In the course of drawing twenty two of the first two dozen issues of Conan the Barbarian, Windsor-Smith underwent a remarkable artistic evolution. Forsaking the inspiration of Jack Kirby, Barry developed a style of thoughtful dynamism and art and design entirely unknown to American comic books.

 

Incorporating his early influences of Art Nouveau’s organic flourishes, and the extraordinarily detailed naturalism of the Pre Raphaelite school of painting, Windsor-Smith’s ever- evolving methods of storytelling brought a sense of ornate classicism to the monthly Conan comic books that even now, over thirty years later, remains without peer.

   
Above: The cover of Conan the Barbarian #19,
October, 1972
Above: The cover of Conan the Barbarian #21,
December, 1972