Review: Conan the Barbarian: Thrice Marked for Death - Jim Zub and Doug Braithwaite

When the latest incarnation of the Conan comic book series began being published, I decided to read the individual issues as they came out, just like I did in the old days—the difference being that I read them digitally instead of on cheap newsprint. (For the record, I prefer cheap newsprint over digital, but I prefer digital over slick paper.) After finishing the first story arc, however, I decided to wait for the collected edition of the next arc. It just seemed simpler that way, plus I get to read the stories one right after the other.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN: THRICE MARKED FOR DEATH reprints issues #5-8 of the series and deepens Conan’s involvement with the mysterious and deadly Black Stone. It’s written by Jim Zub and the art is by Doug Braithwaite. The story begins with Conan in the city of Shadizar, mourning the death of Belit, the pirate queen and great love of his life, who Conan met in Robert E. Howard’s classic story “Queen of the Black Coast”. Short flashbacks to Conan’s time with Belit run throughout these stories. The main storyline, however, involves Conan being hired along with several other thieves to steal an artifact from one of the local temples. Things go wrong. Evil ensues. Lot of people die. And Conan is left in a heap of trouble.

Despite the dreaded “To Be Continued” at the end of this book, I enjoyed THRICE MARKED FOR DEATH quite a bit. Jim Zub’s script is fast-paced and packed with action, and more importantly, he writes a version of Conan that is recognizably REH’s character. Really, that’s what you’re looking for in a Conan pastiche. Doug Braithwaite’s art is excellent, with good storytelling and a gritty quality that really works well with the story.

All of this is leading up to a big crossover event featuring numerous Howard characters besides Conan. I’m not that fond of the idea of doing that, but given Zub’s track record, I’m cautiously optimistic that he can pull it off. I certainly intend to continue reading in order to find out. In the meantime, THRICE MARKED FOR DEATH is an entertaining yarn and is available in e-book and trade paperback editions.

The Savage Sword of Conan #3 - Frank Tieri, Patrick Zircher, John C. Hocking, et al.

THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #3 opens with a long Conan story called “Wolves of the Tundra” written by Frank Tieri and drawn by Cary Nord. I’ve seen Nord’s work before and liked it, and his black-and-white art in this tale, while not as lush as his color work, is quite good and very effective. However, after reading a few pages of the story, Tieri’s script takes a turn that came really close to making me say, “Nope,” and not finishing it. In order for the plot to work, the reader has to accept something that I just couldn’t. To say more would be to venture too far into spoiler territory. Despite that, I actually did read the whole story, and while it never worked for me, I have to admit that the ending did give me a little chuckle. I didn’t care for this story, but as they say, your mileage may vary.

Next up is an excerpt from John C. Hocking’s CONAN: CITY OF THE DEAD, followed by an excellent autobiographical essay by Hocking detailing the background of the two novels in that collection. I’ll read anything Hocking wants to write featuring Conan, or anything else, for that matter. His work is always top-notch.

There’s a nice Howardian poem by Jim Zub with a good illustration, then the conclusion of Patrick Zircher’s three-part Solomon Kane story. The wrap-up of this yarn is just as good as the previous two installments. It’s a very satisfying conclusion to a fine tale.

A short, wordless Conan yarn with story and art by Alan Quah concludes this issue. The art is good, the story wry and entertaining. I don’t know anything about Quah, but he’s done a pretty good job with this one and I’d read more by him.

Despite my complaints about the main story, I enjoyed reading this issue of THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN and I think most Howard fans would, too. I’m looking forward to the next issue.

The Savage Sword of Conan #2 - Jim Zub, Richard Pace, Patrick Zircher

For a while there, I was reading all the new Conan comics from Titan, as well as the new prose stories, and I read and enjoyed the first issue of the new SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN. Then I kind of just stopped. Not intentionally. I just wandered away as I have a tendency of doing. But it’s time to get caught up on them again, so I started with the second issue of THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN.

Most of the pages are taken up by a long Conan yarn called “Leaving the Garden” written by Jim Zub with artwork by Richard Pace. It begins with a badly wounded Conan waking up after having been buried alive following a battle. Naturally, he doesn’t stay underground. A flashback establishes that he was traveling with a merchant caravan ambushed by inhuman attackers. The rest of the story deals with him recovering and seeking vengeance for what happened to his companions.

This is a good story with plenty of action broken up by the occasional poignant moment. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Jim Zub so far. My only complaint about this script is that “Leaving the Garden”, while it fits, isn’t the sort of dramatic title I’ve come to expect on a Conan story. I also have to say that the artwork isn’t to my taste at all. I suspect it’s the kind of art that either resonates with a reader or it doesn’t. It didn’t in my case.

This issue also features the second installment of a Solomon Kane serial written and drawn by Patrick Zircher, an adventure that finds Kane battling a supernatural menace in his native England. Art and script are superb on this story. So far it’s one of the best Solomon Kane comics stories I’ve read.

Despite the reservations mentioned above, there’s enough to like about this issue of THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN that I don’t hesitate to give it a strong recommendation for Conan and Robert E. Howard fans. It’s available in both print and digital editions.

Conan the Barbarian #2: Bound in Black Stone, Part 2 - Jim Zub and Rob de la Torre

I've read the second issue of the new CONAN THE BARBARIAN comic book and continue to be very impressed. This is Part 2 of the storyline "Bound in Black Stone", which finds Conan, still a relatively young mercenary and adventurer, and his companion, the Pictish female scout Brissa, on the run from and battling a horde of undead warriors flooding north from Aquilonia into Cimmeria.

Jim Zub's script is very good, striking a perfect balance between dialogue and captions. I'm no expert on modern comics, as I've said many times, but my impression is that captions are somewhat frowned upon by many of today's writers. That makes Zub's effective use of them very refreshing to me. I grew up reading Stan Lee, remember, and Stan wrote great captions. So did most of the other comics scripters of the Sixties and Seventies.

Rob de la Torre's art continues to be fantastic. His storytelling and attention to detail are excellent. Like Zub's writing, de la Torre's art really fits this character.

If I have one quibble, it's a very minor one. The necessity to write story arcs that can be reprinted in trade paperbacks sometimes leads to a slower pace than I like. So far this hasn't been a real problem in this series, but I do feel that the story could move along just a little faster. But that feeling hasn't detracted from my enjoyment, and based on the three issues I've read so far (I read the Free Comic Book Day prequel but didn't blog about it), I give CONAN THE BARBARIAN a very high recommendation directed at long-time fans and newcomers alike. I read the digital edition of the second issue, and I've already pre-ordered the third issue.

Conan the Barbarian #1 - Jim Zub and Roberto de la Torre

I was a regular reader of the comics CONAN THE BARBARIAN and THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN back in the Seventies and Eighties. I still remember how excited I was when I spotted a copy of CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 on the comics rack in a little convenience store in my hometown. In those days we didn’t know months in advance what comics were coming out. I didn’t even know Marvel had a Conan series in the works. But being a huge fan of Robert E. Howard’s work, I grabbed that issue and thoroughly enjoyed the story by Roy Thomas and the art by Barry Windsor-Smith, although he may have still been billed as Barry Smith at that point. (As an aside, I don’t recall ever purchasing another comic book at that particular store. I didn’t stop in there very often.) When SSOC came out, I bought most of the issues at Lester’s Pharmacy, my main comics source. Great stuff all around, including the articles about Howard and his work by a guy named Fred Blosser, who I’m honored to call my friend all these years later.

When Dark Horse started publishing Conan comics 18 years ago (That long? Really?) with scripts by Kurt Busiek and art by Cary Nord, I read and enjoyed the trade paperback collecting the first several issues. My review of it is here. But I didn’t continue reading that version and haven’t even sampled any of the issues from other publishers since then. I was out of the loop, as they say, when it comes to Conan and comics.

But then, having seen several mentions of it, on a whim I picked up a digital copy of the first issue of a new Conan series from Titan Comics. CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 is written by Jim Zub, an author I know nothing about, with art by Roberto de la Torre, another unknown to me, and a main cover (there are numerous variants) by Dan Panosian, whom I’ve at least heard of. Now that you’ve waded through all the obligatory nostalgia above, what did I think of this new comic, you ask?

Well, I liked it. Quite a bit, in fact.

Zub’s script finds Conan still a relatively young man but with several years of mercenary experience behind him, heading back to his homeland of Cimmeria for a visit. He’s still in northern Aquilonia, stopping over at a tavern where he gets in a fight with the captain of the mercenary company he belongs to, and then a Pictish warrior woman shows up with the unhappy news that a horde of demon-possessed Picts are about to swarm over the place and kill them all. Much hacking and slashing ensues before the issue ends on a cliffhanger of sorts.

I get the feeling that Zub’s Conan isn’t quite REH’s character, but pretty darned close. Don’t ask me for specifics, it’s more of a gut feeling, but although I’m confident that Zub has read the original stories, his Conan seems filtered through all the previous Conan comics stories by Roy Thomas, Chuck Dixon, and a dozen or more other writers. But as I said, he comes close, close enough that I found the character believable and engaging. De la Torre’s artwork is very influenced by John Buscema, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Buscema’s Conan is the definitive comics version of the character. Honestly, even when I’m reading Howard’s original stories, Buscema’s Conan is who I see in my head. So I’m pleased with de la Torre has done here. The variant covers, many of which are included with the digital edition I read, are very good, too.

Overall, I found the new CONAN THE BARBARIAN to be the equal of any of the previous versions not written by Thomas or Dixon, and I enjoyed it enough that I’ve already pre-ordered the second issue. If you’re a fan of Conan comics, you definitely should check it out.