'He is CONAN THE BARBARIAN - THE GREATEST WARRIOR OF ALL TIME and he's back in this all-new fantasy graphic novel, heralding a new era of savage, sword-slashing, brooding action, in search of high adventure and blood-soaked battle! BY CROM!
'Often copied, but never bettered, this is the welcome return of the first and mightiest hero ever to stride and slash his way across the world. Featuring an action-packed script written by Jim Zub that would make Robert E. Howard proud, and Buscema-inspired dynamic artwork by Roberto De La Torre! Together these two titans of the comic world have breathed new life into one of the most recognizable characters in fiction and in doing so, have unleashed a fantastic new era!
'On the eve of his first major battle, young Conan of Cimmeria pictures a life beyond the borders of his homeland and yearns for a life of adventure undreamt of in his small village. Visions of future allies and unspeakable evils he will eventually encounter throughout his fabled life fill his mind, as he makes the choice to take his first fateful step into the Hyborian Age in search of blood-soaked glory.'
I grew up with the character of Conan in my life, thanks in part to the two Arnold Schwarzenegger movies that I had access to as a kid (way before they were appropriate), and the wonderfully fun animated series Conan the Adventurer. I had Conan toys, I watched the show and films, but I never encountered any of the books or the comics, and even to this day I was yet to pick up a Conan comic. Luckily for me, Titan Comics had recently taken over the licence from Marvel, and had started a whole new series; with the first four issue being collected together into a brand new graphic novel.
Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone Vol 1 begins with a brief history lesson, for those who might be unfamiliar with, or only have a passing knowledge of. This introduction to the character is short, and fairly basic, but it doesn't try to do too much or muddy the waters. We find out who Conan is, what his people are like, and what has driven him to leave his homelands and see the rest of the world, things that will prove to all be important points in the story that is to come.
As the story begins in earnest, we find Conan in a small settlement on the side of the road, a waystation for travellers, adventurers, and those out to discover themselves. He's just been through an adventure with a group of warriors, and come to blows with one of the group having disagreed with them on a moral stance. We instantly see that despite being a barbarian warrior Conan is a decent man, one driven by a sense of honour and a drive to do some good in the world. This comes into play shortly after when a woman comes riding into the place under a dark sky, shouting a warning for them all to flee as an army of the dead is on its way.
Due to the woman, Brissa, is a Pict, and as such is met with doubt and suspicion; but the army of the dead is hot on her heels and soon overwhelms the warriors and residents of the waypoint. During the chaos of the combat Conan and Brissa end up fighting side by side, and the two of them come to an alliance, knowing that they will need each other's help to survive. Following the attack, Conan and Brissa set out to discover the sinister origin of the undead scourge that's sweeping across the landscape; a scourge that has also found its way to Conan's homeland.
Whilst I've not had much experience with Conan comics, this story is very much the kind of fantasy story that feels at home in any fantasy setting. Warriors brought together by a common foe, a deadly, magical enemy that is set to destroy everything, and a journey into danger in order to discover answers. Because of this there's a sense of familiarity and comfort to the book for me, where even though I've not read a Conan comic before it ends up feeling natural to do so. I'm no worried about the world its set in, in keeping track of everything, or even caring about if other stuff came before this that I need to know about. The book instead flows quite naturally and almost leisurely, with me happy to go along on the journey to see where it leads.
It's clear that Jim Zub, the author of the series, knows his fantasy well, and the book very much has a kind of timeless quality, and this story feels like it could have been written decades ago. The book has the feel of those old 70's sword and sorcery tales you can find in battered paperbacks with amazing painted art on the cover.
The art also kind of reflects this, with a style that you could have found in a comic from decades past. Artist Roberto De La Torre and colourists Dean White and Jose Villarrubia give the book an older feel. The art is nicely detailed, with attention paid to things like characters and important action, but with blank, empty backgrounds employed a lot, which sometimes leads the page to look like it has art spilling out of panels as there can at times be no borders to the art, with the action spilling out into the spaces between panels. The colours that are used also have a more muted look than you'd expect to find in modern books, almost looking hand coloured rather than digital art. This all comes together to create a book that I could believe was first printed in the 80's.
In many ways it feels like Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone Vol 1 is the perfect first step into this world. It's a universe full of rich history and deep lore, but it ignores much of that (or at least uses it subtly enough that it's not overwhelming) that anyone unfamiliar with the setting can read this first volume with relative ease. Fans of the fantasy genre will feel right at home here, and whilst I can't talk for long time Conan fans I can at least say that it was an enjoyable experience throughout, and one that I'd happily recommend to others.
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