Conan Volume 7: Cimmeria (Conan (Dark Horse)) [Paperback]

Timothy Truman (Author), Richard Corben (Illustrator), Tomas Giorello (Illustrator), Jose Villarrubia (Colorist, Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Conan (Dark Horse) | Publication Date: June 9, 2009

Conan Volume 7: Cimmeria marks a transitional period in young Conan's life, as he spurns civilization - with its turncoats and legal trappings - and returns to the beloved, brutal country of Cimmeria, where he was born and raised. The dangers found in the snowy mountain passes of his barbaric homeland are a welcome change from the mind games and treachery Conan encountered in the cities of the East, but there are unfortunate lessons in treachery to be learned here, too. When a tentative truce with the Aesir is threatened by the actions of Caollan, the first woman Conan ever loved, Conan again finds himself at the heart of a larger conflict that will test not only his physical strength and cunning mind - but his passionate heart as well.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (June 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595822836
• ISBN-13: 978-1595822833
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #403,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Conan Relaunch Still Needs Work., July 5, 2009

By 

Parker (At Large) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conan Volume 7: Cimmeria (Conan (Dark Horse)) (Paperback)

The relaunch of Dark Horse's Conan begins with this volume, which collects the first seven issues of Conan the Cimmerian by returning writer Timothy Truman and artist Tomas Giorello. With this story, Dark Horse seems to have stabilized the quality of the book from the last two volumes, albeit at a baseline level.

Giorello is still lacking in style and skill, but this volume shows a vast improvement over the last one, "The Hand of Nergal". The pencils still pale in comparison to the first four volumes by Cary Nord, and even without comparing to what has come before, the work is not quite where it aught to be for such a prestigious book which many fans have been waiting a long time to see done right. The main problem is that Mr. Giorello is not an artist, but rather an artist in training. The selection of Giorello as new regular artist shows an editorial disregard for the importance of continuity of art style rivaled only in the pages of Batman, whose editors have the same knack for getting it wrong.

Thankfully, Richard Corben lends a hand to draw the sequences featuring Conan's grandfather, Connacht. His artwork is sharp and of a consistent and professional quality, but it does not make up for the weaknesses of the main penciller. It is a shame that this book has to rely on the strengths of the fill-in art and cover artist Frank Cho to offset the deficient art in the rest of the book.

The introduction by colorist Jose Villarubia points out what a natural combination Conan and Corben are; that finally the esteemed artist gets to draw Conan, but the fact is that he is not drawing Conan, only the flashback sequences in a Conan comic; so we have yet to see this team come together.

Villarubia's coloring on Giorello's art in the main story does not help either. The coloring is drab, muddy and overly complex where less would have been more; in contrast to his work over Corben's art which is simple and elegantly handled. Had he kept the coloring consistent it would have helped the book considerably.

On the writing side, Truman finds his groove here after the botch job that was "Nergal". The story is well paced and well crafted. I would only fault the scenes featuring the Skrae; the supernatural adversaries sent to capture Conan halfway through the story. It seems that whether the foes are human or supernatural, Conan can dispatch 20 of them at a time with the ease of defeating a group of cub scouts. This is in contrast to REH's Conan, who in stories like "Iron Shadows in the Moon" and "the Devil In irons", would much rather avoid confronting the supernatural until absolutely necessary or until a workable plan is formed. Being able to defeat 20 giant demonic warriors at a time does diminish the drama and some thought should be put into what one man can actually do when faced with a small army in future stories.

As with all comics, to truly work, both story and art must be of good quality, so this book is still standing on only one leg. After much praise over their worthy effort on Conan during it's first three years, Dark Horse has really dropped the ball to where the best fans can expect is Conan done to workmanlike standards.

Perhaps the slump in sales (the new Conan book has dropped of the top 100 chart for monthly comics) will tell Dark Horse they are on the wrong track. Better yet, perhaps they will realize another creative relaunch is in order, one which improves on the previous effort, and not the other way around. I hope that future volumes present better than this.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gorgeous mood piece, October 22, 2009

By 

albemuth - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Conan Volume 7: Cimmeria (Conan (Dark Horse)) (Paperback)

This is the first of the Dark Horse relaunch of the Conan franchise I've read. I was a fan when Savage Sword was in its heyday, but lost interest sometime in the eighties. Browsing some of the earlier Busiek/Nord collections, they never seemed to beckon me to read them like this one did. I enjoyed the art, and was a longtime fan of Tim Truman's. It was worth a shot. And Crom, was I delighted with the results.

This is a slow, melancholy tale. It rings true to both Howard's work and the Roy Thomas adaptations. It's beautifully drawn, though looking at the Giorello pencils at the end of the book, I wish it had been published in black and white. The balance between Corben's underground style and Giorello's classical modernism works. The story takes its time, which to my taste pays off beautifully when it's all over, and I think the only misstep is the Skrae which seem more like a nod to the bloodthirsty readers than to the story... but what do I know.

I'd heartily recommend Cimmeria to Howard fans, and to old school Conan fans. It's moving, well thought out story that has emotional resonance far beyond your average hack and slash.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!, October 1, 2009

By 

DL (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conan Volume 7: Cimmeria (Conan (Dark Horse)) (Paperback)

I'm writing this under slightly false pretenses (I read this arc in its individual components) but I just had to offer my two sheckels' worth. I have much preferred the series since Truman and Giorello took over, and I loved it before. In this arc Conan is more world weary, disillusioned with civilization, and the Truman/Giorello team capture this perfectly. Cimmeria is basically a mood piece, a kind of 'getting our bearings' before throwing Conan into the Black Colossus arc. I'm so surprised at all the negative reviews because I really love the Giorello Conan over all others. When he guested on 'Rogues' I was like "oh yeah, this'll be great". I also liked Isanov's coloring so I guess that shows how much I know!
Again I'm just offering this by way of an alternative viewpoint. I thought 'Nergal' was really imaginative (especially given Howard's original fragment) and I loved that it was so different to the Decamp/Thomas Marvel version. So as the series moved into the 'Cimmeria' phase I really felt Conan had never been better. But then I clearly recall Nord getting a real beating throughout his tenure too so hopefully things are actually as bright as I think they are. I'd hate for such a great series to end.