KING CONAN: THE PHOENIX ON THE SWORD #1 (OF 4)
DARK HORSE COMICS
WRITER: Timothy Truman
ART: Tomás Giorello
COLORS: José Villarrubia
LETTERS: Richard Stakings & Comicraft
VARIANT COVER: Gerald Parel (Andrew Robinson-regular cover)
28pp, Colors, $3.50 U.S.
During his three-decade career in comic books, did the industry or the public ever consider Tim Truman A-list talent? By the breath and scope of his talent and his work, he certainly was/is, if it is even appropriate to categorize him with what are the usual and the standard in comic books. The terms “eclectic” and “diverse” seem a tad bit understated when describing Truman’s body of work.
Even as Lonesome Dove, Dances with Wolves, and Unforgiven made the Western cool again, Truman was looking at the past, present, and future of the Western and frontier storytelling (Jonah Hex, The Kents, Scout, Wilderness, etc.). Before Christopher Nolan and Guillermo del Toro, among others, were surprising people with their re-imaginations and interpretations of superheroes and classic fantasy characters, Tim Truman was bold and visionary on Hawkworld, JLA: Gatekeeper, and The Spider, among many.
In his comics, Truman, as a writer, artist, and writer/artist, offers muscular storytelling presented with surprising grace in beautiful graphics. So Truman is one of those rare creators who are actually ideal to create Conan the Barbarian comic books. Many are good, but few can capture both the splendor of Howard’s prose and the darkness and brutality of which this prose tells.
When it appeared in the cover-dated December 1932 issue of the famed pulp fiction magazine, Weird Tales, “The Phoenix on the Sword” became the first published story featuring the character, Conan the Barbarian. Tim Truman as writer and Tomás Giorello as artist have adapted that story in King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword, a four-issue comic book miniseries from Dark Horse Comics. The fourth and final issue recently arrived in comic book shops shortly.
King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword #1 introduces us to a gray-haired Conan, King of Aquilonia, and to Pramis, a scribe who is chronicling the story of King Conan’s rule. Conan tells Pramis of a time early in his reign – a time of unrest – and the story travels back to that time.
Although Conan freed Aquilonia from a despotic king, he is now despised by Aquilonians, from the common man to the elite. Rinaldo, the poet and bard, who once sang his praises, now stirs unrest against Conan and is part of a plot to unseat Conan and replace him on the throne with a pure blood Aquilonian, Baron Dion. The mysterious Ascalante is the ringleader, but even more mysterious is Ascalante’s companion, a long-time enemy of Conan, the wizard Thoth-Amon.
I find King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword to be an unusual Conan story. It is not as if I haven’t read a Conan story like this – one that is a conspiratorial drama, but this is not the Conan comic book norm. There is more dark drama here than there is edgy drama; in fact, the only fight scene is Conan’s palace workout at the beginning of the story.
That is not at all a bad thing. Tim Truman fashions a story filled with political machinations and intrigue, but at its heart, it examines what happens when you get what you thought you wanted and then find it to be a prison. As a monarch, Conan is trapped, and the interesting twist that Truman gives this story is that his enemies may be about to get what they wanted, but in the worst way.
Truman has a wonderful collaborator in Tomás Giorello, who takes Truman’s script and transforms it into comic book art that is a tapestry of exotic backdrops, a striking cityscape, strange costumes, and shadowy backrooms (includes a fine double page spread). This art is not only perfect for Conan, but for just about any Robert E. Howard story. Giorello could probably deliver a stunning comic book vision of Tolkien.
This comic book also includes a 4-page preview of Conan the Barbarian #1 by Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan, Dave Stewart, and Richard Starkings & Comicraft, with cover art by Massimo Carnevale.
http://www.ttruman.com/
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