‘Conan #1’ – Zub, De La Torre, Villarrubia (Titan Comics)


Every now and then, I get the urge to do something that I absolutely loved as a kid, have a regular subscription to a favourite comic book. You’re wondering which one, it was ‘The Victor’; crammed full of ‘True Stories of Men at War’, Westerns, a little sci-fi and memorably, a story about a giant owl trained to hunt down and eat the enemies of its owner. Now there’s a story I’d love to track down again, but anyway…

The sense of nostalgia is still there but other demands on my time mean that I start off with all the best intentions, fold around issue 6 and then, somewhat shamefacedly, end up buying the trades instead. Titan Comics’ ‘Conan The Barbarian’ is the latest comic to catch my eye, lets see how I go with it. Issue 0 has it’s own post over Here, let’s talk about Issue 1…

Issue O introduced us to Conan (like we didn’t already know who he is but I guess it’s only polite), Issue 1 introduces Conan to the enemy he will be fighting over however many issues it takes to deal with a MASSIVE HORDE OF ZOMBIES! Pardon the all-caps but when two of my favourite things are in one comic, I get more than a little excited 😉 It’s a great move (I would say that but even so) and Zub handles it perfectly with a little trip through dark woods, building up the tension, followed by an explosive zombie onslaught that Conan has to fight his way through. It was a real treat to read, both in the way that Zub keeps the plot moving forwards (contrary to popular belief, a horde of zombies can get boring but Zub avoids the pitfalls) and how De La Torre and Villarrubia combine again to really put us at the heart of this world. I’ve got to be careful that I don’t just end up saying the same thing about the art and colours. Lets just say that if it ain’t broke, well… You know the rest and that’s why I’m more than happy with what’s being served up here art wise.

Add a potential new travelling companion in Brissa (who like Conan, ‘has seen her own share of bloody battlefields’) and I think things are shaping up nicely for this nascent series. Time will tell how long I stay with the single issues (if I make it to Christmas, I’ll be doing well) but one way or another, I’m fully on board with Titan Comics’ ‘Conan’.  

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