Matthew Sunrich Presents... Conan: Red Nails
Conan: Red Nails
By Matthew Sunrich
Ever find yourself in a strange place where no one can be trusted? If
your name happens to be Conan of Cimmeria, it's the sort of thing that happens all
the time.
The last Conan story written by Robert E. Howard before his untimely
death, the novella-length adventure "Red Nails" was serialized in the
pages of Weird Tales in 1936.
Considered one of the finest stories in Conan's canon, it features the
formidable she-pirate Valeria, who in many ways resembles Red Sonja, a
character who would enjoy success in the pages of Conan's various comics and
magazines, as well as in her own, during the Bronze Age (see my earlier article
"Red Sonja: The Marvel Years" for details).
The comic adaptation of Howard's story, written by Roy Thomas and
illustrated by Barry Smith, originally appeared in the black-and-white magazine
Savage Tales #s 2 and 3 and was later
compiled into the comic-sized Conan the
Barbarian Special Edition #1 (1982) in full color. It was reprinted again
in Conan Saga #9.
The story opens with Valeria (who at this point is a character unknown
to us) riding her horse into a dense forest. Dismounting, she scales a rocky
outcropping to see what lies beyond. She finds the bleached skeleton of a man
at the summit, which puzzles her. Looking out over the thick canopy of leaves,
she beholds a walled city in the surrounding desert. She wonders how such a
place can sustain life, as there appear to be no crops or livestock around.
She descends the outcropping and finds Conan waiting for her. She is a
bit perturbed by the notion that he has been following her, but he explains
that he was compelled by her beauty and the skill with which she dispatched a
rakish Stygian officer in the city of Sukhmet days before (along with the fact
that he killed the officer's brother, who the barbarian knew had been pursuing
her, seeking revenge). In typical fashion, he attempts to put the moves on her,
but his advances are quelled first by the point of her blade and then by the
sounds of screaming horses.
Investigating, they find their mounts have been devoured by a dragon
(which looks more like a dinosaur, really). As they climb the rocks to escape
the same fate, Valeria realizes that the skeleton she found earlier must have
belonged to a man who had starved to death while trapped by the monster they
now faced, or possibly one of its kin. Fashioning a spear from a tree limb and
his sword's blade and tipping it with the poisonous juice of the Apples of
Derketa, Queen of the Dead, which bloom nearby, Conan stabs the dragon in the
mouth, which distracts it long enough for them to flee.
As they expected, the dragon chases them, and all they can do is try to
outrun it. As it closes on them, Conan turns and engages it, but his sword does
little to deter it. Enraged, the creature sends Conan sprawling and, unable to
slow its charge, impales its head on a tree. Valeria expresses doubts that the
thing is actually dead, but the barbarian convinces her that it is so, and they
make their way out of the forest.
They reach the city after a night's rest in the sands and believe it to
be deserted. When Conan forces the rusted gate open, the pair is amazed to find
buildings constructed of jade within. Perhaps even stranger, the city is
completely enclosed; there are no roads, only massive hallways, and the sky is
shut out by a roof that completely covers the place. Conan wishes to look
around, but Valeria prefers to rest while he goes on alone. She dozes off
briefly but is awakened by a noise. Looking out over a balustrade to the floor
below, she finds a man engaged in battle with a demonic, skeletal creature.
Her warrior instincts provoked, she leaps down and engages the thing,
subduing and beheading it. The man, Techotl, thanks her and explains that the
creature was sent by the Xotalanc, an opposing tribe. He offers to take her
back to the stronghold of his people, the Tecuhltli. Recognizing the dark sorcery at work, Valeria agrees to accompany him,
though she wishes she knew where Conan has gotten off to.
As it happens, Conan's wanderings lead him straight to Valeria and
Techotl in the midst of a skirmish with Xotalancas. The Cimmerian uses his
sword to great effect, and in short order the warriors are defeated. Fearing
that others may be lurking about, Techotl leads the reunited adventurers down a
dark passage, where they encounter "The Crawler," a mysterious
monster controlled by their enemies. Conan injures it, and they bolt the door
on the far side to prevent its following them.
Once inside the Tecuhltli settlement, Techotl explains to the leaders
of his tribe, Prince Olmec and Princess Tascela, that Conan and Valeria are on
their side and helped to dispatch several of their foes. Olmec welcomes them
and commences to tell the bloody history of the rivalry between the two tribes
and of how Tolkemec, a slave who betrayed the city to a rogue Stygian tribe and,
after the city had fallen to the invaders, incited a war between the two
original fraternal leaders, vanished into the catacombs. (A real piece of work,
that.) His ghost is rumored to haunt the hallways of the city, which is called
Xuchtol.
Olmec understands that his tribe is dying but wishes to kill as many of
the Xotalancas as possible before that happens. He offers Conan and Valeria as
much treasure as they can carry if they will fight for him, to which they
agree. They are taken to their respective sleeping chambers, but their rest is
soon interrupted by the sounds of battle. Rushing to the throne room, they find
that the Xotalancas have somehow managed to penetrate the Tecuhltli stronghold
and, with the advantage of surprise on their side, are slaughtering the tribe.
With Conan and Valeria's help, the Tecuhltli manage to defeat the
marauders, but their numbers have been severely reduced. Olmec believes that
the invasion force represented the last of the Xotalancas but asks Conan and two
of the remaining warriors to visit their settlement to make sure that there are
none left alive. Valeria, injured in the skirmish, elects to stay behind, a
decision that turns out to be a mistake.
When Conan and the Tecuhltlis reach the settlement, Xotalanc magic
drives the warriors insane, and the Cimmerian discovers that Olmec had
instructed them to kill him so he could take Valeria as his lover. His
Tecuhltli "escorts" dead, Conan returns to the stronghold to find
that Tascela has thwarted Olmec's plans to seduce the she-pirate, wishing
instead to use her in a ritual to prolong her life, and has strapped her to an
altar. Tascela, despite her youthful appearance, is actually a sorceress who
has lived for untold ages (she remarks that she doesn't even remember her
childhood) by sacrificing beautiful young women. She is, in fact, the selfsame
element that turned Tecuhltli and Xotalanc, the leaders of the original tribe,
against each other.
Conan attempts to rescue Valeria but activates a trap in the floor that
holds him fast. Tascela is about to drive her knife into Valeria's chest to
consummate the ritual when the curtains in the throne room part, revealing the
spectral figure of what was once Tolkemec, the slave who, some fifty years
prior, betrayed his city and sowed the seeds of dissension. He has returned
from the catacombs with a powerful magical rod, which he commences to use
against everyone in sight.
Several bystanders are slain by the rod's fiery rays before Tolkemec
turns his attention on Conan. The Cimmerian manages to throw a dagger, which
lodges itself in the ghoul's chest, and the wand clatters to the floor. Taking
advantage of the situation, Tascela retrieves the weapon, but before she can
use it, Valeria runs her through. The evil of Xuchtol vanquished, Conan and
Valeria literally ride off into the sunset together.
The most appealing thing about this story, to me, is the idea of an
encapsulated city. With the sky completely blocked from view, it's impossible
to tell day from night, which can be immensely disorienting. It brings to mind
the ubiquitous dungeons found in fantasy roleplaying games, especially when you
consider the implausibility of such things. Who built the city, and why? What
were the original denizens like? How did they amass such riches? Did the
absence of the sun's heat and light impact the people in remarkable ways?
Perhaps the most peculiar aspect is the title. What does "red
nails" refer to? Before reading the story I assumed it had something to do
with fingernail polish, but it actually refers to the Tecuhltli practice of
driving red nails into the black pillar in their stronghold to represent the
Xotalanc they have slain in battle, just as warriors have been known to carve
notches in the handles of their weapons. As far as the comic adaptation is
concerned, it doesn't seem to come into play in any significant way, making it
a strange choice for a title. The nails can be interpreted as a primitive form
of statistics, really, but when the tribes are long gone, it's likely that explorers
will ponder their meaning and reach the wrong conclusions.
If there is anything wrong with this story, it is that Valeria, despite
her prowess in battle, is ultimately reduced to a damsel in distress. This sort
of thing is pervasive in sword & sorcery, and its inclusion here weakens
the story to some degree. Conan is frequently paired with a beautiful woman in
his tales, though they typically serve little more purpose than arm candy. We
can tell from early on that Valeria is not Conan's equal, but I think she
deserved better than this.
The illustration is fantastic, although I must admit that I don't always like the way Smith draws women's faces. Sometimes they look fine, but other times the eyes are kind of weird. This is frequently the case with his men, as well. By this point, Smith had shaken off Kirby's influence and had become his own artist, developing a style that remains distinctive to this day. (Smith, along with all of Marvel's Silver-Age artists, had been instructed by Stan Lee to ape Kirby's art as closely as possible.) He would soon move on to other things, leaving Conan in the capable hands of John Buscema.
The illustration is fantastic, although I must admit that I don't always like the way Smith draws women's faces. Sometimes they look fine, but other times the eyes are kind of weird. This is frequently the case with his men, as well. By this point, Smith had shaken off Kirby's influence and had become his own artist, developing a style that remains distinctive to this day. (Smith, along with all of Marvel's Silver-Age artists, had been instructed by Stan Lee to ape Kirby's art as closely as possible.) He would soon move on to other things, leaving Conan in the capable hands of John Buscema.
Labels: comics, Conan, Guest Blog, Matt Sunrich
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