Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Doug Braithwaite
Colorist: Diego Rodriguez
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Cover Artists: Dan Panosian; Amanda Conner; Doug Braithwaite; Nuno Pereira; Nathan Lorenzana; Riccardo Federici; Gil Agudin; Greg Broadmore; Giada Marchisio; Tehani Farr
Publisher: Titan Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 24, 2024
Conan left the Battle of Venarium with an ancient sword and the respect of his Cimmerian kin. Yet defending his homeland brought little satisfaction. Frustrated, Conan quests to see what wonders the world might afford. Will Conan find what he seeks? Let's grab our swords and battle axes, shout “By Crom,” venture into Conan The Barbarian #13, and find out!
Story
Conan will battle the Tribe of the Lost, sail the seas with Bêlit, and fight Thulsa Doom alongside King Kull. Yet, in Conan The Barbarian #13, Jim Zub returns us to the days following the Battle of Venarium. Our Hyborian hero is prone to melancholy. In Cold Comfort, part one of his story Frozen Faith, Jim Zub attempts to tell us why.
Conan treks over snowcapped hills. He travels through snow-covered valleys. Leaving Cimmeria behind tempts unresolved questions to arise. His parents and tribal elders attempted to instill in him their beliefs. Yet Conan found acceptance difficult, and his questions brought rebukes. Now, he is a man. Parted from his tribal and cultural heritage, Conan can forge his unique path. But that doesn’t mean he wants to reject his parents’ beliefs.
His father preached that Crom breathed his spirit into Conan. He assured his son he would feel connected to his god amid battle. As Conan relives these battles of will and familial responsibility, he finds wolves feasting near a tent. Conan hacks and slashes at the animals that dared to take a man's life.
In Kenneth Johnson's pilot for The Incredible Hulk TV series, Bruce Banner sought the strength he lacked to save his wife. As Conan seeks his purpose in Conan The Barbarian #13, he yearns for the assurance that his god lives inside him. Does Crom deem him worthy of channeling the strength of the divine? Does Crom even exist?
Art
Young Conan shouts as he wields a stick against his father. After a one-handed blow lands him in the snow, young Conan gazes up at his father with a frown. His father's eyes bulge at Conan's questions, and his staff leaves afterimages as he brings it down on his son. Draped in fur, with a shield, horned helmet, and sleeping mat strapped to his back, the mature Cimmerian strides through the snow. Doug Braithwaite's distance shots show Conan trekking with snowy wastes. Close-ups reveal calf-high boots plunging into snow, hands pressing into a tree, and exhalations becoming vapor as they depart Conan's lips.
A low sun paints the sky yellow as Conan treks through the blue-white snow. Golden-eyed wolves chew red-stained Human hands in Conan The Barbarian #13. Orange fills the air as the wolves attack. Red flecks Conan's face and stains his arms until a brutal move unleashes a shower of scarlet. Diego Rodriguez fills the night with orange as meat roasts on a spit above a yellow fire. While in Conan's youth, the Cimmerian stripling confronts his father on a patch of green grass, seeking the approval of his brown-garbed elders, while a disdainful red-haired man looks on.
Richard Starkings gives Conan’s trek through the snow blue-white narrative boxes for company. He adorns the youth’s struggle for identity with white dialogue balloons. The black, uppercase lettering emboldens for intonation, turns red for emphasis, and enlarges as the boy struggles to harness the fire that (he hopes) Crom kindled inside him. Thanks to Titan for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
As Conan explores the Hyborian world following the Battle Of Venarium, the Cimmerian searches for his identity, purpose, and relationship with the divine. Yet others will intrude on his icy idyll in this revamped classic tale in Conan The Barbarian #13.
Rating 9.4/10
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