Review | Red Sonja Presents: Thulsa Doom #1

The debut issue of Dynamite?s Thulsa Doom! Proudly announces "From the pages of writer Robert E. Howard".

STOP the presses!

This should be a warning to all Howard fans.

This is your spoiler alert.
This is your warning to stay away from the issue. Don?t buy it, don?t pick it up, and don?t read it.

Ok, now that you know where I am coming from I will explain a little more. Even though the comic claims to be "From the pages of writer Robert E. Howard," the comic book reads nothing like a Howard story, nor does its main character Thulsa Doom come near to resembling the character created by Howard. This may seem minor, but Thulsa Doom is supposed to be a skull faced necromancer, not a steroid pumped up warrior.

What angers me most is that Dynamite has attached Robert E. Howards' name to this comic, implying that this story is canon and follows with what Howard created. This story should not be associated with or compared to anything produced by Robert E. Howard. I don?t have anything against Dynamite or the creative team that developed the story I just wish they would have named the main character something else, taken Howards' name off and let the story rise or fall on its own merits.

To give credit where credit is due the comic was written by Kull writer Arvid Nelson and illustrated by Lui (Red Sonja) Antonio, with Alex Ross as the cover artist.

Review - Conan The Cimmerian # 3 - Dark Horse Comics

Issue # 3 of Conan The Cimmerian by Dark Horse Comics written by Timothy Truman, the artist is Tomas Giorello and Richard Corben, colorist Jose? Villarrubia, letterer Richard Starkings and Comicraft, cover artist this go around is Frank Cho, Dave Stewart as the cover colorist.

A young Cimmerian woman Caollan and Horsa cross paths with Conan as he makes his way across the frozen mountain passes en route to his homeland in Cimmeria. During the flashback section of Conan?s grandfather, Connacht, we see how he rescues a wealthy merchant from thieves and for a reward he is employed as a blacksmith. It appears Connact is happy with this life in the city and catches the eye of a young slave.

Moving at a dynamic pace the story pits Conan against nature as much as it does the enemies he encounters. The relationship between Conan and Caollan has sexual tension and hints of unrequited love.

The cliff hanger ending of both stories hint at sacrifice and Black magic. Conan faces a evil witch that is preparing to cast a spell, and Connacht sees the young slave he fancies being led to stake prepared for burning.

The artwork by Tomas Giorello is top notch shows the intricacies of the story line in detail. As the story goes on, I?m becoming more comfortable with how Giorello draws Conan, and his presentation is beginning to take hold as the quintessence of a Conan caricature.

I really enjoy the artwork of Richard Corben, where Tomas is fluid and evocative. Corben hits you like a left to the stomach and a right to the jaw. You know you have been hit by something powerful, but you aren?t quit sure where it came from. The pictures tell the story in a two fisted way, that Robert E. Howard would have been proud of.

CONAN THE CIMMERIAN #3

Review - Conan - The God in the Bowl - by Robert E. Howard

The "God in the Bowl" was first published in 1975 several years after it was written by Robert E. Howard, it is a fine example of the evolution of Conan in Howard?s mind, and back story on the political and economic philosophy he was creating in the Hyborian age. I need to mention again that I am exceedingly pleased with Del Rey and how they were edited. The editor of the book tried to produce the stories as close to the original text as written by Howard, and if changes were made, they were noted in the back of the book, giving the page number, line number and word that was changed or a note as to how the text was changed. This is why I like this book so much. For the most part the only changes made were minor grammatical changes, if the original text had a misspelled word; they changed it in the text, but noted how Howard originally spelled it. If you are interested in purchasing this book the bottom of the page contains a link to Amazon, so if you haven?t got a copy yet, pick one up.

Ok, enough advertising for the book; I?ll get on with the review. The story "God in the Bowl" starts with a guard discovering the dead body, Kallian Publico, the owner and curator of the museum. Soon Conan enters the scene and the guard seeing Conan comes to the conclusion that he must have murdered the man, and sounds an alarm. Conan is quickly surrounded by other guards along with Demetrio, the chief of the Inquisitorial Council of the city of Numalia, and the prefect of police Dionus. The rest of the story revolves around questioning Conan, and the guard telling the story of how Publico went to town and returned in his chariot, how the guard watched him enter the museum, where no others could have entered because the doors were locked. Howard wraps the story of a criminal investigation being done on the spot, and then brings in a mysterious bowl. During the investigation Conan mentions that he entered the building for the soul purpose of stealing an object and that it was a job, but he maintains his incense when it comes to the murder of Publico. Howard increases the tension by implying that a mysterious and deadly beast was contained in the bowl, but only the clerk, Promero, believes the beast exists. The story reaches a climax when the nephew of the city's governor, Aztrias, arrives on scene. Conan recognizes him and names him as the one who hired him to steal a gem from the museum. When Aztrias does not support Conan's claims, even though Demetrio offers to sweep it under the rug, Conan becomes enraged kills Aztrias and disarms and maims the remainder of the guards. Suddenly Promero appears in the hallway from the chamber he was thrown in, he screams and dies. When they inspect him they find that he has no wounds. Conan enters the chamber sees a head and strikes, severing it from its body, when he looks at the body of the beast it is that of a huge serpent.

One of the things I notice about the way Howard wrote this and other Conan tales is that Conan is almost a side bar to the story. What I mean by that is that most of the action happens with out him. For instance in this story Conan shows up and is accused of the crime, yet most of the story is retelling about Publico's movements, the guards movements, and back story into the daily life of Numalia. Conan only shines in the last three pages of a seventeen page story, but otherwise stands off to the side while the investigation goes on, only providing short direct answers in his own defense. This comment is not to dissuade any one from reading the story or any other story by Howard, it is merely an observation. Howard wrote a remarkably mysterious and tension filled story, which resulted with Conan winning a battle with the guards and killing the beast. I would say that if this was the only Conan story I had ever read and I didn't know Conan?s history, I might be asking myself, "Why do I care about this character?" Very little is provided to make the reader really care about and want Conan to succeed, he is just a brooding Barbarian standing off to the side. The obstacles he encounters continue to increase and things look more and more desperate as the story unfolds, but through out it all he stands by the side and lets it develop around him, until Aztrias infuriates him.

I really enjoy how Howard makes Conan utterly independent. He is a man who holds in high regards the freedom of the individual. And as a reader who has read Conan stories and know the history of Conan, I like how Howard stood Conan off to the side while the story drove on with out him. This illuminated Conan's complete confidence in his abilities to handle the guards. It also showed how Conan impressed the guards, since they never tried to disarm him. Additionally it showed that Conan had a regard for the law, believed in some sort of code of conduct, and had a deep belief in honesty. His belief in honesty can be seen in two separate events, he willing says that he came there to steal a gym, and that he didn't kill Publico, also when Aztrias does not come forward about hiring him, this is what sets off Conan and ultimately results in him killing Aztrias. This shows us that Conan the barbarian is more honest and noble than the nephew of the governor. I like how Howard sneaks in the concept of a mans is only as good as his word, and how he turns the concept of strength in numbers upside down and shows the power and greatness of the individual.

Review ? In the Forest of Villefere ? by Robert E. Howard

This is one of the first horror stories written by Robert E. Howard as it is found in the collection of stories by Del Rey "The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard". First published in Weird Tales, August 1925, ?In the Forest of Villefere," is very different from the Conan stories I have read and reviewed thus far. I really went into these stories with no expectations, but what struck me from the first few paragraphs was it seemed to be forced, as if he was trying to write like someone else, later in reading I realized it sounded a lot like Edger Alan Poe.

Being a horror story its main point was to frighten, and that it did. I didn?t make me keep the light on at night nor didn?t it stay in my mind and work mess with my mind on a subconscious level, it was scary although on a level that it could be read to an eight year old without to much of a worry about scaring them for life.

"In the Forest of Villefere", is a very short story, barely 4 pages long. But, the story is tight in that it; introduces the main character de Montour of Normandy, puts him on a dark road at night that is known for strange happenings, and strange creatures. de Montour meets a mysterious traveler along the way, who tells him a legend about werewolves. The traveler attacks de Montour and when he pulls a mask from his face, he realizes he is a werewolf. According to the legend if a werewolf is killed in wolf form it is dead, if it is killed while in the form of a man, then the half-soul of the wolf will haunt the killer for the rest of his life. de Montour defeats the werewolf but doesn?t kill him right away because he is in man form, he watches the moon come close to is zenith, and the mans body begin to turn into a wolf. de Montour picks up a sword and hacks it to bits, and runs off into the words.

As I said earlier this is a very short story, but worth at least two reads. I was tripped up by the language Howard used, since he was writing as if the characters were speaking old English with a dash of French thrown in, but after a second read it was much easier, and the story seemed to develop more substance. Additionally I read it for a second time after I had finished the story "Wolfshead", which I will review shortly and is very much related to "In the Forest of Villefere".

Here is a link to purchase the book through Amazon, ?The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard?, pick it up and following along with my reviews, and if you have any comments please post them.

Adding a new review topic - Conan the Cimmerian Comics

In addition to reviewing the Conan Stories written by Robert E. Howard, I will also be reviewing Conan The Cimmerian comics produced by Dark Horse Comics. Some Robert E. Howard purist may find the comics distasteful and not worth the paper they?re printed on. For all I know that thought may be an accurate accounting for the comics, but I will read through them and give you my opinion, biased in one way or another, on what I think of the comics.

I hope you enjoy my reviews of the Conan The Cimmerian comics. Please feel free to leave comics, and let me know what you think, whether good or bad, or if you would like to like to add your two cents ? two dollars when corrected for inflation ? that is fine with me.

Review of "The Phoenix on the Sword" by Robert E. Howard

For those that are fans of the original Conan stories written by Robert E. Howard, and those who may be interested in them, I will be writing reviews, critiques, editorials, and anything that happens to come into my mind based on the stories I?m reading.

This all came about when I picked up a new compilation of the classics, published in three books by Del Rey and titled ?The Coming of Conan?, ?The Conquering Sword of Conan? and ?The Bloody Crown of Conan?. The stories appear in order of publication and in some instances the synopsis or outline of the story written by Robert E. Howard is included. As a fan of the craft of writing this was of particular interest to me. So armed with the books I began re-reading the stories I enjoyed many years ago.

In becoming re-acquainted with these stories, and in some cases I am experiencing them for the first time, I am outfitted with a more aged outlook on life, perhaps a little less of the wonder I felt when I first read them years ago. But nonetheless as time passes by and one gets older, you can?t help but have a change in attitudes as life has a way of hardening your outlook on reality. However, if this first story is any indication, they still spark wonder and excitement; they cause you to hold your breath, and your heart to beat harder. This is the same exhilaration I felt when I first experienced these stories many years ago.

As you enter the Hyborian world for a brief escape of reality, it is a protected world, a world unlike the world of science fiction, it is a world that is not influenced by scientist saying ?it will never work?, it is a place where scientist are not allowed to tear down the place of dreams. It is a place where one can become Conan, and like Den said in the movie, Heavy Metal?
?On Earth I?m nobody, but here I?m Den.?
Through the words of Robert E. Howard we can all be more than what we are on Earth.

?The Phoenix on the Sword? by Robert E. Howard

I always wonder how it came to be that this was the first story Robert E. Howard published in the Conan saga, since it takes place in the later years of Conan?s life. Yet it has a depth such that it was the conclusion of a long career of writing and developing, the characters history through events written in the story of his life.

The setting of the story shows Conan as the king of Aquilonia, and attempting to settle into that role, instead of that of an adventurer. It is alluded to early on that Conan is much better suited to wielding a sword than politics, that he is more comfortable facing enemies, than the affairs of court, and that he is in essence a noble savage.

The story revolves around four conspirators who plan to kill Conan. However, two separate and unrelated events spell doom for the rebel gang, 1) Conan meets an ancient in a dream, and is warned of a serpent in the midst of his kingdom, the ancient aids Conan by placing a powerful symbol of a phoenix on his sword, 2) In another part of the city the enslaved wizard Thoth-Amon from stygia regains his ring of power and sends a conjured beast to kill his master, Ascalante, who is also one of the four conspirators.

The four conspirators along with a group of soldiers attack Conan. Conan is close to being defeated, when the conjured beast bursts into the room attacking Ascalante and killing him. The beast starts to attack Conan, but Conan uses the sword with the phoenix symbol on the beast and it dissolves into nothingness.

The story has an excellent mix of dialogue, narrative, and poetry. Everything goes to tell this story, to set the mood, place, and time. Although many aspects of Conan canon are missing from this story, nothing in this story requires the reader to know the history of Conan.

Very little is discussed of where Conan comes from, and it is only briefly mentioned of how he got to the position of king. For the most part this is the story about a group of rebels that try to kill him, Conan is still very much the main character, but this is not fully showcased until the end with the battle against the rebels and the conjured beast.

This is not one of the great stories from the Conan series but it is a very good one, and I enjoy it very much. It contains exciting, easy to read story telling and it gives only enough back story to move it along and make the reader want to know more.

In the story Conan appears to be almost super-human, but not quite. Physically he is superior to the men he encounters, but just barely, and with enough forces arrayed against him he can be, and is, brought down. It also implies that Conan is favored by godlike entities, as seen when Epemitreus a Sage who has been dead for fifteen hundred years appears to help Conan. But it doesn?t say that Conan is favored by the gods. All in all Conan appears to be an everyday guy that excels at what he does and asks nothing from anyone else.

After reading this story over again, and learning more about Robert E. Howard it amazes me that he wrote this when he was twenty-six, committed suicide four years later at age thirty, and in those four short years he produced twenty-one completed stories, four unfinished documents and a number of untitled synopses for Conan stories. In addition to this Howard wrote in numerous and diverse genres. Whatever demons haunted him, and kept him from finding peace in this world, he didn?t let that stop him from being a hugely prolific writer. The worlds he created are more alive today than when they first appeared within the pages of Weird Tales, and have given many people through out the world a place to escape.