Conan the Barbarian #1

    As a geezer, I was reading and collecting comics way back in 1970 when Marvel announced it was going to do a comic based on Conan the Barbarian.

   I was thrilled!

   Under the guidance of writer Roy Thomas and artists like Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Gil Kane and many, many others, Conan's (somewhat sanitized) adventures filled the '70s and beyond.

   Some years back, Dark Horse took over the rights and published an incredible number of terrific stories - but the pendulum has swung again and everyone's favorite Cimmerian is back at the House of Ideas.

   I was anxious to see this issue, since writer Jason Aaron has a facility for rough-and-tumble, hard-hitting adventures, and certainly artist Mahmud Asrar and color artist Matthew Wilson turn in amazing, powerful, raw visuals here. 

   There are twists and turns aplenty as Conan finds himself in a very bad spot indeed - and facing the end of his short life of wandering!

   Aaron uses a time-shifting story device he's been using in Thor's comic - and it's effective here, but I hope he doesn't go to the well too many times (so to speak).

    Still, it's a great start to the new series (and it's an original story, not an adaptation) - I'm looking forward to the next issue!

Grade: A

-------------------