Monthly (Comic) Book Club - May - Conan and the Songs of the Dead20720
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Monthly (Comic) Book Club - May - Conan and the Songs of the Dead Reading Schedule April 29- May 5: #1 May 6-12: #2 May 13-19: #3 May 20-26: #4-5 Discussion topic ideas: * Thoughts on the story or artwork * Details in the story, artwork, or presentation * References to outside events or other works of fiction * Making of/Behind the Scenes details * Editions you will be reading from * Items in your collection pertaining to this week’s selection |
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 If the viagra is working you should be well over a 9.8.
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| I'm not a big Conan reader, or swords and fantasy in general. At least for comics. I am familiar with the movies and don't mind watching other things in that genre. With that in mind, the art in issue 1 is a little different than I'm used to. Conan looks very brutish, not Arnold-esque. But that's fine. I thought the art was good for the story. The story itself seems like a standard sword-and-shield/D&D type beginning. Conan wanders into a new area and comes across an old... friend? colleague? He rescues the guy but shows his barbarian bona fides by killing the guards, and a nearly-dead captive, and a dog that he's eating. The man had a treasure that he was hired to steal, which Conan takes, and it leads them to djinn in the desert. Neither of them like sorcery but it looks like sorcery is happening anyway. I'm not sure if this will turn out to be a great read, but I think I'll enjoy it as a change of pace. |
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If the viagra is working you should be well over a 9.8.
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| Issue 2 has Conan and Alvazar fight off the mummy things and get the ring promised by the djinn. Of course, there's more to the adventure if they're willing to find more magical goodies. Conan kills his way into some food and shelter on the way across the desert. In the meantime, the sorcerer who controls the djinn finds out that things are not going well and sends some summoned creatures after them. I'm curious what Conan and Alvazar's history is like. Conan is obviously very selfish and more than happy to randomly kill people. He threatens Alvazar not infrequently. But Alvazar seems happy to stick around with him. Maybe he knows Conan will keep him alive? Or there's a good chance of making money (while Conan keeps him alive)? Why does Conan let him tag along when Alvazar seems like he would take off with money/whatever if he gets the chance? Maybe there's no trust and they just understand that they have better chances at the moment with two bodies. At the least, having the two of them provides the opportunity for some banter. This issue had a couple humorous moments, which is nice. |
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| I thought the first issue was fun. I’m not sure if this book is in continuity with another series but you do get that feeling of serialized, pulpy, paperback literature. Going by this first issue, I don’t expect it to be high literature but it does seem like it will be fun. I haven’t read a ton of Conan but he does have more facets to him that the original movie had time to explore. His dislike of magic is present. He can be as much of a thief as he is a big, strong warrior. Though ai guess that was a big part of the movie. Regardless, the book does a good, if rushed job of showing you who Conan is and dropping some exposition. Contributing to the pulp fantasy feel is the buxom djinn that needs…”satisfaction” and the suggestive nature of the root and the keyhole. I am curious about the hanging corpses and I agree it does feel a bit like a D&D story hook but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I also agree that the art is good the characters are nicely detailed and I do like that the coloring lacks a lot of that digital artificiality you see in a lot of modern books |
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| I kind of feel that with Alvazar they might be trying to go with something like Conan’s relationship with Subotai from the movie, though without the philosophizing. My guess would be that maybe Conan and Alvazar have worked together in the past and have that kind of brotherhood between them. Sure he might run off with some treasure but he’ll turn it over when pressed unlike the caravan guard. I agree with that it has some humorous moments but I also feel that the back and forth banter between the two goes on a bit too much. It almost feels like you’re reading a Spider-Man comic sometimes. I did like Conan’s cannibalism story in response to Alvazar being an annoying travel companion. |
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If the viagra is working you should be well over a 9.8.
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| If you thought the banter was too much, #3 is not for you. I feel like it picked up a bit. We also get some classic stuff like a warrior woman sworn to remain chaste and a bad guy who gets to the point where he "has to do it myself". Despite those mild complaints, I did kind of like the inside-out thing. It was gross but a cool way to do a magical transformation. | ||
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If the viagra is working you should be well over a 9.8.
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| I finished the series up yesterday. It was a solid read. I wasn't expecting a buddy story out of Conan but I wasn't against it. I wonder how it struck long-time readers. I was expecting/hoping the djinn would make more of an appearance at the end, but that's ok. I would try some other Conan in the future. | ||
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| I think the story might have felt a tad rushed in a five issue format but I really liked Conan’s character and Alvazar did kind of grow on me. I felt the banter wasn’t as insufferable in the later issues because it wasn’t so relentless while they were in the heat of combat. I think at one point Conan even tells Alvazar to shut up while they were fighting. I enjoyed the tropes and genre conventions. Given how much superheroes dominate comics, it was fun to read an action-focused character that is relatably selfish and willing to decapitate a problem immediately rather than search for a perfect solution while the situation just gets worse. I did found myself thinking I might like this more in an on-going series where Conan is wandering from one fantastical sight to another and we could have friends and acquaintances of Conan from all walks of life come in and out of the story. We could have multiple plots fermenting at once so each story might extend over a longer period of time. I would’ve loved Ohala to stick around longer, maybe join Conan on other, unrelated adventures while the search for the book simmers in the background so her betrayal can have a little more weight behind it since she’s actually shed blood for Conan and his friends on quests not directly in her interest. This book has gotten me curious to check out the collection of older Conan comics (and books of short stories). Granted books from the 70s won’t be so gruesome or so explicit with nudity and sex but still worth checking out for the fantasy and adventure tales. |
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