Quick Rating: Hmmmm…
Title: Out of the Darksome Hills

And Away We Go…!

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Cary Nord with Thomas Yeates
Color: Dave Stewart
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Design: Darin Fabrick
Editor: Scott Allie

With apologies to They Might Be Giants:

Barbarian Man, Barbarian Man
Doing the things a Barbarian can
What’s he like?
It’s not important
Barbarian Man

Usagi man, Usagi Man
Usagi man hates Reader Man
They have a fight
Usagi wins
Usagi Man

The Dark Horse Conan has finally begun after some anticipation. It has been referred to as Ultimate Conan. That may be accurate. My recollection of the old Savage Sword series is that it was jam-packed with action and overflowing with story. It was also over-sized, so that may have had something to do with it.

So, what have we here? Conan appears out of nowhere in the midst of a fight and finds himself entwined in the lives of some villagers caught up in a local war. There is jealousy and violence and all kinds of barbarian activity- although it did seem that every exhibited exceptional table manners. The story fit my expectation of a Conan story, but I will probably want something a little more in my older years. As opposed to Marvel’s Ultimate stories, I don’t foresee any revelations in the Conan tale. There is not something sitting out there of which I can’t wait to be reminded. No names trigger goose bumps, even iof Red Sonja or Kull or some other buff character appears. I sort of hope the series can sustain itself, but I’m not sure how it will. For that matter, the old stories had some amazing art, but even they may have been a bit too repetitious. I like the art better here than in the prequel. I had a few quibbles at the time about a lack of definition in some of the panels and that has been handled. If you are interested in the Conan tales, but have no experience of them, then this may be a fine introduction to the world of sword and sorcery. If you love Conan like only a young man can, then you’ve been looking forward to this for months. For Kurt Busiek fans, I have no idea what you will think. I really like Astro City, but this is not that. You may very well like this, but probably not for the reasons that you’ve liked his other work.

February, 2004

Quick Rating: Preliminary
Title: The Legend

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Cary Nord
Color: Dave Stewart
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Design: Darin Fabrick
Asst. Editor: Jeremy Barlow and Matt Dryer
Editor: Scott Allie

1926, Brownwood, Texas – nine women are exciting a great deal of attention on the campus of Howard Payne College. They have stationed themselves near the entrance to the school paper, The Yellow Jacket. Calliope is particularly intent, examining each of the students who walks past. Clio has moved to the center of the campus where she now stands on a soapbox, lecturing any and all on the values that can be gained by a close examination of history. Erato has wandered off in order to watch the football team practice. Terpsichore dances about on the lawn. Euterpe is singing ‘Ramona’ by Gene Austin. Melpomene is the only one actually reading the school newspaper. Urania is quietly suggesting to one of the academic reporters that he start an astrology column. Thalia is very obviously thinking very intently.

Polyhymnia has cornered a stubby young man who can’t find the right words to escape the conversation with this bizarre woman. He looks like a deer trapped in her headlights. Panic flashes across his face when Polyhymnia calls to Thalia. Somehow, Polyhymnia leaves the conversation, but Thalia now corners the young man. She tells him to try humor. He might have a talent for it.

This was pretty much how Robert E. Howard got his start. Because he was funny and could write, we have Conan. Because Howard could not deal with the death of his mother, we have a character than many, many writers have grafted onto. Busiek has the same opportunities and faces the same pitfalls as his predecessors.

This issue introduces the character of Conan the Cimmerian through the eyes of a Prince and his Wazir, who stumble upon a fallen statue of the great barbarian. Intrigued, the Prince orders the Wazir to find out about the subject of the statue, dead a long time. The words of the Wazir provide the setting of the impending comic book series. We learn of the lands and are given a brief sketch of Conan’s career. It will be interesting to see what becomes of the Prince and the Wazir. They may prove to be nothing more than vessels for reintroduction of Conan into the comic waters or they could provide an interesting commentary on the lives lived and the choices made so long before themselves.

The last page of the pamphlet transcribes a conversation between Busiek and Nord. They discuss the technique of coloring Nord’s pencils directly without an intervening inker. It works well on some pages, like the scenic landscapes on page seven. On the other hand, page eight seems marred by the colorist trying to define figures with a thick black line. I suspect that it may take a few issues to get the formula just right and it may prove enjoyable to observe the learning curve.

Oh, and I’d appreciate it if Arnold would appoint Grace Jones to some high-falutin’ California post.

March, 2004

Quick Rating: A timeout while the pinch-hitter warms up
Title: Plague of Frogs, Part 3

Writer: Mike Mignola
Artist: Guy Davis
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Scott Allie

In this issue, members of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense recover from the helicopter crash at the end of the last issue. Pursuing their investigation of the town that amphibians remembered, Johann develops some animosity for the local inhabitants, a cult of frog men led by a shrouded freak. Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman are put through the wringer. Kate Corrigan, mild-mannered professor, struggles to rescue her comrades and herself. Roger is left off-camera.

I can’t help but wonder if this series could have started with this issue. The opening is far more dramatic and the movement seems far less ponderous. I’m not sure if that is the sort of idea that an editor should have considered, but I don’t know for certain what the role of an editor is on a creator-controlled book. Think about it—could an editor ever go to a writer and an artist and say that the first forty pages ought to be cut because they just don’t add much. No comic book publisher is going to scrap perfectly reasonable pages. Take it even further- how do you edit out a panel?

Of course there is a long comic history of text and art being pasted over, but that generally seemed to be for the sake of accuracy or corporate policy. Yet no one looks at the finished art and cuts things here and there just for the sake of clarity or story movement. It was all supposed to be caught long before that point. (I’m more than willing to be wrong here if you have any anecdotes that apply.) Film most notably has a variety of hands pruning the finished product after the art has been created.

Yes, you could jump on in the middle of the story here. It might be a little confusing, but this is a rip-roaring good issue. The art is fantastic, as always when you see the name Guy Davis. If you’ve been a longtime Hellboy reader, then you should definitely jump in now (if you’re still standing by the side of the pool). All signs point to dramatic developments for the entire cast.

June, 2004