Conan the Barbarian & Mary Richards
Indomitable Conquerors
Now recognized as a master of 1930s pulp fiction,
Conan's creator Robert Howard is now the subject
of a 545 page compendium of his works, part of a
three-volume series, reviewed in today's Wall Street Journal.
"Strong and fierce, he overcomes any physical
challenge. Dump him unconscious on the deck of a
slave-galley, and he soon wakes up, kicks the captain
into the scuppers, seizes an ax, chops free the slaves
and is the captain of his own pirate ship."
Then, by comparison to our barbarian friend,
we have the beret-wielding Mary Richards
(Mary Tyler Moore)—warrior for women's lib,
adventurer in TV programming, usurper of Ted Baxter's pomposity.
Had Mary invited Conan to dinner
(probably over-cooked) or had Conan ordered
Mary to strangle a giant
python with a rusty chain,
I think they would have been a good team.
She was a tough broad, and
Conan had a good appetite.
