Reviews

I love Conan, and in comics, it’s tough to beat the team of Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord. But this first collection of the Dark Horse Conan series starts off without Nord, beginning with the “Born on the Battlefield” stories. These are decent enough pastiches of Conan’s early life, but they’re not the series’ best work by a long shot. Busiek’s writing is at its best when clustered around Howard’s stories. Even just the vague references to the sack of Velarium in “Across the Black River” provide Busiek with a firmer foundation than the early chapters of this volume. That said, once Busiek starts writing just outside the lines of “The Frost Giant’s Daughter” the stories and art catch fire. Busiek loses his way a bit after the “God in the Bowl” story, wandering into very tired territory (the rape-makes-swordswomen-powerful crap that Gail Simone got rid of in Red Sonja is back to haunt Sword and sorcery fans again here). An uneven volume, with the best yet to come. Also disappointed to see that Dark Horse did not include Mark Finn’s fabulous essays from the earlier collected editions. I’d pay money for a volume of those!

el_pato_gigante's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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