Famous First Fridays: Starr, the Slayer

I know what you're thinking, Groove-ophile. "Who-the-what? What's so famous or first about him?" Well, we all know that Roy Thomas and Barry (pre-Windsor) Smith teamed up to produce the hottest, coolest, bestest sword and sorcery comic of all time, Conan the Barbarian (we do, don't we?), but did'ja know that about six months prior to that dazzling debut, Thomas and Smith teamed for a warm-up/try-out stab at sword and sorcery with a character called--yep, you guessed it!--Starr, the Slayer? Didja know that self-same savage made his debut in Marvel's Chamber of Darkness #4 (January, 1970)? Did'ja know that fateful feature was reprinted in Conan the Barbarian #16 (April, 1972)? Well he did and it was. Who knows, without Starr, Roy might never have convinced Smilin' Stan to take a shot at Conan--or Barry, for that matter! And then where would we be? Conan-less! Perish the thought! So, it's time to give old Starr his due, for without him, we might never have gotten the barrage of sword-slinging swingers we so enjoyed back in the Groovy Age! G'head, Groove-ophile! Get your groove on with Starr, the Slayer in "The Sword and the Sorcerers!"