Let's Read Conan the Cimmerian

[lordyam]

Issue #23: Iron Shadows in the Moon Part 2: Red Brotherhood

Recap: Olivia and Conan explore the temple Olivia can't help but feel a foreboding sense of doom. The statues in particular are really unnerving. Conan is unconcerned; they're only statues. Olivia can't help but feel unnerved at the evil and lifelike nature. Olivia notices that they resemble no human race on earth, while Conan touches his sword against one and compares it to black iron. This will be a good place to sleep tonight; Olivia is scared out of her wits but Conan says that they're only statues and no beast uses it for their lair. In any case would she like to sleep out i the open with whatever the heck attacked them? Still being somewhat scared of him Olivia refuses to press the point and falls asleep in the bed of leaves that Conan has made for her while Conan promises to be on guard. He's a light sleeper so nothing will get past him. Olivia falls asleep, pondering the irony that someone from a race she was told ferocious tales about as a child is protecting her while the people who have hurt her have all been "civilized" men. She falls asleep thinking of Conan, but starts to have horrible dreams. These dreams include the sacrifice we saw back in issue 22, as well as the warriors being turned into statues. Olivia wakes up in a panic, and tells Conan about the awful dream she has. Conan is skeptical but she tells him there is something supernatural about the statues and begs to leave, saying the statues will become living when exposed to the full moon. Conan changes his tune and starts to examine it; this gets to him and he agrees they should get the hell out of there. Night has fallen but the full moon hasn't appeared yet. They move through the trees, with Olivia feeling like SOMETHING is following them. Unfortunately, the boat has been smashed into kindling. Olivia suspects the statues but Conan examines it and sees tracks leading away. Animal tracks.

Olivia wonders what they're going to do, and Conan points to the high plateau. They'll camp there, and hopefully make a raft tomorrow and get the hell off the island. They again move through the jungle, haunted by the gorilla as well (which is stalking in the shadows.) They continue on, eventually reaching the crags. Conan helps Olivia up and Olivia notices that his touch no longer feels repugnant. If anything, it provides a feeling of....safety. They look out over the horizon and Conan says the moon will rise soon, making the island a little less terrible (I thought the reason you wanted to leave was due to the supernatural.) Olivia however is not quite so certain so Conan starts to tell her to lie down and get sleep when suddenly they both see a ship on the horizon. Conan looks from afar and sees that it's a pirate ship. On the beach Sergius is told by one of his men that the island has a reputation for being damned, which Sergius jokingly replies is perfect for thrice cursed dregs like them. He still talks the warning but figures that they can at least look around for a stream to replenish the casks. Two of the damned crew (Sephius and Krimsar) take barrels while Conan decides he has no choice but to meet them. Olivia doesn't like being alone. Conan says they have no choice; if they succeed it'll be a way free. If not, Olivia should hide in the rocks till they leave. When Olivia asks about whatever the hell was stalking them he tells her to stay in the rocks away from the trees. He goes down leaving Olivia alone in the darkness.

In the camp the pirates are setting up old one eye (one of the crew) is ranting about how it's cursed when Conan strolls right in. Ivanos and Aratus are shocked, while Old One Eye (Who doesn't know Conan) is more amused that there's someone else here. He asks Conan to introduce himself, and Conan does so. He wants to try his luck with the red brotherhood, so he asks who the captain is. On cue, Sergius shows up and the two are reacquanited, with Conan being surprised and Sergius telling Conan that he'll hang him by the heels and skin him alive. Olivia watches, feeling the hatred between the two. Sergius starts to order his men forwards, but Conan insults him by calling him a coward. Sergius is enraged and charges forwards. The two begin to square off. Olivia watches, unaware that more horrors are to come (we get shots of the ape, the statues, and the parrot)

Review: Another good issue. The story heats up, as we see Conan and Olivia alone on the isle. The atmosphere really is palpable and tense, but spoiled by the early explanation of what the fuck the statues are. Conan and Olivia's relation continues to grow, and we finally get the long awaited confrontation between Sergius and Conan. There were a few inconsistencies (Conan's worried about the statues, than he isn't) but the beautiful artwork strong atmosphere and characters make it up. 8 out of 10.

[lordyam]

Issue #24: Iron Shadows in the Moon Part 3: Pirate's Moon

Recap: We open right in the action as Conan and Sergius square off. Sergius proves surprisingly agile, managing to launch an attack Conan barely parries. Olivia watches, afraid of what will happen if Conan looses. She's afraid she can't survive on her own. Aratus screams for Sergius to kill Conan and Conan grudgingly acknowledges Sergius's speed; as time passes only Sergius's skill keeps him from getting cut to ribbons by Conan. Eventually Conan punches Sergius back into the crowd. Aratus gives encouragement but Sergius is annoyed; fearing a loss he makes Aratus give him his knife. He tells Conan he'll have his guts for a lanyard. Conan counters that he'll have the topknot and shiny head for the ghost of his comrades. Striking Sergius's knee with his foot after Sergius uses both blades to form an x block, Conan declares FOR MY BROTHERS! FOR THE FREE COMPANIONS and drives his blade into Sergius's heart. Even from her hiding place Olivia hears the sliding of steel and the disbelieving cry of the horde. Sergius twitches for a little bit and expires. Olivia briefly considers that maybe they'll escape after all, feeling hopeful. Conan declares that he's killed their chief and implies that the law of the red brotherhood makes him chief because of this. Aratus, refusing to follow Conan again hurls a rock at Conan. Conan collapses and Ivanos calls him out on breaking the law of the brotherhood. Aratus wants to slit Conan's throat and insists no law was ever broken. Ivanos points out that Conan is technically their captain by law, and Aratus tries to argue that Conan was an outsider and not part of the band. Old one eye points that he WISHED to join, while another guy thinks Conan is dead and that they should leave him for the crabs. Ivanos leans to check and confirms Conan isn't dead. It was just a glancing blow. Old one eye decides that they should just truss him up in the ruins. They'll decide what to do after they've had "ale to oil our thoughts." OOOOKKKAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY! that makes sense.

Olivia watches scared, convinced the fates have betrayed her. Suddenly she hears a sound and has a feeling. Of being watched. She realizes that she's not alone on the cliffs and sees a shadow watching, feeling it's gaze admiring her flesh. Realizing it may want her either as food or as a plaything this gives her the strength to climb down and get the fuck out of there. Climbing down she finally realizes why Conan warned her to stay in the open, since the thing is reluctant to leave the trees. She's determined and keeps going; she'll free Conan or be captured. She hears the howl of rage from above as the moon rises. By this point the pirates have fallen asleep drunk, except for Aratus. She says she learned later he was a deserter. Aratus mocks Conan as he awakens and Conan says he prays they'd meet again. Aratus tells him he's doomed. He's refrained from drinking as much wine even though it's good; when the men wake up with killer hangovers it'll be easy to talk them into killing Conan. Conan says Aratus better pray he remains tied to the post and Aratus scoffs saying that old one eye made the knots and that they won't come undone easily. Olivia (having snuck past the drunk sentries makes a sound and when Aratus whirls Conan chokes him unconscious with his legs. Damn. Olivia sneaks past the sentries and she embraces Conan. He tells her to find the knife. Olivia does, but the moon has started to shine through.

Remembering the dream she tries to warn Conan; who feels it to, so he orders her to cut the ropes quickly. Olivia tries to do so and manages to get one hand free, but is taking a long time and the light is slowly shining towards the statues. Conan gets impatient and takes the knife to finish the job just as the statues are touched at the edge. Even as Conan slashes the statues begin to have shimmering in their eyes. Conan finishes it and takes Olivia over his shoulder. They clear out JUST before the statues finish and the parrot utters the incantation. With a bursting of claws the statues awaken with red eyes and fall on the pirates. Old one eye happens to be waking up with a headache.....just as a clawed hand closes on his face. As Conan and Olivia high tail it they hear the screams. Conan says that they'll make it to shore and steal a skiff. Suddenly in the woods behind them they hear a movement and a sound. Hands part trees as eyes burn with yellow fire. Olivia says it can't be......but it is. The Ape bursts through the trees roaring and charges the heroes.

Review: This was another good issue; the duel with Sergius was short (I think the duel would best be captured in a show. That way we can see the combat) but his demise was satisfying, as the final betrayer of the free companions, (minus Aratus, who is also fucked) lies dead in the sand. Olivia shows her toughness by working up the nerve to save Conan and does a pretty good job. Her breaching the ruins is easy as the pirates are drunk off their asses. The sense of tension was at it's peak here as Olivia tries to free Conan before the statues awaken. It's a masterful moment and they just break free thanks to Conan taking the knife (hey she's scared that's a legit reason). The dumbass pirates however, are not so lucky. Moral of the story? NEVER get drunk in a haunted ruin. We also finally get the monster and by god he's scary. He's bigger than Thak and far meaner. Looks like Conan's in for the fight of his life. 8.5 out of 10.

[lordyam]

And it's the home fucking stretch. Issue #25: Iron Shadows in the Moon Part 4 Monsters

Recap: Olivia watches as the two primal warriors stare each other down, unable to help but notice a similar primordial bond. They death glare each other like one of those old westerns and then charge. Like Sergius the ape is surprisingly quick for it's bulkiness but Conan is just as fast. They exchange blows and Olivia realizes they are not the only ones fighting. Back in the temple the Pirates are getting torn limb from limb, disembowled or having their heads crushed. The pirates s statues are alive. Aratus is awoken by Ivanos, and Ivanos tries to get Aratus to flee. Aratus says that he needs his sword and orders Aratus to help him find it.....before getting ripped in half in a manner most awesome (and a claw takes his eyes out too as Ivanos runs off). Good riddance you prick.

As the parrot continues its chanting the beast delivers a killer left hook to Conan, knocking his sword from his hand. Conan reaches for his sword and JUST manages to grab it as it gives him a bear hug before biting his shoulder. Conan screams as Olivia shouts NO! For a moment Olivia is scared Conan lost but Conan manages to move his sword into position and stabs the ape in the stomach. The beast lets go and charges. Conan dodges and slices off it's arm, prompting fury and a splatter of blood worthy of an r rated movie. The beast, somehow not collapsing from blood loss, grabs Conan's skull and begins to rip out hair as it pulls Conan closer. Fortunately Conan has his blade and continues to stab again and again and again and again. The beast takes a lot of punishment and manages to pull Conan right up to the mouth before Conan stares it in the eyes and delivers a final blow with his sword. Just like Sergius the beast trembles for a moment than collapses. Olivia rushes over to help Conan praising Mitra; still Conan has some injuries (hair was ripped out by the roots) and it was a close run fight. Conan removes his sword and when Olivia asks what the creature is Conan says that he's seen it before. It's a grey ape that dwells in the hills along the vilayet's shore. He thinks that maybe it floated here on driftwood. They hate the sun and moon and prefer to stay in the woods. It's hunger for Olivia must have been great for it to attack them in the open. However, that doesn't explain why it failed to strike near the ruins. Olivia thinks that it was fear of the statues. The sun rises at this point. They wait for screams but hear none.

Inside the temple we see most of the pirates have been massacred (one even had it's head nailed to a post) while the statues are (once again) statues. Except for the parrot calls there's not a sound (well that and the waves beckoning them from the shore. As they are happy dawn has come they move to the ship, stealing a skiff to get to the galley. Before Conan can raise anchor a few survivors (20 in total; how many were there in the crew) approach from the trees and walk through the water. They beg Conan to take them aboard. Conan warns them come closer and asks what they want. One of them begs Conan to let them aboard calling him "Good Conan!" Conan mocks the change of heart and warns that the first man to climb over will have his skull slit. He asks Ivanos (who has become the spokesman) where the fellows are. They explain what happened, and how the statues ripped their brothers to shreds before they even woke. Conan asks "So! While your shipmates died you RAN?" Ivanos says they fought as long as they could before fleeing while the statues played with the corpses. Another begs Conan to let them aboard but Conan is skeptical, inquiring "Shall I let you come aboard to cut out my heart?" Ivanos points out that they're barely alive and are so tired from running and fighting they can't even lift a sword. Two others say they'll be allies fighting Yildiz and Conan agrees on the condition that they recognize him as captain. He asks if Ivanos will back him like he did last night and when Ivanos does Conan tells them to swear. The pirates raise their blades and swear their allegiance. He tells them to come aboard and take the oars.

Olivia asks Conan what of her, calling him captain. Conan says it's her choice asking if he should put her in the jungle or will she sail the road of blood and slaughter. He pulls her close, holding her chin, saying that the keel will stain the blue waves crimson wherever it plows. Olivia says Conan is barbarian and she an outcast denied by her people. They are both Pariahs, wanderers of the earth. She will sail with him on the blue seas or red wherever his path lies. They share a fierce kiss, and for the first time in years she knows a man's kiss and doesn't shudder. Crying with joy she realizes that he will not betray her trust and use her like others. If he does god help him. Conan orders the crew to cast off as Olivia holds his shoulder and the boat sails away as the sun rises.

Review: Well that was a damn good conclusion to a good series. The fight between Conan and the Ape was seriously intense, and the statues did not disappoint; we were promised a massacre and by Crom we got one. Aratus gets the bloodiest death of all (ripped in half at the same time his eyes are impaled) and frankly the son of a bitch had it coming. The crew joining feels natural and Conan's kiss with Olivia feels like an actual culmination rather than out of nowhere. It really promises new possibilities. 9 out of 10

[lordyam]

Series Review:

In some ways this was a stronger series than the previous one. For one there was less filler (Sorrow of Akivasha and Home for the Hunt being the only ones). Action wise it was top notch; the fight sequences were great and pulse pounding. The art was dodgy at times but good overall, but the real strength was the characters. Yasmela was great as the spoiled rich girl who has the reigns of power thrust upon her and ultimately proves adept. Caollan was a true Cimmerian spitfire and I bought the feelings between her and Conan which makes Breccan's murder of her more cowardly. The three boys Afreet Cashius and Galan were phenomenal. Even though I knew they were going to be wormfood the chemistry and passion of their friendship made me care for them. Unlike some of the sidekicks Conan had in the Marvel era these guys I could see tagging along. Their deaths were tragic and I was heartbroken (truly) when they died. The villains were also pretty cool; Breccan is at heart a weak willed coward who is willing to murder an unborn baby (his as a matter of fact) purely to save his own worthless hide, which makes Conan's killing the bastard oh so satisfying. Thugra was somewhat more interesting. On the surface he's a pretty talented dark lord. Within a short time of being freed he assembles a badass crew and starts uniting the forces of the south into his damned horde. He actually comes pretty close; during Shamla he could have moved his forces AROUND and thus attacked the north. It was simply his lust for Yasmela that undid him; if the guy had JUST put that aside than he would have won. In the end this makes him a pathetic figure. He had a major prize and he throws it all away. Sergius is another interesting villain: he's not as monstrous as Amurath and Breccan and Thugra but he's ultimately a loathsome figure. On a purely analytical level I can see why he sold Conan out; he offered Conan a deal, Conan refused, and Conan was a threat to business. However he takes relish in it as well (offering Meshud to help torture Afreet). It's as much about avenging his ego as it is saving his business. Amurath....Amurath is a REALLY loathsome piece of garbage. He's smug, cruel, indifferent to the feelings of other people and has an ego the size of a planet. The only thing redeeming is that if someone does him a service he honors the terms of the deal but that doesn't change that he's a rapist. At the same time he only avoids being a stereotype (the "lustful rapist" who happens to be arab or turkish) because Afreet is there to provide a good counter balance. Aratus is just a slimy git; he hates Conan when Conan made an honest mistake, and when he tries to antagonize Conan (when Conan was willing to end the feud) he brings Conan's wrath and tries to flee to Sergius. You really get the feeling he's jealous of Conan and his skills; his truly despicable nature shows through in Iron Shadows and Kozaki. He helps capture Afreet and tries to kill Conan even when Conan won fair and square. Unsurprisingly all these bad guys die in ways that are fulfilling.

Some argue that these don't entirely jive with what Howard had in mind and I can see why. At the same time Howard could have had a little bit more of a clear timeline. I get the device he was using but historians have had to guess the exact order and it's like trying to fit a jigsaw puzzle together.

Still it's a sublime series overall. 8 out of 10.

[johnnypt]

#22

Well considering how much of a fuss I made about how the end of last issue messed up the beginning of Iron Shadows In The Moon, let me make it clear this issue makes up for it in spades. I don’t know why Tim had those last three pages in last issue overlap events with this story, maybe it was to give it some sense of closure for that story arc. But this issue follows the original story quite closely and uses much of the dialogue. It doesn’t use the “Olivia, daughter of confusion” line, but it does have Amurath begging for quarter (a little too much, but it’s all within dramatic license). The only other thing that’s left out is Conan attempting to throw the stone himself, but Tomas’s artwork makes the point abundantly clear it’s a BIG stone that no normal man could throw. I also wish they’d left out the single panel hint as to who threw the stone, but so be it. The prologue by Paul Lee was a nice surprise, first because it wasn’t expect and second, because this part of the story was told later on. Tim fleshes it out a bit and gives it a little more resonance, whereas Howard meant it to be more nightmarish, which it still is. We’ll have to see what happens next issue how the part of the story where the story of the iron men will be handled. I’m far more assured it’ll be handled well compared to last time! All in all, a very solid start to the adaptation and one that holds up fairly well against its Savage Sword predecessor.

#23 & #24

These two issues did a very good job depicting the heart of Howard’s story while allowing it to be fleshed out without completely contradicting anything that happened. Olivia as narrator was a terrific idea to allow these two things to be going on. Many of the plot threads Truman has been working on since early in the Black Colossus arc come to a head here, as he knew they must when he started them. I think I’ve mentioned I thought they made too much of Aratus knowing Conan, but it does give some impetus for the sling shot attack. And Conan’s revenge on him doesn’t get in the way of any other plot point. My favorite little bit is when Conan knocks off Sergius’s bandana and there is his scalp lock for all to see. I’ve been wondering for over a year why we hadn’t seen it, I thought they were going to ignore, but they played it up a little instead. And Tomas Giorello is now taking Mark Bagley’s place for me as far as action comic cheesecake goes. Not as blatant as Frank Cho or Greg Land, but something that fits the story at hand.

#25 (Note the optimism that permeates this entry from December 2010)

As an adaptation, this ranks among the best Dark Horse has done during their tenure (up with Tower of the Elephant) and stands up well when compared to the earlier Thomas-Buscema one. Truman was able to work in much of Howard’s dialogue and descriptions via Olivia’s narration (with some exceptions I noted before). And Giorello’s artwork over the four issues was consistently excellent. It’s hard to believe this is their last issue with the work at this high level. I don’t know when the decision was made to create a separate series to bridge Iron Shadows and Queen of the Black Coast; though it was never stated, it was somewhat understood that Queen would be the big adaptation to close out the title. But whether it was sales or the availability of another writer that they couldn’t pass up, the title ends here and a new one starts up: The Road of Kings. And the writer who was available? A gentleman by the name of…Roy Thomas. But Truman and Giorello won’t be off Conan totally, they will be the artistic team on a new mini (edited by Phillip Simon) that will leap forward chronologically to the days when Conan was king of Aquilonia, adapting the second Conan tale published, The Scarlet Citadel. There will also be a Howard centered anthology title also harkening back to the Marvel days, Savage Sword, where other artists will be able to do Conan stories, as well as more online stories. So there will be Conan in abundant supply in the weeks and months to come.

#25 always represents the end of an era for me, my LSM began a quick descent toward closure around this time after new owners took over. I went the Wed before Thanksgiving to pick up this issue...and they had NO copies of it. I had to go to another store the following Saturday and he had to get it from the back. By February the store was closed. Looking back, was it an omen of things to come? Maybe not exactly, but it sure ties in.