Written by Brian Wood
Illustrated by Becky CloonanIn this sweeping adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s fan-favorite “Queen of the Black Coast,” Conan turns his back on the civilized world and takes to the high seas alongside the pirate queen Bêlit, setting the stage for an epic of romance, terror, and swashbuckling. This is Conan as you’ve never seen him, with the combination of one of Robert E. Howard’s greatest tales and the most dynamic creative team in comics!
I have long been interested in learning more about the Conan franchise. I have never read any of the original stories, nor have I read Roy Thomas’s comic series. I haven’t even seen the infamous Schwarzenegger film! All it took for me to take the plunge was the acclaimed duo of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan.
Follow the cut for my opinion on the new barbaric ongoing.
Many comic fans – myself included – have cited Brain Wood’s critically-acclaimed Northlanders as evidence that his work on Conan the Barbarian would be equally excellent. While there is sense in making such a claim, there’s also a marked contrast between the two series: Northlanders tries its best to be grounded in reality, whereas Conan, while low fantasy, is still fantasy. While the trappings of setting and characters might seem similar enough, the actual genre distinction is quite different.
Luckily, Wood demonstrates in this issue that it’s a genre that he can handle well. Wood often uses character narrators in his books, whether they play major or minor roles, but in this case the book is guided by a voice that is a narrator, and nothing else. The narrative captions certainly add to the pulp fantasy feel of the book, but Wood does not get carried away; they only appear at the beginning, at transitions, and during a semi-dream sequence, all of which are wholly appropriate and avoid disrupting the story itself. The brief framing sequence revolving around Conan’s stay in Argos also contributes to the tone of the story, in a style of boasting that smacks of Beowulf and other epic heroes, but – unlike some of those old epics – Wood doesn’t get distracted from the story he is telling. By scripting the story mostly through dialogue and shots that show the crew Conan is regaling, we are reminded that the barbarian has just jumped onto a completely unknown ship where he might be in danger, rather than given the feeling that it’s time to sit down and swap stories.
The dreamy sequence near the end was the only part that was at all difficult to follow, but at the same time that adds to the mystery surrounding this Queen of the Black Coast. Otherwise, the issue has everything we have come to expect from Brian Wood: Tight plotting and an entertaining script with natural dialogue – though certainly a bit different from what he usually offers. While the Northlanders reasoning might not have been the best way to form a prior opinion about this book, it certainly wasn’t an incorrect opinion.
In this series, Wood is joined by frequent collaborator Becky Cloonan, and she’s at the top of her game in this first issue. Some artists are particularly well known for their portrayal of action, but don’t necessarily have a firm grasp on facial expression. Some are praised for their use of body language, but are critically slaughtered for their lack of understanding when it comes to panel-to-panel motion. Cloonan has it all, though. Let’s just look at the first page:
- In the first panel, despite the tight shot, we can still tell that the horse is in motion, simply from the way that its head is held. If you want to know how difficult that is in and of itself, just go ask one of your art friends to draw a running horse for you. Be sure to bring tissues.
- The second panel moves down to the horse’s hooves, and the kicked up dust and jaunty angles of the legs make it clear that the horse isn’t just moving, but that it is indeed moving fast. Continued below
- Next, the third panel gives us the location. This isn’t some open field; it’s a claustrophobic, crowded marketplace. Already the excitement is piling on, and a little bit more is added by the lead the figure in the red cloak (Conan) has on the others, which seems to imply…
- Yep, this is a chase. The impersonal shot of the pursuers, the way the one clear figure is carrying himself, it all screams “We are coming to get you.” Even the horses look like they’re determined to catch whoever this guy is.
- And then we have our final panel of the page, and even before the two-page spread that follows this one, we know this is our hero – even if the caption didn’t name him. Conan’s cocky grin shows that this is just an every day occurrence for him, and already implies to the reader that “If you think this is exciting, wait until you see what’s coming up.”
Yeah, pretty much every page is as meticulously crafted as this one.
I’m primarily used to seeing Cloonan’s work in black and white, which she wields quite effectively. Take, for example, her short comic Wolves, which only adds one shade of grey and a few different half tones to the black ink and white paper. This partially stems from the influence of eastern manga on her work – which is particularly evident in a lot of her earlier work, such as Demo – and even though that influence isn’t quite as pronounced these days, there’s still something about her work that makes it look better in black and white.
That is, of course, unless you put Eisner Award-winning colorist Dave Stewart on the same book. Somehow, the man has made Cloonan’s work look better than it ever has in black and white. The reason why Stewart has garnered so much acclaim is because he clearly puts efforts into studying the line work and the writing he is working with, and modifies his style as he sees fit. Set some pages of this issue side-by-side with some from Hellboy and with Daytripper. Sure, there are some matters of technique that can be picked out when the pages are scrutinized, but his different palette choices and blending styles make each book look unique just as much as the pencilers themselves do. There are many colorists out there who color everything they work on the same way they would, say, Green Lantern, and so long as that is the norm, Stewart is going to keep winning Eisners.
The Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan combo has rarely failed before, and the addition of Dave Stewart only makes their work stronger. Their take on Conan is exciting even to those who have little to no exposure to the barbarian, and this issue stands as an excellent example of how to pull off an issue #1 for a previously existing property. What does a neophyte know about Conan? That he is a barbarian. What does he need to know? That he is a barbarian. And how do you get that neophyte to stay? With excellent writing and art.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy it!
