MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Jason Aaron
ART: Mahmud Asrar
COLORS: Matthew Wilson
LETTERS: VC's Travis Lanham
EDITOR: Mark Basso
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida
COVER: Esad Ribić
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Daniel Acuna; Mahmud Asrar with Matthew Wilson; John Cassaday with Laura Martin; John Tyler Christopher; Kirbi Fagan; Adi Granov; Greg Hildebrandt; Esad Ribic; Jesus Saiz; Bill Sienkewicz; Skottie Young; Gerardo Zaffino with Rain Beredo
48pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (March 2019)
Parental Advisory
Conan the Barbarian based on the “Conan” character created by Robert E. Howard
“The Life & Death of Conan” Part One: “The Weird of the Crimson Witch”
Conan the Cimmerian is a fictional “sword and sorcery” hero created by Robert E. Howard (REH). Conan first appeared in the pulp fiction magazine, Weird Tales (1932). Conan lived in Howard's fictional “Hyborian Age” and was a mercenary, outlaw, pirate, thief, warrior, and eventually a king, but because of his tribal origins, some characters that encountered him thought of Conan as a barbarian.
In 1970, Marvel Comics brought Conan to the world of comic books with the series, Conan the Barbarian. It is doing so again, having recently published the first issue of a revival of Conan the Barbarian. It is written by Jason Aaron; drawn by Mahmud Asrar; colored by Matthew Wilson; and lettered by VC's Travis Lanham.
Conan the Barbarian #1 (“The Weird of the Crimson Witch”) opens sometimes during Conan the Cimmerian's prime as “a thief, a reaver, and a slayer.” In Zamora, the city of thieves, his brutal prowess in the fights pits of Maul has attracted the attention of a comely young woman.
Conan has always cheated death, continues to cheat death, and perhaps, he always will? The more he cheats death, the more his blood becomes imbued with the power of “Death Magic.” It is that magic that the Crimson Witch and her death god, Razazel, needs. Does King Conan know that?
The new Conan the Barbarian is a comic book that I can keep reading... at least for awhile. For one, I am a fan of artist Mahmud Asrar and have been since I started seeing his work eight years ago. His elegant compositions are pleasing to the eye, and his figure drawing creates the illusion of powerful figures in motion. There is also a sense of dynamism even in characters that are depicted as moving not at all or as moving very little.
Colorist Matthew Wilson, one of best colorists working in comic book today, takes Asrar's beautiful art to an edgier place. The red, yellow, and orange hues make the bloody sequences even bloodier, and the color turns the Crimson Witch's magic into a thing that rages and pulses.
Jason Aaron's story is good, but it is not as passionate as Asrar-Wilson's art. However, Aaron has created a menace (the Crimson Witch) that it actually and legitimately dangerous to Conan, throughout his life. I like that Aaron is willing to depict Conan as a brutal killer (and that Asrar and Wilson draws that cleaving, hacking, slashing, and beheading with glee). Speaking of glee, the villains are gleefully murderous, and that is a good thing. I have to give letterer Travis Lanham credit; he makes Aaron's script read like true-blue, bloody mayhem Conan the Barbarian.
Conan the Barbarian #1 (2019) is a good first issue. It isn't great, but it doesn't have to be. I was certainly hopeful that I would have a reason to be a regular reader of Conan the Barbarian again (which I have not been since the Reagan era).
7 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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