Conan the Barbarian #4: I Am the Night! I. AM. CONAN!!!!!

This issue was a whole lot of fun, but on a conceptual level is extremely unfaithful to the original stories written by Robert E Howard, which brings us to a rift within sword and sorcery fans since Marvel got the rights to Conan back. Every issue has had a legion of REH fans up in arms for one reason or another, from Conan teaming up with Picts (you mean we have different views on racism than they did in 1926? Weird) to the dreaded #pistolgate, which whipped fans into such a fervor I was literally told to eat s*** for liking the issue and being willing to overlook it. Obviously accuracy can be important but in regards to a 90 year old book series just because the Frost Giant’s daughter is super rapey doesn’t mean Conan has to be super rapey all the time, things change, who’s to say if he were alive and writing today Howard wouldn’t have had a story where Conan donned a mask and took to the streets? Is it a brilliant, genius level twist that I want to see every issue? No. Is it an entertaining story that I enjoyed? Yes. Obviously your mileage may vary but I read Conan because I like Conan, not that I enjoy every story (read my last Conan the Barbarian review I did NOT like that issue) but my goodness is it really worth insulting people who disagree with you? Not at all.

Ranting and innacuracy aside, I found this issue to be a lot of fun as a standalone tale, obviously a King Conan title is probably unsustainable at this time and I appreciate that we’re getting some King Conan stories mixed in. I even liked the lion, which was admittedly a bit dumb, but still fun.

The art by Gerardo Zaffino is stellar, just great. It was a little sketchy at points but looks great. The lion in particular looks so good, I love it. There are a couple splash pages that I would seriously consider poster worthy, and the panel with Conan flying through the air attacking the guys on the dock is totally getting snagged as a new cover photo.