‘Conan!’

It’s been a long time since I posted about the barbarian from whom all other barbarians have sprung; so long in fact that I seem to have mislaid/forgot to buy/used for wrapping paper (I hope not! Although it would look cool…) ‘Conan the Cimmerian #15’. I don’t know what happened there, never mind…
No matter though, I’ve got enough ‘Conan’ goodness to get us through this post at least. I need to get myself some of the collected works…



‘Conan: The Weight of the Crown’ – Darrick Robertson (Dark Horse)

Here’s a comic that I’ve been looking forward to for a while. Not only is it a self contained story in itself (no waiting for my next comic shop trip here!) but it’s also written and drawn by one Darrick Robertson, a guy whose artwork I’d really admired in ‘The Boys’. When I saw this on the shelf there was no question about my not buying it! As you can see from the cover art, Robertson’s artwork is as good as ever and this continues into the story itself. Each page is bold and brash, just like the barbarian himself. Robertson completely gets what it’s like to live a life that depends on where the next sword stroke falls and lavishly illustrates just what this means if you’re on the wrong end… This is what Conan is all about.
Conan’s taking the crown of a small kingdom shows the barbarian’s capacity for original thought as well as his oft-chronicled excesses. There is a touch of the grasshopper playing his fiddle during the summer here and Conan’s warlike excesses have just the kind of affect on the kingdom that you would expect. We get to see Conan’s character develop out of this and you suspect that the final decision that he has to make comes as somewhat of a relief to him. ‘The Weight of the Crown’ is over very quickly but it’s the kind of quickness that leaves you wishing that Robertson will have another crack at Conan in the future; I wouldn’t mind seeing what he comes up with next.



‘Conan the Cimmerian: Free Companions (Parts 1 & 2)’ – Timothy Truman & Tomas Giorello (Dark Horse)

Issues sixteen and seventeen of ‘Conan the Cimmerian’ see Conan’s stay in Khoraja come to an end in the manner that you would expect seeing that he had been chafing under the influence of civilised society. The kingdom of Koth holds Khossus of Khoraja hostage and Conan’s plot to rescue him (against Yasmela’s wishes) will see Conan ending up under a pile of his comrade’s bodies, plotting his further escape. ‘Free Companions’ is told as a mixture of flashbacks and their eventual consequences; all coming together to form a tightly plotted story line that I’ll be following further. Truman continues his excellent writing and also finds the time to contribute artwork to both of these episodes. As good as it is though, Truman’s art doesn’t match what Giorello is capable of (another reason why I’m following this series).
I’d recommend this series to anyone looking to get into a Conan comic for the first time. This is the second mini-series that I’ve come across and I’d say that this approach gives the casual reader plenty of places to jump on. Give it a go :o)