MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Roy Thomas
PENCILS: Barry Smith
INKS: Dan Adkins
COLORS: Mimi Gold (not credited in comic book)
LETTERS: Sam Rosen
EDITOR: Stan Lee
COVER: Barry Smith and John Verpoorten with Sam Rosen
28pp, Color, $1.00 U.S. (March 2019)
Rated T
Conan the Barbarian based on the “Conan” character created by Robert E. Howard
“The Coming of Conan!”
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, originally written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Barry Smith – now known as Barry Windsor-Smith. With a pause of only a few years, Conan comic books have been published for the better part of five decades. Marvel Comics, which held the license to produce Conan comic books for three decades, regained the license last year (from Dark Horse Comics, which had the license for about 15 years).
Marvel recently published the first issue of a revival of Conan the Barbarian. They are also publishing reprints of select Conan comic books from their original run with the character under the “True Believers” banner. True Believers is a budget reprint program that began in 2015 and offers $1 reprints of individual Marvel issues that are considered fan-favorite, important, classic, or monumental.
True Believers: Conan the Barbarian #1 reprints the first Marvel Conan comic book, Conan the Barbarian #1 (cover dated: October 1970). That issue's twenty-page story was written by Roy Thomas; drawn by Barry Smith (pencils) and Dan Adkins (inks); and lettered by Sam Rosen. Although she is does not receive a credit in the comic book, Mimi Gold colored Smith and Adkins' art.
Conan the Barbarian #1 (“The Coming of Conan!”) is a story that apparently takes place early in Conan's adulthood. He is a mercenary in service of the kingdom of Aesgaard and serve the Aesir in their war against the Vanir. The story opens in Vanaheim, during a summer battle between the Aesir and the Vanir, where we find Conan battling the fierce Vanir warrior, Gondur.
Conan is proving to be a most accomplished warrior, although he insists that he only fights for the Aesir because they pay him the most gold. However, Conan's prowess in battle has attracted the attention of a crazy shaman and a mysterious young woman. Now, they want to capture Conan, and the secrets of the past, present, and future they will reveal to him will rock Conan's world.
Like many Conan comic book fans, I am an admirer of Barry Windsor-Smith's Conan comic book art, especially the art he produced during the second half of his twenty-two issue run on Conan the Barbarian. Still, as far as figure-drawing goes, I prefer the lean, sinewy, Jack Kirby-esque Conan as drawn by Barry Smith, exemplified by the Conan that appears on the cover of Conan the Barbarian #1 and, of course, on the cover of True Believers: Conan the Barbarian #1.
“The Coming of Conan!” is good, although not great. It is not Roy Thomas' best Conan comic book writing, and Thomas is by far the best Conan comic book writer ever. Hell, Thomas is one of the best comic book writers of all time, and is certainly better than many of the comic book writers that pass for the current elite. Here, Thomas offers a story in tune with the weird fiction of Conan's creator, Robert E. Howard, and it is full of theatrical, operatic dialogue and over-the-top, but colorful exposition.
I am glad that Conan is back with Marvel Comics, where I discovered the character, and I am glad for True Believers: Conan the Barbarian #1. Hopefully, there will be more “budget” reprints of classic Marvel Conan comic books. I love this reprint comic book, so that is why I am giving it a high grade.
8 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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