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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The young and wide-eyed Conan returns in a comic book, May 7, 2005
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.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great new look at T.H.E. H.E.R.O.!!!, April 6, 2005
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.
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Top 5 Comic Books of 2004, December 1, 2004
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.
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