Thrud the Barbarian is a comics character created by British artist Carl Critchlow in 1981. Although Thrud himself is a parody of Conan the Barbarian, particularly as depicted in the Arnold Schwarzenegger films, inspiration for the character's adventures and adversaries has been drawn from several fantasy sources. During the 1980s, a Thrud comic strip was a regular and popular feature in the roleplay and wargame magazine White Dwarf with Thrud's grotesque and comic antics forming a memorable part of the magazine's golden age. In 2002, continued interest in the character from role-playing enthusiasts and a desire to be free to experiment with a new artistic style prompted Critchlow to self-publish a series of award-winning full-length Thrud the Barbarian comics. Since October 2002, Critchlow has continued to develop his new artistic style in several different 2000 AD stories, contributing to the success of Lobster Random in particular. While Critchlow's use of muted palettes has been criticised, his style has received praise for being highly recognisable and unique. Appearances Initial publications The character of Thrud was created by the then 18-year-old Critchlow in 1981 while he was at foundation art college. His graphic design tutor, Bryan Talbot, gave him the project of producing a comic strip. At the time, Critchlow was reading the Conan books by Robert E. Howard, and this inspired him to produce Thrud. The initial five-page strip was published in comics fanzine Arken Sword. When Critchlow moved on to art college in Liverpool, Thrud made a further appearance in the comic Dead 'Ard, which Critchlow co-authored with artist Euan Smith. Dead 'Ard also featured a strip titled The Black Currant, subsequently re-published in the 26th and final issue of the Warrior comic anthology. The Black Currant would later appear as one of Thrud's many enemies. White Dwarf On seeing an advertisement in White Dwarf magazine asking for cartoonists, Critchlow submitted some of his Thrud strips and was hired. Thrud the Barbarian became a monthly feature in White Dwarf between issue 45 in September 1983 and issue 105 in September 1988. During this time, the black-and-white single-page strip was voted "Most popular feature" for three consecutive years. In 1987, a collection of Thrud strips was published in a Thrud the Barbarian Graffik Novel by Games Workshop. In addition to strips that had been printed in White Dwarf, this anthology included a re-drawn version of the original Arken Sword strip and