Conan the Adventurer

Conan the Adventurer


     This may very well be one of the most overlooked and underrated cartoon series of the 1990s.  Based upon the Conan the Barbarian comic series, the show chronicles the adventures of a young and sometimes naive Conan, long before he becomes Conan the King.
     The premise of the show revolves around the possession of "star metal" and its ability to hold magical power.  Conan's father is a blacksmith and uses a fallen meteorite to create mythical weapons.  At the same time, the world is being infiltrated by evil serpent men hiding in plain site under the guise of humanity.  In addition to being able to contain magical energy, star metal also has the uncanny ability of exposing the true visage of snake men and ultimately banishing them to the abyss.  The abyss is a Hades-like region where there leader the evil God Set, a huge venomous serpent, was banished nearly a millenia ago by the good wizards of the realms.
    In order to return their banished ruler to Earth, Wrath-Amon an evil serpent man wizard must gather up enough star metal to create a series of star metal rings.  These will be set atop various temples in order to create a portal for Set to return.  In his quest to gather up all the known star metal, Wrath-Amon encounters Conan's father.  When he refuses to give the evil wizard all of his star metal, Wrath-Amon turns Conan's mother, father and grandfather into living stone statues. Conan is away at the time and upon his return, discovers the curse placed upon his family.  It is then that he vows never to rest until all the serpent men have been banished to the abyss and to obtain Wrath-Amon's black ring of power, which he believes holds the magic to undo his family's curse of living stone.
    Along the way he meets, Needle a fledgling phoenix, Epimetrius the long-dead sage, Jasmin a circus athlete, Zulu a warrior prince who can control animals, Grey Wolf a Zanthus wizard, Slag a Viking, and Falconar who has a magical winged cape.  Together with his new friends, they experience many dungeons and dragons-type adventures.
     The stories are well written, character development is excellent, villains are believable, and mythology abounds from Egypt, Sumeria and China.  My only real gripe would be some of the corny humor and the annoying behaviors of Needles and Dregs, but it was meant to be a children's cartoon, so I can live with it.  We all tolerated Orko, Polly and Snarf.  By I digress a bit.  With nearly 90 episodes and three seasons, this cartoon needs to make its way into your hopper.  Many episodes are available on Youtube, including the epic Conan the Adventurer Movie.  If you love fantasy cartoons, monsters and adventure, then I highly recommend this series and give it a wholehearted two thumbs way up!!

Cheers!
Drakov

Absolutely Love this Image!!

One of my all time favorite dragons has always been Tiamat.  As far back as I can remember, I looked forward to Saturday morning cartoons just to catch a glimpse of this majestic and powerful beauty.  Possessing the breath weapons of all the evil dragon species, Tiamat was the considered to be the mother of all the chromatic, or colored, dragons and lived in the Dragon's graveyard according to the 80s cartoon series.  I spent years trying to track down an original LJN Tiamat toy and a "Dragon of the Month" Tiamat pewter figurine to add to my personal collection, which thanks to ebay, I did some time in the late 1990s, and to this day they are still some of my prized pieces. (that and my shield shooters, cavefisher and the Knickerbocker LOTR Ring Wraith and Charger, but that's a story for another day!)  It is great to see "Wizards of the Coast" giving some love to this awesome monster once again with gaming modules, stories and magnificent art work.  Hope you enjoy my short tribute.
Cheers!
Drakov

KindleWorld Novels NOW available to Kindle Unlimited Users!!!

If you are a Kindle Unlimited (KU) user  Amazon announced today that Kindle Worlds (KW) novels are now available for download at no additional charge.

Please spread the word and check it out. If you're into G.I.Joe please check out my latest book.

Armed and Dangerous, A G.I.Joe Origins Story

by clicking:  HERE

Cheers! and Yo JOE!

Drakov

Official Facebook Author page

Well I feel I'm starting to get the hang of this technology thing in terms of creating an online author presence.  Today I created an official author page on Facebook.  Please like my page and pass it on to others if it wouldn't be too much of a bother.
Thanks in advance,
Drakov

Drakov Kinski Facebook

ToyCon NJ November 12th

     So, I took a trip outside of the ordinary today.  I spent a couple hours doing something I haven't done regularly in over ten years.  I visited ToyCon NJ in Parsipanny, NJ, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised!  It was held at the Parsippany PAL and had close to 200 individual vendors with a ton of vintage and newer collector's memorabilia.  Although not as pronounced as a Philadelphia or New York Comic Con, there was still a number of cosplayers on site.  Mostly Star Wars cosplay with a Cobra Commander thrown in for good measure. 
     The vendor's tables were a virtual smorgasbord of action figures, video games, comic books, Funko Pops, Dorbz, Anime, Godzilla, MOTU, G.I.Joe, Star Wars and even some vintage tin toys and Christmas ornaments.  I am a long time collector myself with a rather extensive collection mostly in storage due to a lack of room, so nowadays I really only go to look at current prices and not necessarily to buy.  Nonetheless, if there had been an ATM on site, I might actually have made a few purchases, but alas, there wasn't so I went home empty handed much to the liking of my wife.
    In addition to the vendors, there were also vintage video consoles to play, retro stand alone arcade games, an area to drive your RC cars, a matchbox ramp, gamer's tables and more.
     Outside you could take pictures with KITT from Knight Rider or grab a bite of decadence from the food truck.  All in all, I gotta say it looked like fun for the whole family and the turnout was good as the parking lot was overflowing and people were coming and going throughout the time I was there.  Throw in an hourly raffle for door prizes and it was a win!
    The only thing I felt was missing were autograph/phot opportunities with celebrities and an onsite ATM, but it was called "ToyCon" not "Comic Con."  Hope you enjoyed this quick review.
Cheers!
Drakov

Winter Storage: My 78 Firebird

     For those of you who do not know me personally, allow me a little of your time.  The picture above is of my 1978 Pontiac Firebird Esprit.  My parents bought this car for me to drive way back in the early 1990s. It has been in my possession now for close to twenty-five years.  Being an ASE certified auto technician in addition to my full time career, the car has gone through a slow restoration, as it was originally my daily driven for close to twelve years seeing rain, snow, sleet and scorching summers.  After pulling the motor, transmission and drive shaft for rebuilding.  I've replaced the exhaust, interior carpet, front floor boards, rear quarter panels, fenders, emblems,etc.  Finally, she made it to the body shop for a full paint job, original GM arctic white.
     Now, she spends the majority of the year under lock and key at my rental property.  Every year for the past three years now, I retrieve her as my summer cruiser in late June or early July.  I attempt to put at least 1000 or so miles on her from July until late October.  This year I managed to keep her active until today.  The weather and temperatures has changed drastically in just the last forty-eight hours and it was time to return her to her winter roost.  It's a sad day returning her to hibernate the winter away, but I will look forward to her return come early summer.  They say you can never go back, that person never knew the joy and memories of continuing to drive your first car decades later.
Cheers!
Drakov

Errand Day

     As the title implies, today I will  be running a few errands in order to catch up with my busy life.  Having a few days off, even if only partially due to the second job, allows me a little time for creativity.  I will be spending at least an hour in the Mercedes dealership for a recall on my wife's C300.  Apparently there is a problem with the electronic starter solenoid that can result in the car catching fire.  An easy fix according to them, but this remains to be seen.
    The time afforded to me by waiting will allow me to spend some time writing and editing Kindleworlds Novel 2, "Cobra's Cesspool." I am looking to have this novel occupy at least 250 pages which would be an improvement over Book 1 "Armed and Dangerous," which was only about 150 pages.  I am unsure where I want this book to end and Book 3, "Untitled," to pick up.  I guess only time will tell.
     If you are actually reading any of this, please leave me a comment.  Would love to hear from you.
Cheers!
Drakov

Veteran's Day 2017

     Today was a solemn day in the school today as we reinstated an important tradition that had been lost in 2012, due to Hurricane Sandy.  The students of the high school were treated to an assembly about the service, experiences and heroism of some of our local military veterans. 

     I stood in the back of the auditorium as the entire school stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.  Our first speaker was our Vice Principal who spoke about her life experience being the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran and what Veteran's Day meant to her.  Her ultimate feelings about the day spoke to the fact that she felt it was "silly" to have only one day a year to honor all that veterans have done for this great country.

     Our next speaker was retired Army captain and Iraqi war veteran, and our very own 7th grade English teacher and department chair.  He shared with the assembly all the things he carries with him as a result of being in combat and serving this country.  He ended his speech with challenging those in attendance to make the ultimate sacrifice and to in some way serve this country, not necessarily by joining the service, but by doing something to make a difference.  it was the first time I heard him speak about his time in the army and it was quite moving.

     The following speaker was our current Board President and retired 82nd Airborne division Vietnam veteran.  He was awarded the purple heart, the bronze star and several other military honors for his service.  He spoke of a world that rejected him and his fellow brothers in arms, a world that did not appreciate the sacrifice that he had made for their freedoms.  A different perspective from a veteran of a different war. This however, in no way tarnished the pride he felt for this great nation and all those who served with him.  He spoke of the affects of PTSD and the needs of the veterans, many too proud to ask for assistance.

     The overall purpose of the assembly was to heighten the awareness of all in attendance, of what veterans and enlisted soldiers do to insure that we can all continue to do what we do today.  Being the nephew and godchild of two deceased military veterans, and the friend of many who have served and still serve, I feel that this assembly is one that needs to take place every year.

     God Bless America!  God Bless our Veterans, keep them safe and Thank You for your service TODAY AND EVERYDAY!!!

YoJoe!

FSS 7.0

I have been supporting Fun Publications efforts to release Modern era G.I.Joe figures to collectors for roughly twenty years.  I own every convention set except the very first one and have attended several JoeCons over the years.  Most memorable being Providence RI 2010, New Orleans LA 2012  Denver CO 2016.
This year I will be making the trek to Chatanooga TN for what appears to be the final Official GIJOE convention.

I have been enjoying the previews of FSS 7 so far.

General Hawk

Cobra Commander

Dusty and Sandstorm

Thoughts??

New Info Added

Just added a list of some of my closest friends and bloggers.  Please visit their pages and show some love.

Matt G.     The Geeked Life

Stephen     GIJOBURG

Karl        When It Was Cool

Magnus   Geek Furious


All great guys that I have known for year's with great content and opinions.

Cobra's Cesspool Book 2 Update

I am currently about 170 or so pages into my second Kindleworld's Novel titled "Cobra's Cesspool"
The novel will deal with the creation of the DEF (Drug Elimination Force).  It will also help to establish the Headman and his International Drug Ring.  The purpose of the novel is to make the public aware of the current heroin epidemic ravishing the United States and to incorporate a brand (GIJoe) who has in the past, made an effort to raise drug awareness in the 1990s.
The novel will see the inclusion and development of some well-known G.I.Joe team members as well as giving a voice to some lesser known support characters.  As always, I have included some newly created characters to add further depth and realism to the story.
Please follow me here and on Twitter @DrakovKinski for more updates.The current release date is January 2018.
As always thanks for reading, and YoJoe!

Some of my favorite authors

Over the years, I have read many books from many illustrious and well-known authors. Some of my favorites over the years have been R.A. Salvatore, J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen King, Robert Westall (Cats of Seroster), Larry Hama, and Elaine Cunningham.  Check some of these out if you haven't already!!

Welcome!

Hello everyone and welcome to the official Drakov Kinski Author Page!

     I have been writing sci-fi and fantasy novels for several years now.  My current passion lies with contributing to the G.I.Joe genre on Kindleworlds.  Growing up as a child of the 80's and 90's, I had the distinct privilege of being exposed to what I consider to be the "Golden Age of Imagination."  Saturday morning cartoons, ABC After School Specials, the Worlds of Hanna Barbera, Filmation, Sunbow,  Rankin-Bass and the World of Sid and Marty Kroft just to name a few.   I grew up with such cartoon icons as G.I.Joe, Transformers, He-Man, Thundercats, Silverhawks, Dungeons and Dragons and classics like Looney Tunes, Battle of the Planets, Mighty Mouse and Tom and Jerry.  All of these intellectual properties have influenced my imagination over the years and helped to create many of the characters that appear in my books today. 
      So, if you are feeling a little nostalgic or just looking for a place to geek out to the past, welcome to my blog.  I look forward to getting to know many of you and hope you can join me on my fantastic journey as an author.

Cheers!

Drakov Kinski