The Chronicles of Conan, Vol. 14: Shadow of the Beast and Other Stories [Paperback]

Roy Thomas (Author), John Buscema (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2008

Conan faces his most arduous adventure yet as he matches his wits and brawn against the very forces of nature itself - no small task, even for a man who's done battle with wizards, otherworldly beasts, and ancient gods. But will the strength of steel really be enough against such powers? All this plus the tenth anniversary story by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, this volume marks the end of an era - collecting the final issues of Roy Thomas's celebrated run on Conan the Barbarian. Featuring completely re-mastered color, this volume is a must for fans of classic sword and sorcery!

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (March 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593078994
• ISBN-13: 978-1593078997
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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19 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's all downhill from here, March 16, 2008

By 

amsterdamaged - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chronicles of Conan, Vol. 14: Shadow of the Beast and Other Stories (Paperback)

After the departure of the brilliant Barry Windsor Smith, Marvel's "Conan the Barbarian" reached its artistic peak during the "Queen of the Black Coast" story arc which began with issue 58 and ended with issue 100 (COC volumes 8-12). Following the death of Belit, the series started a steady decline which kicked into overdrive with the departure of Roy Thomas. This volume collects the last of the Roy Thomas stories. I wish I could say that he went out with a bang. Sadly, the quality of the stories here ranges from mediocre to just plain awful. You can't really blame Roy too much. Most of the hardcore REH material was being published in the adult oriented "Savage Sword of Conan" magazine, there was the comics code to deal with, and after the Belit story arc was finished, I guess he was having a hard time coming up with new and exciting stories that rose to the same level of his previous efforts.

The first story "Moon Eaters of Darfar", is okay, as it provides a link to the REH's "Man Eaters of Zamboula" and "Servants of Bit Yakin". I really hate sidekicks, though, and the little Stygian sorceror Erfu is just horrible, and it doesn't make sense for Conan to ally himself with him. Conan hates sorcery, and most of the original stories center around him battling one sorceror or another. Stygian sorcerors, even minor ones, derive their power from Set, the evil serpent god of the Hyborian age. To make Conan's sidekick a junior sorceror makes about as much sense as teaming Indiana Jones up with a member of the Hitler youth.

Sadly, he remains with Conan through several more issues. Next up, an adaption of "Sons of the Bear God", by Norvel Page. Apparently, this was a novel whose main character is a Conan clone; so close in fact that Thomas just changed it into a Conan story. And its bad, really, really mind-numbingly bad, and it goes on for four issues. Of course, its just my opinion. If you like midgets and giant bears, then maybe you'll enjoy it more than I did. It's really hard to take seriously when legions of midgits rush at Conan to be slaughtered one after another while shouting, "The overtall oaf thinks himself our equal! We'll soon show him where he's erred!" It comes off like a Monty Python skit.

This is the Hyborian Age, not Middle Earth. There's a reason REH's world isn't populated with cute little creatures like Hobbits and Dwarves. REH's world is about barbarism vs. civilization, and about survival of the fittest. Dwarves have no place in it.

"The Devil in the Family" is another really lame story, this one involving the son of a demon. Yawn. At least Conan got rid of his annoying sidekick. "Shadow of the Beast" starts out promising, but quickly sinks when Conan goes up against...are you ready...a talking dog. I'm not kidding. Apparently this was "freely adapted" from an non-Conan REH story. Conan fans are used to him battling formidible foes, such as giant snakes and Lovecraftian horrors. Talking dogs just don't rise to that same level. As you'll read in the Afterword by Thomas, even he acknowledges how lame this story turned out.

Roy's final issue, 115, is a double sized issue with special guest star Red Sonja. I wish I could say it was great, but its pretty lame as well. Fans will note that the film "Conan the Destroyer" borrows a plot device directly from this story. However, the plot device was lame and definately not in character for Conan. It doesn't work in either medium.

When I was a small boy I used to subscribe to CTB. Shortly after Roy Thomas left, I let my subscription run out. Now I remember why. Thanks for the memories, Dark Horse.

I gave it three stars because the artwork by John Buscema and Ernie Chan is breathtaking, as always. If you're a sentimental collector like me, you'll want this as part of your collection. However, for the quality of the stories themselves, I can't recommend it. You're better off buying the new Dark Horse series, or the "Savage Sword" reprints. Better yet, forsake graphic novels altogether and just read Robert E. Howard.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Last And Least, January 13, 2011

By 

Bill Slocum (Norwalk, CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Chronicles of Conan, Vol. 14: Shadow of the Beast and Other Stories (Paperback)

Roy Thomas's run as sole writer for Marvel's "Conan The Barbarian" comic book came to an end in 1980, and this edition of "The Chronicles Of Conan" features Thomas's final issues. If you didn't know that going in, you might think you were reading one of the famously bad post-Thomas Marvel Conans.

From a city of evil dwarves to a talking dog to a healing wood fairy, this is about as far afield from the gritty world of Conan as Thomas ever got. Was he exhausted? Fed up with his Marvel higher-ups? I don't know, but a sense of jaded ennui hangs over both the writing and art in this book, transforming merely dull into rather depressing.

We join Conan and his woman of the moment, Diana, under cannibal attack. Temporary refuge is found with a travelling caravan, but eventually Conan finds himself the cannibals' prisoner alongside a Stygian magic-user, Erfu, who calls Conan "Master." The one-issue story "Moon-Eaters Of Darfar" is a slight tale, but by far the best of what's here. If it doesn't add to Conan's legacy, it at least doesn't detract from it.

The four-issue "Bear God" saga follows, an adaption of an old fantasy novel by Norvell Page. Years earlier, Thomas stuck Conan in another Page story that didn't work, but this time the mismatch is more blatant. First you have those dwarves, which never lived in the world of Conan as designed by its creator, Robert E. Howard, and don't really work as adversaries here, especially as they dress up in silly costumes and wear giant ears in deference to the bear they worship. Then there are these Viking-like characters, the Aesir, whom the dwarves have enslaved. Never mind that they tower over their overlords, these Aesir meekly accept punishment being as they are "under the influence of the infernal lotus." Finally, you have a man and woman who enlist Conan in their cockeyed conspiracy to overthrow the dwarves. Conan, it seems, has this sudden hankering to be king.

The nadir of the "Bear God" episode has the Aesir attacking a city dressed up like bears, waving their arms in a bear-like motion to instill the desired panic. At another point, Conan subdues the lead Aesir by pulling his pigtails Pippi-Longstocking style.

Erfu hangs around, too, a bad idea like Amsterdamaged notes on account of his Stygian origin. This is made worse by the fact artists John Buscema and Ernie Chan never seem to get the guy's face right. It shifts from impish youth to Peter Lorre to Charles Bronson.

The last three parts of Vol. 14 are one-issue stories, the first, "A Devil In The Family," with Conan protecting a wood witch and her young boy from an ape-like demon who claims the boy as his own. It's something you'd expect in an episode of "The Smurfs."

The second issue, "The Shadow Of The Beast," features a cameo from Scooby-Doo. No, actually, it's not, but you might think otherwise from the way the dog is drawn, walking on his hind legs as he menaces Conan. He has a big vocabulary, too, at one point telling Conan "You will not escape me, you uncouth savage" in mid-run. Both Conan and his adversaries in Vol. 14 suffer from a chronic need to deliver superfluous narration.

Finally, there's "A War Of Wizards," issue #115 and the last Thomas would write in some time. The 10th anniversary issue, it was both double-sized and featured the return of several Conan friends and adversaries. Yet it never gels. One wizard, Zukala, menaces Conan despite the fact Thomas presented Zukala as a good guy when they last met. Then there's Red Sonja, the red-headed siren of a million pubescent glands, who goes through another of those "will-she-or-won't-she" trysts with Conan. As is typical for Conan stories involving feuding magicians, Conan himself is largely left to watch from the sidelines, uttering "Crom" at strategic intervals.

Normally, I'd say Thomas was tapped out and needed replacing. But the next ten years of Conan comics were not only on par with Vol. 14, they were seldom interrupted by the brilliance that typified the bulk of Thomas's run. Even legends have their off-days. Such was Vol. 14, for Conan and Thomas.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CONAN, 'Nuff said true believers?, January 30, 2010

By 

William E. Horn Jr. - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Chronicles of Conan, Vol. 14: Shadow of the Beast and Other Stories (Paperback)

Look folks its Conan the Barbarian written by Roy Thomas what more needs to be said? I mean the man actually tried to fit the comic book adventures of Conan into the timeline described by R.E.H. and stayed true to the written adventures of everyone's favorite Cimmerian.