Magic Carpet #1

I first encountered the artwork of Alfredo Alcala in Incredible Hulk Annual #8 (1979). He provided inks over Sal Buscema’s pencils for this issue, and, being familiar with Buscema’s work on Hulk and elsewhere, I immediately recognized the remarkable contributions that Alcala made to the art. Like Joe Sinnott, Alcala not only easily pairs with and drastically improves the pencils of any artist he works with but also infuses the art with an easily recognizable, distinct look. 

Hailing from The Philippines, Alcala is among the greatest sword & sorcery artists of the Bronze Age. Looking at his amazingly detailed art, it’s hard to believe that he was self-taught. His work appeared in several Filipino comic magazines before attaining international recognition when he created Voltar, a Viking character similar to Conan (and, indeed, influenced by Robert E. Howard’s stories), in 1963 (seven years before Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian comic began). He worked prolifically for Warren, DC, and Marvel, but he is probably best known for inking John Buscema, to great effect, on Savage Sword of Conan.                                           

Alcala’s line work is similar to Bernie Wrightson’s, indicating that they probably had similar influences (they were developing their styles around the same time and hailed from different parts of the world, so it’s unlikely that they were borrowing from each other). They both worked on DC’s “mystery” titles in the early ‘70s but went in different directions thereafter. In addition to his work on Savage Sword, Alcala worked on several of Marvel’s black-and-white magazines, as well as providing occasional art (mostly inks) on its regular titles.  

His ink work on Detective Comics over Gene Colan and Don Newton in the ‘80s represents some of the finest illustration to ever be found on the Dark Knight’s titles. 

As mentioned, Voltar is Alcala’s most well-known creation. He first appeared in the U.S. in Magic Carpet #1 (published by Comics and Comix Co., a division of Bud Plant) in 1977. As far as I can tell, this is the only issue of the magazine. The production values are a bit amateurish, but Alcala’s artwork, which, apparently, was created specifically for the issue, is anything but. It contains two stories, the first being “Voltar” (written by Manuel Auad) and the second “Buccaneers of the Skull Planet” (written by Bill Blackbeard). 

“Voltar” is a fairly typical sword & sorcery story but an effective one. The Castle of Zimar has been overthrown by the sorcery of the evil Kan and his army of marauders. Word is sent to Voltar, who recognizes the need of his people and sets out to destroy Kan. On the way, he encounters a blind sage who tells him that he will encounter dangerous illusions and men that are actually beasts on the way to the castle. Voltar dismisses this warning at first but eventually admits that there is truth in the old man’s words as he faces numerous perils along the way.  

He finally reaches the city and is welcomed by a group of peddlers in the marketplace. While discussing the matter of Kan in a tavern, Voltar is given a drink by a dancing girl. He becomes dizzy, and monsters appear all around him. He strikes out at them until he realizes that he is attacking his friends, that the drink ensorcelled him. 

His wits regained, the warrior leads a small group of men through the castle’s secret passageways until they reach Kan’s chambers. The wizard summons demonic creatures to slay his foes, but he is unable to control them, and the monsters turn on him. Voltar uses this opportunity to deal the killing blow to Kan.

Every panel of this story is a masterpiece. In addition to his skill with the human form, Alcala’s cityscapes and wilderness scenes are incredibly detailed and absolutely engrossing. I can see how he could have easily put hours upon hours into each page.  

“Buccaneers of the Skull Planet” makes use of washes rather than line work, creating a different feel. The story is more science fiction than fantasy and is kind of complicated, involving the capture of a female agent and an evil wizard’s intention to use her as a sacrifice to summon an “Elder God.” As you can probably tell, this story borrows heavily from Lovecraft, even going so far as to mention the Necronomicon and its insane author Abdul Alhazred by name. 

While it contains some interesting concepts (such as a planetoid constructed entirely from bones), its main failing, other than being derivative, is that it crams way too much into its seventeen pages. There is enough material here for either a longer story or several interconnected ones. There is a lot of dialogue and many densely packed captions, which make the story kind of a chore to read. 

The Voltar story is clearly the better of the two. If I had to guess, I’d say that the second feature was created earlier in Alcala’s career, as the artwork is less accomplished and not immediately recognizable as his. 
 

Voltar’s further adventures appeared as a backup feature in Warren’s The Rook. I’m hoping Dark Horse will compile these in a hardcover in the near future, but if they don’t, I’m sure I’ll wind up purchasing the originals.