193 replies to this topic

[ZZoquis]

I'm not a fan of any of the artwork in this QOTBC arc. Conan afaik is always described by REH in the stories as an imposing physical figure. Whether he's "Frazetta"-imposing or not is arguable, but he's never described as slim and effeminate. Sure, he has cat-like reflexes and surprising agility, but it strikes me that the reason those qualities are so surprising is becuase he's such an imposing physical specimen - his foes don't expect a man of his stature to be able to move the way he does. When I flip through the pages of these last 8 issues and see the artwork of Cloonan, Lolos, et al the thought that crosses my mind is "meh, trying too hard to be different." Add to that the strange writing decisions (Conan taking his gal to see his mom in Cimmeria??) and theres just not a lot for an actual fan of the REH character to like...

Apparently sales of this arc have gone up a bit. Its funny though...in reading the comments on various comic forums I get the impression that a lot of the people who really love this take on conan aren't actually Conan fans - in fact, I get the impression many of them actually hate the character and they enjoy this re-imagining becuase it sort of "knocks him down a few pegs."

Edited by ZZoquis, 08 September 2012 - 12:54 PM.

[monk]

There’s been dozens of weak ones down the years, some (believe it or not) even worse than what we are seeing today, and the character has survived. It’s a monthly magazine after all-- the one thing you may be sure of is that it will change.

Yes, things will definitely change. Better days for Cimmerian are coming...at least, artwise (storywise...I have nothing to say ) ...
Just a glimpse of what awaits us...Thanks to Mirko Colak:

Belit

Conan panels:




City from CtB#13

finally.

that last lolos preview was just a travesty. i will repeat, what the frak.

but there is a light at the end of the tunnel...and so a very hearty tip of the mead horn to mr. colak. i will probably not buy the lolos issue. as someone before me said, at DH they are making a terrific argument against being a completist.

I hope Belit gets a little more exotic looking, but so far i love the feel of mr. colak's work...mr colak you have a great sense of chiaroscuro.

Edited by monk, 10 September 2012 - 12:47 AM.

[Roquefort Raider]

We should not be at the stage where this



is a panel of the main Conan comic series.

Maybe it's exophtalmic goitre awareness week.



...but it's not the kind of eye-popping artwork I want to see in Conan.

[Ironhand]

Should we start a thread for CTB #13, to showcase Colak's art as more of it becomes available, and keep it separate from our revilement of CTB #8 &Co.?

Edited by Ironhand, 11 September 2012 - 08:57 AM.

[mikoza]

Should we start a thread for CTB #13, to showcase Colak's art as more of it becomes available, and keep it separate from our revilement of CTB #8 &Co.?

Totally agree.

[ZackDavisson]

Read it and weep ....

ADVANCE REVIEW: Conan the Barbarian #8

http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/4908/advance-review-conan-the-barbarian-8/

[LordYam]

Pretty interesting. But yeah it probably should have come later on in the story.

[deuce]

Should we start a thread for CTB #13, to showcase Colak's art as more of it becomes available, and keep it separate from our revilement of CTB #8 &Co.?

Totally agree.

So let it be written. So let it be done. The link:

http://www.conan.com...?showtopic=9873

[Ironhand]

Read it and weep ....

ADVANCE REVIEW: Conan the Barbarian #8

http://www.comicsbul...he-barbarian-8/

I can only imagine two possible responses from Belit:
1) "What a shame. I didn't get any."

or

2) "But these people are poor. What's the point?"

She might not say that to Conan, but I think that's what would be in her secret heart. Don't forget, she cynically sacrificed some of her own loyal followers to protect Conan.

Edited by Ironhand, 12 September 2012 - 07:36 AM.

[Officer Aggro]

Read it and weep ....

ADVANCE REVIEW: Conan the Barbarian #8

http://www.comicsbul...he-barbarian-8/

Just read the issue and I pretty much agree with everything you said in your review, Zack. This visit to Cimmeria really seems like it should be happening much later in the series. This issue a hard one to get through, mainly because of the art. It's so unsuitable for Conan that it became distracting to me. Can't wait til the arc ends and we get a new artist for #10.

[Taranaich]

Hey, at least this guy likes the art: that's something, right?

Comic Bastards Review

[ZackDavisson]

I read that. I think that is the first review I have seen where someone actually liked the art. But like many, he is disappointed by the round-table artists. Well, his disappointment will only increase. There are no plans for a regular artist on the series.

[JainkhulTamhair]

But the only artist we really bitched about is cloonan, and even the most rabid of us would say she's better.

You couldn't have said it better. Cloonan made some genuine efforts in her latest issues, even if I don't agree with her vision.
I was away for a while and now that I came back I discovered this Lolos garbage and a scenario worthy of a teen sitcom , I almost puked all over my computer screen.
Lolos' Conan is effectively the worst I've ever seen as inside Conan art. We're not speaking of covers here.
The whole concept of having Conan depicted like a snotty kid visiting Cimmeria once again to present his "girlfriend" to his mom is beyond ridiculous.

A billion thanks to Mirko Colak for taking over this putrid mess and draw something that seems according to the previews, much more interesting than what we already had in this new series.
Now will that suffice to make us forget that Wood is giving us his own version of Conan's adventures with some UNWANTED elements... (I've read a review about Wood stating something like "it's not REH's Conan anymore, it's Wood's Conan and it's good". Good???? Come on boys, it's tepid and boring up to now.

I remember when many months ago I posted Buscema's panels of Thomas' QOTBC adaptation, I was telling Taranaich that perhaps Dark Horse would do the same as MArvel, which was to adapt more or less faithfully the beginning of QotBC until conan meets Belit, then some pastiches come in (and boy did Marvel stuff that "space" when Conan and Belit sailed and plundered along the black Coast: we had turtle men, a beast summoner, the blond "original" Amra and his dark lion, Zula in Stygia, Belit's attempt to regain her royal status in Shem, Red Sonja and Karanthes, and many other episodes) ..until we finally came back to the original Howard ending consisting in Belit's tragic death at the hands of the flying ape-demon.
I see that Dark Horse pretended that the story would be kept relatively untouched, but Wood seems to drag it on and on with unnecessary details, inserting unnecessary tiny pastiche stories to thicken the original story. The result seems rather "diluted" imho.

[LordYam]

Well There are some cool advenures hinted at (looting Stygia's port in a lightning raid how awesome is that? We also know he killed that King's brother, and I actually did like the Zula arc. At the very least he gets points for creating a black hero that isn't politically correct, and Belit's badass points increased by whacking both a mage and a king within 5 minutes.) And I liked the idea of Belit seeing conan's world, and felt that some of her development was fairly intriguing even if it was out of place.