Review: Conan the Cimmerian #6

Perhaps Crom has something more in store for you, Conan

Conan’s adventures have taken him to far away lands, where he has beheaded many enemies, bedded many ladies, and beheld many a site.  Now his travels are taking him back home, and while homecomings can be a good thing, for Conan, it’s sure to bring more trouble for the once and future king.

When I first began reading the new Conan tales from Dark Horse Comics, I was expecting epic battles against those who would seek to subjugate the lands, or at the very least legions of lizard men.  Instead, readers are presented with a tale of Conan returning home to Cimmeria and along the way, we are presented with a backstory of his grandfather, from very different points of view.  It is through these tales, we actually learn more about our hero.

Conan’s grandfather spent time seeing great lands and fighting many battles, and upon his return home, passed his tales on to Conan.  His tales in turn inspired Conan to leave Cimmeria to seek his own adventures.  Now on his way home, Conan has crossed paths with many characters readers may be familiar with from other adventures, including The Frost Giant’s Daughter.  I like that Timothy Truman is really delving into Conan lore and digging up these morsels that flesh out the Hyborian Age.  This also is a problem for new readers who may not be familiar with these old stories and could be completely lost.

Accompanying Conan back to Cimmeria is Caolian, his former lover who has since been wed and is currently pregnant with Brecan’s child.  For reasons we haven’t been made privy to in this issue, Brecan wants her dead, which means storm clouds are approaching the village, and that epic battle I’ve been waiting for could be just around the corner.  Even though she is with child, Conan and Caolian share an intimate moment (in mom’s house no less), and the old flame is rekindled to the point where Conan’s wanderlust could come to an end.  It is fitting then that the grandfather flashback in this issue also recounts the grandfather’s return and how he fell and love and settled down.  Knowing Dark Horse wants to continue their hold on Conan comics, the hero won’t be sticking around, and we’re going to see Conan leave the tribe in issue #8 as Truman begins his adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s Black Colossus story.

I really like what Dark Horse is doing with this adaptation of Conan.  The stories are good jumping on points and if readers have questions, there is a wealth of knowledge online that helps fill in the gaps.  Timothy Truman is doing an excellent job in adapting Howard’s works and brings life to the these old pulp tales.

I’m also digging the art by Tomas Giorello and Richard Corben as each brings their styles to the current and flashback moments in the issue.  If you are a fan of Frank Cho, there’s the added bonus of having his work grace the cover of each issue.

I will admit that Conan is not high on my list of must reads, but I’ve stuck through all six issue of this new series, and have even gone back and picked up a few of the newly released tales from the 1970s.  With each issue, the character, time period, and promise of bigger adventures have grown on me to the point, where the title has moved up several spots on my Must Read Pile.  Conan the Cimmerian #6 is another good installment of the current reboot of the character, and is good enough to earn 3 out of 5 Stars.

78/78