Brian Wood’s story-centric pseudo-follow-up to his Vertigo Viking epic “Northlanders” is here with the conclusion to the third arc and a relatively big dramatic revelation. Lace up your bootstraps and get out your broadswords — it’s Conan time.
Written by Brian Wood
Illustrated by Vasilis LolosBrian Wood and Vasilis Lolos’s “Border Fury” concludes, as the secret behind Conan’s impostor is revealed! Separated on Cimmeria’s frozen plains, Conan and Bêlit each fight handicapped while facing a deadly foe–Conan by the unexpected identity of his pretender and Bêlit by debilitating snow blindness!
Since “Conan” relaunched with Brian Wood, the book has certainly subverted the average assumptions that a book about a barbarian gives. For many, this was the first time “Conan” was given a chance, based on Wood’s proven strength in this arena with “Northlanders,” let alone his talent shown elsewhere. Wood was able to deliver two pretty great first arcs with James Harren and Becky Cloonan on at, and the third arc seemed like it’s story may even top the first two. So with this issue, the third dramatic arc of the “Conan the Barbarian” comes to a close. The identity of the second Conan is revealed alongside an action-packed finale, and the stories true purpose about the nature of Conan and Belit is revealed.
Truth be told, the book has a very definitive upside and a downside. On the one hand, the resolution of the second Conan storyline is a bit disappointing. The idea that there is someone masquerading as Conan and committing various acts of terror across the country side is an intriguing one, and one that could honestly have made for a very interesting longterm storyline. Yet, given the shorter nature of stories that Wood is doing with this book, this story does need a finale by the time the book is out. What this then requires is a bit of an infodump in which all of the necessary information is given so that the impact can be felt — and yet, due to the impromptu nature of it all, the punchline is never quite effective.
See, since the book started, the emphasis on Conan’s history has been given only a tertiary amount of attention. Conan himself is a character we all are able to connect with, but the assumption is that once everything is understood by the audience that our love for Conan will translate. And yet, with so little attention given to the alternate Conan over the course of the arc (outside of mentions and an appearance), his arrival at the end of the story isn’t quite that menacing as it could’ve been. This very much seems like a story that doesn’t fit the shorter arc aspect of Wood’s “Conan” overall, because the underdeveloped ideas are chopped up and given to us in such a fashion that feels like less of an emotional punch and more of a series of events that happened that we should know about, akin to learning about an event in a History class.
Yet, on the other hand, the arc’s secondary purpose is quite effective. While Conan’s battle against his double proves to be a bit of a bust, the story about Beiit and Conan is a great extrapolation on why these two characters are worth following. From the beginning of the book, all of the preconceived notions about the two were a bit skewed; Conan was less of the barbaric wanderer than we’d known him for, and Belit was in fact the champion of the story. Yet this story switched both their roles on us; Belit lost her “power”, while Conan thrived and returned to his roots. The wrap of this storyline only serves to strengthen our relation with both characters now that they’ve been able to show off their alternate skills, and we’re better off for knowing more about them.
Any story ups and downs outside, the art alone manages to truly elevate the effect of the tale. With every artist on the book comes something different, and I mean that beyond simple aesthetics. Lolos art is rich and imaginative, from the opening wolf fight (with each wolf featuring beautiful detail work) to the final showdown between the imposter Conan. It’s art that truly pops with a very lively feel to it, with swords that truly fly off the page and clash with one another. There’s also a very keen eye given to the pacing and framing of the story, with specific moments (too spoilery to discuss) captured in a truly poignant fashion. With Dave Stewart’s colors on top, the book is given a moody and atmospheric vibe, from the harsh and bleak wasteland of Cimmeria to the muted tones of the flashback, all leading to a killer splash page that wraps up the story thematically and sets the next one up in a killer fashion.
And so things return to “normal,” only for the next arc to assumedly shake things up again with Declan Shalvey and some death. While this arc certainly had it’s ups and downs, Wood’s “Conan” run s still very much enjoyable. Never truly allowing itself to become typical or formulaic, Wood and the artists on the title repeatedly try something new, whether it works or it doesn’t. In the case of this arc, the finale was mixed, but with art as sleek as Lolos’, it’s easy to take regardless.
Final Verdict 7.5 – Buy
