Arak, who has a striking similarity to Claw, is another 'clone' of Conan the Barabarian. Conan was the creation of Robert E. Howard, who made a good living writing fantasy and sience fiction in the 1930's. Although he tried his hand at other genres, Conan was his bread and butter until his death in 1936.
In the 60's and 70's, DC comics obtained the rights to the Conan books and published a fairly successful series of comics based on the stories. As DC seemed to be making money hand over fist with this title, other manifestations of the adventures of barbarians seemed like a good idea. Even DC, who had the rights to Conan, diluted the customer base by releasing Arak, Son of Thunder. With the release of the film Conan the Barbarian and it's sequals, all things Conan became popular, including comics.
As a side note, Conan the Barbarian is the film that gave Arnold Schwarzenegger his boost to stardom. Unfortunately, none of the Conan films had any centaurs in them. In fact, none of Arnold's films have had any either.
Arak seemed to be based more on Native Americans than Nordic barbarians, but the general plot was the same. A lone fighter, whose goal will not be blocked by any mortal man, god, evil-doer, wizard, shaman, or monster. The reader follows Arak through his adventures as he tries to bring his quest to fruition.
Having never been a fan of Conan I never read many of the comics, so I never read any of the take-offs, including Arak. But this issue caught my eye in a comic shop, due to the cover, so I bought it. This seems to be one in a series, but I haven't found the next issue. As usual, only the pages with centaur images are posted.
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