Conan the Barbarian: Issue #4 (2019) "The King in the Cage"

Welcome back! I believe the frequency of these is supposed to be every couple of weeks, so this one is a little late, published nearly a month since #3. Issue 5 is slated for April, so it looks like it has probably shifted in frequency to a monthly schedule


Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Gerardo Zaffino
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Esad Ribic

Well. I am not 100% sure what to make of this issue, and the review of it without spoilers will be difficult. We certainly see a lot of the key hallmarks of Conan. For me it doesn't feel much like a Conan tale, and it doesn't seem to fit in among the rest of the stories we have seen thus far.

We do see a new artist on this issue, Gerardo Zaffino, who's style is closer to what we are seeing in Savage Sword. It is another loose almost savage, style that I know some people will not like, especially in comparison to the previous art of this book by Asrar. All that being said, Zaffino produces some excellent drawings in this issue of "Conan the Barbarian".

Art:
Story:
Cover:
Sword & Sorcery:

My rating this month is 3.5 out of 5 Skulls of My Enemies!

This is the lowest rating I have given this book since it was released. I just felt it didn't fit into the Conan mythos as well, despite it having some solid basis of Howard canon behind it. The art is good and there are parts I really did like, but overall this issue, for me at least, wasn't as good as we have seen in the past. Perhaps this story will be more directly continued in a later issue.

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Savage Sword of Conan: Issue #1 (2019)

Back with another Conan day and another spoiler free review! February 13th and the debut issue of the new Savage Sword of Conan! We have seen a few images here and there from this book and I can tell you I am excited to read it!


Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Ron Garney
Colorist: Richard Isanove
Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Alex Ross

You can of course check out Gerry Duggan, Ron Garney and Alex Ross on Twitter. You can find Alex, Ron and Gerry on Instagram as well! Go and give them some social media love!

Well, where to start? Lots of talk about Crom and lack of caring. That is a good thing. The story starts with things going from bad to worse for Conan which, at the end of the day is a great start for this series and feels proper.

The art by Garney is different from the Barbarian art. I'd call it looser, less precise, more raw...maybe even more SAVAGE. I think it will be a good match for this story. The coloring is excellent, with the line work supporting it more like a painting in a lot of panels vs colored in comic panels. I am definitely a fan of the style.

The story is good, if so far not that deep. It has potential to get there and foreshadows the future for our Cimmerian hero. One of the things I liked about things was the rise and fall....and fall...and fall of Conan's fortune.

The cover is great. Conan looks like Conan. He is locked in combat with undead pirates! Axe overhead to crush his foes while he grips one by the neck. The cover is evocative of action and full of little details.

This comic feels like sword and sorcery, monsters in line with REHs creations, nothing completely over the top, no magic missiles, no fireballs. It feels like we are getting a good low fantasy setting with this series.

Art:
Story:
Cover:
Sword & Sorcery:

Well, I am just gonna go ahead and rate this a solid 5 out of 5 Skulls of my Enemies!

Overall I clearly liked the start of this new offering from Marvel, I feel we have the beginnings of a new adventure, and that new adventure is supported very well by not only the style of art that Garney is producing but also by the colouring being added by Isanove. We have a strong first issue and I am very much looking forward to seeing where things go.

I don't think this is a perfect issue despite my 5/5 rating, there are a few story issues that gave me pause, but most of them are all REH Conan knowledge based that the average fan might not even recognize. Heck, I would have to been double check them to be sure, but they are not so blatant to really pull me out of the story.

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Conan: Issue #1 (2019) "The Weird of the Crimson Witch"

January 2nd 2019! I trust everyone had an excellent holiday season! Today will be back to work for a lot of us, myself included. At least today there is a bright point.


That's right! Today MARVEL publishes there first title of the newly re-acquired Conan license from Dark Horse. I have been excited for this since it was announced, not because I dislike Dark Horse, but because Marvel and the History of the Barbarian in this modern age go hand in hand. I have been waiting to see what the company that gave us the Savage Sword of Conan would give us.

So I got up this morning, made coffee and eggs and fired up Comixology and had a read.

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Mahmud Asrar
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Esar Ribic

I've seen the cover and I've seen some of Asrar's work over on Instagram, which I encourage you to go and check out.

I enjoyed all of the art in the book; the cover is great and the interior art is excellent. I have seen some reviewers make comment about weird arm angles and such, but I didn't have anything jump out at me. I even went back through looking for it and couldn't find anything seriously bad that jumped out at me.

I had a moment of doubt early on, that perhaps these guys didn't know their stuff. During a fight Conan says he prays to Crom. I thought to myself, "Yes Conan says Crom quite a bit in the comics, but as a curse more than praying. We all know Crom doesn't listen and it's better to not call his gaze upon you. So having a panel where Conan says he prays to Crom, left me uncertain. It is quickly followed by this panel:

YES! I am in. One of my favorite panels from the book. Great. As much as the cover and interior art are important for a comic book, without a story it isn't going to be much of a comic. There has been fear by a certain subset of the community that believe Marvel will be politically correct in their new iterations of Conan, so far this is absolutely not the case. This is a good Conan yarn, complete with fighting, women, wine and sorcery. I won't go into great detail about the actual story because I don't want to ruin it for you.

What I will say is that I liked it. The story has lots of action and I feel it moved pretty well. There are several nods to the '82 film, even if they were unintentional, and it ended with a cliff hanger and left me wanting more.

Art:
Story:
Cover:
Sword & Sorcery:

4.5 out of 5 Skulls of My Enemies!

Bring on Issue #2!

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Till next time, don't forget to Keep it Weird!