MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Gerry Duggan
ART: Ron Garney
COLORS: Richard Isanove
LETTERS: VC's Travis Lanham
EDITOR: Mark Basso
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
COVER: Alex Ross
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Kevin Eastman with Tomi Varga; Ron Garney with Richard Isanove; George Perez with Jason Keith; Rahzzah
44pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (April 2019)
Parental Advisory
Conan the Barbarian based on the “Conan” character created by Robert E. Howard
“The Cult of Koga Thun” Part One: “Shipwrecked”
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.
Beginning in 1970 and for three decades, Marvel Comics brought Conan to the world of American comic books with the series, Conan the Barbarian. Marvel is publishing Conan comic books again and recently began a revival of its black and white Savage Sword of Conan comic magazine as a full-color standard-sized comic book. Savage Sword of Conan (2019) is written by Gerry Duggan; drawn by Ron Garney; colored by Richard Isanove; and lettered by VC's Travis Lanham.
Savage Sword of Conan #1 (“Shipwrecked”) finds Conan cast adrift on the seas of fate. Starving, half-drowned, half-dead, and hallucinating, Conan (who is about 20 or so years of age) is picked out of the ocean by the slave ship, “Ouroboros.” He finds an ally (that he doesn't really need or want) in a fellow slave, Suty. Together, they will discover that there is more to the captain of the Ouroboros and more to the treasure chest in his cabin than they suspect.
I enjoyed the return of Conan the Barbarian to Marvel Comics, and while that comic book has been good, even very good at times, it has not been great. Savage Sword of Conan's return to Marvel Comics suggests that Savage Sword of Conan could be THE great Marvel Conan comic book (Era #2). When I first read the original old, black and white magazine Savage Sword of Conan when I was a teenager, I found it to be superior to the Conan the Barbarian title of that time.
In fact, “Shipwrecked,” the opening chapter of this first story arc, reminds me of the stories I read in the original Savage Sword of Conan. “Shipwrecked” is probably the best Gerry Duggan story I have read to date. Duggan offers a violent tale that is as bat-shit crazy as Conan creator, Robert E. Howard's original Conan prose fiction, or it is at least as crazy as Roy Thomas' adaptations of Howard's stories for Conan comic books back in 1970s. Dear readers, obviously you can tell that I had a blast reading this.
The power and aggression in this story is most evident in artist Ron Garney's illustrations and graphical storytelling. The storytelling is brawny, and Garney deftly captures the sudden switches in Conan's temper and temperament. Richard Isanove's shimmering colors emphasize, even heighten the intensity rather that merely color over the art. Travis Lanham's matter-of-fact lettering seems to pound out the story to the reader, a relentless rhythm, page after page.
Savage Sword of Conan #1 is a success. I will come back for more because this first issue reminds me of the stories that made me a fan of Conan comic books back in the way back. I highly recommend this to Conan fans.
9 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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