I was checking out the Cap’n’s Comics website the other day and happened to click on the image above, which is titled by Barry Windsor-Smith as “The Enchantment”. I’d seen it before, but had never really looked at it seriously at that large size. There are several elements that make it stand out as one of BWS’ more mysterious works. Let’s take a look, shall we?

In 1976, "The Enchantment" made its first appearance in the Gorblimey Press Catalogue. I’d bet that it was actually drawn in 1974, the year Barry left Marvel. The style is quite similar to that of his work on "Red Nails". BWS certainly had Marvel and Conan on his mind when he drew it, as we shall see.

Let's start in the foreground, where multiple mysteries and easter eggs abound and work our way back to the background, where the final enigma awaits.

Starting from the left foreground, we have what appears to be a bronze shield and a broadsword, both leaning against a stone railing amid myriad blades of BWS' trademark Pre-Raphaelite grass. The broadsword is in the classic style he invented, but there's a bit more to the shield. There are rune-ish sigils on the shield-rim. At the top of the shield, it looks almost like 'BARRY'. Moving right across the flag-stone path, there is a box turtle in the far foreground, right in front of some wickets that form the boundary between the foreground and middle ground.

Now we get to one of the more interesting elements of "The Enchantment". In the extreme near foreground of the picture is some sort of stone wall or pedestal. Upon it rests a strange object. It appears to be some sort of pamphlet, rendered in hues of red, blue and yellow. If I didn't know better, I'd say that it's a crumpled copy of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian #20, one of the last issues Barry did for the series. The size is a bit off; a little small, in my opinion. However, I've stared at it a hundred times and it still looks like CtB#20.

I know exactly what that cover looks like because it was the first BWS-era Conan comic I ever owned. When I was helping Jimmy Jarman get Wizard's Asylum Comics going in Muskogee back in 1990, he gave me that comic. Conan the Barbarian #20 also contains a fan letter from none other than Keith Taylor. Thus, I know that cover. Cap'n at Cap'n's Comics saw the same thing.

So, what's going on here? Putting on my art critic/psychoanalyst cap, I'd say Barry was graphically demonstrating that he was putting Marvel--if not Conan--behind him. It's also possible that the turtle and the snake in the grass beyond the pedestal are somehow metaphors for how BWS saw the Marvel establishment. Whatever it means, it's obviously there for a reason. The flowers--anybody recognize the species?--and the urn are nice touches. More Pre-Raphaelite influence.

Now we get to the meat of this piece of art. The middle ground is cut off to the left by the stone railing. Moving right, we come to a feminine figure with her back to us. Her cowled cloak is adorned with sun (or star?)-symbols similar to those I've seen in Islamic art. She also wears a separate head-scarf or veil. Is the figure to the right of her Conan? Barry Windsor-Smith certainly did other Conan/REH-related art during this period. I like the gryphon cloak and the fringed boots. We'll call the two figures the Maid and the Man.

To the right of the Man is the one I'll call the Enchanter. He wears castanets on his left hand and is obviously evoking some sort of 'enchantment' with them. In addition, something like a sitar lies in his lap. The Enchanter is embraced by the Witch. The two seem to be brother and sister or members of the same unattractive ethnic group. I have no idea what the bronze orb in front of them is. To the right of them is a statue that might be a duplicate to the one in the lake to the left.

Now we get to the background. Directly behind the Maid and the Man is a small boat. The stem- and stern-post are both carved with the pyramids/half-octahedrons that BWS was fond of during this period. On its prow is a ‘G’, a ‘b’ and what could be an ‘P’. “GbP” was Barry’s abbreviation of “Gorblimey Press”. The pyramid carvings and “GbP” can be found in another print from the same period that has always been identified with Conan. Are the boats similar or the same?

Beyond the boat is a lake. To the left is a statue in the midst of the lake. To me, the statue has an Acheronian aspect. It is very Greco-Roman in style, but there is a sullen, malevolent foreboding to it. Something Egyptian. Stygian, anyway. The statue is on a squarish pedestal. At all the corners we can see carven, wooden artefacts of some sort. Until I can find a better term, I’ll call them ‘weirs’. At the corner of the pedestal behind the Enchanter is another ‘weir’. I bet the statues are the same. You can see the same ‘weirs’ in the print above.

Beyond the statue on the left is another boat, possibly identical to the one behind the Man and the Maid.. However, the far boat is mostly sunken. What’s going on? A richly carved, well-made boat like that is expensive. It doesn’t seem to be in more than four feet of water. Why hasn’t it been salvaged?

On the right bank of the lake is a beautiful stone pavilion. Once again, the dome is decorated like the boats with the pyramid/semi-octahedron motif. There is also the mysterious and richly-decorated ‘window’ in the dome, facing out onto the lake.

To the left, far back beyond the brooding statue, one can see just the tops of the spires and domes of a classic BWS Hyborian Age city behind the trees. Moving right and down toward the far shore of the lake, we encounter the final mystery within this work of art. Duplicates of the Maid and the Man are standing there. One Maid is staring straight at the other Maid. What, exactly, is going on?

Honestly, I have no idea. Perhaps the Enchanter has something to do with it. It has forever been one of those “What If?” scenarios: What if Barry and Roy had kept on doing Conan? I think Barry is a very creative person. That said, I’ve always thought his ideas turned out better when working in tandem with another talented writer. Wild stuff like this—and numerous other post-Marvel ‘Conanic’ works from BWS—has always made me wonder if he could’ve been the Sime to Roy’s Dunsany. Then again, Conan comics fans would’ve gotten—at most—six issues a year. Perhaps it all fell out as it did for the best.