Publisher: Titan Comics
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Doug Braithwaite
Colours: Diego Rodriguez
Release Date: 20th December 2023

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Packed full of sense-shattering swordplay, magical mumbo jumbo and a palpable twisted touch of the vengeful undead, Jim Zub’s storyline for issue six of Conan The Barbarian likely landed rather well with the majority of its readers. Yet whilst Zub does an excellent job of capturing the spirit of Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age adventurer in this twenty-two-page periodical, he does arguably fall into the trap of depicting the Cimmerian as a literal killing machine who, armed only with a sword, is supposedly still able to single-handedly best a small chamber absolutely crammed full of fervent cultists desperate to cut the heavily-muscled thief down with their razor-sharp hand-sickles.

Happily however, this assault upon a bibliophile’s willing suspension of disbelief is probably easy to forgive considering just how incredibly well-penned the rest of “Thrice Marked For Death!” is. Starting with the future King of Aquilonia’s burgling band desperately trying to evade the deadly touch of three screaming spectres, this book’s blistering pace picks the audience up and carries them headlong through the Temple of Bel until they’re unceremoniously disgorged from the Den of Deceit along with Conan, Kamal, Greff and Chaundra, via one of its upper-storey stain-glass windows.

Just as enjoyable though has to be the Hounds’ dialogue-driven discourse with Yakur the Found, which intriguingly not only provides further details as to just why Tarim’s Touch is so highly-prized a “remnant from ages untold… carved from starstruck stone.” But also taps into the no-nonsense approach of the titular character himself, who has no time for “conniving city-dwellers and their weasel ways.” Indeed, perhaps one of this comic’s greatest assets is how its author depicts the Cimmerian still being “haunted by his memories of Belit” and the Shemite woman’s horrific death up the river Zarkheba.

Furthermore, it’s difficult to imagine this book’s storytelling being quite as successful as it is without the artwork of Doug Braithwaite and Diego Rodriguez. Whilst some might find the wide-eyed face upon the winged monster which killed Belit rather underwhelming, there can surely be no such criticisms of how utterly terrifying the ghostly spectres look. Nor how convincing the fear is, even upon Conan’s visage, whenever the greenish-hued ghouls make an appearance and lay claim to a person’s “flesh!”

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[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]

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The writer of this piece was: Simon Moore
Simon Tweets from @Blaxkleric ‏
You can read more of his reviews at The Brown Bag

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