Rasmussen, Rune :: Superheroes (Published Art)

Savage Tales Annual #1 (1975) Ka-Zar Cover painted by Ken Barr - a tribute to Barry Windsor-Smith's Back To The Savage Land story

Artist: Ken Barr (Painter)

5 Comments - 7,654 Views - 4 Likes

Savage Tales Annual #1 (1975) Ka-Zar Cover painted by Ken Barr - a tribute to Barry Windsor-Smith's Back To The Savage Land story Comic Art

Additional Images:

Published Cover

Original art, published magazine and Ken Barr in 1970 and 2007

Framed and behind Museum Glass

Close-Ups

Barr's inspiration panels?

Back to the Savage Land book from my childhood, reprinted in Savage Tales Annual #1

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Artwork Details

Title:	Savage Tales Annual #1 (1975) Ka-Zar Cover painted by Ken Barr - a tribute to Barry Windsor-Smith's Back To The Savage Land story
Artist:	Ken Barr (Painter)
Media Type:	Paint - Acrylic
Art Type:	Cover
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	7,654
Likes on CAF:	4 5
Comments:	5
Added to Site:	8/25/2015
Comic Art Archive:	Savage Tales Featuring Ka-zar Issue: 12 Page: cover View

Description

I'm quite into the Savage Tales magazines (vol. 1), and finally I found a cover that fulfilled several criteria:

1. It represents my Savage Tales CGC magazine collection. My magazine collection can be seen here: http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=34657

2. It represents Ka-Zar in my limited original art collection (have been looking for a great Ka-Zar piece for some time).

3. It's a tribute to Barry Smith's "Back to the Savage Land" from the early 1970s - and thus it's closely linked to the early Barry Smith Conan stories. Probably as close as I'll ever get to original art directly associated with a Barry Smith story from the early 1970s, sigh... I do have the CGC books too: http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=39574

4. It's quite large - 19" x 25", in color, and should work perfectly as a centerpiece.

So it's Ken Barr's Ka-Zar cover to Savage Tales Annual #1 (summer 1975), which contains Barry Windsor-Smith's "Back to the Savage Land" story, for the first time (I think) printed as the complete 30-page story and in black/white. In the early 1970s "Back to the Savage Land" was published in Astonishing Tales #3-5 (published from Dec 1970 to April 1971, when Conan the Barbarian issues 2 to 5 also were published, so maybe Barry Smith drew both in these months - at least Ka-Zar looks a lot like Conan), and it's my favorite Ka-Zar story.

In other words, to me this is a grail piece. And I do like that this is not another man-saves-woman-from-monster cover ;-)

More info about Ken Barr here:

"Born in Scotland in 1933, Kenneth John Barr was the son of a Glasgow-based sign-painter to whom he was apprenticed from the age of 15. A reader of adventure, horror and war stories, Ken Barr found post-War Glasgow full of the machinery and drama of war he enjoyed painting. His first covers appeared on Nebula science fiction magazine in the 1950s.

After his National Service�which he served with the Army in Egypt�and several years working in London, Barr moved to the USA in 1968 where he became a regular penciller/inker and occasionally writer of strips for DC's various war comics, including Our Army At War, Our Fighting Forces, Battle Album and Star Spangled War Stories in 1969-74. He also produced covers and back-up features for the Warren magazines Eerie, Creepy and Vampirella (1970-72) before becoming a regular cover artist for Marvel, working on Doc Savage, Incredible Hulk and The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (1975-78). In the mid-1970s, he found more lucrative work producing books covers (Avon, Random House) and as a movie poster artist, primarily in the fields of fantasy and science fiction, although he returned to comics in the mid-1980s as the writer of Windfall, Geo-Force and Metamorpho in around 1986 (and the merged Geo-Force and Metamorpho in 1987)."

Source: http://illustrationartgallery.blogspot.dk/2011/03/ken-barr.html

Social/Sharing

About the Owner

	Rune Rasmussen
Joined:	June 2014
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	Not Specified
On CAF:	Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Comments on this Artwork

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Brian Rickard
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 8/26/2015

I love this cover. Its truly a fun piece of Marvel Bronze. I bet the colors pop even more in person. If you ever get "tired" of it let me know.

Rune Rasmussen
Member Since 2014

Posted on 9/5/2015

Brian Rickard said:
"I love this cover. Its truly a fun piece of Marvel Bronze. I bet the colors pop even more in person. If you ever get "tired" of it let me know."

Thanks, if the wife threatens me with a divorce over this piece, I'll let you know ;-) I'll post some more photos when it's framed!

Mark Howland
Member Since 2004

1 - Posted on 9/22/2015

Love the colors and action!!!

Steve Kro
Member Since 2007

1 - Posted on 9/8/2016

Bold and bad-ass! Top shelf Ken Barr cover. Wow!

Bill J
Member Since 2009

1 - Posted on 12/21/2018

Fabulous Ka-Zar cover!

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