CONAN THE BARBARIAN #19 is a taut, grim exercise in survival when Conan ventures into the jungles of the Black Kingdoms, leading to the introduction of a longtime Conan ally. Jim Zub's tale of woe gives readers a lesson on why Conan is the toughest barbarian around, and Doug Braithwaite's art is glorious. That said, the action-heavy script is light on plot, so it works best as a setup issue. Read Full Review

We've had two issues with Bêlit, but now it's two years later and this issue opens with Conan watching her funeral pyre. With this series they're mostly steering clear of adaptations of REH's original tales, but that does feel like a strange abrupt swerve. I'm sure we'll meet Bêlit again, which makes it hard to care that she died before this story.

Doug Braithwaite returns, which means the art is a huge improvement on the last two issues and much better suited to this Conan jungle adventure. Braithwaite is my favourite artist so far in the Titan series. His Conan is rugged, other characters are distinctive and the settings are evocative, almost painterly. He brings his own style to it, rather than trying to draw like John Buscema or Barry Smith.

Most of the issue is Conan surviving a long journey through the jungle of the Black Kingdoms so not much happens - if you don't count fighting an alligator and then a panther - but you feel the heavy humid atmosphere and the sense of dread at being quietly pursued.

This great series is back on track and set up well for the following issue. more

The art is great, unfortunately this a whiplash issue. We were in the middle of a story of Conan and Belit failing at a heist and then -- Boom! She dead and we are wisked forward in time. I liked the fight with the aligator, and the fight with the panther, but most of the issue felt unnecessary.

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