Tuesday, May 31, 2011

King Conan #4 (of 4)

The issue wraps up a terrific run on the Conan title by writer Tim Truman and artist Tomas Giorello, and I am truly sad to see it end (though I should note that they may yet return at some point).

As a fan of Conan dating back to the original Lancer paperbacks, I've seen lots of terrific work on the Cimmerian's adventures - and lots of less-than-stellar work, too - and this ranks right up there among the best.

That's because it combines excellent writing with outstanding artwork. Truman knows when to stick with Howard's prose and when to give it a different spin for the comics medium. I mean no disrespect to Roy Thomas or Kurt Busiek, both of whom have done great work on Conan, but Truman may be the best yet.

And Giorello's art is fantastic, especially as teamed with Jose Villarrubia's colors. Each panel is lush, powerful and raw. Conan seems a force of nature, and the battle sequences are amazing.

Here they wrap up their adaptation of Robert E. Howard's story The Scarlet Citadel, and it's one of his best, with sinister plots, dungeons filled with monsters that would give H. P. Lovecraft nightmares, and lots of action on the battlefield.

Truly impressive work - highly recommended!

Grade: A

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