Conan the Barbarian #1: THE COMING OF CONAN!

Jason Aaron begins his Conan series with a bang, as the Red Witch targets Conan as a young man and an old king in a storytelling style reminiscent of his stellar first Thor arc The God Butcher. If i have a complaint (and i think i have to; I am a critic after all) Conan seemed a little overly articulate and chatty for what i’m used to from years of reading. I really did like the fight scenes and the way they played out, especially the crowd of undead which felt very true to the tone of series in years past. I did like a splash page full of images from series past, rife with the work of Barry Windsor Smith and John Buscema and even a reference to Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord’s “Born on the Battlefield” from the 2003 Dark Horse series Conan.

The art by Mahmud Asrar is generally excellent with one major caveat. Young Conan is way too bug-eyed, I feel; strangely old King Conan looks way better. That said, the horde of undead monsters Conan fights looks incredible and the witch looks pretty good for the most part. I do love the first panel of young Conan, with a double beheading front and center (Conan series often start with a beheading).

All in all this felt like a step in a direction I want to see Conan go, helping to alleviate fears caused by Jim Zub tweeting that Conan is guest starring in his Avengers mini (I hate that so much). I feel really good about Jason Aaron’s general feel for the character and the story in general felt like one worth reading, albeit a little reminiscent of God Butcher as i said, sharing a few key plot points. I wonder if young Conan will ever be worthy of the crown? (ha, Thor joke)