Along with Solomon Kane, Kull is one of the more recognizable characters from the mind of Robert E. Howard. What most readers may not realize is that Kull predates Conan. In fact, Conan’s first story “The Phoenix on the Sword” is a near word for word rewriting of a Kull story! Kull and Conan share many of the same qualities, both having dark hair, great fighting skills, and becoming kings of foreign nation-states. Having read all of the stories from either character, I can easily see how each could be replaceable with the other with very little effort.

Kull the Conqueror saw his first story published in 1929 with “The Shadow Kingdom.” Though only two other stories were published in his lifetime, Howard had completed nine other Kull stories, which were published in the late 1960s. Many of the stories, along with several Conan tales, were not sent to Weird Tales in protest over his pay. Because these stories were completed and essentially ready for publishing, they represent some pretty entertaining reads among the posthumous output from Howard’s creations.

Kull was featured in three different series from Marvel in the 1970s and 1980s. After three entertaining miniseries from Dark Horse, Kull has recently landed at IDW with the title Kull Eternal. The miniseries is a sort-of adaptation of the excellent 1932 story “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune.” In the original, Kull becomes bored with being King and is told to visit the wizard Tuzun Thune for a pick me up. Once he arrives, Kull is literally and figuratively enthralled by the mirrors in Thune’s house, showing him visions of a great many things. Slowly, Kull’s soul is pulled into the mirrors until he is freed by his friend Brule.

The IDW series goes a step further by showing us what is in the mirrors. It is a cool concept that has been mired by a janky release schedule. Since the summer of 2017, only three issues have been published, with the fourth and final issue being punted further and further down the road. Marvel could do a better job with Kull…I’m just putting that out there.