Inappropriate (for kids) Comic Book Alert! Conan the Barbarian #24
I remember owning this comic book when I was seven years-old. I don’t remember buying it, but I remember having it and reading it. It’s actually a really good comic book, and it still is good. It holds up, even after (almost) 50 years.
But was this appropriate for a seven year-old boy?
I just made a video (posted below) reviewing Conan the Barbarian #24. This comic book was published maybe ten years before the first Arnold Schwarzenegger Conan movie, and Conan in the comics wasn’t a muscle-bound Hulk-like brute yet. Conan was uncivilized, but he was cunning and quick with a sense of honor.
Looking at it again, this comic book had everything anti-comic child psychologists were concerned about: magic/occult, extreme violence, sexy women, and phallic symbols. In other words, it was great!
But should this have been marketed/sold to kids in 1972?
What do you think? Was this comic book appropriate for kids?
Dysfunctional Literacy 
Never thought of Conan comics as for kids. I was around twenty-five when the first Conan comic was ever printed and I started collecting them. I bought every single issue faithfully for years even after I stopped actually reading them. I bought all the specials and the Sword issues. I had all of Robert E. Howard’s books and some delicious artwork put out by Gorblimey Press. Sadly I practically gave away the complete collection for practically nothing in 2005 when I was ‘downsizing’ my home. Breaks my heart. I think I still have my Conan gum cards, my Conan medallion and my Conan action figure and a very old and very tiny Conan t-shirt and a slurpee cup that I washed too hard and damaged the Conan figure. I was a REAL fan. I even bought all the Groo comics and Cerebus comics simply because they were take-offs on Conan.
I liked Cerebus and Groo too. Groo was easy to read. Cerebus took a little effort. I think I was in high school when I discovered Cerebus, so I kind of understood enough of it to be entertained.
Haha! It sounds like our collections were similar!