CONAN THE BARBARIAN #5

“The Life & Death of Conan Part Five: The Captain of the Ship of the Dead”

Writer: Jason Aaron

Artist: Mahmud Asrar

Conan is sailing the Southern Sea from Vendhya to Messantia. He has a wooden statue he was hired to get. Pirates attack and blood gets on this statue. It turns into a monster that slaughters all the pirates and crew of the merchant ship he is on. Conan kills it and finds himself alone on the pirate ship. The bodies of the dead are infected and turn sharks and rats that eat of them into monsters. Finally, a pirate ship comes along, and Conan attacks it. After killing a third of the crew the rest decide to make Conan their captain.

“Black Starlight Part 5”

by John C. Hocking

Conan and his companions have to fight two giant black leeches that are after the Green Lotus. After defeating them they go to confront the magical force that is after them.

Another enjoyable story in Conan’s life. This time he is forced to be alone on a ship adrift. The story does a good job of showing Conan going a bit mad at being alone. Yet he survives and at the end is so badass he forces a pirate ship to make him the captain.

The prose story continues to intrigue me. We find out that the monsters are giant leeches. Very curious to find out what is after them.

THE CIMMERIAN #1 HOUR OF THE DRAGON

“The Hour of the Dragon”

Writer: Julien Blondel adapted from novel by Robert E. Howard

Artist: Valentin Secher

Three men plan to take over the world. With a former priest of Mitra who has turned to the dark arts, they awaken Xaltonun, the former emperor of Acheron. With the Heart of Ahriman, the revive him. He first causes a plague to kill the king of Nemedia and his sons so one of the conspirators can become king. Then they invade Aquilonia. Xaltonun uses his sorcery to make Conan too weak to lead his army. Then an avalanche destroys his army. Conan is taken prisoner by Xaltonun to be used as a puppet king.

“The Hour of the Dragon”

by Robert E. Howard

The first part of his novel.

This is the first part of Howard’s first and only novel. It cannibalizes from other stories but manages to put it all together as a fun novel. Conan faces a threat of an evil ancient wizard brought back. He is humiliated by sorcery and forced into captivity. Yet has an epic quest to escape and regain his throne. The first installment is good and true to the story. The writer does abridge some stuff for space but still an enjoyable read.

SAVAGE RED SONJA #2

“Devil in the Sand Part Two”

Writer: Dan Panosian

Artist: Alessio Petillo

Sonja and her companions make it to the castle with the cannibal bandits behind them. Unfortunately, Celia falls into the moat and Sonja can’t save her. Lucian blames Sonja for her death and decides to attack the bandits. Sonja takes shelter in the castle and finds the bedroom for a night’s sleep. She wakes when she hears hissing. She finds the ruby and Lucian in the throne room. Lucian is now a snakelike cannibal bandit. Sonja manages to defeat him by destroying an octopus statue. She takes the ruby and rides off.

This issue was a bit of a disappointment. After the first strong one, this one was a bit confusing. Right away they lose Celia and Lucien is shown as a really weak little baby. He does absolutely nothing to help Sonja and blames her for Celia’s death. Then becomes a snake guy and gets killed by pieces of an octopus statue after Sonja hits it with her sword. The story does still interest me and could turn around next issue.

STAR TREK ASSIGNMENT: EARTH #1

“Brighter Than a Thousand Suns”

Writer & Artist: John Byrne

Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln are investigating a KGB operation in Albuquerque. They are using technology that can block their transporter. They find that the KGB are involved in Project Hercules a top secret American nuclear test. The two infiltrate the test and find they are developing an enhanced fusion bomb. The KGB plans to have their agent detonate the bomb which will cause untold damage.

Assignment: Earth was the final episode of Star Trek’s second season. It was a backdoor pilot to a proposed spinoff series. It had Gary Seven an enhanced human from a mysterious alien world sent to Earth to prevent humanity from destroying itself. Roberta Lincoln a young woman that would become his assistant. Isis a cat that can change into a woman and Beta Five a supercomputer. Sadly, it was one of many Roddenberry ideas to never get picked up.

John Byrne gives us a glimpse of what might have been. This first issue starts off establishing the tone. The characters seem to reflect what they would have been. The story feels authentic for the time. There was a hint of some alien technology that the KGB were using so we might get that explored in future issues.

SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #220

“Death’s Dark Tower Part II of Death’s Dark Riders”

Writer: Roy Thomas

Artist: Colin Macneil

Conan and Solomon Kane have been teleported through time to the early days of Negari. They manage to fight their way to safety. The two figure out where they are just as the high priest Nakura launches his rebellion of the black slaves against the Atlantean rulers. They massacre the Atlanteans except for the priests and their families. Then the black ruler has Nakura assassinated. Solomon manages to grab his skull talismen and this allows Conan and Kane to return to the present.

Here the two then have to fight the skull of Nakura and his followers. Fortunately, they have the talismen and use it to destroy the skull of Nakura. After this Conan is returned to his time as Kane finds himself back in Africa.

“Solomon Kane A Publishing History”

by Glen Lord

An article on the character Solomon Kane and his appearances in print.

“Talons of Nergal”

Writer: Roy Thomas

Artists: Mike Docherty and E.R. Cruz

Conan takes some of his Kozaki to the Kezankian mountains to make an alliance of the hillmen against the Turanians. He meets an old acquaintance who leads the hillmen and they are threatened by the Hand of Nergal, a giant demon hand that comes through portals to crush men. Conan and the group head to the city of Yaralet. Conan had some adventures here in the past and meets with the real ruler a philosopher named Atali. Atali has another former comrade Fafnir in his control and has him attack Conan.

The team up of Conan and Solomon Kane comes to an exciting conclusion. Really a great idea to have these two characters meet and Roy manages this with an excellent story. It gives us a look at the early days of Negari which was told in a Howard story. He gives us a young Conan with a much older Kane. In spite of the difference with Conan, Kane forms a friendship with the brash pagan.

The article on Kane was informative. The ongoing Conan the Barbarian also goes back with some memberberrys from the early days. Introduces characters that I can’t quite remember but the story handles it well. Also returns an old favorite in Fafnir. This is what I love about Roy Thomas is his ability to keep a consistency with the long history of the character, even stuff he didn’t write.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #4

“The Life & Death of Conan Part Four: The King in the Cage”

Writer: Jason Aaron

Artist: Gerado Zaffino

Conan has just become king of Aquilonia. Now he has brought peace and that is the problem. He feels like a caged animal having to deal with all the petty problems. He gets sick from his new life. He decides to go out at night in a mask and fight various criminal gangs. He is joined by a lion that was given to him as a gift from the king of Kush. The two make the city streets safe and become a legend. Conan gets better and takes his lion friend back to Kush and releases him in the wild.

“Black Starlight part 4”

by John C. Hocking

Conan and his companions try to figure out who was behind the zombie attack. Zelandra uses her magic but can’t find the source. Then a figure taunts and attacks them.

This was an interesting idea. Having Conan soon after acquiring his throne to already get tired of the constraints of civilization. He befriends a lion and goes off becoming a masked vigilante. A good solid King Conan story. The backup prose also continues to intrigue me. It ends with some horrible creature attacking but we have no idea what it is. A good cliffhanger ending to make the reader anticipate the next chapter.

THE CIMMERIAN #2 BEYOND THE BLACK RIVER

“Beyond the Black River”

Writer: Mathieu Gabella adapted from story by Robert E. Howard

Artist: Anthony Jean

Conan and Balthus make their way to Fort Tuscalan. Only they arrive too late for the fort is about ready to fall. Instead, they go to warn the settlers. They find a dog named Slasher along the way. Balthus goes with Slasher to warn the settlers. Conan goes to warn the men who have gone to the salt lick. Balthus gets the settlers to pack up and go to Fort Velitrium. Balthus and Slasher stay behind to fight the Picts to give the settlers time to escape.

Conan manages to find the men and herd them in a safe direction. He hears the voice of Balthus and goes to find him. Instead, it is a demon mimicking his friend. Conan manages to kill the demon. Later at Fort Velitrium he meets the last survivor of Fort Tuscalan. He says Zogar Sag died suddenly which disheartened the Picts. He also tells Conan that Balthus and Slasher died fighting the Picts. Conan drinks to their memory and promises 17 Pict heads to pay back their deaths.

“Beyond the Black River”

by Robert E. Howard

The second part of his story.

This ends one of Howard’s greatest stories. I loved this frontier story of Conan as a scout fighting the savage Picts and Zogar Sag. The writer did a good job of adapting the story. Not a big fan of the artist’s rendition of Conan but otherwise the art was good. This was one of the first Conan comic stories I read and the Marvel one is still the best. Plus, it had the original story and gave me an excuse to read it again.

SAVAGE RED SONJA #1

Devil in the Sand Part One”

Writer: Dan Panosian

Artist: Alessio Petillo

Red Sonja has come to the Red Dun Wastelands in search of the Blood Ruby. It is supposed to be guarded by its former owner the ghost of Mad King Gresh in the old keep. The wastelands are overrun with cannibal bandits and sand squids. Sonja runs into a young couple fleeing these bandits and rescues them. The two are Lucian and his bride Celia. Lucian is the son of King Gresh and has come to reclaim his heritage. The group later is attacked by a giant sand squid and Lucian manages to kill it. They come on the old keep just as a horde of cannibal bandits find them.

This new Sonja story starts out strong. It has an interesting premise with this treasure in some wastelands. Sonja meets two young people also looking for the treasure and they join forces. I am already interested in where this story is going. Panosian is a good writer and has scripted a first-class story.

LOGAN’S WORLD #6

“Untitled”

Writers: Barry Blair, Tom Mason and Chris Ulm adapted from novel by William F. Nolan

Artist: Barry Blair

Logan and Jessica have managed to escape with the help of Mary-Mary. Now they have to destroy the Thinker before Gant can reactivate it and control the world. They manage to steal some technician’s suits and infiltrate the compound. They get discovered and Mary-Mary is caught. Logan manages to lure Gant to him. They have a big fight where Logan wins. Then they free the captive workers and cause a rockslide to kill the other sandmen. They blow up the whole Crazy Horse Mountain and with it the Thinker.

The final to this series ends quite satisfactory. Logan defeats the evil Gant in his plan to rule the world. He is reunited with Jessica, and they can start to rebuild the world. Nolan wrote a good follow up to the first novel. This one was surprisingly darker with Logan losing his son. We see a Logan who uses his sandman skills quite ruthlessly. I believe that Adventure planned to adapt all three books, but the company didn’t last long enough. Too bad as I think Adventure was very skilled at adapting properties.

SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #219

“Death’s Dark Riders”

Writer: Roy Thomas inspired by fragment from Robert E. Howard

Artist: Colin MacNeil

Conan is in the black kingdoms making his way back to the Hyborian lands. He is hunted by the Matamba tribe. They catch him on a stone bridge, and he falls into the chasm. Meanwhile Solomon Kane is ambushed by mysterious riders in England and knocked out. Both men find themselves in Negari. Conan is his time and Kane also in his time. The one in Kane’s time used his supernatural riders to bring Kane who has the final piece of the Skull of Nakura to bring it back to life. Later both men find themselves in a dark cavern. After a brief sword fight the two realize they are both prisoners. They find themselves inside a huge skull.

“Kane…The Avenger: The Life and Times of Solomon Kane”

by Fred Blosser

An article on Solomon Kane’s adventures as told by Howard.

“The Black Hound of Death”

Writer: Roy Thomas adapted from story by Robert E. Howard

Artists: Mike Docherty and E.R. Cruz

Conan now leader of the Kozaki reminisces about his first meeting with Grimm. It was as a youth in Cimmeria. He was going to warn of an impending Pict attack when he comes on a man who was mauled by a beast. Later another man escorting his niece to her uncle. The uncle is terrified of his kinsman Grimm. The two of them had traveled to Turan and tried to steal from a holy sect. They were ambushed and the man abandoned Grimm. Now Grimm is back for revenge. The holy men gave Grimm his smiling fanged mouth. Conan fights him and rescues the niece from a burning cabin thinking Grimm died in the fire. Only now he is back commanding the forces of Turan.

This issue we get a meeting of two of Howard’s most famous creations, Conan and Solomon Kane. The story is a sequel of sorts to a Howard Kane story. It is handled in a believable way for these two to somehow unite. Both have their unique personalities that clash. With Kane in disdain for Conan’s casual use of pagan deities. This was good set up and can’t wait for the final conclusion.

The article on Kane was interesting and helpful to refresh our memories of the character since it was so long since anything was done with him. The Conan the Barbarian story was also excellent. Adapting a non-Conan Howard story, it fits nicely into Conan. This new villain Grimm a fellow Cimmerian has great potential. It effectively introduces him gives us a hint that Conan genuinely fears him.