King Conan #6 - Marvel Comics

KING CONAN No. 6, September 2022

Having announced in May 2022 that “after just under five years” Robert E. Howard’s creation was once again going to be leaving the Marvel Universe, Jason Aaron’s script for Issue Six of “King Conan” was probably something of a disappointment to the majority of the Cimmerian’s fans. In fact, the Alabama-born author’s narrative for this twenty-page swansong, based upon the unrealistic premise of the barbarian being able to single-handedly best an entire island packed full of the walking undead, is arguably a good example as to just why amongst other criticisms, the sword and sorcery hero’s “fans have complained about Aaron’s run not being true to the character”.

Admittedly, “The Boy In The Tree” does also provide some significant spotlight to the arcane gifts of Thoth-Amon, and the Stygian Wizard’s incredible ability to harness the dark arts to his will. But whilst the emaciated snake-worshipping sorcerer is pivotal to Aquilonia’s former king ultimately besting the maniacal machinations of Princess Prima, one of the plot’s biggest holes is just how the evil-hearted magician is suddenly able to conjure up so much astounding alchemy when for so much of this mini-series’ storyline he has been shown as being utterly impotent; “You see! At last, my rise is imminent! I shall crush entire armies beneath my heel! While clad in the flayed skin of all who mocked me!”

Correspondingly as unconvincing is the Cimmerian’s aforementioned swordplay, which at one point sees the heavily muscled protagonist easily dispatching a good half-dozen murderously sized primates with just his sword. Conan aficionados will doubtless recall the difficulty the barbarian had battling just one giant gorilla in the 1934 short story "Shadows in the Moonlight". Yet in this comic, Aaron would have his audience believe an utterly exhausted hero, who has already spent the past twenty-four hours endlessly fighting, could still easily slaughter an entire, co-ordinated pack of Red Apes from Khitai whilst daydreaming about tree climbing when he was a boy.

Perhaps this publication’s biggest disappointment though, lies in its future glimpses of a heavily-bearded Conn being erroneously informed of his father’s death, which act as a sort of bookend for the periodical. These scenes are debatably as unconvincing as the young monarch is sceptical as to the final fate of his predecessor, and whilst proficiently pencilled by Mahmud Asrar seemingly smacks of an urgent need to pad out the comic to its allotted sheet number rather than actually add anything to the supposed “poignant, powerful and unbelievable chapter that closes out this saga of King Conan.”

The regular cover art of "KING CONAN" #6 by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson

King Conan #5 - Marvel Comics

KING CONAN No. 5, July 2022

Providing its audience with an excellent “glimpse into the never-before-revealed past of the Stygian Wizard” Thoth-Amon, Jason Aaron’s narrative for Issue Five of “King Conan” probably captured the attention of many Robert E. Howard fans by predominantly pitching itself shortly after the events depicted in the December 1932 original yarn "The Phoenix on the Sword". Indeed, as an attempt to fill in some of the background gaps concerning “the sorcerer who will strike fear into the Hyborian Age” goes, this twenty-page periodical’s plot does a more than satisfactory job envisaging the rise of the initially unpromising snake worshipping boy; “Whilst everyone was gathered inside the temple, Thoth-Amon bound the doors, doused the stones with the tar and presented his offering to Set.”

In addition, the Alabama-born author also makes a semi-successful attempt to finally explain just how the emaciated-looking magic user came to be shipwrecked upon the same pitifully small “cursed isle” as Aquilonia’s former king. True, this explanation is arguably far less credible than the writer’s flashback “deep within the marshes of the River Styx”, considering that it is seemingly based upon the notion that the great snake deity had decided to sacrifice his prominent priest to a pack of marauding sharks just prior to Ascalante’s one-time slave hearing the Cimmerian’s voice bellowing about rum. But at least the sheer coincidence of the two living legends unlikely meeting in the middle of nowhere was not simply a matter of unconvincing chance and instead as a result of events being manipulated by at least one so-called divinity.

Far less persuasive is Aaron’s penmanship concerning Conan’s heavy-handed bullying of his arch-nemesis following their implausible pact to aid one another until free of the zombie-infested island. The barbarian has always been penned as being highly wary (and even intimidated) by those able to master the arcane dark arts, so the fact he’s seen picking up perhaps his era’s greatest sorcerer by the scruff of his neck at one point in a gesture of disrespectful dominance, smacks of uncharacteristic arrogant contempt, even if the Stygian’s powers are supposedly at something of a low ebb during this story.

Such inconsistency also appears to affect the artwork of Mahmud Asrar, whose opening splash showing a shaven-headed Thoth-Amon being whipped by his fellow acolytes with hooded cobras is one of the comic’s most memorable moments. However, by the time the spotlight returns to Princess Prima’s desolate abode, the Turkish illustrator’s pencilling appears a little tired and is slightly inconsistent when it comes to the skeletal form of the Black Ring’s Master Mage.

The regular cover art of "KING CONAN" #5 by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson

King Conan #4 - Marvel Comics

KING CONAN No. 4, July 2022

Focusing far more upon “a duel that will change the course of the Hyborian Age” than the arguably less satisfying (and unconvincing) tale of the titular character being shipwrecked upon a tiny isle of the Undead with a “Stygian snake-kisser” for company, Jason Aaron’s storyline for Issue Four of “King Conan” probably still didn’t convince many long-time fans of Robert E. Howard’s creation that the sword and sorcery hero was in particularly safe hands. Sure, the aforementioned swordfight between Aquilonia’s King and his heir depicts some diverting moments as young Conn bravely stands tall in the face of his father’s plan to banish him from the kingdom. However, it's abundantly clear that the Cimmerian will never meaningfully harm his son with a permanently debilitating blow from his blade, so any sense of genuine tension is abundantly missing, as is a healthy dose of logic behind the Barbarian’s bizarre behaviour.

Indeed, debatably one of this twenty-page plot’s biggest disappointments is how the Alabama-born author pens a deeply disturbed monarch taking out his evident frustrations at being a successful ruler upon his adolescent son, and then suddenly, tearfully deciding to abdicate when he’s dubiously bested by the boy; “By Crom. When did you become such a man? My son. My King.” L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter’s 1968 novel “Conan Of The Isles” certainly has its shortcomings, but at least the Sixty-something Sovereign is goaded into abandoning his throne due to the sorcerous sacrifice of his old friend, Count Trocero of Poitian and another stern warning from the ancient prophet, Epemitreus, rather than because he’s bored and implausibly disarmed by his physically inferior child.

Possibly just as farfetched is Aaron’s attempt to have artist Mahmud Asrar pencil a clearly fatigued Cimmerian besting a confined cave full of murderous killer apes with just a single punch to the jaw and a limb-severing sword swipe. This demonstration of well-sketched barbaric ferocity is supposedly enough to stave off the remaining three formidably sized gorillas so the weary adventurer can make good his escape from the clutches of the (retconned/redesigned) Princess Prima along with a bleeding Thoth-Amon, and even supposedly provides the unlikely comrades-in-arms with more than enough time for them to dangerously stop just a little way further down the hollow to discuss the benefits of their dubious double-act.

The regular cover art of "KING CONAN" #4 by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson

King Conan #3 - Marvel Comics

KING CONAN No. 3, April 2022

Leaving the heavy criticisms targeted at Jason Aaron for this comic’s alleged “sexualisation of a character, whose real-life story is one of rape and abuse”, as well as its Alabama-born author’s subsequent public apology, to internet news sites such as “Bleeding Cool”, there’s arguably not a great deal about the publication’s twenty-page plot which would have entertained its 6,854 readers in February 2022. Indeed, with the exception of a short-lived, surprisingly touching sequence depicting Conan’s evident liking for his now zombified shipmate Thomasso, “The Princess Of Golden Ruin” continues with this mini-series’ monotonous depiction the Cimmerian repeatedly hacking his way through an innumerable army of deceased mariners; “By Crom. I’ll slay every dead man in the sea if I must!!!”

Thankfully, such senseless slaughter does eventually come to an end once the Barbarian decides he’d prefer to tackle some “Red Apes from Khitai” singlehandedly on top of a mountainous outcrop rather than more salty, stinking walking cadavers. However, this questionable survival decision leads on to the introduction of the “ill-considered” Princess Matoaka and a somewhat lengthy interlude depicting her treachery-fuelled, blood-soaked origin in “a land of plenty, farther west across the many waters.” Of course, the establishment of a “supernatural, thousand-year-old princess of a cursed island” surrounding herself with the corpses of greedy pirates does at least provide some sort of explanation behind the predicament currently facing Aquilonia’s former monarch. Yet such a contrivance as Conan and his deadly nemesis Thoth Amon simultaneously being shipwrecked upon the small landmass still debatably tests even the most willing suspension of disbelief.

Equally as unpersuasive is Aaron’s bizarre plot of her “Highness” building a boat “made from the fingernails of the Dead” to lure “a man… virile enough to ferry us across the churning sea.” The vessel both sounds and appears truly repugnant, and it probably comes as no surprise to any fan of Robert E. Howard’s creation that the veteran warrior of a hundred battles immediately senses a treacherous trap. Just why any person would willingly board such a distasteful vessel is debatably incomprehensible, especially when the two-person vessel contains no supplies, provisions, oars, sail or any other means of propulsion for that matter.

In fact, perhaps the only entertaining element to Issue Three of “King Conan” comes at its very end, when the comic flashes back to Conn’s shocking banishment by his father, and the young man’s typically ‘Cimmerian’ response to tackle it head on, sword in hand. This dual on horseback, well-pencilled by artist Mahmud Asrar and moodily coloured by Matthew Wilson, genuinely provides the book with so intriguing a cliff-hanger that it’s a pity this secondary storyline wasn't given much more ‘screen time.’

Writer: Jason Aaron, Artist: Mahmud Asrar, and Color Artist: Matthew Wilson

King Conan #2 - Marvel Comics

KING CONAN No. 2, March 2022

Somewhat surprisingly splitting this twenty-page periodical’s plot between the swashbuckling exploits of the titular character upon a zombie-infested island and King Conan’s strange decision to suddenly exile his son from Aquilonia “until you can bring me a tale from every land on the map”, Jason Aaron’s narrative for “A Barbarian Father’s Lament” must have caused many within its audience to scratch their heads in bewilderment. True, the Cimmerian’s team-up with Thoth-Amon provides this comic with some truly scintillating swordplay, especially when the Stygian Wizard is seemingly about to be treacherously sacrificed to the relentless horde of Undead simply to buy his vengeful, grey-bearded nemesis a chance of survival.

But arguably bibliophiles can only take so much depiction of putrescent cadavers being carved into pieces of still wriggling, decaying meat, before the relentless slaughter becomes a bit stayed and regrettably tedious. Indeed, the flashbacks concerning a bored monarch and his worries as to Conn’s ability to retain the throne after the aging adventurer is dead, debatably soon becomes a far more fascinating storyline than the one depicting the heavily muscled hero swinging his great blade through yet another revenant; “With all respect, your highness. Are you going to tell me why we rode all the way out here while our army is marching back to Tarantia?”

Happily however, the Alabama-born author does finally inject some much-needed tension into the elderly Conan’s seemingly deadly predicament towards the end of the comic, when having been pained by his decision to abandon Thoth-Amon, he pens the barbarian returning to save the black magic-user from a gruesome demise at the last moment. This demonstration of the Cimmerian’s famous code of honour certainly captures the essence of the character originally devised by his creator Robert E. Howard, and agreeably also leads to a moment of true treachery when the Stygian ungratefully stabs his rescuer in the thigh and leaves the wounded warrior to the tender mercies of the ghouls who were only moments before about to eat him.

Easily this book’s biggest asset though is the artwork of Mahmud Asrar, which provides the sword and sorcery hero with plenty of memorable moments repeatedly scything his way through a steady stream of rotting opponents. Likewise, the Turkish illustrator does a first-rate job pencilling the sheer frustration emanating off Aquilonia’s King once he realises that he’s done such a good job in ruling the empire that he has few enemies to battle and can’t simply prowl “the countryside looking for a fight.”

The regular cover art of "KING CONAN" #2 by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson

King Conan #1 - Marvel Comics

KING CONAN No. 1, February 2022

Bravely boasted by “Marvel Worldwide” as being “an all-new adventure that takes the story of the Cimmerian further than has ever been revealed in any media to date”, Jason Aaron’s script for this super-sized, thirty-page periodical certainly contains most of the elements which caused Robert E. Howard’s creation to become so popular during the Thirties in “Weird Tales” magazine. Indeed, the prospect of the barbarian having one last battle, ‘mano a mano’, with his arch-nemesis Thoth-Amon on an island packed full of zombies, killer apes and deadly white tigers must have had many within the comic’s audience salivating in anticipation of “On Maggot-Infested Waves”.

But whilst the Alabama-born author definitely provides bibliophiles everywhere with a sense-shattering clash of swords between Aquilonia’s recent king and the snake-worshipping Stygian wizard, the sheer implausibility as to just how these two particular playing pieces of the gods arrive simultaneously upon an island which “was barely the size of a boil on the ocean’s hindquarters” arguably takes any reader’s willing suspension of disbelief a little too far.; “Tell me… You’re really here. And not some madness brought on by this miserable isle."

In fact, Issue One of “King Conan” is absolutely packed full of all manner of such contrivances which persistently suggest the entire narrative is perhaps one of the grey-bearded adventurer’s fevered dreams, rather than a true account of his exploits following his willing departure from the throne. Naturally, a small land mass encircled by sharks is just the sort of fantastic location a shipwreck survivor might find themselves at following a ‘storm which came out of nowhere’, and other less fortunate travellers may well have brought both weapons and rum onto the shores in their death throes. Yet that doesn’t explain the Red Apes from the Lava Hills of Khitai, nor the Polar Tigers from the white woods of Hyperborea somehow co-existing with one another on the barren, foodless island.

Ultimately therefore, this book’s success lies squarely upon the shoulders of Mahmud Asrar, whose superbly atmospheric pencils really bring the titular character and his seemingly deadly predicament to glorious life. The Turkish artist’s ability to stage a series of short-lived fight scenes between this yarn’s sole two protagonists is absolutely mesmerising, whether the combatants are exchanging blows amidst a cadaver-covered landscape, or beneath the waves whilst being worried by a pack of hungry sharks.

The regular cover art of "KING CONAN" #1 by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson