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Apparently, much Barbarian culture has been preserved in
fantasy art, novels, and role-playing games. There are many links to
such sites on the Web. I have here a few of these links (the better
ones I've found).
Conan the Barbarian
The Barbarian Nation: An unofficial Conan site. Hands down, the best Conan the Barbarian site on the World Wide Web. All the information about the Conan books, movie archives, a trivia game, Conan art gallery, and much more! The Savage World of Conan the Barbarian: . The runner-up site; great graphics and content about the Conan books and movie archive. Other Conan the barbarian sites on the 'Web:
Barbarian Comics and Cartoons
It's sad to say, but it is my opinion that the delightful humor in Asterix is above the head of most Americans. So infused is our culture with glitz and sensationalism, and so immune are we to anything that remotely smacks of historical reality or true culture, that Asterix had little chance of surviving over here. Most of the in-jokes in Asterix are European in nature, and we Americans are too insular to be overly concerned with most other cultures (with exceptions, of course). If I sound bitter, it's only because I realize that because of the obsession with sensationalism of our mass society, we miss out on so much. Here is a veritable treasure that the rest of the world has enjoyed for 25+ years, and most of the United States has never heard of it, save for those few who either travelled abroad or cared to enrich their horizons, even locally. Maybe Asterix can teach us a little something about ourselves as well. Some other great Asterix links are given below. I've tried to target those that are in English; however, if you know of some good Asterix sites that are in other languages, let me know and I'll add them in.
I plan to add more Asterix links as I have time to research them, as well as give more airtime to the brave little Gaul in a later update. Asterix sort of "crept up on me," to say the least; I had no idea how much there was out there about him. Many thanks to Jesús Balsinde who informed me of the official Asterix page. All Asterix images copyright Editions Albert
Rene 1996. All rights reserved. The humor is extremely slapstick and reminiscent of the Bullwinkle cartoons; a veritable comedy of errors. To understand Groo's particular outlook on the world, Groo is the kind of character who walks up to a Burger King and orders a Big Mac (and is serious about it). A "Grooism" is anything that someone does that is hopelessly, blatantly, obviously stupid; so stupid that it's hilarious.
Image of Groo courtesy of Sergio Aragones. All Rights Reserved.
 Akiko,
Mark Crilley's creation, is a young Japanese girl trying to save a
kingdom on another world named Smoo from ruin. With her are
her helpers: a kindly yet fussy bookworm named Mr. Beeba, a
mysterious little alien named Poog that's only a face, a robot
named Gaax, and a goofy space barbarian named Spuckler, who's
almost as popular as Akiko herself. Spuckler is definitely
the comic relief of the piece, as he keeps getting himself into
scrapes even with the best of intentions and constantly irritating
the irascible Mr. Beeba with his impulsiveness.
The comic is delightful, well-written, and fun for all ages.
Children love the mild yet exciting adventures, and there's plenty
of in-jokes to keep the adults laughing as well. Currently,
there's a romance between Akiko and the young prince of Smoo.
Akiko is available in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, from Sirius
Entertainment publishing. Let's hope Akiko is here to
stay for some time! Other Comics and Cartoons Finally, here is a listing of the various Conan the Barbarian comics available on the Web, as well as at this location. In the way of cartoons, Thundarr the Barbarian was a short-lived but wide-acclaimed series about a post-apocalyptic barbarian and his evil-fighting companions. This particular link leads to the main Thundarr site on the Web. Thundarr can now be seen regularly on Cartoon Network. Another cartoon that caused great controversy during its time was He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He-Man was conceived when Mattel toy designers began working with Conan the Barbarian action figure characters. Mattel turned aside from the "Conan" image, however, worried about parental concerns about a uncivilized "pagan" sword-wielding barbarian as a role model. *SIGH* However, the toy was converted to He-Man; a prince who uses his magical sword to turn into a barbarian superhero. During the early to mid-80's, He-Man had record sales, and Filmation created a cartoon about the toy, set in the mythical land of Eternia, with the arch-villain Skeletor as He-Man's antagonist. Children loved the series, but overly concerned parents and children's rights activists hated it. It was abominable to them that a marketing company should create a show about a toy, rather than the other way around. This was indeed a pity, because the show developed plots with deep meaning and understanding other than just "hack-n-slash." The arguments presented from both sides became extremist to the point of absurdity. (Take a look at the site for more information on this). After 10 years, one can look back and see how silly all the controversy about this show was. It makes one wonder, are we being as silly about Barney? Here are some sites with some good Barbarian reading material. Some poetry, some prose, some references. Fantasy and Folk Barbarian Literature
Historical, Academic, and Classic Barbarian Literature
Modern-day Barbarian Literature
Some of the better Barbarian-related fiction AND non-fiction NOT found on the net:
(Non-frames only:) Navigate to: Barbarian History | Art | Literature | Games | Resources | Web Barbarians | Home |
There
are many Conan-related sites out on the Web. Although Conan is not
my favorite barbarian (I have nothing against him, I simply think there is
better barbarian-related literature out there), I also realize that Conan
has inspired most of the barbarian-related fervor that exists in popular
fantasy literature today. Besides, he was a pretty good fellow,
always striving to do the right thing, and that's always high points in my
book. Because I can't portray him as well as others can, I'm not
going to go into any great detail on Conan or Robert Howard, his author.
(Besides, why re-invent the wheel? Others have fabulous Conan pages
out on the web.) 
Asterix
has actually been around since 1959, the brainchild of Rene
Goscinny and Albert Uderzo (author and cartoonist, respectively).
One of the main drawing points is that in addition to being funny,
the comic series is strongly based on historical fact. (They
did their research well!) Asterix is world-popular, having
been translated to over 40 different languages. There's even
a Asterix theme park just north of Paris, France (a la
Disneyland). The big question is, why is Asterix virtually unheard
of in the United States?
And then there's
