Review – Conan the Barbarian #1 (Titan Comics)

September 18, 2023

2–3 minutes

Publisher: Titan Comics
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Rob De La Torre
Colours: Jose Villarrubia
Lettering: Richard Starkings
Release Date: 2nd August 2023

When it was announced in April 2023 that Titan Comics was partnering with Heroic Signatures to bring the fictional sword and sorcery hero “back in a new tale of bravery and heroism”, many bibliophiles perusing Jim Zub’s narrative for the first issue of Conan The Barbarian will probably have felt the legendary Robert E. Howard himself was whispering what to write in the Canadian author’s ear. For whilst “Scourge Of The Dead” is not an adaption of any story previously published within the pages of a pulp magazine, the adventure’s atmosphere brilliantly captures all the character, chaos, and sword-slashing carnage of the Cimmerian’s printed chronicles in “Weird Tales”.

For starters, the scale of this book’s narrative begins typically small, with the experienced combatant simply swapping savage punches with a bullish craven, who ignorantly feels ‘right is might’ when it comes to ordering his men to die needlessly on the battlefield. This violent introductory scene firmly establishes Conan as being cut from the same imaginative cloth as his Texas-born creator would have wanted him, as well as quickly settling the nerves of any long-time fantasy fans that the franchise is in safe hands with the British publisher. In addition, the warrior’s legendary sense of honour is proudly proclaimed when he refuses to kill his former mercenary captain, despite the unconscious foe having just tried to gut him with a dagger in what had initially been a ‘fair’ fist fight.

As per Howard’s classic short stories though, the ante is soon ramped up in the guise of a mysterious Pictish scout who “rides in to warn the Cimmerians of an imminent threat on the march”. The shadowy background to this lone woman is nicely penned, and arguably leaves this comic’s audience immediately wanting to know more about her, even when a seemingly unstoppable wave of undead zombies suddenly hurl themselves at the inhabitants of Hauler’s Roam in a bloodthirsty, night-time frenzy; “Too late now. Heft a blade, you cowards!”

Just as sensational as this twenty-two-page periodical’s plot are Rob De La Torre’s incredible layouts, which appear impressively inspired by the two hundred plus publications of “Conan The Barbarian” pencilled by the late, great John Buscema, when the Hyborian Age adventurer’s licence was owned by “Marvel Comics”. The artist appears particularly adept at imbuing the wanderer with all the physical presence a reader would expect from the future King of Aquilonia, and certainly appears able to depict the odd lopped off head or limb whenever necessary.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]