Cartoons That Made Us Gay: Conan the Adventurer
Added 2024-06-01 21:59:48 +0000 UTC“The Red Brotherhood” (September 17, 1993)
Heads up: This episode has a brief discussion of suicide, but I will tell you where to skip ahead if you don’t want to hear about it.
The first live-action Conan movie is a spectacle of blood and beefcake. The sequel, however, eschews violence in favor of something more kid-friendly, which makes sense on paper until you stop and notice that Arnold Schwarzenegger is wearing a loincloth the whole time. Is it strange to insert a Physique Pictorial aesthetic into children’s entertainment? Regardless of if is, that’s very much what this 1992 cartoon adaptation of Conan did — and in this particular episode, Conan and his daddybear viking buddy join a pirate crew where shirts are not allowed.
Per Mattel, He-Man was not a reworking of Conan the Barbarian toys, but Wheeljack’s Lab lays out all the info.
Glen’s posting of the gayest moment in this episode.
Drew’s posting of the official arcade flyer for the Capcom game Black Tiger, which features a prominent barbarian butt.
Enrique Dueñas’ interview with Christy Marx
Christy Marx’s tribute to the writer of this episode, Katherine Lawrence.
Comments
I adored this show, which seemed to air around the same time as Exo-squad, two cartoons I felt were growing up with me. The follow-up, Conan and the Young Adventurers or whatever, was a sad thing. re: Conan in the 616-Marvel Universe; before Marvel lost the license (again) recently, Conan was featured in a few different 616 stories. He even joined a version of the Avengers (the Savage Avengers) and met Emma Frost (among many others). Back in the 70s/80s, aside from the X-Men story Drew cited, Conan also appeared in a couple of issues of What If -- v1 #43 "What If... Conan the Barbarian Were Stranded in the 20th Century?" (where he became a pimp and joined the Avengers) and v2 #16 "What If... Wolverine Had Lived During the Age of Conan the Barbarian?" (Conan and Wolverine switch places during the Dark Phoenix saga. Conan throws a rock at Cyclops' head because he thinks Jean is Red Sonja, which breaks their psychic link, and lets Dark Phoenix take over completely!)
Joshua Corum
2024-06-06 14:36:26 +0000 UTCAnother cartoon I’d love to hear you cover is M.A.S.K. Nothing particularly gay about it, but its parade of masculine archetypes all of whom were pretty hot certainly contributes to some of my gay awakening.
George M Hinds
2024-06-06 11:55:00 +0000 UTC
