In 1975, there were many changes going on in the world of comics. Subject matter previously considered inappropriate for mainstream print since the 1950s, especially regarding drug abuse, was challenged by Marvel and D.C. As a result, the CCA lost some of its control over comic contents, which led to an increase in depictions of monsters and some fairly graphic violence in overground comics (both having long been a staple in underground comix), and few issues of Marvel Comics’ adaptations of Robert E. Howard characters such as Conan the Barbarian ended without someone or something being killed or bloodied. Spurred on by the success of these properties, a sword and sorcery genre began that, while not as big a part of the market today as it once was, continues in a variety of publisher’s titles.
In this era, one of the contenders for the Conan market, which also has a tenuous connection to Beowulf, was the similarly titled Wulf the Barbarian (February 1975) which lasted for four issues from the short-lived 1970s version of Atlas Comics. (Note: Atlas Comics restarted as a company in late 2010, and a new Wulf title, featuring the character being transported to the present day, began in March 2011 and ran for six issues.) Published, edited, and created by professionals who had also worked in some capacity for D.C. and Marvel, Atlas Comics seemed like a solid contender in the comic market, but few of its titles lasted more than a handful of issues, and the consistency of artist and writer teams between issues was a problem. While there were many bright spots in their line, many of Atlas’ titles and characters were derivative or swipes of existing characters, and Wulf is a good example.
Written by Larry Hama and with art by Hama and Klaus Janson, the title character is on a quest to avenge the deaths of his parents. For the most part, the storyline is fairly typical of the sword and sorcery comics of the time, which were heavily influenced by writers such as Howard, Fritz Lieber, Michael Moorcock, and J.R.R. Tolkien. A tenuous connection between Beowulf and Wulf may be seen through the use of the troll referred to as “the Grinner,” a character that would fit into a Tolkien story with ease and who, like Grendel, seems to take joy in killing humans and is killed by Wulf at the end of the first issue. Author Hama notes that the publishers “were looking for clone characters of the main Marvel titles” and that he thought “(Wulf) was a cool name" for his Conan clone. He has stated that Beowulf was not his model for the character. The similarities between this character and Conan were reduced by setting him the story in another world, and while he follows the heroic tradition of traveling on a quest for the honor of his family and people and fighting monsters similar to Beowulf, he is only being mentioned here because of the similarity in names of the main character and his back story.
In this era, one of the contenders for the Conan market, which also has a tenuous connection to Beowulf, was the similarly titled Wulf the Barbarian (February 1975) which lasted for four issues from the short-lived 1970s version of Atlas Comics. (Note: Atlas Comics restarted as a company in late 2010, and a new Wulf title, featuring the character being transported to the present day, began in March 2011 and ran for six issues.) Published, edited, and created by professionals who had also worked in some capacity for D.C. and Marvel, Atlas Comics seemed like a solid contender in the comic market, but few of its titles lasted more than a handful of issues, and the consistency of artist and writer teams between issues was a problem. While there were many bright spots in their line, many of Atlas’ titles and characters were derivative or swipes of existing characters, and Wulf is a good example.
Written by Larry Hama and with art by Hama and Klaus Janson, the title character is on a quest to avenge the deaths of his parents. For the most part, the storyline is fairly typical of the sword and sorcery comics of the time, which were heavily influenced by writers such as Howard, Fritz Lieber, Michael Moorcock, and J.R.R. Tolkien. A tenuous connection between Beowulf and Wulf may be seen through the use of the troll referred to as “the Grinner,” a character that would fit into a Tolkien story with ease and who, like Grendel, seems to take joy in killing humans and is killed by Wulf at the end of the first issue. Author Hama notes that the publishers “were looking for clone characters of the main Marvel titles” and that he thought “(Wulf) was a cool name" for his Conan clone. He has stated that Beowulf was not his model for the character. The similarities between this character and Conan were reduced by setting him the story in another world, and while he follows the heroic tradition of traveling on a quest for the honor of his family and people and fighting monsters similar to Beowulf, he is only being mentioned here because of the similarity in names of the main character and his back story.