Jul 12, 2024
I'm being a little unfair to this series because I have good things to say about the first two issues, yet my first review for this Titan run of Savage Sword of Conan is to criticize an issue. Before I start, I want to say this has been a terrific Conan magazine, perhaps the most interesting product involving the Conan IP I've seen in a long while. That said, let me point out what a step down this third issue is from the previous one.
Like I said, this mag is one of the cooler products involving Conan in a while. Likewise, the first and longest story in this issue, 'Wolves of the Tundra', has to be one of the laziest Conan stories I've read in a while. Starting with the artwork. Not a single panel in this 36-page story looks like it belo
ngs to Hyboria or Sword & Sorcery in general. The buildings, objects, clothing, and general atmosphere of every page are painfully generic and uninspired. I didn't feel like spending more than a few seconds on each page. The previous issue I spent a long time admiring Mr. Pace artwork. Yes, it was rough, perhaps a little too rough at points for some people, but the whole thing has soul to it. In 'Wolves of the Tundra' however, nothing stands out, except a general indifference to it all. I would not be surprised if Mr. Nord was on a tight schedule and rushed the whole thing out the door, being content to phone it in. He fades to black all the action, shying from actually showing any fights. Instead, we get a black page with a few 'RARRRHs' and 'KRASHs' and that's it. Absolutely ridiculous and lazy. In fact, he shies away from showing any of the interesting moments and conflicts in the story. What a terrible, lame decision, especially for Conan. I can't remember the last time I've seen a Conan story so awfully illustrated.
The story itself doesn't help, either. We know Conan has plot armor, but this is not an excuse to simply forego any sense of danger. The Hyborian Age is a dangerous period, even for someone like Conan, but here, all you get is this phony world where every conflict feels poorly staged. There's no sense of fear in this story, despite being pretty much a horror tale. It's weird; it's as if all the enemies are there, just waiting to be defeated by Conan. They have no personality, no charm, nothing. They serve as the ingredients for chunky salsa, and that's it. And that's pretty much the story, by the way. Conan goes from page to page, making chunky salsa out of everything and everybody. Just like the artwork, it is terribly uninspired and boring. Dialogue is awful, mundane, and lacking in any flavor or enthusiasm.
Next up, we get an excerpt from the book Conan: City of the Dead. I'm not particularly fond of Mr. Hocking's writing, but his stuff reads like Shakespeare after trudging through Wolves of the Tundra. After the book excerpt, we get the last part of Master of the Hunt, a Solomon Kane story, and that has been a fun and decent read.
The other Conan story we get is Mr. Quah's Lure of the Pit Creature. It's a Monster of the Week type of tale. It's fun enough for what it is, and you can tell, unlike Mr. Tieri and Mr. Nord, Mr. Quah actually cared about what he was doing. The editors should've given him the main story instead. I bet he would have written and/or drawn something way better than what we got for the main course.
The pin-ups are amazing. It's good that they are there to remind you what this stuff should look like. Mr. Horley's pin-up depicts Kull and a party of angry Serpent people. Very evocative and alluring. The second pin-up is by Mr. De La Torre, and nothing I can say will praise his style enough. Just let the man illustrate the whole magazine, and you're golden. Mr. Zub's accompanying poem is not bad and carries the right flavor and punch sorely lacking in the main story for this issue. Hopefully, the next issue is a lot better than this. more
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/3.webp "The Savage Sword of Conan #3")
