Third and Final Issue
The third and final issue of Kull and the Barbarians finally seems to be what the title wanted to do all along - an outlet for the non-Conan Robert E. Howard heroes. After Conan, all three of the next most popular characters, Red Sonja, Solomon Kane, and Kull, all appear within.
The first feature is the headlining Kull story, 'The Omen in the Skull', which is, sadly, just kind of average sword and sorcery fare.
The second, 'An Informal History of Solomon Kane', is a well researched overview of that characters history, perhaps included because the editors knew that this magazine was ending and perhaps it would drum up enough interest in a Solomon Kane stand-alone title.
The third feature, 'The Day of the Sword' is probably the best of the lot. It's the origin story of Red Sonja, and it takes a couple unexpected twists away from the cliched barbarian hero course, though not enough to call it in any way genre-defying.
Finally, the Solomon Kane story is the least believable, with Solomon Kane and a voodoo priest on their own taking on an entire army of vampires. Had this been toned down to a more reasonable number of foes, it might be more believable. Still, it's good to see a Solomon Kane comic, even if he hardly fits with the other barbarians in this magazine, being something of an anti-barbarian in fact.
I'm not surprised this magazine didn't last. A dollar was a lot of money back in the 1970s, and while the title is fairly good, I wager many didn't see it as good enough to justify the expense.