Fun in the sand.
Creative Staff:
Story: Fred Van Lente
Art: Brian Ching
Colors: Michael Atiyeh
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
What They Say:
Conan’s out for blood in a desert oasis as he stalks the bandits responsible for the slaughter of a trading caravan—and the man he believes to be their accomplice, the sinister Kerim Shah. But is the Cimmerian on the right trail, or is there something more mysterious afoot?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having just escaped the dreaming city, Xuthal, Conan and Natala find release from the desert’s ravages at the Oasis of Akrel. It’s here at the oasis that they discover the Tower of Silence, which looms over the watering hole, a lighthouse in the desert, shining a beacon for all weary travelers to follow. The two meet others at the oasis, including Valerius, a Khauranian soldier who is escorting his queen on a secret meeting. Together, they come upon a group of slaughtered nomads and caged slaves, and Conan and Valerius race to the Tower to meet vengeance upon the raiders responsible.
In the tower, the two encounter the monks of silence—mute enemies wearing golden masks, tasked with protecting the beacon at all costs. Well, Conan encounters them while Valerius reads their history out loud from a mural. Van Lente and Ching do a great job of juxtaposing a scene of necessary exposition with action, creating three pages that are funny and exciting while at the same time adding context and backstory to frame the current events. It’s a technique that can only really be done in comics, allowing the writer and artist the luxury of informing us without slowing down or stopping the plot.
While Conan plays in the tower, Natala cools her heels with Valerius’ queen. The two talk about Conan while the rest of the Queen’s retinue indulge themselves with a group of prostitutes they saved from the slave market (this comic would definitely not pass the Bechdel test). Unfortunately, the prostitutes are not what they seem, and their leader is a face from Conan’s past, straight from the earliest issues of Kurt Busiek’s launch of Dark Horse’s Conan revival. I won’t spoil who it is, but I am excited to see her back and to see Van Lente’s take on her.
Of course, Conan and Valerius know nothing of this. They reach the beacon at the top of the tower and finally get one of the monks to talk. It turns out the beacon wasn’t designed to lead travelers to the oasis—it was created to keep at bay a fell creature from the outer dark named Nazu. The monks know nothing of the slaughtered caravan and thought that Conan came to douse the flame. Too late Conan realizes he’s been on a wild goose chase, and now it seems he may have fallen into a trap designed to ensnare the Khauranian queen.
As always, the writing on this comic is superb. Van Lente captures Conan’s voice, while at the same time making it his own. He also excels at capturing the raw, red feeling that lied at the heart of the best Conan stories. Van Lente seems particularly suited to this comic, as does the artistic team.
Once again, Ching and Atiyeh prove to be one of my all-time favorite artist-colorist pairs. Their style seems particularly suited to Conan—bloody and kinetic, moody and atmospheric, willing to make the title character and his actions ugly-yet-magnetic. Ching uses rough lines, often implying more than detailing, while uses color to create and enhance the emotion of scenes. I would be perfectly happy if this team stayed on this title for quite some time.
In Summary:
Conan the Avenger 17 brings a ghost from Conan’s past and the prospect of some Lovecraftian horror. As always, the writing and art are top-notch and this team stays true to the spirit of Howard’s original stories while at the same time adding something substantial to the already rich field of extant Conan stories. Dr. Josh gives this an….
Grade: A
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: August 26th, 2015
MSRP: $3.50
Conan is such a fun character to deal with. Thank you again, Robert E. Howard.
I had no idea they were still making new Conan comics. Thanks for the info. I will look for this.