Customer Reviews

Conan Volume 1: The Frost Giant's Daughter and Other Stories (Conan (Dark Horse))

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The initial caveat here is that the cover for this trade paperback collection of the first six-and-a-half issues (more on that in a moment) of the Dark Horse reincarnation of "Conan" represents some amazingly bad choices in terms of color given the comic books reprinted inside. The key color in the art of Cary Nord, Thomas Yeates and Dave Stewart in these comics is brown and has been since the cover of issue #0. The yellows in the stories are never as blindingly yellow as you get above the title on the cover and the with the blue and red emphasized in the shot of Conan on a snowy battlefield makes it seem like the art inside consists of bright primary colors when the real attraction is a much more subtle use of colors and shadings.

Once you get to the stories the big question is how do the stories written by Kurt Busiek with the art of Nord, Yeates and Stewart compare with the original stories by Robert E. Howard (and stories finished and/or created by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter) coupled with the famous cover paintings of Frank Frazetta in those Lancer paperback editions in the 1960s and the classic "Conan the Barbarian" comic book written by Roy Thomas and drawn most notably by Barry Windsor-Smith and John Buscema. The goal of the new comic book that premiered in February 2004, of course, is to be both different and faithful.

"The Legend" (#0) uses the discovery of an ancient statue of Conan to unearth his legend. Howard's original words define the arc of the character: "Hither came Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet." The comic goes back to the little known early days of the Cimmerian when he was sixteen and first ventured into the lands of the Aesir. At this point he has already stood at Venarium and sent a score of Aquilonians to hell (apparently there is a self-imposed prohibition to going back before Howard's starting point). Young Conan wants to see the ancient world in general and the land of Hyperborea in particular, but for now he has joined with the men of Asgard against invading Vanirmen. After meeting the Frost Giant's Daughter, the young Conan is taken as a slave by the ancient sorcerers of Hyperborea. Obviously the point here is to take things slow and not be in a hurry to get to the days of Conan as a thief.

In terms of the art I would characterize it as a cross between Frazetta and Arthur Rackman. Yeates became part of the artistic team starting with issue #3, and I think his addition takes away from the overall effect of the art. The biggest commonality between the early days of this comic book "Conan" and Marvel's version is that the artwork was so detailed that the artist could not manage the schedule. The early issues of "Conan" were closer to paintings than traditional comic book art, but now the lines of the drawings stand out a lot more. It is a subtle but telling difference. My only concern is that Conan looks a bit hefty as a teenager and the only real indication that he is relatively young is that he does the wide-eyed bit a lot in these stories. He does not have to be as skinny as Windsor-Smith's early art, but there should be some room left for him to bulk up in the future. Then again, at least it is easy to understand why a Cimmerian teenager finds it easy to kill Aesir, Vanirmen, and Hyperboreans.

The key issue here is #2, which retells the title story of "The Frost Giant's Daughter" and gives everyone a point of reference to compare with Howard's original story and issue #16 of "Conan the Barbarian." I think it stands up pretty well in comparison to both, which would mean "Conan" has passed its first big test. Perhaps the best thing I can say is that I am still reading the title each month and I did not bite at all on Marvel's attempt to revive the character a while back. However, six-and-a-half issues bothers me, since there had to be better ways of filling up the space to make the page count come out right. There is ample reason to believe this is some sort of marketing ploy because there was only 8 pages left of #7 to include (although Conan saying, "Bury them. Bury them deep. Deep in the cold earth" is a nice exist line for the guy). Remember, this is the same company that put out an issue #0 for a quarter as a way of whetting our appetite for the new series. Issue #1 went to a third printing, which is a pretty good sign and when you read these stories you can understand why so many fans were willing to at least give this "Conan" a try.

Beautiful book. The art by Nord and Stewart is fantastic - really captures the raw nature of the subject matter. Busiek's writing is great - giving us a young Conan venturing into the world. This Conan is not the unconquerable hero we are accustomed to. He is young and naive, makes some big mistakes, and lets down everyone counting on him. His survival from this first adventure is, for him, bittersweet.

Unbelievable how good the first seven issues of this new series is.

One of the hardest things to do in comics is taking on a well-known character loaded with history and making him seem fresh and exciting without "updating" or "ultimizing" him. Even moreso when the character isn't at least somewhat based in the world we live in. Kudos to Kurt Busiek for pulling it off masterfully. Plus, Cary Nord was born to draw Conan and Dave Stewart's coloring complements him perfectly, making this one of the best looking comics around, too. Robert E. Howard would be proud.

Sure, this isn't Buscema's Conan nor Windsor-Smith's, but hey, who cares? Can't it just be time for a new look at things? We certainly don't need another neverending storyline about a guy from the early times who basically just chops off heads. All we need is a tight story with a hero, great art - in short, a book to get lost in, just for a few hours. If you're looking for something like that and you're open to Cary Nord's "European" style, you'll be in for a treat. If not, reread the old books and admire Windsor-Smith's artwork.

Some have complained about the lack of Robert Howard's prose in this collection. What did they expect? A series about Conan with only material written by the creator would last about a year or so of monthly books. I admit that when I heard Kurt Busiek was going to be writing Conan I was very skeptical. After all his comic writing has focused on superheroes, a subject he's admitted to be his favorite, so, him being selected to write Conan had me wondering. However, his work on Conan has been quite good. His writing has drawn deeply from Howard's prose and best of all, Howard's mood, frenetic battle scenes, bloody violence and Conan's well known vigor and indomitable passions. These stories are far better than those written by other other popular writer like Robert Jordan. While Busiek's Conan is not necessarily Howard's Conan in the pure literary sense, how could he be? What Busiek has managed to do is make his take on Conan come from his own perspective as if he entered Howard's world and reported on it. That makes his efforts sincere, more true to the source and at the same time make it his own while remaining as true as possible to Robert Howard's own vision. This is the only way to write another person's characters. Sure I'll take Howard over Kurt Busiek any day but that's how it should be. Busiek is not replacing Howard, he trying his best to elaborate on his ideas, taking them a little farther than Howard had the chance to. So far this is a far cry from some of the other Conan projects in that rather than rely on recognizable cliche's Kurt has made an effort to actually do as close to Howard as possible.
The art is a rare mix of technology and good old drawing skill. This hybrid of pencils and digital "paint" is, so far, pretty impressive and very consistent with moments pure artistic grandeur. Sometimes there is an unfinished aspect to it but the mood and the pace and the settings are marvelous. Conan himself is portrayed very well, kind of a mix of Frank Frazetta, John Buscema and Michael Ploog all rolled into one. Cary Nord is spot on in his emotional and powerful depictions of the young savage trying to make sense of the world of civilized men.
I hope they can keep this pace going.

When I first heard about this book coming out, I just didn't care. I like Busiek as a writer, but all I knew of Conan was the movies, and I always thought they were a bit silly.
Well, the 25 cent issue comes out, and I was hooked. This was certainly not what I was expecting.
Since then, I have bought some of the Howard books, and two of the stories are adapted here. Notably "The Frost Giant's Daughter", which is very faithful. I disagree with some reviewers who think the other issues are "filler". Busiek's story about Conan going to Hyperborea is really good, and when I first read it, I thought it was Howard story, since not many people write fantasy well anymore.
Very good stuff, although Nord's art gets a bit rushed after the first couple of issues. Too bad, since when he's on, he's really on. And not enough can be said about Stewart's coloring, which makes it all look like a beautiful fantasy painting.
Wonderful work by all involved, and this is a must for any fantasy fan.

Dark Horse has outdone themselves yet again with this excellent new Conan series. In spite of the character having been around for decades and gone through many incarnations in books, comics and movies this series makes you believe you are reading Conan for the first time.
The artwork is superb and perfectly captures the quality of Conan's world. A more classic style is used that will make you think of Frazzetta in some places, but is very original nonetheless. The coloring is a standout also with its painterly effect.
This compilation gathers the first 7 issues of Dark Horse's Conan series, starting with the excellent "The Legend" which sets the tone for the rest of the comic using parts of Robert E. Howard's own prose. The story arc that follows has Conan searching for the fabled land of Hyperborea where all is milk and honey (or so the tales tell) on the way Conan is joined by a band of Aesir, and battles a couple of Frost Giants along the way. Upon reaching Hyperborea, Conan finds out the truth of this magical kingdom and the evil that lurks there.
This story has all the elements that Conan is: savage swordplay, evil wizards, giants and of course, scantily clad babes. You just can't go wrong.

I'm not at all familer with Kurt's previous work...But, I picked up this TPB finally and wow! It seems like he's been writing Conan stories for a long time. Not since the early days of the marvel conan series or the Savage Sword has there been such grip taking stories. And the art work? Some of the best fantasy art in a comic ever! You just can't help but, check out every part of the panel. Of course some of the best stories told are but, by Robert himself but, like another reviewer said this series would be rather over quickly. Alas, some of the best points of the first 50 marvel comics was their point of view of what went on inbetween points of Conan's journey's. Kurt delivers fresh new ideas of Conan's history and mythology. I kinda like how they have it as being told from a scribe of research in some future yet ancient time.... Well, there will always be those comparing this to the old sagas but, whats the point? This is a new series with new ideas mixed with old. Unlike some other revivals in the comic industry this one seems to be a labor of love by all envolved in making this a good series instead of trying to make a quick buck. We've all been burned by a comic or two this last five years cause the old was good but, the new remake was just crap...Well, don't make that mistake on Conan you won't feel like you've been cheated instead you'll be asking for more tales and high adventure!!

This is a beautiful interpretation of the Conan character and stories, both a great read and a treasure to simply take in and enjoy the artwork.

Dark horse have outdid themselves with this outstanding first story arc from their Conan series. The concept of this relaunch is to adapt Robert E. Howard's stories in chronological order while revealing the stories set before and after each, and connecting to the next Robert E. Howard adaptation.
Kurt Busiek respectfully adapts the first story, the Frost Giant's Daughter, while building an epic tale of Conan's first foray out of Cimmieria, subsequent capture by the Hyperborians and escape, setting up the rest of the series while firmly establishing Conan and his world for new readers.
Artist Cary Nord provides some outstanding artwork in the vein of Frank Frazetta's beautiful covers from the 1960's and, coupled with Dave Stewart's coloring, creates a truly unique book.
Some readers were upset that Dark Horse chose to adapt Howard's work rather than continue where the old Marvel series left off, but as great as many of the Marvel adaptations were, some adaptations were not that faithful, or were condenced to fit within a tight one or two issues. Dark Horse have allowed the creative team breathing space to tell their stories and have picked a spot on creative team to bring modern storytelling sensibilties to Robert E. Howard very storng body of Conan work.
Excellent!