Nothing good can happen in a place called “Gorey” Castle.
Creative Staff:
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Sergio Dávila
Colors: Michael Atiyeh
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
What They Say:
The barbarian, the new chief, and the Kozaki raiders pursue the murderer to his hideout, Gorey Castle. When they are met by a horde of undead, Taraslan takes matters into his own hands . . . but is he in over his head? Superstar writer Cullen Bunn (Harrow County, Uncanny X-Men) and artist Sergio Dávila (Red Sonja, Swords of Sorrow) team up to bring a new chapter of Conan’s story to life!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
After weeks of searching for the traitor Kyrylo, Conan, Taraslan, and a handful of Kozaki warriors manage to corner him in a crumbling, forgotten fortress. Taraslan, feeling more and more inadequate as both a man and a leader, desires nothing more than to face his brother and prove himself. Conan, however, being wiser and battle-hardened, advises caution and scouts the area. Yet even his caution proves too little, too late as he and the Kozaki fall into horrible trap.
The shapeshifting ghoul Kyrylo made a deal with summoned an army of the undead and imbued them with wicked magic. Every time the living struck them down, the spirits animating the corpses were freed, becoming an even greater threat.
The only option open to the Kozaki was retreat, but Taraslan ran off to confront his brother alone. Conan sent the others away and went to retrieve the boy alone, but magic and trickery fool him into making a huge mistake.
Cullen Bunn and Sergio Dávila do a great job of capturing the spirit of Robert E. Howard’s voice and style. Conan is powerful and cunning, his enemies vile and dangerous, and as always the story becomes a contest between steel and sorcery. Unfortunately, this time sorcery wins out.
This creative team did a great job of building this initial story arc. Each issue builds upon the last, not only complicating the story, but creating a vibrant, rich, and dangerous world, almost like seeing the Hyborean Age through new eyes. This layering of detail and complication draws me more and more into the story, making each issue better than the last.
In my previous review, I wrote at length about the dangers of Fascism in these stories. Not to get too political, but in the time between then and now, the dangers of Fascism became more than just an academic quandary. The beauty of stories is that we can have the fantasy. In these stories, Conan leads and lives his life as he wants, placing his power and will above the concerns of law. We enjoy this and let him get away with it because he never hurts the innocent and takes down the corrupt and villainous. But that’s fantasy, and it’s important to remember that.
I’m not saying that stories like Conan’s should be done away with. Certainly, I enjoy them quite a bit (as should be painfully obvious by now), but it is important to interrogate our stories and look at their underlying messages, because they affect us whether we realize it or not.
What saves this story is that Conan does, in fact, respect the rule of law. At least his own personal brand of it, one that is simple and uncorrupted by civilization (as odd as that may sound). He could easily take Taraslan’s place as Hetman, but he respects the rules of succession as well as the boy. Instead he takes the place of protector and advisor. The issue comes not from Conan directly, but from Taraslan’s hero worship and jealousy over the Cimmerian. That’s what leads him to make his fateful decision.
Perhaps the true saving grace of stories like this lies in the idea that they allow us to flirt with dangerous concepts without actually committing to them. It’s been said that the power and draw of horror isn’t just that we can experience fear in a safe, consequence-free environment, but that we can also experience the dark pleasure of antisocial acts without actually hurting anyone. It’s okay to dream about being the strong man (or woman), the one who changes the world through will and steel, just as long as we understand where dreams belong.
In Summary:
Full of blood and thunder, forbidden magic, and heroic deeds, Conan the Slayer 5 is an action-packed, tense issue that builds the world and the story, creating an immersive experience that’s true to the nature of the character and his stories. Dr. Josh gives this an….
Grade: A
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: November 30th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
