Conan 1 - 7

With all the hype surrounding this series after the $.25 #0 issue I decided I should pick this series up. Besides, I wanted to branch out a little beyond the usual Marvel and DC titles that I regularly pick up. So, is this iteration of Conan worth the hype? Hell's yeah!

Interestingly enough, I usually talk mostly about a series' story most and touch on the art just a little bit, but this time I'm going to gush to you my love for the art in this book. Nord makes this series a wonder to look at. The pencils are done very crisply, but what really makes each panel stand out is the coloring. The color palette suits this dark and bloody tale perfectly. When I'm reading a story about a noble barbarian who is lopping the heads off of the people who attack him in a berserker rage, I don't want a bunch of pastels, I want muted and dark color tones with rough, angular pencils, which is exactly what you'll find, and in great detail I might add.

Now after gawking at the art every issue, I found I also enjoyed the story written by Kurt Busiek, but it wasn't anything spectacular. Busiek doesn't seem to write bad stories any more, which is a good thing because I know that whenever I see something with his name on it, I'll probably enjoy it.

The gist of the story is about Conan teaming up with a band of warriors as he is traveling throughout the lands. He, along with those he is traveling with, are captured by a group of immortals and forced to be slaves. With Conan's leadership and help from one of the female slaves, they manage to escape the city of immortals, although Conan is the only one to escape and remain alive.

I like that Busiek is writing Conan as a warrior who also possesses a modicum of intelligence and honor. He's more than simply a big brute with a sword and Busiek acknowledges that in how he writes Conan. I'm very interested to see where Busiek takes Conan next as he has shown with this first arc that he has managed to write the character intelligently. I'm also interested to keep reading simply to continue enjoying Nord's artwork! Dark Horse has a very good series with Conan that has the potential to be a long running, high selling title. Let's hope that the quality of the series doesn't decline as time goes on.

Ratings
Art: 4.75
Story: 4
Overall: 4.5