‘Backrooms’, ‘Conan’ and… More ‘Conan’!
Yep, it’s another ‘Bits & Pieces’ style post but that’s just what happens when what should have been a couple of hours job-hunting becomes a lot longer; thanks to my laptop deciding to play by its own rules and ‘take breaks’… You may see me actually finish a book this week, maybe… Oh well, fingers crossed for a better experience today ;o)
Yesterday didn’t leave me with a lot of time for reading then but I did manage to read me some more ‘Conan’ and finally watch ‘Backrooms’ as well. And you know what? I’ll take that :o)
‘Backrooms’ (2026)
When investigating powercuts in his store, struggling furniture salesman Clark finds an entrance into the Backrooms, a seemingly endless series of rooms and passages. Most of these are empty, others are less so…
Now therapist Mary must find her way into the Backrooms and locate Clark, he doesn’t want to leave…
My eldest daughter loves the lore around the ‘Backrooms’ and the plan was to go and see the movie at the cinema. We all know what happens to most plans though… She saw ‘Backrooms’ with her mates and so I had to get caught up last night. And…
I loved it :o) I know next to nothing about the setting but I’m always up for a ‘haunted house’ movie and from where I was sat (the ‘un-comfy’ chair…) , that’s what ‘Backrooms’ is. What is doing the haunting though…? I was definitely there for the disturbing backdrop (took me back to my days of cleaning offices after hours…) but that was the question that kept me watching. The answer? I think that depends on who is watching. My ideas won’t necessarily tally with yours and from what I understand, that’s pretty much the whole point. It works though, that’s the main thing. ‘Backrooms’ was unsettling throughout and I’ll be honest, I was really tempted to poke at my living room walls, just to be on the safe side… ;o)
‘Conan the Barbarian #35’ – Zub, Dagnino, Rodriguez (Titan Comics, Heroic Signatures)
I used to be really non-commital about the whole ‘variant cover thing’ but this copy of ‘Conan the Barbarian’ might have just changed my mind. I mean, just look at it… Have you ever seen a more menacing Conan? Nope, me neither. Anyway…
‘Cursed Shores Beyond’ continues, with Part 3, and what I thought was going to be the finale is merely the prelude. That’ll teach me to make assumptions…
#35 isn’t so much a ‘Conan’ comic, focussing more on Valeria instead. And if it wasn’t clear to you already that Valeria is just as capable as Conan… Zub and Dagnino combine to leave us in no doubt that Valeria is just as much the hero, If Morley had killed her first, well… This would have been a very different story. As it is, it says a lot more about the Hyborian Age when others can take centre stage and hold their own. Zub and Dagnino do a great job of that here.
We do get some Conan though, of course we do ;o) They may be almost ‘cameos’ but Zub directs those moments to great impact, giving us a side plot that I’m going to call the ‘Hyborian Version of Predator’. Seriously, all it was missing was three little red dots appearing on a cultists head…
Everything is set up nicely for #36, I’m looking forward to it already.
‘Conan: Tides of the Tyrant King #1’ – Zub, Merino, Canola (Titan Comics, Heroic Signatures)
I’m growing to really look forward to these cross-over events and while 'Tides of the Tyrant King #1' is very much about setting the scene (I mean, of course it is…), it's all looking very promising.
I’m not a hundred percent sure who Steve Costigan is (I thought he was a sailor but we meet him here as a traumatised veteran of WW1?) but the appearance of Zuleika, in ‘Savage Sword of Conan #16’, makes a bit more sense now. What I really enjoyed though was watching Zub’s take on the multi-verse with events playing out in parallel across thousands of years. I can’t remember the name of the REH character but there’s one guy who can remember all of his past lives, I wonder if Zub had him in mind when he write this issue?
I’m looking forward to seeing how ‘Tides of the Tyrant King’ continues and given that this is apparently a re-telling of REH’s ‘Skull Face’, I might just go back to the source and ‘read ahead’ (as it were). We’ll see…
Yesterday didn’t leave me with a lot of time for reading then but I did manage to read me some more ‘Conan’ and finally watch ‘Backrooms’ as well. And you know what? I’ll take that :o)
‘Backrooms’ (2026)
When investigating powercuts in his store, struggling furniture salesman Clark finds an entrance into the Backrooms, a seemingly endless series of rooms and passages. Most of these are empty, others are less so…
Now therapist Mary must find her way into the Backrooms and locate Clark, he doesn’t want to leave…
My eldest daughter loves the lore around the ‘Backrooms’ and the plan was to go and see the movie at the cinema. We all know what happens to most plans though… She saw ‘Backrooms’ with her mates and so I had to get caught up last night. And…
I loved it :o) I know next to nothing about the setting but I’m always up for a ‘haunted house’ movie and from where I was sat (the ‘un-comfy’ chair…) , that’s what ‘Backrooms’ is. What is doing the haunting though…? I was definitely there for the disturbing backdrop (took me back to my days of cleaning offices after hours…) but that was the question that kept me watching. The answer? I think that depends on who is watching. My ideas won’t necessarily tally with yours and from what I understand, that’s pretty much the whole point. It works though, that’s the main thing. ‘Backrooms’ was unsettling throughout and I’ll be honest, I was really tempted to poke at my living room walls, just to be on the safe side… ;o)
‘Conan the Barbarian #35’ – Zub, Dagnino, Rodriguez (Titan Comics, Heroic Signatures)
I used to be really non-commital about the whole ‘variant cover thing’ but this copy of ‘Conan the Barbarian’ might have just changed my mind. I mean, just look at it… Have you ever seen a more menacing Conan? Nope, me neither. Anyway…
‘Cursed Shores Beyond’ continues, with Part 3, and what I thought was going to be the finale is merely the prelude. That’ll teach me to make assumptions…
#35 isn’t so much a ‘Conan’ comic, focussing more on Valeria instead. And if it wasn’t clear to you already that Valeria is just as capable as Conan… Zub and Dagnino combine to leave us in no doubt that Valeria is just as much the hero, If Morley had killed her first, well… This would have been a very different story. As it is, it says a lot more about the Hyborian Age when others can take centre stage and hold their own. Zub and Dagnino do a great job of that here.
We do get some Conan though, of course we do ;o) They may be almost ‘cameos’ but Zub directs those moments to great impact, giving us a side plot that I’m going to call the ‘Hyborian Version of Predator’. Seriously, all it was missing was three little red dots appearing on a cultists head…
Everything is set up nicely for #36, I’m looking forward to it already.
‘Conan: Tides of the Tyrant King #1’ – Zub, Merino, Canola (Titan Comics, Heroic Signatures)
I’m growing to really look forward to these cross-over events and while 'Tides of the Tyrant King #1' is very much about setting the scene (I mean, of course it is…), it's all looking very promising.
I’m not a hundred percent sure who Steve Costigan is (I thought he was a sailor but we meet him here as a traumatised veteran of WW1?) but the appearance of Zuleika, in ‘Savage Sword of Conan #16’, makes a bit more sense now. What I really enjoyed though was watching Zub’s take on the multi-verse with events playing out in parallel across thousands of years. I can’t remember the name of the REH character but there’s one guy who can remember all of his past lives, I wonder if Zub had him in mind when he write this issue?
I’m looking forward to seeing how ‘Tides of the Tyrant King’ continues and given that this is apparently a re-telling of REH’s ‘Skull Face’, I might just go back to the source and ‘read ahead’ (as it were). We’ll see…
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