Conan the Cimmerian #0
Before I proceed to the actual comic-book, lets dig a little into comics history. In 2003, when Dark Horse took over the Conan franchise from Marvel, they inaugurated a new line of comics named simply… Conan. For 50 issues, Conan has been a thief, robber, mercenary and all you can name it. And it did great for Dark Horse, who received lots of praises for reviving Conan. But 50 issues are a lot and the team at Dark Horse decided that Conan is in need of some fresh adventures, far from the big cities, dark priests, temples, kings and treasures. It was time for Conan, now more mature and wise, to return to his roots, to return to Cimmeria. His homeland.
The first Conan the Cimmerian story arch brought a new artistic team as well. Timothy Truman (writer), Tomas Giorello (artist) & Richard Corben (guest artist), plus Jose Villarrubia (colorist) are pulling the strings of this current Conan comic-book series.
Conan the Cimmerian #0 was released in June 2008, beginning a new exciting chapter in the life of our favorite barbarian. This special issue is inspired by the poem ‘’Cimmeria’’ by Robert E. Howard.
‘’Cimmeria, land of darkness and deep night. Oh, soul of mine, born out of shadowed hills… to clouds… and winds… and ghosts that shun the sun. How many deaths shall serve to break at last… this heritage, which wraps me in the grey apparel of ghosts? I search my heart… I search my heart… and find… Cimmeria.’’
What I found interesting is that currently I am reading The Savage Sword of Conan volume three, which starts with the (same) tale ‘’Cimmeria’’, adapted and drawn by Barry Windsor Smith, inspired by the same poem by Robert E. Howard. The tale was originally printed in Savage Tales #2, from October 1973. Lest say that this particularly short tale features the best art you will ever see in Conan. Barry Windsor Smith, really extraordinaire. See the page bellow.
There is no big tale in in this special issue, no surprises or whatever revelations you thought it will be. It is more about the feeling and atmosphere here, not so much about story. Just 16 graphically powerful pages that show Conan returning to his homeland and killing some vanir robbers. Is like saying ‘’I am back to Cimmeria, and I will kill anyone who tries to rob and pillage around here.’’ And there is no better introduction than a bloody battle to show the barbarian returning to Cimmeria. And if you think of it, is what Conan does best. He fights and kills. And survives. He is a strong one, the barbarian. He doesn’t kill all the robbers, thou. He hates the vanir kin, yet he allows a young fellow escape, with a grim message. ‘’Leave my country, boy. Never Return. Go now, before the wolves come to feed. When you get home, sing of this day… and how Conan slew your kin.’’
And how about the art? Tomas Giorello has the same style as Cary North, although his characters are not as square and blocky and have more roundness. There is no distinctive inking to be seen, the few ink lines are lost in the pencils strokes and shadows. The colors are mainly variants of brown and the only strong color you will see is the red of the blood. It looks more like paintings than classical penciling and inking. What is remarkable to me is the very good representation of… cold. You can almost feel the coldness of Cimmeria, the icy wind, the falling snow… brrr! Cimmeria looks like the real deal. A very good representation indeed.
One more thing. I think that Conan the Cimmerian can be very easily embraced by someone who doesn’t know nothing about Conan. You just take it and read it, you don’t need back issues to deal with this comic-book.
At the end, I am really glad I started buying this series, and I will be happy to share with you my thoughts on the next issues.
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