Classic Conan, by Crom!
Creative Staff:
Story: Fred Van Lente
Art: Eduardo Francisco
Colors: Michael Atiyeh
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
What They Say:
The hunt for the witch that stalks the city’s shadows comes to its climactic conclusion as Conan and his ally Agara do everything in their power to find out the truth! When this day is done, the capital of Kush will never be the same!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’m not sure why, but I had a difficult time getting into Fred Van Lente’s run on Conan. There was a quality about it that felt different from the other Conan series Dark Horse has published, but it was never something I could articulate. However, with each issue, I warmed up just a little bit more and got into the rhythm, style, and premise of this series, and I have to say that this one is the best yet. This feels like classic Conan, but interestingly, not classic Howard Conan, but classic Thomas Conan. Except for the gore and nudity, this reads like one of those great old Marvel Conans that I enjoyed when I was a kid.
For the past five issues, Conan has been serving as a Captain of the Guard for the royal princess of Kush. Dubbed “Amra” (or lion) by his men, he earned their loyalty and eventually the enmity of the princess he served. He also caught the ire of Thuthmes, a noble who uses a witch to sow unrest and civil war amongst the oppressed and indigenous Gallahs in an attempt to wrest the throne. In this issue, Thuthmes’ plans reach their end stage and Conan tries to flee with Diana, a slave girl who may know the location of a fabulous treasure.
Obviously, there is quite a bit going on in this issue, but the pacing is tight and I never once felt overwhelmed or confused. Moreover, I had a great time reading this. As I said, there is a hard-to-define quality about this run that reminds me of the Conan comics Marvel published in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Partially this may be due to Eduardo Francisco’s art. The character design and the sense of dynamism reminds me a bit of John Buscema’s run as penciler on that series.
However, there were just a few places where the art faltered a little bit. While there is a nice sense of fluidity to the scenes and the character movement, there is a definite lack in a sense of weight for the characters. Conan is a large, powerful man—lithe and graceful as a panther, but also strong, and that strength is missing in some of the scenes, particularly when he fights the demon summoned by the witch. Really, this is just a minor quibble as the rest of the art was quite good. The panel placement and size, the characters’ expressions and body language, and camera angles were all very good.
Returning to the writing, the story is also full of great Conan lines such as, “Crom laughs at you all! Only a strong arm bends the world!” These are the kind of lines that are completely macho and fascist but are incredibly fun when limited to a comic book. We also see Conan come back into his own here, after suffering from the loss of his pirate queen, Bêlit. He’s finally able to work through his grief and now he has a treasure to find and a group of “bastards” under his command. For a barbarian, life just doesn’t get any better than that.
In Summary:
Conan the Avenger 6 is a solid end to a story arc that began a bit awkwardly for me. While I wasn’t crazy about the first two issues, each one got better than the last and now this feels like classic Conan—the kind of stories written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith or John Buscema. Recommended.
Grade: A
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: 24 September, 2014
MSRP: $3.50
