Kull the Conqueror. King Kull. Kull of Atlantis. Whatever you call him, Kull was Robert E. Howard‘s first sword-and-sorcery hero, years before Conan the Barbarian.
REH would write a dozen Kull stories, plus a poem, but only three were published during his lifetime. Over the years there have been several collections of Kull stories, but the best one to get is the Del Rey trade paperback Kull: Exile of Atlantis, which is part of their REH Library. It is also illustrated, as are all the volumes in this series.
The World of Kull
The Kull stories are set in a pre-cataclysmic world circa 100,000 BC, in what we know as the Thurian Age. This is way before the time of Conan (c. 10,000 BC). In this time, there is the continent of Thuria, which combines Europe, Asia, and Africa, but in a different configuration from what we know during Conan’s time (the Hyborian Age).
Sadly, REH never created a map of this period; though Marvel did, I don’t feel it is very accurate.
Civilization is concentrated in northwestern Thuria, in the nations of Valusia, Commoria, Grondar, Kamelia, Thule, and Verulia. There are probably others, but we know little of them.
To the west of Thuria is Atlantis. It is not a high-tech civilization, but one of barbaric tribes fighting among themselves and with others. Further west is the Pictish Islands, from which the Picts, the forerunners of the Scottish-Irish, exist. There is a blood feud between the Picts and the Atlanteans. Interestingly, despite the fact the Picts are the forerunners of the Scots, artists in the comics have depicted them as looking like American Indians or Africans.
To the east of Thuria are the islands of Lemuria, where a race of pirates lives who rove around the world. At some point after the time of Kull, a cataclysm occurs wherein Atlantis and Lemuria sink, Valusia and the other nations are destroyed as Thuria changes (lands sink into the sea or lakes, and mountains rise), and the Pictish Islands become the mountains of a new continent. The Picts and Atlantean refugees flee to Thuria, but are now stone-age savages, so civilization must slowly be rebuilt up to the time of Conan.
Kull
As noted, Kull is from Atlantis, a member of the Tiger Valley tribe that was wiped out in a flood, leading to Kull living in the wilds as a feral child until adopted by the Sea Mountain tribe. When his new tribe was going to burn at the stake a woman from their tribe who had dishonored them by marrying a Lemurian pirate, he saves her suffering by granting her a quick death. This earned him exile from Atlantis.
From there, he became a galley slave of the Lemurians, then a pirate captain, then an outlaw in Valusia, a gladiator there, then captain of a Valusian army. When the current king of Valusia, Borna, became a cruel tyrant, Kull killed him and took the throne while in his early 30s. But while he has forces loyal to him, as he is also an “Atlantean barbarian,” so there are always plots to overthrow him.
Kull is not like Conan. He is broody and introspective. Unlike Conan, he is not a womanizer, and admits to not understanding love and has no interest in marrying and establishing a dynasty. He will sometimes help a young couple rather than win a woman for himself. We do not know his ultimate fate. Another difference is that we start with Kull already being king and working to keep his throne, but with Conan, he has to work up to becoming a king.
The Stories
As noted, only three Kull stories were published during REH’s lifetime, all in Weird Tales: “The Shadow Kingdom” (August 1929), “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune” (September 1929), and “Kings of the Night” (November 1930). All the unpublished stories would see print later in various places.
“The Shadow Kingdom” is set shortly after Kull became king. We met for the first time the Pict Brule the Spear-Slayer, a supporting character, and with Kull, they fight the Serpent Cult. This cult was run by the Serpent Men, an ancient pre-human race who had founded Valusia, but who are nearly extinct. They hope to take over as they can take the form of men. This is actually the origin of the idea of a lizard race that is controlling mankind.
In “The Mirrors of Tuzen Thune,” depressed, Kull seeks out a wizard, Tuzen Thune, who is of the Elder Race, for answers. But things don’t go well for the wizard. And “Kings of the Night” is both a Kull story and a Bran Mak Morn story. But how, when these characters are set thousands of years apart? Through magic, Kull is brought to Bran’s time, Roman Britain, to help in his fight.
Movies
There has been only one movie, Kull the Conqueror (1997) starring Kevin Sorbo.
It actually started out as a Conan movie and is based on a Conan story. Interestingly, the 1982 Conan movie takes a lot of Kull elements, including Kull’s backstory that is added to Conan’s, and Thulsa Doom is a Kull foe, as is the Serpent cult.
Comics
There have been several Kull comics over the years. When Marvel Comics had the rights to Conan, they soon got the rights to Kull, and after a few tryout stories gave us Kull the Conqueror with artwork by John Severin. More titles would follow.
When Dark Horse Comics got the rights, they reprinted all the color Kull material from Marvel in five “Chronicles” volumes, and the black-&-white material in two Savage Sword of Kull volumes. I like the first two volumes best as they cover the Kull the Conquerer series, where Roy Thomas adapted many of the Kull stories.
Marvel would later reprint their work in three hardback omnibus volumes. Dark Horse would also do three mini-series that were later reprinted in three trade paperbacks. Several of the Kull stories would be adapted in these comics and have many original stories. Both Marvel and DH adapted “The Shadow Kingdom”, so try and compare and contrast each adaption with the original.
Most recently, IDW got the rights, but from what little I know, the less said the better.
Kull is an interesting early character of REH. I think the fact that he re-wrote an unpublished Kull as the first Conan story and would do the same to create Solomon Kane fascinating. As noted, you can now get all the Kull stories in one volume and there are collections of the comics out there if you look.
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