Subscribe to get a recap of the days posts & never miss the latest breaking news or exclusive content.
Dark Horse
Script: Fred Van Lente
Art: Brian Ching
Colors: Michael Atiyeh
I cannot remember the last time I read a Conan comic. But I do know I love a great Conan story. This issue is a particular style of Conan comic; one which I have seen before, and can come alongside, but it has to be done just right. That, in combination with a particular art-style that I am not crazy about, holds this issue back from becoming an instant favorite of mine. But there’s a lot of good stuff going on in this issue and it is certainly worth checking out.
Conan, in an ancient spin on Just Cause, is helping a provincial uprising to overthrow a false queen. The queen’s sister has had her thrown into a dungeon and has subjected said queen to various forms of torture. In just a small number of pages the queen’s sister is established as a right bastard, worthy of the reader’s hate. I got onboard with that perspective pretty quickly. A few of the townsfolk discover the treachery and make plans to set things aright. Conan mounts up his dessert freemen for a final assault. And…scene.
This issue is in the vein of a particular style that many writers seem to use with Conan stories…and that is for the story to have very little Conan
Conan the Avenger #24 leaves you hungry for more Hyborian high-adventure, and you can see solid underpinnings for many great tales woven into Van Lente’s backdrop. And being that it is Van Lente, you can be confident that such adventures are forthcoming. It’s just that this issue feels almost like a break from the action. And there’s not a lot of Conan in it. Sprinkle in one or two great supporting characters, and lean on the myth of Conan, and this could be ok. As it is, there is more myth than meat, and that leaves the issue feeling sparse and empty. This is a fine place to jump on as one arc appears to be preparing to wrap and you can be there for the outro as the great Barbarian winds up for his next shenanigan. Or you might want to wait until that follow-on arc gets started. Either approach should be ok with this one. I had a good time reading this comic, and do not regret the investment. It just was not the best thing that I read this week and there were a few issues that easily rung in above it.