Klarkash-Ton (Earth-616)

Klarkash-Ton
Name	Klarkash-Ton
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	Pre-Cataclysmic Atlantean
Occupation	Priest
Creators and Appearances
Creators	H.P. Lovecraft, Roy Thomas
First	Conan Saga #95 (December, 1994) (Mentioned in the Conan Comics Chronology)
First	Conan Saga #95 (December, 1994) (Mentioned in the Conan Comics Chronology)

History

Klarkash-Ton was an aged Atlantean priest, who recounted the creation of the strange kingdoms on the far-western continent, such as Poseidonis, Zothique, and Mayapan, as well as possibly their visit by Conan (see notes).

Notes

• Klarkash-Ton was created in The Whisperer in Darkness (Weird Tales; August, 1931) by H.P. Lovecraft, as a tip of the hat to Clark Ashton Smith (friend, correspondent, and creator of concepts such as Tsathoggua or the Commoriom myth-cycle, mentioned in the story).
  • The only in-universe reference to Clark Ashton Smith is a book by a or about "Clarkashton" (seen in "Tales of the Zombie!: Damballah's Deeds", in Bizarre Adventures #33; December, 1982). It is possibly a reference to Klarkash-Ton.
• In the last section of the final chapter of the Conan Comics Chronology (Conan Saga #95; February, 1995), Roy Thomas mentioned that the revelations of Klarkash-Ton were supposed to be unveiled in the following issues of Savage Sword of Conan.
  • The title was cancelled after Savage Sword of Conan #235 (July, 1995) without any stories fitting the description, and it is possible that the stories planned were never produced. Similarly, the story "Requiem for a Conqueror", mentioned in the same section to be released soon in Savage Sword of Conan, was never published.
    • The title Conan the Savage was launched to replace Savage Sword. Though it was cancelled as well, its last issue, Conan the Savage #10 (May, 1996), was an adaptation of Smith's story "Necromancy in Naat" (1936), set on the Isle of Na'at and mentioning Mayapan and Zothique, but no mention of Klarkash-Ton was found. This story might the result of the stories teased in the Conan Comics Chronology.
    • It should also be noted that Conan the Adventurer included stories adapted from stories by Clark Ashton Smith, and the whole volume story-line revolved around Tolometh, the ancient god of Poseidonis (mentioned in Conan the Adventurer #13; June, 1995).
  • It is possible that Roy Thomas was only mirroring Lovecraft's own pun, and mentioning stories possibly adapted from Smith's stories, without intent of mentioning or depicting Klarkash-Ton in the mentioned stories.
• The exact scope of those revelations is unclear whether they only mention the strange kingdoms of the far-western continent, or if they include Conan's visits. Similarly, the temporal setting of Klarkash-Ton remains unclear (whether he was alive during the Pre-Cataclysmic Age and survived, or was of one of the Atlantean settlements of the Great Cataclysm).

See Also

• 1 mention(s) of Klarkash-Ton (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Clark Ashton Smith at the Marvel Database
• Clark Ashton Smith at Wikipedia.org