Needs a bit more iron in its spine.
Creative Staff:
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Sergio Davila
Colors: Michael Atiyeh
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
What They Say:
Alone, battle weary, and with nothing but his sword, Conan of Cimmeria faces his inevitable death in the arid wastes . . . but instead stumbles into a camp of Kozaki raiders. With a knife at his throat and a band of Turanian hunters at his back, will the half-dead barbarian find a new ally in the Kozaki chief?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The wheel of fate spins and spins. One moment you’re a king, the next you’re a slave. Conan knows this all too well. His highs and lows are far more epic than normal men, taking him to the highest peaks and dashing him on the harshest rocks.
It’s on the proverbial rocks that we find the Cimmerian in this inaugural issue of Conan the Slayer. For a time Conan led a group of Zuagir raiders, taking, fighting, and pillaging as his willed. Unfortunately, success and his own nature got the best of him and he led his men into a trap with only him surviving. Now wounded and hunted, he makes his way through the desert, expecting to be food for carrion-eaters at any moment, but knowing he’ll go down with a sword in his hand. But, of course, this isn’t the end. Conan stumbles upon a tribe of Kozak and the only reason they didn’t slit his throat then and there is that the Hetman, Myklo, found it curious that a barbarian from the north had wandered so far south.
Most of this issue serves as setup for Conan’s new status quo in this series, but Cullen Bunn manages to keep the story moving and engaging from page one, beginning it in media res and using flashbacks and dialogue to convey backstory. It works well and I enjoyed this issue, but I have to say that there’s a distinct lack of verve to this issue.
It’s difficult to put into words, but the best Conan stories are raw and red and full of fire and thunder. Violence lurks underneath every word, every image, beautiful and disturbing in the good ones while the rest merely play at savagery. I’m reserving judgment until I’ve read a few more issues, but I fear that this new series will fall into the latter category.
Part of that might be to the art. While there’s nothing wrong with Sergio Davila’s line work, it doesn’t really capture my eye. His body language and facial expressions are fine, and his action scenes are perfectly serviceable, but it lacks a sense of style, and that hurts this comic.
In Summary:
Conan the Slayer #1 is a solid, if uninspired, first issue. The writing and art are both perfectly fine, but they also lack a certain spark, a sense of style, that’s needed to elevate this to something more than a pleasant diversion. Of course, this is the first issue, and this creative team is just getting its legs, so I’m going to stick around for a while and see where it goes. Dr. Josh gives this a…
Grade: B-
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: July 13th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
