful (and dangerous) women, and skull-encrusted landscapes. He has worked for comics companies all over the world, pencilled for "Savage Sword Of Conan" and the first solo "Red Sonja" story (creating her distinctive metal costume). He has contributed to "Vampirella" and "Eerie" comics (where he created another Conan-influenced hero, Dax), and is still drawing today, influencing a new generation of artists.

Vanir Number of posts : 4225 Registration date : 2007-08-28

Yes, I know that one. MAROTO was also the responsible for the chain bikiny of Sonja. Also he made a lot of S&S heros like the one you mention, DAX, which had very interesting scripts. Though the action was always the usual -going to the rescue of a girl, killing a monster, killing a wizard, etc- the guy was interested in finding the root of the sthereotype and going beyond. The Warren magazines were publisehd in Spain by TOUTAIN who was a guy from Argentina very cultivated and who was the responsible for the greatest era of comic book publishing in Spain ever (the late 70's and first 80's). Maroto was one of the hottest artists.

Maroto is pretty close to another spanish, JAIME BROCAL REMOHÍ.

http://elcoleccionista.iespana.es/brocal.htm

MAROTO AND BROCAL-REMOHI had both pretty similar styles, and he also illustrated some Conan stories and covers though I think only in the spanish editions. But he created a lot of S&S comics like TAAR THE REBEL. This one was highly interesting because of his art (truly beautiful and erotic, the man was a master drawing human bodies) but also with scripts which were, sometimes, adaptations of classic literature like DANTE's COMEDY or THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOUREAU.

WOLFF - Conan's Spanish cousin Taarpl

WOLFF - Conan's Spanish cousin Taar01_p_10376

WOLFF - Conan's Spanish cousin Taar09_21022002-1

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