Re-reading Manos for this article was interesting. Evil in Manos is often the evil-bastard variety, but there are moments like these which seem to question the whole monster-and-slayer dynamic, such as Manos’ previous encounter with a girl who turns out to be a scorpion-like monster.
There are also details that I never paid much attention to when I was reading it as a kid. For example, why does Manos see the singer as a modern-day performer for a moment? It seems like an aberration unless you consider that the demon kept his lover eternally young. Could the demon blood keep the singer alive forever? Could Manos be seeing him thousands of years in the future? Who knows?
At any rate, there you have him — Manos, the black-haired warrior who thrilled Spanish-speaking kids even if he was nothing more than a poor man’s Conan. He is but a small name in the history of Spanish-language comics, but perhaps this entry has awakened your interest in some heroes like him. I recommend Haxtur, who looks like Ché Guevara, as a starting point.
MEXICAN BELIT: CONAN GOES VIKING
BY SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA
This article originally appeared on Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s blog in 2012.
Many years ago, there was a Mexican soap opera called Valeria y Maximiliano. It concerned the Mexican jet set and everyone had gigantic hair with matching shoulder pads. It wasn’t until some time later that I realized it was an unauthorized, unashamed adaptation of Gone With the Wind with the characters transported to the Mexico City of the 80s. Even some of the dialogue had been cribbed from the book.
I suppose they figured no one would ever know.
I imagine that something similar happened with La Reina de la Costa Negra (Queen of the Black Coast), which bears the honour of being the first comic adaptation of Conan. The Mexican version of Bêlit, the Queen of said Black Coast, was published in 1952 by Corporación Editorial Mexicana S.A. (Cemsa), with stories by Loa and Víctor Rodríguez, interiors by Salvador Lavalle, and covers by Héctor ‘Hecky’ Rodríguez. It wasn’t an individual title back then, but rather seems to have appeared as part of Cuentos de Abuelito.
It didn’t last very long in this incarnation, but it was retaken by JOMA, this time under the name Reina de la Costa Negra, in the 60s. Fifty-three numbers were published during this run.
The issues were reprinted in 2008.
Robert E. Howard’s “Queen of the Black Coast” is very different from the Mexican version. In the original story, Conan is on the run when the ship he is traveling on is boarded by Bêlit, the infamous Queen of the Black Coast. She spares his life and offers him a chance to sail along her side. She eventually dies at the hands of winged monsters, but comes back from the dead to save Conan’s life.
The Mexican adaptation spares itself the tragic death, instead casting Bêlit as the main character of the series. She is the captain of a ship that seems to be manned by Vikings. Her sidekick is a blond Conan.
Belit de Askalon’s appearance is a bit odd. She looks Latin American, but wears what could be Spanish armor. Staring at the drawings, I’m almost tempted to say the Malinche stole Hernán Cortés’s amour and his ship, then went on to have adventures. Which sounds kind of cool.
I can’t say I know much more about this Mexican Bêlit. Salvador Lavalle, who drew the interiors, went on to draw another female heroine, La Llanera Vengadora (The Avenging She-Ranger). He also seems to have been responsible for a 60s parody of Tarzan called Changoo el rey de los monos (which I would roughly translate as Monkii, King of the Monkeys) in the 80s for the relaunch of Rolando el Rabioso.
As for editorial Joma, which published Reina in the 60s, they were best known back then for two horror series called Las Momias de Guanjuato and Relatos del Jorobado. They also had a comic book called Moby Dick. One time Moby Dick (yes, the famous whale) fought the Monster from the Black Lagoon.
You know why I’m so weird now.
At any rate, Mexico’s Reina is a curiosity that predates Red Sonja, probably placing her as the first sword-and sorcery-heroine to get the comic book treatment.
THE AUTHORS
Maurice Broaddus has written hundreds of short stories, essays, novellas, and articles. His dark fiction has been published in numerous magazines, anthologies, and web sites, including Asimov’s Science Fiction, Cemetery Dance, Apex Magazine, and Weird Tales Magazine. He is the co-editor of the Dark Faith anthology series (Apex Books) and the author of the urban fantasy trilogy, Knights of Breton Court (Angry Robot Books). He has been a teaching artist for over five years, teaching creative writing to students of all ages. Visit his site at www.MauriceBroaddus.com.
Nadia Bulkin had a couple of not-so-close encounters with the Queen of the South Sea while living in Java. She first discovered Lovecraft after watching Dagon in high school. She’s since written another piece of Lovecraftiana set in Indonesia (originally published in Innsmouth Magazine; reprinted in Lovecraft’s Monsters) and one set in Nebraska (forthcoming in Letters to Lovecraft). Now she lives in Washington D.C., doing policy research by day and writing scary stories by night. For more, see nadiabulkin.wordpress.com.
Adrian Chamberlin is a British writer of dark fiction and lives in the small south Oxfordshire town of Wallingford that serves as a backdrop to the UK television series Midsomer Murders, not far from where Agatha Christie lies buried, dreaming in darkness.He is the author of the critically acclaimed supernatural thriller The Caretakers as well as numerous short stories in a variety of anthologies, mostly historical or futuristic supernatural horror. He co-edited Read the End First, an apocalyptic anthology with Suzanne Robb (author of the acclaimed thriller Z-Boat). His most recent release is the English Civil War thriller “Shadrach Besieged” in the Lovecraftian novella collection Dreaming In Darkness, which introduces the 17th century warrior Shadrach to the Mythos. He has also edited for Hersham Horror Books and the Lovecraft eZine. Live readings of his work are extremely popular and well-attended. He is aware of the concept of “spare time” but swears it’s just a myth. Further information can be found on his website: www.archivesofpain.com
Graham J. Darling (GrahamJDarling.com) is a research chemist who reenacts medieval science and technology on the side and writes as fiction what the world isn’t yet ready for as fact. Lately a denizen of Vancouver Canada, he enjoys long walks on twilit beaches, prodding ambiguous carcasses, turning over rocks to glimpse fanged worms scuttle away on numerous tiny legs... He is unmarried.
Edward M. Erdelac is the author of the acclaimed Judeocentric/Lovecraftian weird western series Merkabah Rider, Terovolas, Buff Tea, and Coyote’s Trail. His fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and periodicals including After Death, Steampunk Cthulhu, Kaiju Rising, World War Cthulhu, and Star Wars Insider. Born in Indiana, educated in Chicago, he resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and a bona fide slew of kids and felines. News of his work can be found at http://emerdelac.wordpress.com.
Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas is Mexican and lives in the land of the ancient Matlazinca with her fiancé and three cats. Her stories have appeared in anthologies like Future Lovecraft and Penumbria, Año I. She can be found online at: www.nellygeraldine.com
Orrin Grey is a writer, editor, amateur film scholar, and monster expert who was born on the night before Halloween. He’s the author of Never Bet the Devil & Other Warnings and the co-editor (with Silvia Moreno-Garcia) of Fungi, an anthology of weird fungus-themed tales. His website is at orringrey.com.
Paul Jessup is a critically acclaimed/award winning author, poet and playwright. He has appeared in many different magazines, and anthologies, and has a few books placed out in small and large publishing houses alike. He is currently working on a Zelda-style video game taking place in the same world as the short story included in this collection, “Sun Sorrow.”
William Meikle is a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with 20 novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in 13 countries. His work has appeared in a number of professional anthologies and magazines with recent sales to Nat
ure’s “Futures,” Penumbra and Buzzy Mag, among others. He lives in Newfoundland with whales, bald eagles and icebergs for company. When he’s not writing, he dreams of fortune and glory.
Thana Niveau lives in the Victorian seaside town of Clevedon, in the UK, where she shares her life with fellow writer John Llewellyn Probert, in a gothic library filled with arcane books and curiosities. She is the author of From Hell to Eternity, which was shortlisted for the British Fantasy award for Best Collection. Her stories have been reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror (volumes 22 — 24) and other stories appear or are forthcoming in Exotic Gothic 5; The Burning Circus; The Black Book of Horror (volumes 7 — 10), Whispers in the Dark; Horror Uncut; Sorcery and Sanctity: A Homage to Arthur Machen; Demons and Devilry; Night Schools; The 13 Ghosts of Christmas; Magic: an Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane; Terror Tales of the Cotswolds; Terror Tales of Wales; Steampunk Cthulhu; Zombie Apocalypse 3; Bite-Sized Horror 2; Death Rattles and Delicate Toxins.
Balogun Ojetade is the author of the bestselling Afrikan Martial Arts: Discovering the Warrior Within and screenwriter/producer/director of the films, A Single Link and Rite of Passage: Initiation He is one of the leading authorities on Steamfunk — a philosophy or style of writing that combines the African and / or African American culture and approach to life with that of the steampunk philosophy and/or steampunk fiction — and writes about it, the craft of writing, Sword & Soul, and Steampunk in general, at http://chroniclesofharriet.com/. He is author of five novels — the Steamfunk bestseller, MOSES: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman (Books 1 & 2); the Urban Science Fiction saga, Redeemer; the Sword & Soul epic, Once Upon A Time In Afrika, two Fight Fiction, New Pulp novellas — A Single Link and Fists of Afrika and he is contributing co-editor of two anthologies: Ki: Khanga: The Anthology and Steamfunk. Finally, Balogun is the Director and Fight Choreographer of the Steamfunk feature film, Rite of Passage, which he wrote based on the short story, Rite of Passage, by author Milton Davis.
Diana L. Paxson is the author of twenty-nine fantasy novels, including the Westria chronicles and the Avalon series which she took over from Marion Zimmer Bradley, and several dozen short stories. She has studied Norse mythology for over twenty years. She is also one of the founders of the Society for Creative Anachronism, which started in her back yard. She lives with her family at Greyhaven in Berkeley, California. For more on her work, see www.diana-paxson.com
Bogi Takács is a Hungarian Jewish author, a psycholinguist and a popular-science journalist. E writes both speculative fiction and poetry. Eir works have been published or are forthcoming in a variety of venues like Strange Horizons, Stone Telling, GigaNotoSaurus, and Apex, among others.
E. Catherine Tobler is a Sturgeon Award finalist and the senior editor at Shimmer Magazine. Among others, her fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Her first novel, Rings of Anubis, is now available.
Grey Yuen dwells in a small island nation in South-East Asia, subject to horrors both speakable and unspeakable. To deal with those he can speak of, he indulges in spicy food and the occasional good book to keep his sanity intact. For the less describable variety, he keeps the impeding madness at bay by organizing boardgame sessions with friends and conquering the world on the tabletop. In recent years, his friends started complaining about an obsession he developed — something about an unrevealed entity he named “A Novel.” Only time will tell if he will survive this delusion, or whether it will eventually consume him.
THE EDITORS & CONTRIBUTORS
Silvia Moreno-Garcia lives in beautiful British Columbia with her family and two cats. She has edited the Canadian zombie anthology Dead North, and other bizarre works. Her short stories are collected in This Strange Way of Dying. Her debut novel, Signal to Noise, will be released next year by Solaris.
Possessing a quixotic fondness for difficult careers, Paula R. Stiles has driven ambulances, taught fish farming for the Peace Corps in West Africa and earned a Scottish PhD in medieval history, studying Templars and non-Christians in Spain. She is the author of horror novel, The Mighty Quinn, co-written supernatural mystery novels, Fraterfamilias and the upcoming Confraternitas, and non-fiction medieval history book, Templar Convivencia: Templars and Their Associates in 12th and 13th Century Iberia, as well as over forty short stories and hundreds of articles. She is Editor in Chief of the Lovecraft/Mythos ‘zine/micropress Innsmouth Free Press. You can find her at: http://thesnowleopard.net.
G. W. Thomas became interested in sword and sorcery in 1973 when he bought his first Thongor comic. It was the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu that introduced him to H. P. Lovecraft. The synthesis of the two are evident in his current tales “The Work We Have in Hand” in David Bain’s Sword & Zombie and “The Deathmaster`s Folly” from his own sword and socery anthology Swords of Fire. Both are available at Amazon.com. He often blabs on about sword and sorcery, and Mythos, at his website www.gwthomas.org.
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