Conan: Serpent War #1 - Marvel Comics

CONAN: SERPENT WAR No. 1, February 2020

Considering that the task in hand to pen Issue One of “Conan: Serpent War” was for Jim Zub to create a somewhat believable introduction to “an all-new saga built on [both] Robert E. Howard and Marvel lore from across the ages”, this thirty-page periodical’s plot can probably be viewed as being something of a major success. Sure, it’s never explained just how the mysterious James Allison is able to bend time to his will so as to bring the likes of the black-maned Cimmerian and swashbuckling Dark Agnes together on their “ages-spanning quest”, nor what manner of devilish creature is slowly slithering its snake-like tendrils about the supposedly immortal man’s dying frame. But such unanswered conundrums behind the origin of the “Elder God called the Wyrm” still manage to imply the enormous enigmatic power at work; “I am there with them all in spirit and song. The crashing of thunder. The scream of the crowd. It’s beautiful and terrifying… A cacophony of ages past flowing together to be as one.”

Furthermore, the Canadian author’s narrative easily manages to deliver on his promise that the publication should “act as a nice jumping on point for grand sword and sorcery adventure.” All four of this comic’s leading cast get plenty of spotlight throughout its serpent-entwined shenanigans, and Zub uses these opportunities to quickly bring any perusing bibliophile ‘bang up to speed’ as to just what the likes of Moon Knight, Solomon Kane, Agnes de Chastillon and Conan are all about. Indeed, the Web Cartoonists’ Choice Awards Winner does a particularly splendid job in demonstrating just how torn Marc Spector is between being “blessed… in the service to a god”, and pulling his normal life “back together” whilst suffering from the multiple personalities of his schizophrenia.

Also ably helping this book’s storytelling are artists Vanesa R. Del Rey and Scot Eaton, whose two decidedly distinctive styles are utilised depending upon whether the action is focused upon Allison’s death-bed, or the likes of Kane fighting his way through a demonic cult covertly housed inside Northumberland’s Dunbar Castle. The Cuban illustrator’s emaciated sketches depicting James’ final hours are debatably not as visually clean-cut as Eaton’s panels portraying Dark Agnes slaying a handful of poorly-skilled assassins who have been foolish enough to attack her “seven miles south of the Canal du Cure.” Yet Del Rey’s images still do an excellent job in strongly contrasting between the immortal warrior’s ghost-laden own past and that of the heroes he is hoping to use to thwart Set’s “plans to usher in an eternity of darkness.”

Writer: Jim Zub, Penciler: Scot Eaton, Inker: Scott Hanna, and Colorist: Frank D'Armata