''Sword of Sorcery'' was an American sword-and-sorcery

comics anthology A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication to co ...

featuring

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two sword-and-sorcery heroes appearing in stories written by American author Fritz Leiber. They are the protagonists of what are probably Leiber's best-known stories. One of his motives in writing them was to have ...

, heroes and rogues created by

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...

. Published bi-monthly by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, it ran for five issues in 1973, with a cover price of 20¢. The title was written by

Denny O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...

and featured art by

Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker. Early life ...

Walt Simonson Walter Simonson (born September 2, 1946) is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' ''Thor'' from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned w ...

, and

Jim Starlin James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, and ...

. The book was cancelled after five issues due to bad sales. In June 2012, the series returned with a revival of

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld is a superhero published in American comic books created by DC Comics. Created by writers Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn and artist Ernie Colón, she debuted in ''The Legion of Superheroes'' #298 in April 1983. Born into ...

by writer

Christy Marx Christy Marx is an American scriptwriter, author, and game designer, especially narrative designer. She is best known for her work on various TV series including '' Jem'', ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', '' Conan the Adventurer'', ''G.I. Joe'', ...

and artist

Aaron Lopresti Aaron Lopresti (born January 7, 1964) is an American comic book artist who has worked for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, CrossGen Comics and Image Comics. Early life Aaron Lopresti was born January 7, 1964''Comics Buyer's Guide'' ...

. The title included a backup feature starring

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...

written by

Tony Bedard Antony J. L. Bedard is an American writer and editor who has worked in the comic book industry from the early 1990s through the present. He is best known for his work at CrossGen Comics, where he was under exclusive contract, and for his run writi ...

and drawn by Jesus Saiz.

Publishing history

''Wonder Woman''

A prequel to the series appears the ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

'' series, in the last panel of #201 and all of #202. In this story, written by

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ) (born April 1, 1942), is an American author and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays (on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society). His ...

team up with Diana Prince (Wonder Woman minus her super-powers), her kung-fu mentor

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...

, and

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she ...

, to defeat the dimension-spanning wizard Gahwron.

Original series

The first issue featured an adaptation of

's story, "The Price of Pain Ease" by writer

Dennis O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...

and artists

and the

Crusty Bunkers Crusty Bunker, or the Crusty Bunkers, was the collective pseudonym of a group of comic book inkers clustered around Neal Adams' and Dick Giordano's New York City-based art and design agency Continuity Studios from 1972 to 1977. The group was also ...

. It featured a cover by

Michael Kaluta Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta (born August 25, 1947), is an American comics artist and writer best known for his acclaimed 1970s adaptation of the pulp magazine hero ''The Shadow'' with writer De ...

. The same creative team adapted Leiber's story, "Thieves' House" in issue #2. O'Neil wrote an original story in #3 and then adapted "The Cloud of Hate" and "The Sunken Land" in issues #4 and #5 respectively.

The New 52

The series was relaunched with issue #0 in September 2012 (

cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d November 2012), as part of DC's

The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...

line. This series was written by

with art by

and featured the adventures of

. A backup story written by

and drawn by Jesus Saiz told the story of

. DC cancelled the new series as of issue #8 (July 2013).

Collected editions

* ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser: The Cloud of Hate and Other Stories'' collects ''Sword of Sorcery'' vol. 1 #1–5, 128 pages, June 2016, * ''Sword of Sorcery Vol. 1: Amethyst'' collects ''Sword of Sorcery'' vol. 2 #0–8, 238 pages, September 2013,

References

External links

* *
''Sword of Sorcery''
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{The New 52, state=collapsed 1973 comics debuts 1973 comics endings 2012 comics debuts 2013 comics endings Comics anthologies Comics based on fiction Comics by Dennis O'Neil Comics by Howard Chaykin Comics by Jim Starlin DC Comics titles Defunct American comics Fantasy comics